July 2023 Baronial Business Meeting

July 5, 2023 Chronicler

05 July 2023, Time: 7:30 PM EST

Notes submitted by Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong, South Downs Chronicler.

Magister Lorenzo called the July meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter started recording the meeting and greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Lady Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers’ Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

We have a busy fall with RUM, Pennsic, Red Tower, Castle Wars coming up., so keep your calendar open to help volunteer.
Discord server has been very active with lots of planning and activity. Join if you haven’t!
Officer positions are filling up, thanks to Baron Piers and Lord Eirikr for setting up emails and access.
If you need access to emails, please contact Lady Raven via the Seneschal email: sen.southdowns@meridies.org

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Magister Lorenzo is covering tonight as deputy Herald.
If you haven’t registered a name or device, contact Magister Lorenzo and he will work with THLord Kurt for more information.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

We have been having practices. It has been hot but people are still coming out.
We have a Regional practice the day after RUM. Site has been reserved. Rapier and Heavy will be there along with YOUTH. Jon Montgomery is bringing some loaner gear for the kids to let new kids give it a try. If you have kids bring them or if you are authorized youth sparring please come out to give them someone to play with and learn from.
I will be going to Pennsic for my first time and will be there both weeks this year so I will need a Marshal to fill in for practices. (Lady Mairghread Wilson has volunteered to help, thank you!)

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

Practices have been proceeding, weather and other events permitting. Sundays starting around noon (concurrent with armored practice). Schedule changes, cancellations, and any other relevant information is shared on the FaceBook group “Atlanta SCA Fighting,” and sometimes other locations depending on circumstances. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/259276954180390)
Shire of Owls’ Nest is holding Tuesday evening rapier practices at Swift Cantrell Park in Kennesaw. Captain William posts on Atlanta SCA Fighting. Athens School of Arms is not technically SCA, but is chock full of SCA rapier & C&T folks. https://www.facebook.com/AthensSoA/posts/pfbid0Wy76Rze5Dy3SoGoRGpzx71VWwMm9mLUwmtUAM63gnyD5wiVATE5dL1ww659a5XnLl
Special thanks to Master Ximon, Lady Ogata, and Baron Piers for filling gaps in my ability to attend practices.
- Taking item 3 a little further. As my mundane schedule gets even crazier, we’ve started a chat including every rapier marshal who might step in to fill those gaps. Thanks to everyone for working together to keep practices happening. I wouldn’t mind having a deputy step up who could take over from me in the not-too-distant future.
We do currently have one more Rapier Marshal in Training.THL Pietro is on the track. Having more marshals means more rapier activity available for practices, demos, and events.
Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try. Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!
Big thank you to Captain Rodrigo from Bryn Madoc for coming out to Sunday practice recently and facilitated several new authorizations. More fighters means more people to have fun with!
Shameless plug for RUM, and our big practice extravaganza the following day. South Downs fighter practice moves to Carrollton for that day.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

We are still searching for a new practice site.
- May start looking at the eastern side of Atlanta for practice sites, but would prefer the west side to keep it a joint practice with Owl’s Nest.
Current practices are still being held at Master Mathias’ house, focusing on thrown weapons right now until we can find a site that will accommodate archery.
Thrown weapons practice in June was well-attended with 6 people.

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

We have $5,313.28 in our account,
Troll for RUM is still looking for 2 volunteers, it’s a super fun way to get to see everyone coming in to the event and If you have never worked check in, that is ok, I will train you and you won’t be on your own
A reminder that if you have any event expenses, please keep all receipts and be mindful of your budget and bring any concerns to Myeong Su or me and we can discuss them with the Financial Committee. We can’t guarantee you will be fully compensated if you go over budget and it also leads to delays in receiving your reimbursement

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco)

We have stuff!
Getting a new storage unit is current priority, will probably kick in after Pennsic
Still looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

June has been interesting for the office of chatelaine, as we have at least two opportunities for demos
One of these would be through the Doraville Day Camp
I spoke to Crystal Dawson with Doraville Parks and Recreation and this is what we’re looking at:
- A demo at the Doraville Day Camp would involve 60 campers ages 5-12
- We have the option to do small group demos at an hour a time over several days or present to all 60 kids at once
- Crystal told me the kids this summer have been receptive to presentations on medieval crafts, arts and sciences, and camp life. Although I pitched combat sports and live weapons demonstrations as possibilities, Crystal turned these down.
- I’m assuming fighting and live weapons could be a little PG-13 for this group, but that’s okay.
- I’m told they are a creative, diverse, energetic and overall excitable group, and that sounds good to me!
Additionally, we have another demo opportunity at a festival in West Georgia.
- Maestra Dori Coblentz, a local fencing instructor with the Decatur School of Arms, recently put me in touch with a festival organizer named Caron Connelly.
- This demo is an order of magnitude larger (apparently around 11k participants). I currently know less about this but I’m getting in touch with Caron today and tomorrow to ask questions
This is a heads up to Fru Arnora and Lady Bu that I’ll be cc-ing the both of you on these email chains
No dates for either of these demos yet

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Nothing reported, but potential demos covered by Lady Ogata.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

This month the A&S focus is on RUM. Please take advantage of the wonderful classes being taught by excellent teachers.
I’m looking for a deputy ASAP! Any interested parties please send me a Facebook message. Supporting the arts and sciences is a great way to see what everyone is doing. Plus our Kingdom quarterly reports are super easy to do.

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

This past month we had two classes offered. 15 people came to our monthly class night – Intro to Inkle Weaving with Master Ximon and 8 attended our bonus class night – Feast Appreciation with Mistress Christianna.
July’s class night will be July 26 via Zoom. Master Mathias will be teaching History of Comedy.
I currently have all Teaching spots filled for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year. We will need teachers for Red Tower and Castle Wars later in the fall, and of course I will need teachers again next year for A&S class goodness, so please get with me if you have any questions or want to discuss anything that you might want to teach in the future.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

Settling into the Chronicler position, got access to the email, website login, and Kingdom Chronicler group. Will strive to post meeting minutes by the first Friday of the month to the website.
Will be working on articles and content for The Read Tower, anything from articles to event recaps or photos and shout-outs!
Send content to me at chron.southdowns@meridies.org to get included in the newsletter.
Will set up a consent release form for content for the newsletter.
Hoping to get a mailchimp or something similar out so people can sign-up for emails with the newsletter.
Will get with officers to help kick off a Baronial Google Calendar to help keep track of all the things we’ve got going on.

Social Media Minister (THLady Agnes Halydaye)

Nothing reported, but our Discord is active and growing!

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Officer (DEIB), (Lady Lily of South Downs)

Amazing class last month for our first in-person DEIB class with Lady Mitsuko and La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri!
I am working on the DEIB class for this month and I posted to the Discord to see if I can gather some panelists. If I can get at least a couple of people to participate, then we will have a class on “The subtle impact of quiet spaces” on the 12th. If I can’t find anyone then we’ll probably need a backup activity.
I didn’t see the info about the RUM post mortem, when I started planning things, so I thought the date would be for the 19^th. That gives me a little less time to hunt for participants. Still, I will do my best to make this work. I’ve already reached out to my fellow Meridies DEIB folks, though I haven’t heard back yet. I’ll keep the barony informed of my progress with the class. Thanks again for all you do.

Webminister (Lord Erikr Palsson)

I have updated the Chronicler page to reflect the new officer and also given the “author” permissions to the site.
Will update deputy Herald to Magister Lorenzo.
Anyone needing updates to their profiles or pages please email me at web.southdowns@meridies.org
Or use this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdolpPChRelBZYxbvKZz7m8ib6LA3VoO2FNC6EF0X8kRKJpng/viewform

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

Looking for a deputy as she has stepped down, but will stick around until we find a new officer.
Plan is to have a joint effort at RUM for children’s activities

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

If you’re not busy with RUM or Pennsic prep, please jump on storage unit sites and see how much 250 sq ft will cost near you
If you’re new and want to volunteer for a position or job, please feel free to jump in and go for it! The barony will support you!
Actively looking for retainers for RUM to help with Carver since he will be at RUM. Anneliese will be posting a link soon once the schedule is set.
This is the second to last court before they step down at Red Tower, so we hope that you can make it!

SCA Business

Royal University of Meridies (RUM)

- - We’re 10 days out from RUM! I’ll be going to the storage unit sometime this weekend to pick up a few things, mostly toilet paper, check-in materials, and boards for the schedules.
    - Will pick up water coolers and cups for outdoor classes and regional FP on Sunday
  - If you need anything from the storage unit, please let me know before this weekend.
  - Dame Sibella posted a draft of the schedule yesterday, and we’re working on getting it in the database and changing the formats for large posters.
  - Always need volunteers for unloading teacher materials and help getting them into their classrooms.
  - Will work on scheduling the performance before court to start when court is scheduled to start.

Red Tower

- - Thanks to everyone who volunteered, within four days we have all the staff positions filled for the event!
  - Fundraiser lunch in Southern Consortium, right of first refusal
  - Mathias will try to do a site visit sometime soon.
    - Questions about site for parking and big field for use for archery/live weapons/martial activities.

Castle Wars

- Bid in progress with Lady Hessa and THLady Ysabel
- Current bid is looking at using McIntosh as the site.
- Hoping to get the bid in to review by July 19th.

Printify shop profits have come in for April and May, we’ve made $148.48! Myeong Su will get a check to La Magnifica Justina soon.
- Will be working on more designs too, most likely after RUM.
Storage Unit
- Current unit is 20×20, cost is over $500 a month right now
- Possible to pay a month ahead of time, or try to negotiate advertising or get someone to help us out as a non-profit
Supper Club – Lady Maryam
- Thanks to everyone who came out to Supper Club!
- We’re going to try to make this a more regular thing
- If you are interested in potential themes, let Maryam know! She’s trying to get the next date together for the next session.

Non-SCA Business

The High Museum has a Samurai Exhibit from June 23rd to Sept. 17th. Go check it out!

The business meeting was closed @ 8:31 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on August 2nd, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S

January Baronial Business Meeting

January 4, 2023 Chronicler

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

04 January 2023, Time: 1930

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias called the January meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Lady Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers’ Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

In-person meeting space through the end of June 2023 has been set up at Doraville Civic Center.
- 1/18
- 2/22
- 3/22, 3/29 (5th Wednesday!)
- 4/19, 4/26
- 5/3 (in-person business meeting with a test for streaming), 5/17, 5/31 (5th Wednesday!)
- 6/21, 6/28
The Barony is expecting to submit a bid for RUM to fulfill our obligations to the kingdom; we will have a second business meeting (virtual) on 1/25 to discuss and vote on the bid. Bids for RUM are due by 1/31.
I’ve uploaded a PDF of the photos and notes I took during Ximon’s and my site visit to Indian Springs State Park (where Red Tower 2023 will be held) to the Barony’s FB group.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Nothing to report.

Knight Marshal (Lord Eirikr Palsson)

Heavy practices are back on.
We didn’t have any the last 2 weeks due to Christmas and New Years’ day.
Practice on the 15th will be covered by THL Margheraed so no loaner gear will be available as I will be at panhandle skirmishes.
I will also be looking into a substitute marshal for the 29th so I can attend war college.
There will also be a Regional Figher Practice the weekend of Midwinter.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Seems like the holiday season took a bite out of our practice routine. Probably a healthy thing…
Work is a bit more manageable for me right now, but I will continue to need help making sure that a marshal is present for practices. Anxious to be getting back in the swing of things myself. Thanks to all of our Barony’s rapier marshals for stepping in as needed.
Otherwise, practices proceedeth apace, weather permitting.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

Current plan is to have our January practice this coming Sunday, 1/8.
Weather may be a factor. If we are rained out, I will push it to the next week.
Society has started coming down with score sheets for thrown weapons. They are still working out a couple of the kinks, but I will see if we can get some interkingdom challenges going at practice.
If you’re interested in sharp, metal things flying through the air, please come to practice.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

Not much new this time! Our current bank account has $7,581.89, but considering checks pending deposit, the balance in our ledger is $7,010.02 as of the end of December.
With the new year comes a new annual budget, which we discussed last meeting, so if you have any questions or if you are an officer that has approved expenditures, please reach out. SCA-rs is now officially retired, we are back to PayPal for pre-Registration, which will be available shortly for Midwinter.
The 2022 “Doomsday” report (Q4 fiscal year-end report) is due at the end of this month. If you have any outstanding business with SD, it will pool over into the 2023 report.
Again, please let me know if you have any questions about this process.

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco)

We have stuff!
Will work out a time with Margavati to get things out for Midwinter.

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitusko)

I want to draw attention to just one major item of interest – Atlanta Comic-Con is happening on the weekend of February 24th at the Georgia World Congress Center.
In between holiday madness, I’ve been talking to the organizer, Croix Provence. She is offering us an exhibition hall at 3.5k sq ft for demos and panels, as many tables and chairs as we need, a breakout room for our volunteers, and space on the con’s promotional material.
I cannot understate that she is VERY interested in drawing Scadians and making this as frictionless as possible.
This really feels like the holy grail of face-to-face interaction with engaged nerds in the metro Atlanta area
However, what sucks is that many of us in the fencing community will not be in town to help make that happen because that weekend is also MCA.
So, I’ve reached out to a couple of other officers in the barony as well as some of our neighbors in Tir Briste and Depedale to see who’s available to participate and, most importantly, who’s interested in leading a demo.
From where I’m sitting and what I’m looking at, Atlanta Comic-con is looking like a very large, very accessible, and very visible empty box that we can fill with any tournaments, classes, panels, and demonstrations that we want.
As far as I understand, Atlanta Comic-con draws a more local crowd than DragonCon. So the vibe seems to be like Conjuration Con or Anachro Con, both of which have been historically key demo opportunities for us. This would be on an even bigger scale.
If you are interested in taking the reins on this demo or otherwise helping out, please do reach out to me ASAP
Just as a reminder, Atlanta Comic-con is the weekend of February 24th.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Nothing to report.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

Our Midwinter A&S event is just around the corner.
The Facebook Event page has been updated with a link to pre-register A&S entries. I highly encourage folks to do this as it will help with the setup of the room.
As usual we will have tokens, probably large beads, that will be available so the attendees can vote for their favorite entry.
There will be sheets/booklets available for each of the entries so that the populace can leave remarks. I’m really hoping that the attendees will take a moment to let the artisans know what they liked about each entry. Positive feedback can be so important for artisans who have put time and energy into a piece.

Provost (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

I hope that everyone had a great and safe holiday!
Class this month will be a virtual Commedia class on January 25th with Master Mathias.
We’re looking to start filling the monthly classes for this year, so please reach out to me or Lord Ælfric if you’re interested in teaching.

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

The newsletter, The Read Tower, will be published this month. I’m just waiting on one particular article.
That being said, if you have an idea for an article, please email it to the chronicler email address.
Tonight is my last night as your Baronial Chronicler. I have resigned to our wonderful seneschal. If you have an interest in what it takes to be the Chronicler, please reach out to Lady Raven.

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

Nothing reported

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Lily of South Downs)

I’d love to have suggestions for anything you guys would love to do. I’m a sponge for your suggestions.

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

Created MWAS Webpage

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

Nothing to report.

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

Not a lot from our end. We are looking forward to Midwinter.
Wistric shared the Procedure for Succession of the Baronial Seat. The document is available on the baronial FB page.
- Vote was approved to adopt. Forwarded to Kingdom Seneschal.

SCA Business

Midwinter A&S status
- Thank you to everyone for your patience.
- We’ve started taking class submissions for Midwinter, contact me or use the Google Form posted to the Barony’s FB page or the Midwinter Event page if you’d like to teach!
- Justina is looking to get a Paypal link for pre-reg.
- Piers has agreed to be our set up and tear down guy.
- I have a bunch of positions already filled, thank you, everyone.
- Rhi is running the faire. Please go sign up.
- I’ll post positions that need to be filled on the FB page.
- Please consider signing up for a troll shift.
- So far we’ve got a track of Commedia classes with an Iron Commedia session with Master Mathias and a Leather Carving and Tooling class from our own Thedomir (TJ) but are looking for more!
- There will be no food vendors on site due to restrictions. I have posted information on how to get food.
- Schedules will be posted as soon as we finalize them.
RUM Business
- I’m currently working to put together a bid for RUM this year July 15th at the University of West Georgia, hoping to have a bid ready later this month to present to the Barony so that we can meet the bid submission deadline.
- Please let me know if you’d be willing to help in any way for the event!
Post-mortem of Castle Wars
- Thank you to everyone who helped with CW. We’ve heard so many people say it felt like we’ve finally gotten back to SCA wars.
- All positions were filled. It was amazing.
- We did have one incident, it was an aggressive dog. The dog was removed by the owner. No one was harmed.
- There was a snafu with the High Table silverware. We need to do a better job of keeping track of that. We need to do inventory.
  - Who is responsible for setting up the High Table? Unknown who set it up.
  - It was suggested that the royal liaison be responsible for taking things out of and putting things back into the totes.
  - An event quartermaster?
  - There is an inventory list on each tote when it’s taken out of storage.
- Justina: One thing I strongly suggest is to have an info point near troll, but not at troll. When troll is busy, it can be too hectic if people are coming up and asking questions about things going on at the event.
  - Maybe have a board for posting updates near troll.
    - Brendan: There are also a lot of people who turn off their phones at events (If I weren’t marshaling, I’d be one of them). Paper and voice heralds are still a thing.
  - Pocket Herald may be an option as long as there is signal at the event.
- Myeong Su: If you took classes and want them registered for RUM, just let me know and I can check your entry and add it to the system!
- This was the first time we used the Boy Scout camp. Their rates have increased from a flat rate to a per person/per day rate. We did not make as much money this time at CW because the cost for the site was about $1k more than it had been in the past.

Non-SCA Business

The business meeting was closed @ 2058.

The next business meeting will be held on 01 February 2023, 1930, via Zoom Meeting.

Meeting Minutes

DECEMBER BARONIAL BUSINESS MEETING

December 6, 2022 Chronicler

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

06 December 2022, Time: 1930

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Lady Bú Feiyan called the December meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Lady Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers’ Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

Discussion of how many in-person meetings we should have in 2023. Each meeting space rental at Doraville Civic Center is $100 (for 2 hr rental). The financial committee recommends keeping our current schedule and revisiting it in June once we better understand our financial situation.
- 2x/month (current schedule)
- 3x/month (all except business meetings)
- 4x/month (as in the before times)
SCA business
- Post-mortem of Castle Wars
- There has been some interest in submitting a bid for RUM 2023 (14-16 July), which is great as we need to submit a bid for a KLE for 2023.
- We have reserved Indian Springs State Park for Red Tower 2023 (8-10 September). So if you’re interested in event stewarding Red Tower, you don’t need to find a site.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)

We have a bunch of people that got awards recently. Unfortunately, my list is still packed up in my Castle Wars stuff because I went back to work. I would like to be very happy about all the people that got awards.
I would like to know what everyone would like to learn about heraldry so I can try to drum up some classes for us.
- Master Mathias suggested a class on how to make your own personal heraldry and/or voice heraldry class. Or, showing the different ways to display heraldry.
I am still looking for a deputy.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

We’ve been having a lot of practices. Last practice, we had 3 new people in loaner armor. The time before that we had 2. This month we will not be having practice on Christmas or New Year’s Day.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

No report was provided.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

Sharp pointy things have been flying through the air. The next practice will be held this upcoming Sunday, depending on the weather.
Live weapons at Castle Wars went very well. We were able to get a bunch of people qualified for second-class Weapons Master.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

No report was provided.

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco)

Nothing to report

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

November was absolutely packed for activities
We had a ton of newcomers attend Castle Wars!
This is mostly an extended thank you to everyone who helped our newcomers feel at home that weekend in November
At the moment I’ve lost count of the exact numbers, but I know it was definitely over 8 because that was how many feast kits we gave out. Shout out to Mistress Andriette for providing us with those melamine feast kits for newcomers. And a special shout out to Seong Daegam for being ahead of the curve in that regard and for just being a really well-organized camp lead.
In the weeks before Castle Wars, I had been closely monitoring our Gold Key inventory to make sure we had enough cloaks…and then about 7 newcomers came out of the woodwork in the week before.
I would like to thank our neighbors in the Shire of Tir Briste for loaning us a surplus of cloaks to ensure our Gold Key was well-stocked for the day. If you see Dikon de Stokke, thank him because he handled that really well at the last minute.
I have made a budget request, which was approved and which I used to purchase a small roll of fleece. I’ll use this to make new cloaks and reinforce some of the lighter ones we have on hand, just in case we get slammed by newcomers at next year’s Castle Wars.
Interestingly, we had one newcomer from Tir Briste who had been trying unsuccessfully to establish contact with her local group and the kingdom chatelaine. And then her post kind of blew up on an unofficial known worlde discussion page on Facebook. Although we did not meet personally during Castle Wars, rest assured I caught up with her online and she reports that she had a really good time and everyone was nothing but nice to her the whole weekend. She has since been put in contact with her local group and she has the correct email for the kingdom chatelaine.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

I am working on finalizing the date in January. Once I have that, I will post it to our Facebook pages to find out who is available. That is the only demo I am working on right now.
- Raven made a suggestion to request people from some of our neighboring groups.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

This month at Castle Wars we held the Baronesses Challenge A&S competition. We had a pair of beautiful entries. Both deserved recognition and we awarded prizes to both. The theme of the contest wasn’t really met, but we’ll keep trying until Meridies catches on to the format of the Baronesses Challenge.
Midwinter is just around the corner and I’m really excited since this will be the first in-person Midwinter since Covid. I’m hoping South Downs shows up in a major way for both the A&S competition and the Faire. At Magna Faire this last weekend there was a category for “Anything Tudor” and I’m looking to do the same type of thing. So whichever bid is chosen, I’ll be reaching out ASAP to find out what the theme is so I can start schilling it up. Also, I’d like to encourage folks to teach a class if you’re interested. It’s a great way to share your Art or Science as well as help South Downs shine.

Provost (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

No classes this month for the holidays! Hope everyone has a great holiday and we’re looking to start taking class sign-ups for next year. Master Mathias has offered a Commedia class for the January class night, so be on the lookout for more details.
I’d like to give a shout-out to THLady Isabella Parr for teaching two classes this past weekend at Magna Faire: Tudor History 101 and Gable Hood & Codpieces: Navigating the World of Tudor Fashion! Both were wonderful classes and her first time scheduling classes at an event!
If you took classes at Magna Faire and would like RUM credit for them, please let me know! I have a Google Sheet that I’m collecting the info in so I can update the RUM website.
Midwinter business:
- Going to start taking classes for Midwinter soon, so think about what you’d like to teach!

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

Exciting news! The Read Tower will be back for the 4th quarter of this year. Please consider writing an article, even if it’s only a paragraph. Your contributions really do help. It can be as simple as your most recent event experience, or your favorite memory. As of right now, I have two articles.
Please remember to get your officer reports to me prior to the start of the meeting. If you can’t provide it before then, please get them to me as soon as possible. It is often hard to understand everyone in a Zoom meeting, especially being hearing impaired.

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

There’s been some renewed interest in having a discord group. I should have that set up shortly. Other than that everything is going well.

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

Nothing to report

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

Updated Seong Myeong Su’s page
Updated Raven’s page
Updated seneschal page links
Updated Castle Wars Page
Update from HE Piers
- Distribution lists have been created for events so we no longer need to use personal email addresses.
  - Redtower@meridies.org
  - MidwinterAS@meridies.org
  - Castlewars@meridies.org

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

Castle Wars went well. We didn’t have any kids in the morning. (It was cold and I wouldn’t have wanted to get out of bed either). The adults outnumbered the kids in the afternoon, but we all had a lot of fun anyway.

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

We don’t have much to say. We’ve had a great event season. We’re very excited about how Swift’s Heart has progressed.

SCA Business

Discussion and voting on Midwinter bids – listed in order of receipt:
- Piers and Aelia
- Margavati and Sabine (this bid won!)
The Castle Wars post-mortum will happen next business meeting
If you are interested in doing a demo at the Atlanta Comic-Com, please let Ogata know!
Party at Their Excellency’s house for the Baronial Holiday Party.

Non-SCA Business

The business meeting was closed @ 2059.

The next business meeting will be held on 04 January 2023, 1930, via Zoom Meeting.

Meeting Minutes

NOVEMBER BARONIAL BUSINESS MEETING

November 2, 2022 Chronicler

02 November 2022, Time: 1931

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the November meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

Tentative meeting schedule for November – please keep an eye out on our FB group for the final schedule:
- November 2 – Business meeting (virtual)
- November 9 – TBD (virtual)
- November 16 – TBD (in person); this is also the last meeting before Castle Wars
- November 23 – Thanksgiving eve, no meeting
- November 30 – TBD (in person); this is also technically a 5 th Wednesday, so… potluck?
- Note: we have no in-person meetings scheduled for December, due to everyone’s schedules over the holidays
Meeting schedules for 2023 – I will submit my budget and reserve meeting space for 2023 soon. Now that we’re having events (and income), we can consider adding more in-person meetings, noting that each 2hr meeting reservation is $100. Discussion for the populace – should we:
- Continue with our current schedule (2x/month virtual, 2x/month in person, with the 5th Wednesday’s in-person)
- Add one more in-person meeting/month (leaving just the business meetings virtual)
- Change back to the Before Times schedule (all meetings in-person)
Red Tower was an excellent event – everyone had a great time and it was good to be back together in person. More details from the stewards later on in the meeting.
Castle Wars is coming! The Event Stewards will share their status report later in the meeting.
We have secured Indian Springs State Park for Red Tower 2023, with a new date of 8-10 September 2023. Master Ximon and I toured the site last week and were impressed with the facilities there. I will set up a photo album on the baronial FB group so everyone can see the pics I took.
Still looking for bids for Midwinter A&S, scheduled for February 3-6, 2023. If interested, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies.
Reminder – As a barony, we are required to submit one KLE (kingdom-level event) bid per year, so we should start looking at something to bid on for 2023. Available bids for 2023 are the following – if you are interested in submitting a bid on any of these, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies:
- Less than 6 months out, so bids are encouraged ASAP:
  - Spring Coronation (31 March – 2 April 2023)
- Events 6-12 months out:
  - Spring Crown/A&S (“Artsy Crown,” 26-29 May 2023, Memorial Day weekend); Please note that if no bids are submitted for Spring Crown/A&S, the Kingdom Seneschal may decide to drop the A&S part of the event as Crown Lyst (and Coronation, for that matter) is required to happen. If this happens, then Crown Lyst will be a minimal event.
  - RUM (14-16 July)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)

No report was provided.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

No report was provided.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

Preparations are underway for Castle Wars. Rapier’s schedule is attached. Communicated with Event Stewards re logistics.
Could use volunteers on Thursday of CW to build the castle.
I’m out of town until the Wednesday evening before CW, so practices will be handled by Celebrity Guest Stunt Rapier Marshals. Please be kind to them.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

No report was provided.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

As of Oct 31, 2022, South Downs has $6,396.31 in the bank.
Vote

Motion vote on the Head table feast gear Myeong Su discussed last month, requesting a $225.10 budget to cover.

SCARS

Society is phasing out SCA Reg sys version #1- no new events past Winter Market will be through SCARS while a new system is set up. In the meantime, we will go back to PayPal for online registration

Budgets

If baronial purchases are made, the pre-approved budget needs to be adhered to as closely as possible. If it is not feasible to make needed purchases within budget, please consult the event steward or financial committee before making purchases. Unauthorized overages are not obligated to be reimbursed.

Annual Budget meeting

This Sunday, the financial planning committee is going to meet to discuss the 2023 baronial budget, if you have any budget requests for baronial expenses, please let me know by the end of this week. We will also be discussing the financial policy, and both should be ready for a baronial vote at the December business meeting

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco)

We have a new unit and we have stuff.
Inventory load up for castle war is Nov. 16th at 4 pm

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

No report was provided.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

No report was provided.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

No report was provided.

Provost (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

No class nights for November and December for the holidays. Thank you to everyone who has taught this year virtually and in person and kept activities going in the Barony! This a reminder that I will be handing the office over to Lord Aelfric at Midwinter, so please treat him well as your new Provost when the time comes!
If you’re interested in teaching in 2023, we are taking early class sign-ups! Reach out to me or Lord Aelfric and we’ll get you on the schedule.
Still taking some classes for Castle Wars, but the slots are filling up. Reach out to me if you’re interested in teaching! I will be closing the form for sign-ups by the end of this week/beginning of next week so we can finalize schedules for the booklet.

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

Exciting news! The Read Tower will be back for the 4th quarter of this year. Please consider writing an article, even if it’s only a paragraph. Your contributions really do help. If If you have something longer, I would love that as well. It can be as simple as your most recent event experience, or your favorite memory.

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

No report was provided.

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

No report was provided.

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

Updated CW page

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

I’m going to write the schedule for children’s activities this week/weekend and so far it’s going to be Myndee, me, and probably one other person running activities.

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

No report was provided.

SCA Business

Non-SCA Business

The business meeting was closed @ 2107

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

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Red Tower

October Baronial Business Meeting

October 5, 2022 Chronicler

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

05 October 2022, Time: 1931

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the October meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

Tentative meeting schedule for October – please keep an eye out on our FB group for the final schedule:
- October 5 – Business meeting (virtual)
- October 12 – Theodosia Colloquia, hosted by La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri (virtual)
- October 19 – Scribal night (in person)
- October 26 – either a Halloween potluck or A&S class on period gems (in-person)
Still looking for bids for Midwinter A&S, scheduled for February 3-6, 2023. If interested, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies
Reminder – As a barony, we are required to submit one KLE (kingdom-level event) bid per year, so we should start looking at something to bid on for 2023. Available bids for 2023 are the following – if you are interested in submitting a bid on any of these, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies:
Less than 6 months out, so bids are encouraged ASAP:
- Meridian Challenge of Arms (24-26 February 2023)
- Events 6-12 months out:
- Spring Coronation (31 March – 2 April 2023)
- Spring Crown/A&S (“Artsy Crown,” 26-29 May 2023, Memorial Day weekend)
- RUM (14-16 July)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Still looking for a deputy. If you’d like to try out Heraldic stuff Castle Wars is coming. We will need lots of voices!

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

Red tower was good, we had three tournaments.
Two new fighters got authorized at Red Tower
This weekend there will be heavy practice
The next weekend we will need someone to step in as I will be at War of the Wings
I appreciate all the help people gave at Red Tower.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

Castle Wars!
- Plans are underway for a Friday night fundraiser tourney and melee games on Saturday
- The re-boot of our castle is underway.
Practices continue, Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. This leads to…
- My work is increasing again for the fall season. I’ll need help making sure that our official SCA practices have adequate marshaling and gear management. Please contact me if you are willing and able to help cover when my slack butt can’t be there.
- I am currently expecting to be traveling almost constantly from this coming Monday until Castle War.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

No official practice was held due to Red Tower
The new Baronial Archery Champion is Lord Ælfric Hort
The next official practice will be held on Sunday 10/23.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

Our Current bank balance is $9,617.52
We have moved to a new storage location… literally a few units down from our old one, but the cost is $407 instead of $583, so we will be saving a substantial amount. Thanks so much to His Excellency Wistric for securing that for us, and to everyone who was able to help move everything. Thanks to Mark Baron for allowing us to have the previous unit- the old unit is closed and everything is transferred.
The financial planning committee will be meeting on November 6th to discuss the 2023 budget and there will be a baronial vote on December 7th. Officers, please submit your 2023 budget before then, and also everyone who may have suggestions or requests for baronial purchases, let me or any of the officers know and we will be sure to discuss it in the November meeting.
I want to look into adding a cash advance request form to our current baronial financial paperwork to keep things tidy
Next barony meeting, I would like to have a quick review with everyone about budgets and how they function in correspondence with bids and the reimbursement process.
Castle Wars SCArs application is in- thanks for your patience as these applications go through for preregistration, they go through a lot of hands to help make things smooth, and you will be able to pre-register soon. If you don’t want to wait, you can mail a check to the barony PO box listed on the event flyer with your reservation names and contact information as well as membership numbers and expirations.
Red Tower #s
- Profit: 620.97
- 172 in attendance
- Including 28 newcomers and 18 children

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco)

We have stuff and it moved!
We have new inventory sheets printed and ready for Castle Wars.
The measuring wheel is missing from the inventory. If anyone knows where it may be, please let me know. We may need to think about replacement.

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

So we have newcomers!
At Red Tower, I met Claire Metzler who had previously contacted us over email. Although I had to run back to the kitchen, I left Claire and her boyfriend in the hands of Duchess Gwen. I caught up with them again recently and (good news!) they both had such a blast that they’ve got Castle Wars on their calendar.
Potentially, we’ll see more of Claire and her boyfriend at our weekly meetings once she’s finished up her midterm exams.
Additionally, our newcomers are taking on some pretty exciting roles in our community!
First, I want to tell you about Lola Eichler’s interest in archery and in teaching. These are two things I’ve always seen her closely associated with, so it was really cool to see her sign up to teach about Mongolian-style archery at Red Tower! Unfortunately, I was in the kitchen all day and Lola had to leave before I could catch up with her. From what I understand, the class went really well and she’s absolutely interested in doing it again sometime!
Also, Maryam al-Jawhariyya (MKA Katie Earles) stepped in at the 11th hour to serve up breakfast at Red Tower featuring a stellar bread pudding. And then she was insanely helpful for the rest of the day while I stumbled through my first feast. I can only keep so many plates spinning in the kitchen at once, but she was right there ready for anything I threw at her. Also, she gave me a preview of her historic gemology class on the drive to Red Tower, so y’all are in for a treat when that rolls around.
I think Lex technically lives in Bryn Madoc, but we can take credit for her as long as she continues gracing us with her awesomeness! As Lady Una pointed out, Lex put together a program on Chinese culture for the children’s track at Red Tower. Also, she was behind the Chinese Lion Dance performance at Coronation. She and Brecht performed as the Lion with Tryggvi accompanying on percussion.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Nothing is currently scheduled. Still waiting for a few groups to get back to me. Will update the Barony when that happens.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

Currently not a huge amount going on in my area. Many thanks to Tami and anyone else who helps schedule classes! Y’all ROCK!
Gearing up for the first Baroness’s Challenge A&S competition that will be held at Castle Wars. I’ll be reposting my original FB posts about it as well as schilling it up in other posts. I’m really hoping some folks from the Barony will enter.
As always please remember to post your A&S work on our Baronial spreadsheet. Those entries help show how talented our Barony populace really is.

Provost (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

This month’s schedule looks like:
- Tonight (10/5): virtual business meeting
- 10/12: virtual – Theodosia Colloquia
- 10/19: in-person: Scribal Night
- 10/26: In-person Halloween potluck?
We are looking for classes for Castle Wars. Please look for the sign up.

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

Exciting news! The Read Tower will be back for the 4th quarter of this year. Please consider writing an article, even if it’s only a paragraph. Your contributions really do help. If If you have something longer, I would love that as well. It can be as simple as your most recent event experience, or your favorite memory.

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

Made castle war event page and we still got social media!

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

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

Updated seneschal to Raven
Updated km to Eirikr
Updated chatelaine to Ogata
Updated RT page
Updated Castle Wars Page

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

Red Tower went great and a shoutout to Lex for putting it all together even though she couldn’t be there. She’s a newcomer and didn’t have to jump in this hard, but she has and it has been wonderful to have her help.

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

Send in award recommendations!
We now have 1500 baronial business cards printed and ready for you to distribute to members of the unsuspecting public! Come get some at in-person activities and spread them far and wide
Thank you to everyone who made Red Tower awesome. We heard “It’s like the good old days” and “it’s like the SCA is finally back” from so many people and that is a result of the deeds of the people in the barony. Congratulations to our new champions! Heavy – Mairghread Wilson; Rapier – Piers Simmons; Archery – AElfric Hort
We were thrilled to see the new populace award given out at feast at Red Tower. Thank you to everybody who participated in the nomination and voting process. Thank you to Raven, Iazzie, and Mairghread for deciphering the vote results. Thank you to Sabine and Red for making the beautiful regalia. Thank you to everybody who participated in the ceremony at feast – it was magical.
We’ll be going to Danelaw in style – day shades, banners, and all, to celebrate their Nextellencies of Bryn Madoc. We welcome you all to join us under the day shade and on a retainer shift throughout the day.
The baronial succession policy is 11 years out of date and no longer reflects the actual polling process. A draft updated baronial succession policy will be posted to FB and the website for feedback from the populace – please take a minute to review and point out any issues you notice.
We are planning to host a baronial holiday party Saturday, December 17th at our house in Clarkston. Stay tuned for more details.
Send in award recommendations!

SCA Business

Red Tower
- Thank you to everyone that helped out. Thank you for being a fabulous team. We are back and solid. It was heartwarming to me when I was told it felt like the good ole days
- Do you have any comments? What worked? What didn’t?
- Tables and chairs for scribal. Cushions for troll would be greatly appreciated.
- If more people could help with set-up it would be greatly appreciated.
- The porta-potty company we had canceled on us two weeks before the event. One of the bathrooms was out of service, so the site covered 2 of the 4 were covered and didn’t have to come out of budget.
- We would need new walkie-talkies because the ones we had didn’t reach from the hall to the field.
- Maybe set up a paige program for the older youths to help with running things around the site (messages and such), and then another site runner for someone that could go off-site if needed.
- Moving more things to the field will help with folks who have a difficult time physically (or time constraints) for the walk back and forth.
- Having a quiet space in the hall was a good thing. The quiet space was awesome. I didn’t think I’d want it until I wanted it, and it was much appreciated!
- I seem to remember we had an event once where there was a volunteer lottery at the end, where volunteer time earned you tickets to the lottery, and the prizes were donated by the populace. Something like that might avoid drama about comping some people and not others, paying out of SCA funds, etc.
Castle Wars
- Eirikr found bronze Roman Coins. We could give each person one when they troll in. That way as people move through time, they start in Rome.
- Our feast is built that way as well. https://www.facebook.com/events/832349081259578/permalink/847750956386057
- We are looking for a few people to volunteer as well.
  - Nasty-crat
  - We need someone to do a fundraiser lunch. If you know anyone willing, please send them to Piers.
- Piers did talk to SCARs deputy. We are just waiting on the Kingdom to approve it.
- We can actually be on site the Wednesday before (the 16th). I would like to do the set-up as early as possible on Thursday.
- More than likely, we will be getting things out of storage on Wednesday.
Zimon
- I had asked about doing a silent auction fundraiser. It would be for the MoB for tournament prizes and to put money back in our coffers. We wanted to have a memorial shield tree for fighters that are no longer with us. I’m gathering stuff for the auction so if you have anything you would like to donate, please let me know. I’m going to start in the next week or so to put something together.
Raven
- I will post the screenshot about Gulf Wars and post it on the baronial site. The great news is that we will have Gulf Wars at the site in the years coming!

Non-SCA Business

Ælfric
- There is a medieval faire in Brazelton this weekend. I will post a link on the Baronial page.
Ogata
- Recently, Lola had some surgeries lately. She is strapped for cash. If you are able to help, please do so.

The business meeting was closed @ 2107

The next business meeting will be held on 02 November 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower

September Baronial Business Meeting

September 7, 2022 Chronicler

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

07 September2022, Time: 1931

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the September meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

Nikoslav has received the refunded deposit for our meeting site and is working on getting the check to Justina to deposit into the baronial account
I am still working on getting info about the art space site as a potential alternate A&S or project night site
The September meeting schedule has been posted to our FB group:
- Tonight – Baronial Business meeting (virtual)
- 9/14 – Project night (virtual)
- 9/21 – A&S night Building scrolls (virtual)
- 9/28 – Dance night (in person – yay!)
We are looking for bids for Midwinter A&S (Saturday, 2/4/2023). Please contact Their Excellencies or the seneschal if interested or if you have questions
As a Barony, we are required to submit a bid for one KLE each year. As of now, the following 2023 KLEs have not had any bids submitted:
- War College (1/27-29/2023)
- MCA (2/24-26/2023)
- Spring Coronation (3/31 – 4/2/2023)
- Artsy Crown (5/26-29/2023 – Memorial Day weekend)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Nothing to report.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

We won’t be having practice the weekend of Red Tower.
- Not planning on bringing loaner gear, but I will be bringing authorization paperwork.
I will be looking to see if there is interest in a substitute marshal the weekend of MGT, I know our 2 regular knights aren’t attending so one of them may fill in for me.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

Red Tower! Thanks to Baron Piers for taking on the Rapier Marshal position for RT, and thanks to Master Ximon for helping him out (I understand they are collaborating so both can participate.).
Castle Wars! Plans are underway for a Friday night fundraiser tourney as well as Saturday melee activities. WooHoo!
Practices continue, Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings, which leads to…
- My work is increasing again for the fall season. I’ll need help making sure that practices have adequate marshaling and gear management. Please contact me if you would like to help cover when my slack butt can’t be there.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

August practice changed locations due to the site hosts needing to prep for Dragon*con.
We held practice at my house in Lawrenceville; we held 2 archery classes, practiced with an atlatl, and recorded 2 TWICs.
Additionally, Roís O’Shannon completed the Reaper Challenge, shooting 100 arrows every day for 100 days.
Archery at Red Tower is looking like it’s a go.
Practice for this month may not happen, stay tuned!

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

Our bank account as of Sept is $6,761.64
Storage has been paid for September but they are raising the price again so next month it is a $583 payment, which is $117 more than last month, making our cost difference from the beginning of the year up by $234 per month.
We now have a PO Box:
- P.O. Box 681863
- Marietta, GA 30068
So moving forward, mailed-in reservations or necessary public addresses can go through there. I’ll be checking it on Fridays

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco)

Nothing to report.

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

I would like to give a shout-out to our lovely scribes and calligraphers who helped make the August scribal night happen. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there in person, but I’m really happy that our newcomers had a chance to deepen their connection to the scribal arts
So, thank you immensely to…Sunneva, Aelia, Myeong Su Daegam, Lorenzo, and Emelina
Y’all rock!

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

Nothing new currently.
Waiting on a response from AWA to confirm our table still.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

Not much to report this month.
I wanted to thank everyone for filling in the Baronial A&S tracking spreadsheet or sending me the info when the sheet does not behave.
We’re finishing up the details for the first Baroness’s Challenge to be announced at Red Tower and run for the first time at Castle Wars. After it’s announced in Court, I’ll post all the details to the FB page.

Provost (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

Class this month will be virtual on September 21st at 8:00 PM. It will be Building Scrolls with Hlāford Bran Mydwynter from Atlantia.
Class for October will be a Theodosia Colloquia (Ted Talk) hosted by La Magnifica Justina Di Silvestri. Come out and share your knowledge!
Red Tower Notes:
- The overall schedule is being finalized and will be published soon. We’ve got a lot of great classes, so I hope everyone is excited! Thanks to Lord Aelfric for organizing the classes for Red Tower.
- Still looking for some spots to fill for various jobs for Red Tower, so if you’re interested, please let me or Isabella know!

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

May have a new deputy, woohoo!
Nothing else to report.

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

Business as usual with Social Media. We have social media, we gain a few friends and got some engagement on posts!
For those who love the numbers:
- Facebook page reached 831 people and 503 engagements. 12 new followers
- The Facebook group got 2 new members
- Instagram gained 27 new followers. A lovely boost from our demo at the lag and shout-out on their IG.
- Twitter remains the same.

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

Nothing to report for this month except in that in a month or two when the kingdom office changes over, he will not be able to continue his role. I will be stepping into his role. This means that Lily will be stepping up as the Baronial DEI officer. We’ll make an official announcement when the change happens.
Will be looking into quiet space for Red Tower.
Lord Red is teaching a DEI class at Red Tower.

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

Nothing to report.

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

The schedule for Red Tower 2022 has been decided. Myndee (Deputy MoC) and Lex (our guest teacher) are going to be helping me all day.
The classes are going to be:
- Morning: The Story of the Moon Festival and Intro to Chinese Characters and Basic Paper Lanterns – Pretty and Practical
- Afternoon: Lion Dance Intro: The Magic of Luck, Lore, and Noise and Knot So Lucky – Intro to Chinese knots
We’ve already started purchasing supplies and will send receipts to Justina as soon as we have them all.

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

I don’t have a huge amount of stuff to report. We’ve been busy preparing for Red Tower.
Wistric will be joining later, he’s catching up on work.
The Order of the Swift’s Heart. Please fill out your ballot. Remember this is a work in progress. We appreciate the enthusiasm.
- The very first medallion is being worked, it will be very beautiful!
Veronica is our new Baronial Scroll Boss. YAY! I know she’s going to do an amazing job!
We are so excited about Red Tower. We’re working hard to keep up with all of you planning this. We need retainers, a link will go out soon.
We might need a helping hand with Carver during court. We would be willing to pay for a camp sitter!
The person doing the class this class is my apprentice brother! The most recent scroll he created was a bronze age mirror for someone with that persona and a bass scroll. It was quite cool.
Keep on being awesome!

SCA Business

Master Mathias
- For those who remember Wulfstan and Thorkatla’s reign, there were two scoundrels that acted up during their reign. We are looking for people. Please let me know if you are interested in helping out.
Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki
- Vices & Virtue
  - Mistress Veronica was inducted into the Order of the Bough.
  - Lola authorized for rapier
  - Captian Pietro won the Patience & Wrath sword and dagger tournament.
Red Tower Notes:
- Daegam Soong Myeong-Su
  - The overall schedule is being finalized and will be published soon. We’ve got a lot of great classes, so I hope everyone is excited! Thanks to Lord Aelfric for organizing the classes for Red Tower.
  - Still looking for some spots to fill for various jobs for Red Tower, so if you’re interested, please let me or Isabella know!
  - Feastcrat is looking for servers
  - We are still looking for help with Royal Lunch.
  - We need help with setting up and tear down.
  - I will talk to Margavati about the quiet space
  - If you pre-reg you get a cabin! It’s cabins only, no camping.
  - We have a port-a-potty company
  - Shout out to Mirghred for the traveler’s fare. Shout out to Ogata for the feast. Owl’s Nest will be doing a fundraiser lunch.
Castle Wars
- Baron Piers Simmons
  - We need a pottycrat
  - Our pre-reg will be open soon
  - The roses have contacted me and they would like to do a fundraiser Friday Night Fight. It’s a single-elimination event. With your donation for Breast Cancer, you get a second life.
  - If you have questions, let me know.
- Seong Myeong Su – Will there be encampments?
  - Yes. We are trying to use a similar map as we did last time.
Seong Myeong Su – I made Their Majesties Trimeris coronation garb.

Non-SCA Business

None

The business meeting was closed @ 2011

The next business meeting will be held on 05 October 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower

August Baronial Business Meeting

August 3, 2022 Chronicler

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

03 August 2022, Time: 19

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Lady Bú called the August meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

In-person meeting space has been secured through the end of November (available dates in December run up against the end-of-year holidays, so we didn’t reserve any dates in December (yet). Stay tuned as we announce the upcoming monthly schedules.
- The original security deposit for our meeting space is being returned to Nik as he is no longer seneschal. We should have that back in the next 2-4 weeks. We paid a new security deposit when I set myself up as the new contact with Parks & Recreation.
- Looking into using the art space next door for potential project night or A&S classes, in addition to our regular meeting space
We are looking for bids for Midwinter A&S (Saturday, 4 February 2023). Note: kingdom calendar has the entire weekend reserved for Midwinter, in case a bid wanted to propose a weekend event.
Outstanding Kingdom Level Events in 2023 that need bids
- War College (Jan 27 – 29)
- MCA (Feb 24-26)
- Spring Coronation (March 31 – April 2)
- Artsy Crown (Memorial Day Weekend)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)

It’s that time to tell me any heraldry stuff you’ve been up to. May, June, and July are covered in this report! Thank you to everyone who has been in touch so far!

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

There will be practice this weekend.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

His Excellency & I have discussed making Tuesday evening practices “official” again starting in August. The website still shows it on the practice schedule, so all that would be left is to start posting about it and making sure that the appropriate marshals are on hand. We’re pretty much ramped up for it on the rapier side of things, and in unofficial get-togethers, we’ve learned some things and developed some questions.
- The park added electrical service along the side of the field, and we’ve been able to put our own lighting in for safe visibility. Expanding the light kit is not difficult if we need a bigger space.
- The park doesn’t simply close at 9 pm anymore (We always thought it did). We aren’t limited to a 2-hour block.
- The plan is to begin (from the rapier side) on August 9 (I’ll be at Pennsic that week, but His Exc will marshal that evening)
- Is there interest in a Tuesday evening practice on the armored side? Do we have an available marshal?
Red Tower
- Odds are that I will not be available for Red Tower. Master Ximon will be our RMiC. Currently seeking a MoL.
Castle Wars
- I am planning to be the RMiC for CW. Plans are underway to hold a Rose Tourney on Friday evening (Rapier & Heavy). Further details to follow.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

Live weapons report (because I’m at Pennsic): practice was able to happen thanks to Ælfric and Roís. We had lots of people at practice. The next LW practice is scheduled for August 28th.
While wandering the merchants at Pennsic, I found a used atlatl set for a steal. So we will be able to add atlatl to Live Weapons practice!

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

Our bank account balance as of July 31, is $9,002.64
Expenses in July: $1,503.43
- Printing for RUM $37.43
- Deposit for Castle Wars $250
- Meeting space August-November $750
- August storage $466.00
RUM
- 101 Preregistrations (not counting 9 comped)
- 87 at the door
- 197 total (including comped)
- We still need to do the final paperwork with expenses, but my math is we have a total income of $1,874.84, and our share is $937.42
Requesting motion to baronial vote on a PO Box maintained by the exchequer for the Barony: est cost $212/yr
- Passed
Red Tower:
- Online reservation is in the works
- To secure a weekend spot, an online reservation is strongly encouraged

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco)

Nothing to report.

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

New wardrobes in Gold Key courtesy of Ælfric Hort and Sabine de Seint Clear
- Unisex medium Japanese
- Girls’ small tunics
- Women’s medium bodices
Our demo at the LAG in Underground Atlanta went beautifully! I can let Bu take point on her Demo Deputy report, and I want to drive home how much of an MVP she was through the whole thing

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

We had a great demo at LAG ATL. Looking forward to future demos at their events.
Currently looking for someone to take part in a demo at a school in January or February. More updates on upcoming demos soon!
- May be during the week (school day)

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

As always I want to remind everyone to please record A&S activities on our Baronial A&S Spreadsheet. You can find it by clicking the A&S tab (not the dropdowns, just the tab itself). This takes you to the A&S site for the Barony and has a couple of spots to click for the spreadsheet. I will be sending over an edit soon to the Webminister to update the page.
Now for the fun! Her Excellency and I are creating a new A&S competition to be held at Baronial events. It will be called “The Baroness’s Challenge”. We will be coming up with ideas for categories that tie into the theme of the event. I’m hoping it will spark some creative fun and of course, there will be prizes. The official announcement for the competitions will be announced at Red Tower with the first competition to be held at Castle Wars. I’m looking forward to seeing the different kinds of A&S projects the populace of Meridies brings to the competition.
Link to Baronial A&S Spreadsheet
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1s94DcR1QKZY9y4CS7KGp33k-AbJ42RfNivd0Xx1SQIM/edit#gid=2079058097

Provost (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

Virtual class night on August 24 will be on Honor with Baron Wistric.
Next month, the class will also be virtual on Thursday, Sept. 22 – Building Scrolls by Hlāford Bran Mydwynter from Atlantia.
Also, we’re currently seeking classes for Red Tower this year and will soon put out a call for classes at Castle Wars too. Come teach us cool things!

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

Still in need of a deputy. If you know anyone who may be interested, please direct them to me.

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

We have social media.
Created a couple of official events from our page: one for DEI meeting and one for the demo at the LAG.
We’ve gained 3 Instagram followers, and 7 new FB group members. We are started to inch our way to 1,000 in that group!

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

No DEI this month due to being booked up and Pennsic.
Next month will be about Feast accessibility or Middle Eastern Calligraphy

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

Created Castle Wars Website

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

Nothing to report

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

Thank you to everybody who helped make RUM a huge success! We’re looking forward to Red Tower next month and if you can contribute with setup or takedown for the event or a troll shift, please do so.
Drix, of Calontir Trim, has designed some custom trim for South Downs and is soliciting pre-orders. It is verrrrrah nice. (see pictures)
- He needs pre-orders of at least 300 yards to make it happen, and we are currently up to 225 yards of pre-orders. The price is $3/yd – or $2.50 if we get to 500 yards worth of pre-orders.
- There’s a post on the baronial Facebook group which I bumped (link is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/baronyofsouthdowns/posts/5114757841891368/ ) where you should go comment how many yards you’d like.
- Her Excellency and I have pre-ordered some for use as favors and/or to mark loaner garb (including belts), but the barony may want to order some as well.
We’re in need of new business cards to hand out at demos, fighter practices, and wherever else we may encounter potential recruits. I posted the designs for the new cards in the baronial fb group.
- The idea is to print 1,000 of general use, and 500 for officers.
- The current design is ready to go in VistaPrint, and will cost approximately $125 with shipping, handling, and taxes. I may be able to get the cards printed by Office Depot or Staples for as little as $80, I’m still looking into how good I can get them looking from those services. I’m requesting baronial approval to spend up to $130.
  - Passed
We have been gifted his collection of books from 30+ years. I will be bringing them to the in-person meeting on the 17th. They are free to a good home.
Swift’s Heart announcement:
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lLmPj8VESshpIcbsTRPRVqWJ-vDD37I3X9lYgVI3_VA/edit?usp=sharing
- Previous winners of either the Heart of South Downs or the Chivalry award are not eligible
- You will receive a ballot is you fill out the form. Please do not share this ballot with anyone else.
- The committee that will be assigned to this is purely to count the ballots and make the list.

SCA Business

Red Tower – Isabella & Myeong Su
- SCARs and Pre-reg should be up by the end of the week. If you want a cabin with your friends, everyone should pre-reg together so you can be grouped together.
  - No tent camping on site
- We are still looking for people to do foodstuff: breakfast, travelers fare, and royal luncheon.
- We need another List Master. If you are interested, please let me know.
- We will also need a field steward.
- We are still accepting prizes for the gift baskets. At court, you will have a chance to will cool prizes.
- We will also be having a silent auction. Please donate so we can raise funds for the baronial storage unit.
- We need more merchants for Red Tower.
Castle Wars – Piers
- We have a couple of jobs open: Dep Merchantcrat (great opportunity to learn something new) and we also need a Pottycrat.
- It will be called “Castle Wars: Battle Across Time”
- No breakfast or traveler’s fare, only feast
Scroll Boss – Aelia
- The baronial scroll cases are getting rather thin. If you would like to contribute, we would love to have you. If you have any questions, please let me know.
- The in-person event for the barony on August 17th will be a scriptorium. So please come out and play with paints!

Non-SCA Business

None

The business meeting was closed @ 2042

The next business meeting will be held on 08 September 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.