South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

5 July 2017, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter (mka Helena Bretherton Hay), South Downs Chronicler.

Lord Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. THL Mathias is tonight’s stunt seneschal.

Officer Reports

• Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
  • Nothing to report

• Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer)
  • Approximately 10 people showed up at the first practice
  • Lots of gear is arriving at Mara’s house, ready to sort/prep. She reports that we are still way under budget, so she’ll continue to order things 🙂
  • Next archery practice will be co-hosted with Owls Nest on 23 July (the same weekend as Arabian Nights)
  • Ximon is working on prizes for first archery tourney – breakdown banner pole, banner, etc.

• Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
  • Submissions
    • Annaliese Wolf – name/device at Laurel (2nd month of commentary)
    • Stella di Silvestri – device at Laurel (1st month of commentary)
    • Juliane de Vivonne – badge at Kingdom (in commentary)
    • Porcia Secunda – name at Kingdom (in commentary)
    • Lucien d’Artois – badge x2 submitted to kingdom
    • Conrad Windhorn – name submitted to kingdom
  • Court Report
    • None

• Arts & Sciences (Lady Veronica da Lucca)
  • The June A+S class was on Commedia del Arte, and taught by THL Mathias
  • This month’s class night will be on viking aprons, and taught by Beteena
  • The August class will be Mistress Jadi’s autocratting roundtable, featuring experienced event stewards / autocrats from both within and without our Barony. She expects the speakers will provide a range of viewpoints and experiences about stewarding events. Master Ximon volunteered to take part. However, it still needs to be scheduled, as she will be out of town for the usual class night in August. We may switch August class night with another meeting night (perhaps project night) to accommodate. Stay tuned!

• Youth Armored Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
  • We have a new youth fighter (huzzah!)
  • The youth practice scheduled for this Sunday will move to Bryn Madoc, to join the regional event honoring (and surprising!) Duke Orlando as he marks his 40th anniversary of his knighthood.

• Armored Marshal (Lord Robert Throckmorton)
  • (Lady Mairghread reporting) Mairgread will step up as marshal and Robert steps down to deputy, due to work issues. Asked for approval – stunt seneschal says “uh, yeah, dude.”
  • Tuesday heavy practice – considering combining South Downs armored practice with Owls Nest to boost numbers for each side? Good to support our neighbors 🙂
  • With Lord Robert stepping down, the question arose if Mairghread will MiC Red Tower? She’ll consult with Robert and other interested parties and get things sorted out
  • Mairghread will need to get the loaner gear from Robert, especially for Sunday’s practice. Still need loaner gear – His Excellency points out that we do have funds for gear 🙂

• Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
  • Thanked everyone who’s been able to step up and cover marshaling responsibilities at practices when he’s been unable to attend
  • We are also looking at combining rapier practices with our brethren in Owls Nest – scheduling around traffic on Tuesday evenings is rather difficult, but we are looking at options
  • Brendan announced that Lord Piers will step up as deputy rapier marshal. The nomination went to the populace for approval; Lucien objected (then everyone started laughing). Deputy rapier marshal approved.

• Their Excellencies
  • Encourage everyone to attend the fighter practice this Sunday in Bryn Madoc
  • Also encourage everyone to attend Tourney of the Foxes, hosted by the Shire of Vulpine Reach (25-27 August, at Harrison Bay State Park in Chattanooga). Event info here: Tourney of the Foxes.
    • Her Excellency is interested in sponsoring teams on the armored, rapier, and live weapons/archery fields, and is already for her representatives on the field. She will provide tokens, so come out and fight for the honor of your Barony!
  • Baronial Awards
    • At the last business meeting, discussions began about new awards.
    • Lucien said that at KWHSS, discussion of order names suggests that our names may not pass, since they do not follow standard structure
      • Flannait had an article about medieval order names that she presented at a class
      • Two things usually are included: every order name needs to have a designator and a substantive element that matches the way orders were named in period
      • Order of *heraldic charge” or *heraldic color” or order of two heraldic charges, etc. or abstract quality or virtue
      • We need to back to the drawing board on names, but the badges should be fine – have already been conflict checked (to date)
      • Duke John wanted to know why we’re getting pushback on the order names – no one cared for ages about what names were made up, so why suddenly now?
      • It was suggested that we should register the badges for now; names can be done at a later time (if at all), since these are non-armigerous so it’s not as important to register the names

• Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri)
  • Lady Stella is in Korea, so did not get to submit a report? His Excellency stepped in to improv:
    • Korea is awesome!
    • She is still looking for 2 deputies
    • Lorenzo helped recruit new people at Mistress Allesandra’s 4th of july shindig. Recruit new people! please 🙂

• Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
  • Placeholder page now exists for Fall Crown List (we are co-hosting with Depedale and Bryn Madoc)

• Reeve (THL Maire)
  • Not present at meeting, but Their Excellencies confirmed that we still have money! huzzah!

Upcoming Events

• Fall Crown List (10-12 November 2017)
  • Co-hosting with the shire of Depedale and the Barony of Bryn Madoc
  • Will take place at Little Tallapoosa Park in Carrollton
  • Kynric is co-autocrat
  • Illy Brownlee is feastcrat
  • Lady Alisandre is merchantcrat

• Fighters’ Collegium (1-3 September 2017)
  • Yes, it’s happening! There had been questions about whether the new Kingdom Law regarding scheduling Fighters’ Collegium with RUM starts in 2017 or 2018, but it remains an independent event for 2017.
  • Being held at Dalwhinnie Fields near Selma, AL (site of this year’s Black Axe).

• Red Tower (30 September – 2 October 2017)
  • Nothing to report
  • Everything going smoothly, visited the site and met with the portapotty people and the park staff.

• Castle Wars (17 – 19 November 2017)
  • Flyer in progress, should be ready in a week or two
  • Still need volunteers – please contact Lord Piers or Sir Iazzie
  • Equestrian people have found their own water buffalo, so we now have an extra $500 in the budget
  • Is there a site token plan?

Event Bids

• Fall Crown (10-12 November 2017)
  • Bid has been submitted, waiting to hear from Crown.

• Midwinter Arts + Sciences 2018 (2-4 February 2018)
  • Lady Alisandre is working on a bid

Other SCA Business

• DragonCon
  • We are all set for the parade (40 wrist bands) if you know anyone coming from other kingdoms, let us know so we can make arrangements
  • Master Ximon has news about the chariot. He posted on fb group the other day about chariot situation, offering to help compensate anyone who wants to pull the chariot (6 pack of your choice). If you’re planning on attending DragonCon, marching in the Parade, are strong, and thirsty, talk to Ximon or Stella
  • John wants to get in touch with Crafty Celt – he had mentioned that he was interested in riding in the chariot, but we’d then need 4 at a time to pull it
  • Last year, we had a situation with the chariot b/c people were using it to store things during the parade and then left those things behind. Please don’t bring anything to the parade you can’t/wont carry during the parade.
  • Rhi mentioned that the Netherworld people have their own plan at the end of the parade to make it easier to deal with all the stuff. It was suggested that there is already a plan – just need to minimize extra stuff and meet with chariot to help put stuff away. As long as we do that, we should be fine.
• South Downs Supper Club
  • We want to bring it back! What is the South Downs Supper Club? A volunteer hosts the dinner, a group of people cook period recipes (usually with a common theme), other people donate $, everyone eats 🙂
  • For more information, check out the South Downs Supper club group on Facebook
• Tina has a piece of female rapier armor that is now looking for a good home. She’s offering to sell it to the Barony for $50 to use it as loaner gear. Vote request to approve funds. Stunt seneschal says “yeah, sure dude.” Motion passes.
• Ximon asked if anyone would be interested in his teaching a class on how to build a breakdown banner pole? Everyone said YAAAASSSS
• Lucien needs a check for $50 to register badges. Vote seconded and approved
• Mathias said there had been mention of including bardic performances or SCA dancing during our Fifth Wednesday potluck. He is interested in getting some people together to do some commedia at a future Fifth Wednesday. If interested, please contact him.
• Lucien reminded everyone about the 2nd mini business meeting, possibly to start in August to help keep track of upcoming events (thru Midwinter A+S in February)

Non-SCA Business

• THL Andreva brought cake in honor of her birthday (chocolate and stout cake – it was delicious!)

All the business issues having been addressed, the business meeting was closed.

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 2 August 2017, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

–Raven

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

7 June 2017, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

Notes submitted by Lord Brendan de Hay (mka Benjamin Hay), South Downs Stunt Chronicler.

Lord Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. Master Wistric chaired the meeting and offered fresh baked banana bread in honor of his and Mistress Sunneva’s wedding anniversary (huzzah!).

Officer Reports

• Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
  • Submissions
    • Anneliese Wolf had name and device submission pass kingdom and forwarded to Laurel
    • Stella di Silvestri resubmitted device to kingdom via heraldic consultation table at Crown List
    • Two badges and one name submitted for next month
  • This year’s Knowne Worlde Heraldic and Scribal Symposium will be coming to fair Meridies! The shire of Nant-y-Derwyddon has the honor of hosting it, and will be held in Knoxville the weekend of 23-25 June, 2017. For more information, please visit the symposium website
  • Wistric, encouraging the populace to register devices in time for Meridian 40 Year (because banners with devices make for a spiffier event!), asked the populace who still needs to register devices, etc. to get a sense of who may need assistance in doing so.
  • Wistric also asked Lucien how many devices one can register (alternate heraldry) – Lucien replied that one can register as many as six names, devices, etc.

• Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
  • Everyone continues to be happy with the Liane Levetan / Brook Run Park practice site in Dunwoody
  • Rapier practices continue to be held Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons (Sundays with our armored brethren), weather- and conflicting-event-permitting

• Youth Armored Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
  • There will be a regional youth practice on 7/9/17 (Jon Montgomery in charge), location TBD

• Armored Marshal (Lord Robert Throckmorton)
  • Meridian Fight Club will take place Sunday, 30 July, location TBD. His Grace Sir Bart will be in charge.
  • Mistress Mara was elected Baronial Archery Marshal by general acclaim

• Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri)
  • Stella is looking for a deputy Chatelaine (still has 8 months left in term)
  • Regarding the Chatelaine office, Stella wants to split office into newcomers and demo coordinator
  • Speaking of demos, we will host a demo (again) this Sunday, 11 June, after fighter practice, at ATL Streets Alive. This Streets Alive will be on Marietta Street, on the Westsite. Want to volunteer? Fighters, artisans, dancers, etc welcome and needed! See Mistress Margavati or His Excellency Master Lorenzo for more information, or check out the FB event posted on Atlanta SCA Fighting
  • We have a giant box of postcards available for distribution at demos

• Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
  • Placeholder pages now exist for Red Tower and Castle Wars event sites
  • Email issues are being worked on — spamblocker is really aggressive
  • Link set up to Lorenzo’s Artisan website
  • Please submit updates for personal profiles section on our website

• Arts & Sciences (Lady Veronica da Lucca)
  • The May A+S class on gnocchi making taught by THL Mariana had a great turnout – and the gnocchi were delicious!
  • This month’s class night will be on Commedia del Arte, taught by THL Mathias
  • July’s class night may feature an autocratting roundtable, possibly hosted by Mistress Jadi

• Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
  • Nothing to report, but thanks to Lord Brendan for serving as stunt Chronicler!

• Reeve (THL Maire)
  • Not present at meeting, but Their Excellencies confirmed that we have money! huzzah!

• Their Excellencies
  • Knowne Worlde Heraldic and Scribal Symposium is coming!
    • 23-25 June 2017, in Knoxville, TN; hosted by Nant-y-Derwyddon. For more information, go to their: website
    • Come on out and support Meridies!
  • The weekend before the Knowne Worlde Heraldic and Scribal Symposium in Knoxville, the Knowne Worlde Dance Symposium will be held in Baltimore, MD (the lands of Fair Atlantia), 15-18 June, 2017. Interested? check out the website for more information.
  • Their Excellencies encouraged everyone to attend RUM (Royal University of Meridies), which will be hosted by the Shire of Crimson River in Clarksville, TN on 15 July
  • Tournament of Foxes (25-27 August) – Her Excellency is already beginning to recruit for Foxes teams! She has tokens, and she wants to show her support for ALL the teams – armored, rapier, and live weapons/archery! Event info here: Tourney of the Foxes
  • His Excellency is interested in revamping Baronial award structure.
    • Proposed new structure/orders
    • Entry to order once, as opposed to awards which can be given over an over. (sheet attached, received with general acclaim and mirthful commentary)
    • Discussion on merits of orders vs. awards.
    • Possibly adding a “Baron/Baroness’ Pleasure award for multiple recognitions
    • Lorenzo will post this for discussion outside the meeting (FB and website). Would like to have comments set up for vote by next month’s business meeting? Think about who you want to recommend…
  • Her Excellency reminded everyone to make Kingdom-level recommendations, and that she and Lorenzo would love to hand out awards at Red Tower
  • Some discussion of how award recommendations work, particularly for polling orders
  • If you’re having issues with OP spellings and accuracy, contact Mathias or Lucien

• Seneschal (Master Wistric)
  • Margavati mentioned an old office, that of site deputy (within the senschal office), that focuses on researching and databasing potential event sites). Would anyone be interested in volunteering for this office? Contact Peryn and/or Lorenzo for help, as they had both done some work previously collecting information on potential sites.
  • Wistric and Maire discussed developing more event infrastructure. Recommend potential investments…
    • Kitchen stuff
    • Golf cart? (or include in event budgets?)
    • Pop ups?

Upcoming Events

• Red Tower (6-8 October 2017)
  • Bathrooms too far away at Booker T, so we will be looking to add portapotties to the site.
    • We expect to make it work in current budget.
    • Checking with park staff for approval.
  • Need volunteers – if interested, please get in touch with Beteena.

• Castle Wars (16-19 November 2017)
  • New site is confirmed – the event will be held at McIntosh Reserve in Whitesburg. This will require new budgets (with and without extra water for horses, since we can have equestrian activities. Adding extra water for horses, adds $2 for day trip, $1 for weekend.
  • Because the new site doesn’t have a kitchen or other feast capabilities, there will not be a feast offered this year.
  • Castle Wars Theme: William Wallace
  • Expecting MOB invitational tourney to add some people

Event Bids

• Fall Crown (10-12 November 2017)
  • Bid has been submitted, waiting to hear from Crown.

• Midwinter Arts + Sciences 2018 (2-4 February 2018)
  • Bid is in. No confirmation on hall until late September (College won’t confirm scheduling)
  • Looking for crazy cooking type volunteer to coordinate—could we manage a day board of Moroccan food (specific university in Morocco)? Day board included in admission fee.

Other SCA Business

• DragonCon
  • Nothing to report

• Archery!
  • Looking for a site for regular practice. Probable joint practice with Owls’ Nest at Viking Alchemist property (alternates include Portia & John’s in NE Atlanta or Mairghread & Piers in Cobb Co.)
  • 8 June for first practice? First one starts at noon, then future practices will begin at 10:00am.
  • Sundays, probably 1 per month.
  • Budget proposal for archery/thrown weapons stuff—attached. Note that all numbers in budget are high estimates, actual cost will probably be less.
    • Will probably store equipment at Their Excellencies’ house
    • We anticipate having this ready in time for Red Tower
    • Recommended that we purchase 3-target system
    • We can use any budget overhead for loaner gear (Mara is pricing gear)
    • Ximon wants to donate a prize—break-down banner pole for first competitive shoot, Mara recommends waiting until July practice
    • Discussion on website/fb to encourage donations
    • Financial committee passes proposal (except for exchequer, not here tonight)
    • Barony passes proposal
    • Please note: Budget and information documentation will be made linkable once I have the PDFs –Chronicler

• Lucien suggests that with all the events in the works over the next couple of months, we should have additional mini business meetings during other Baronial meeting nights (possibly project nights?) to facilitate updating the populace on event planning

• THL Andreva and Mistress Jadi will be starting project nights again, on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of each month at their home. Please contact them for address/directions.

Non-SCA Business

• 24 June 24: the Festival Singers of ATL will be presenting a Fundraiser cabaret, $20 tickets, “Ease on Down the Road;” Andreva & Katie will be singing duets.
• 18 June – Margavati mentioned that a Makers Market will take place at Stove Works on Krog Street

All the business issues having been addressed, the business meeting was closed.

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 5 July 2017, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

–Raven