Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

March 2022 Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

02 March 2022, Time: 1930

Notes submitted by Signora Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the March meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Nikoslav read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich)

  • Reminder for call for Red Tower Bids
  • Reminder for call for RUM bids
  • No other announcements or updates

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Nothing to report

Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)

  • CDC dropped mask requirement for fully vaxxed.  However, we will continue with mask mandate at practice until further guidance from Kingdom Seneschal is received.
  • Deputy KM now has loaner gear and will take over the office around July-ish.
  • Upcoming practice considerations:
    • This time of year practice is weather permitting; be aware last-minute cancellations may happen.  Vaccination cards or negative COVID tests, and contact tracing info is still required.  Please be respectful of others and maintain social distance.
      • 03/06/2022 – Practice
      • 03/13/2022 – Practice depends on Marshal coverage (Gulf Wars)
      • 03/20/2022 – Practice depends on Marshal coverage (Gulf Wars)
      • 03/27/2022 – Practice

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • February saw only a couple of rapier practices with sparse attendance, but there we were.
  • Loaner gear will now be available for Sunday practices, but please try to request it in advance.  Come on out and join us!
  • Tuesday evening practices are still TBD, as work is doing “work” things to my life.
  • Where else were we?  Some of us went to a Rapier and Saber Pedagogy retreat, learning to be better teachers.  Some of us went to Meridian Challenge of Arms, (see the pictures taken by HE Emelina).
  • Where else are we going?  Gulf Wars is coming.
  • From the desk of the Kingdom Rapier Marshal. Also, they are not allowing authorizations at Gulf Wars.

Gulf Wars is coming up very soon. Please check that your authorization card is up to date.  If your card is expired you will need to do a reauthorization. 

If a new card is needed before Gulf Wars, please opt to send your reauthorization paperwork to the email listed on the auth form. This will guarantee there is not a mail delay. 

If you have previously sent in an authorization form and have not received a card. please send a copy of your original paperwork to rapier@meridies.org and rapier.auth@meridies.org

Master Nikoslav

Deputy Earl Marshal – Rapier

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Practices have started back up again. 
    • The next practice is set for this Sunday, March 6th so we can get one last practice in before Gulf Wars.
  • Loaner arrows are still en route, but the supplier is located in Ukraine. I will give them until April to update the tracking information before I contact them, international incidents permitting.
  • Royal rounds will commence this Sunday (March 6th), and hopefully, we will be able to have Ælfric run his marshal tourney at either Fool’s War or April’s Baronial practice.

Reeve (La Onesta Signore Justina di Silvestri)

  • Bank statement as the end of Feb 2022: $9,811.86
  • Last month we established our annual budget for the rest of 2022, you can find copies of that in the FB group files as well as the purchase request form if you have new baronial purchase requests, and the check request form if you have a receipt for an approved purchase. If you have any questions or need guidance navigating these forms, I’m always happy to help you out.
  • I want to be fully transparent about where this budgeted money is, so here are our expenses so far: 

  • We got an email from Public storage that the cost is going up from $349/mo to $466/mo.
    • This would be an additional $117/ mo and will cost us an additional $936 for the rest of the year
    • And bumps the cost of storage from $4,188 to $5,592/yr provided it doesn’t go up again. This is an additional $1,404 per year.
    • So we may want to consider our options. I called the storage office and the manager said they only do month to month but she applied the credit to our account for 3 months so the rate won’t increase yet and that gives us a little more time.
  • Lastly, I am looking for a deputy- if you like spreadsheets and organizing office things, this job is a lot of fun! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you are interested.

Quartermaster (THL Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • We have stuff.
  • Nothing was used at MCA.
  • Nothing new to report.
  • I will start pricing other storage options outside the perimeter. Hopefully, we can find something less expensive than what we are currently paying. 

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  •  Chatelaine things are happening.
  • I haven’t been available to see my friends, Viridia and Kayd, for classical saber practice. For lack of that, I’ve kept myself busy in other ways.
  • Nikon just got his floor installed, and we’ll be coordinating soon to get Gold Key cataloged so we know what we have and what state it’s in.
  • Also, as something Gold Key adjacent…
    • I’ve been putting some work into an idea that Margavati floated a while back, in which we develop guides for super simple extra-European garb.
    • The crux of the project is to “Make a really easy to follow set of guides for newcomers (and anybody, really) on how to make accessible garb, and give people options for cultures and time periods beyond a basic t-tunic”.
    • Credit goes to Margavati for that specific description.
    • Sometime tomorrow I’ll be releasing a guide on “Rolling Your Own Fabric Bolts for Rectangular Construction.” I chose to start there because having a bolt full of narrow lengths of fabric was a great way for me to expedite Japanese garb.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing to report.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • Our 1st quarter report went in. Let’s keep our tracking sheet going! As you enter your info in our A&S sheet please make sure you are entering your work on the Q2 tab.
  • 100 Days of Art/Sci challenge is up and running. Please drop in and add your voice to the challenge. Call out challenges to other folks to get them involved.
  • Gulf Wars! Lots of classes! I’d really like to encourage those who are attending to take a class or two and to consider taking one outside your normal interests. Be brave and try something new!
  • It’s not too soon to plan your entry for the Kingdom Arts & Sciences competition this May. For those who entered previously and received feedback from the judges please consider following the advice and re-enter your piece a final time. Judges love to see when their advice has been followed and it has improved an entry.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • Class for this month will be a Theodosia Colloquia helped by La Onestra Signora Justina di Silvestri, which is a roundtable presentation where people do a short talk on a topic that they’re interested in or just learned about! It’s a very fun show-and-tell format that is sure to have some fun topics.
  • Classes are open for the rest of the year, so if you have a class that you’d like to teach for the Barony, please reach out to me or Lord Ælfric and we’ll get you on the schedule.
  • For the rest of the year, we need classes! If you’re interested, please let me know.

Chronicler (Signora Aelia Bassina)

  • I have had an inquiry as to being the Deputy Chronicler. However, I need to wait for approval from the Kingdom Schenishal and Kingdom Chronicler.
  • Nothing else to report.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • We have social media accounts! 
  • We’ve had a slight uptick in spam posts so deleted those hopefully no one even noticed
  • Also went thru our member list in our group and deleted any obvious spam accounts. Even with the cull the FB Group still managed to grow by 2 this month. Insta grew by 6 and Twitter stayed the same. 
  • Worked with Owl’s Nest this month- they’re having a social for newcomers /fighters practice this weekend. Gonna share it on our socials tonight or tomorrow because it’s super close to us and if you know any newbies that are too shy for the event, this is a great way to dip their toes in!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • Mental health check-in for DEI this month!

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Updated A&S Minister
  • All awards from MWAS
  • All awards from MCA
  • Corrected spelling of chatelaine deputy email
  • I am looking for a deputy!

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Nothing new to report.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • We want to thank everyone who made it to Midwinter, everyone who made it happen, and everyone who took classes. Also, thank you all for behaving!
  • We have a lot of officers who need deputies. Please take this opportunity to step up. The officer positions are designed to be doable. 
  • In general, continue to be awesome!

SCA Business

  • Margavati – if you are a young person and are looking for experience in both the SCA and real life, the Seneschal is a great place to start. 
  • Iazzie – with the recent change with the CDC and the drop in numbers, is there a plan to go back to an in-person meeting?
    • Nikoslav – from the last meeting, we are going to be looking at the previous place we were using and looking at other options. We were thinking of maybe being able to meet in person again in June/July (Summer). There are a number of places that have their own rules in regards to gathering. We also need to look at the cost of the location. This could be complicated with the increase in the cost of the storage area.
  • Kal – I just want to promote the Meridian Social at Gulf War. We may or may not have light-up Viking hats. 
  • Agnes – Is there a chance that in-person won’t resume?
    • Nikoslav – there may be options for zoom to continue for things like classes. It may be cheaper.
    • Wistric – My take on it is we will have an option for virtual even for the in-person meetings.

The business meeting was closed @ 2010.

The next business meeting will be held on 06 April 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.