06 September 2023, Time: 7:32 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the September 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)

• Thanks to everyone who came out to last week’s 5th Wednesday social!
• Schedule for this month:
  • Next week (9/13) virtual TBD
  • 9/20 in-person DEIB Tourette Syndrome with Xander
  • 9/27 in person: Roman Workouts with Sumarliði
• Still looking for a new storage unit
• I will need to get the meeting site reservations set up in the next month or so. # of in-person meetings will depend on 1) interest and 2) budget. Would like to discuss further next month.
• Anyone going to MGT later this month, I would really appreciate getting photos as well as opinions of the event site. I am planning to go for a site visit in the next month or so to get a sense of suitability for which events we might host in the future.
• We need to start thinking about what KLE we might put in a bid for, as every barony is required to submit a bid for a KLE
• Midwinter A+S is coming, and we need bids! It is traditionally the first Saturday in February, but it’s currently not on the kingdom schedule.
• Red Tower is this weekend! More info later on in the meeting.
• Castle Wars is coming! More info later on in the meeting.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

• Nothing reported from Bu
• From Lorenzo
  •  working on name submissions and armory submissions
  • Awards at Pennsic: Majda got an Argent Slipper and Arnora got her Court Barony
  • If you want to help out with site or heraldry, please let Master Mathias know!

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

• We have been having practices that have been relatively well attended.  
• Completed a few authorizations at last week’s practice.  I will have authorization forms at Red Tower for those in need of authorization. I will not have loaner gear with me.
• There will be no practice on 10 September due to Red Tower and unless there is a marshall available on 1 October there will be no practice, this is the week of MGT and both my deputy and I will be fighting at MGT.  
• I also completed my youth sparring authorization so if THL Mairghread or another youth marshal is there we have multiple people that can fight with youth.

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.  Loaner gear is usually available, but it doesn’t hurt to check the “Atlanta SCA Fighting” group in advance.  Sometimes when I’m not available, the “stunt marshal” might not be able to bring it.
• This Sunday (9/10) we’ll still be cleaning up and returning from Red Tower.  Sorry, no rapier practice.
• 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.
• Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!
• This weekend, Red Tower!
• Castle Wars is coming up faster than you think.  Castle Wars requires a castle, which we happen to have.  However, it needs work.  If you are interested in helping beautify the castle, please contact me.  Some of the pieces are heavy, some of them need some minor carpentry, and all of them need some paint.  I’d like to arrange a couple of work days/weekends in my front yard.  Available times for me are Monday, 9/18-Friday, 9/29 or Saturday 10/7-17.
• Castle Wars schedule is currently expected to include the Meridian Order of the Blade Invitational tournament, as well as all the meleé we can pack in around it.  Stay tuned.
• HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

• The search for a new archery place continues, may start looking at schools or parks until we can find a new place
• Thrown weapons are still at Master Mathias’ house.
• Didn’t have practice last month, hoping to have one for September
• Around 17th of 24th for Sept. for live weapons practice
• Equipment is good, want to practice with more atlatls
• Live Weapons will be at Red Tower, Mara will be marshal at RT
• Teaching a Marshal class at 8 AM for setting up the range to get RUM credit

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

• We have $4292.28 in our account
• PO Box is up for renewal by the end of this month. Expense is $226, previously approved in the annual budget meeting. I will renew next week. 
• We are going to need to update the signatories on our account so I will discuss that process with the financial committee.
• Just made a deposit today of $155 for pre-reg checks for RT
• Paypal Use Request for CW is complete and should be available after RT. 
• Reminder that for the time being, all troll registration must be either pre-preg via Paypal or check, or with cash or check at the gate. We can’t accept cards at this time.
• It is a requirement that if you want to purchase a member discounted ticket, then you must present a current membership card. Even if you pre-register!! If you are not able to show proof of membership, then you will need to pay the $5 non member cost.
• Reminder for all event expenses, absolutely NO personal purchases may be on a receipt that you turn in for reimbursement. 
• Please check your budgets. If you are able, please consider separating purchases onto different categories. For example, if you are buying food and general supplies for the event, making those be on separate receipts is very very helpful and helps make paperwork easier.
• If you have any purchase or money questions or any questions in general about the Barony’s funds please reach out to me any time. 
• Please be patient at troll with the volunteers, sometimes the paperwork takes time on site.
• You can show a screenshot of your membership card or even the email as proof of purchase of your membership.
• If you haven’t received a card from Corporate and you don’t have one, email them and they will send you one for free.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco) 

• We still have stuff.
• We still need a new storage space.
• She still needs a deputy.

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

• Will be writing up an article about the recent High Museum visit with some newbies and possible recruitment
• Next up is the Viking exhibit at Fernbank Museum.
• Master Mathias will be there with mead for the Fernback After Dark, Friday Nov. 10th!
• Lady Ogata will be tied up with reservations and troll for Red Tower.
• We’ve got some newcomers preregistered over Discord and garb for people!
• Full report will be coming soon.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

• Nothing reported

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

• We’ve seen an explosion of A&S on our Discord server recently and it makes me super excited to see everything being shared. Lots of textile projects and garb, wood working, jewelry making and bone carving too. And Sara is even learning to write Hebrew! You all ROCK!!!
• And as a bonus, you’ve all been sharing your knowledge, research and resources. The sharing of knowledge is super important. You never know, someone may see something you’re doing or read a resource you post and become interested in a new thing. Keep sharing your work and your knowledge South Downs!!
• I’m also happy to announce that Maryam has accepted the position as our A&S Officer. I’ll be working with her over the next few months to bring her up to speed on all things A&S. Thank you Maryam!!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

• This past month we had 13 people show up for our monthly class night – Medieval Flavors with Mistress Christianna MacGrain.  
• September’s class night will be September 27 in person at the Doraville Civic Center.  Sumarliði will be teaching us about Roman Workouts.
• We also have 4 classes coming up at Red Tower this weekend.
• I currently have all Teaching spots filled for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year.  Now is a great time to be thinking ahead to Castle Wars, Midwinter A&S, as well as monthly classes for 2024.
• And on that note, I am going to start looking for a deputy Provost to begin helping me organize and promote A&S Class activities for the coming year.  Please get in touch with me on Facebook or Discord if you are interested in the position.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

• Working on September’s issue of The Read Tower right now, will add in the officer’s reports and business from this meeting to add in the newsletter and will hopefully have it posted by Friday this week.
• Goal is to get new bots for the Baronial and Kingdom calendars connected on the Discord and Baronial website before Castle Wars, won’t have time until after Red Tower this weekend.
• Looking into Mailchimp to see if we can use it to send out the newsletters via email to those who want to subscribe and stay updated.
• If you want to add events like Supper Club or gatherings to the South Downs Calendar, please feel free to reach out to me and we can get them added!
• Always looking to interview the populace for each issue, so please fill out this form to get included! Eventually I’d like to collect these into one PDF so we have a good collection of information about our members: https://forms.gle/MNxww3KUQJo2VsEG9
• Please submit photos, art, articles, shout-outs, or anything that you’ve found interesting and want to share! I’ll always be collecting stuff for the newsletters going forward. You can submit either through this form: https://forms.gle/8SyEF9D7c8rMCnZP6 or email me at chron.southdowns@meridies.org.

Social Media Minister  (THLady Agnes Halydaye) 

• Not much to report from social media presence; however we’ve had reasonably good interactions with Red Tower promotional posts. A notable part of that was that the Society page picked up our photo album for the Red Tower feast and that generated a lot of interest. Thanks to Lady Ysabel for taking the time to get all of those great photos during the feast test run!
• If you aren’t currently a Discord user, I encourage you to give it a shot because the Barony’s Discord server is lively and full of interesting content and discussion! South Downs server is essentially a collection of ongoing group chats, organized by topics such as A&S, upcoming events, cooking, garb, etc. As a relatively new Discord user myself, I can promise that the learning curve isn’t too bad and the payoff is well worth it.

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

• Thanks to Maryam for stepping into A&S and for teaching her class last month on LBGTQ People in the Medieval Middle East.
• For this month’s DEI class, which will be in person on the 20th of September, Xander will be teaching a class about Understanding Tourette Syndrome.

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

• Made updates to a couple of officer pages to reflect current officers/deputies and updated the Deputies needed page.  
• Made some minor updates for awards I know of for baronial members.  
• Created and made updates to the Red Tower 2023 webpage.  For future events and needed updates please email me those to the web.southdowns@meridies.org email.  This helps me keep track of what I haven’t done yet and also gives me a historical tracking.  I don’t want to forget about needed changes but if it is just through messenger I have a tendency to forget because it gets marked as read.
• I don’t think I have seen the flyer for Castle Wars yet to put up on the website.  The sooner it gets approved the sooner I can put it up.

Minister of Children (VACANT)

• Position is still open, if you are interested, please contact Lady Raven.

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

• Still here for the next three days!
• Thank you all, we look forward to seeing you at Red Tower. Thank you for the wonderful experience, as always.
• If you haven’t filled out your ballot for the Swift’s Heart nominations, please fill it out and send it back by midnight tonight, Sept. 6th.

SCA Business

• Red Tower

• Master Mathias

• • • • Capt. Brendan posted a list of things in the inventory, if you’re on staff and haven’t requested things from the storage unit, please let Capt. Brendan know
      • Will be driving a minivan to bring Live Weapons equipment
      • Friday, around 6:30PM, we will meeting at the storage unit in Doraville to pack for Red Tower. If you’re able to bring something down to the event, please come to the storage unit to help bring things down so we don’t have to rent a trailer.
      • Message Capt. Brendan on FB or rm.southdowns@meridies.org if you need something from the storage unit so that they can compile a list of things needed from the storage unit
      • Master Mathias is touching base with all of the staff to figure out what things would be needed
      • Still need a herald for Their Majesties for Kingdom Court at Red Tower
      • We don’t know if we’ll have Children’s Activities at RT due to positive COVID tests
      • 1PM is the earliest that the site will let us on, Master Mathias will try to be on site as early as possible
      • Still looking for someone to run the lists for the tournaments
      • For future note, certain positions on staff can get their site fees comped, but not parking or feast fees, so please keep that in mind.

• Castle Wars

• • Lady Hessa and THLady Ysabel
    • Site tokens have been ordered
    • Still looking for some positions to be filled, please let us know if you’re interested in helping
    • Still in need of a landcrat, which is most important thing so far, people to help with parking and bathroom patrol. Please volunteer even if people have volunteered already, we’re hoping to have teams to help rotate responsibilities
      • Master Mathias will take over for Landcrat for CW
    • Need to look for a merchantcrat
  • Capt. Brendan
    • The castle for Castle Wars needs some work, currently at Capt. Brendan and Lady Raven’s house.
    • Will need some work days/weekends at their house to work on the walls
    • Brendan may be out of town on days that work will need to be done on the walls
      • He is free between Sept. 18-29 and Oct. 7-17
      • Current plan is for Saturday, Oct. 7th.
    • May need to look into purchasing another measuring wheel
  • La Magnifica Justina
    • Need to figure out how teams are going to work with people for the troll team at Castle Wars to make sure she can train people properly

• Supper Club – Lady Maryam
  • Alisandre is hosting again, late Oct. or early Nov.
  • Please let Lady Maryam know if you have any ideas for a theme
  • Once the date gets finalized, we’ll post it!

• La Magnifica Justina
  • Start thinking about 2024 budgets

• Seong Myeong Su
  • Lorenzo and I are going to start opening our house after Red Tower for craft nights on Thursdays

• Master Mathias
  • Come see the commedia show at Red Tower!

Non-SCA Business

• None reported

The business meeting was closed @ 8:55 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on October 4th, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

02 August 2023, Time: 7:32 PM EST

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

Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong called the 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)

• RUM has happened, Pennsic is coming, Red Tower is coming, Castle Wars is coming. Heading to a very busy fall!
• Officer positions are filling up, Thanks to Lord Eirikir and Baron Piers for setting up emails for officers, everyone should be set up with emails currently.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

• Magister Lorenzo: Been doing some consultations but nothing was submitted yet
• Awards in South Downs at RUM: THLady Majda and THLady Alisandre – Red Raven, Baroness Laurettia – Kestral’s Talon, Lady Ogata – Baronial Award of Excellence, Valentina, Sumarlidi, and Karimatu the Wanderer – Award of Arms, Lady Ysabel – Meridian Cross, Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong – Court Barony.

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

• THLady Mairghread: KM is at Pennsic, but we will still be having heavy practice for the next couple weeks, so come on out!

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.  Loaner gear is usually available, but it doesn’t hurt to check the “Atlanta SCA Fighting” group in advance.  Sometimes when I’m not available, the “stunt marshal” might not be able to bring it.
• This Sunday (8/6) and next Sunday (8/13), I will be attending the Pennsic War.  Our cadre of “stunt marshals” has been alerted, so practices will probably happen anyway.  Again, keep an eye on the FB group.
• 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.  Athens School of Arms
• 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.
• Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!
• Congrats to Conor Sofia on basic authorization, just in time for Pennsic!
• Saturday, 8/26, there’s a Regional Fighter Practice at Fort Yargo State Park (https://fb.me/e/UiwfE6dO) and an InterKingdom BIRTHDAY BASH/fighter practice at Laurel Grove (https://fb.me/e/cuGfHkmfs). Both events promise to be awesome, simultaneously high activity (if you want) and low pressure.
• Red Tower and Castle Wars are coming.  Look for more details of martial goings-on after your marshals return from Pennsic.  I would absolutely adore having another marshal to split and/or delegate duties to.
• HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

• We had thrown weapons practice, we had someone qualify for the Meridian Order of Weapons Master – Enzio Galente.
• Date for the next Live Weapons session is TBD, potentially August 27th.

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

• $4432 in accounts
• RUM numbers $1385 – gross from day-of Troll, total $1465 from paypal pre-reg , minus the paypal fee – $80. We have to split with Kingdom, so our total profit is $1385.16, minus $50 for the non-member fee, which we’re also splitting with Kingdom.
• 282 total attendees, adult members –  255, adult non-members – 20, children – 7.
• RUM: $150 budgeted for printing, but the total cost was over by $54. Total overall budget for the event was under the proposed event budget of $300, though. 
• Vote brought up to approve overage, motion by Baron Piers and second by THLady Mairghead, vote passed and was approved.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco) 

• We have stuff!
• Looking for a new storage space
• Still looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

• I have more information on a demo opportunity on September 16th, it is the Haralson County Annual Fried Pie Festival in Buchanan GA!
• The festival goes from 9am to 4pm in downtown Buchanan. Please get in touch with myself or my demo deputy Lady Bu Feiyan if you’re interested in participating!
• We also have a museum outing in the works, we’ll be checking out the High Museum’s exhibit on historic samurai armor and accoutrements! We are using a doodle survey to check off which days we are available. If you are interested in attending, be sure to check out the baronial discord server for that doodle link. I’ve personally been to the exhibit 3 times already and I am so hype for a 4th! I’ve also been advertising this to my friends outside of the SCA, so this is a great time to enjoy historic topics with some new faces.
• I’d also like to give a big thank you to Sara Wandrawnyzcka for her gold key donation last month

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

• Nothing reported, but potential demos covered by Lady Ogata

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

• From the A&S side of things there’s nothing to report this month other than I still need a deputy.
• The report is quarterly, through Google sheets and forms. Quick and easy, please contact me or Lady Raven if you’re interested in this officer position!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

• This past month we had a good turnout for our monthly class night – History of Comedy with Master Mathias Blackett.  August’s class night will be August 23 via Zoom.  Mistress Christianna MacGrain will be back with us teaching “Medieval Flavors”
• I currently have all Teaching spots filled for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year.  In the next week or so, I will be putting out the teacher sign up for Red Tower.  We will also need teachers for Castle Wars later in November, 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)

• The July issue of The Read Tower has been posted!
• The August issue will be posted by the end of the week, but may be shorter than the July issue.
• That said, I’m going to be collecting interviews from members of the populace for each issue, so please fill out this form to get included! Eventually I’d like to collect these into one PDF so we have a good collection of information about our members: https://forms.gle/MNxww3KUQJo2VsEG9
• Please submit photos, art, articles, shout-outs, or anything that you’ve found interesting and want to share! I’ll always be collecting stuff for the newsletters going forward. You can submit either through this form: https://forms.gle/8SyEF9D7c8rMCnZP6 or email me at chron.southdowns@meridies.org.
• If you’re going to Pennsic this year, please grab some photos for me and let me know what your favorite memory is from this Pennsic. I want to do a post-Pennsic “South Downs: On the Road Again” section for the September newsletter.
• Baronial calendar will get integrated and posted/linked once I get back from Pennsic.

Social Media Minister  (THLady Agnes Halydaye) 

• Nothing reported, but ramping up Red Tower social media.

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

• On DEIB this month, still looking for teachers for a class on intercultural connectivity in period, specifically the Silk Road.
• I’d like to thank my teachers from last month, Dorian, Alawyn, Sumarlidi, for the fantastic class on Quiet Spaces!

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

• Nothing reported

Minister of Children (Vacant)

• Position is open, please talk to Lady Raven or Lady Una with any questions or if you’re interested
• A background check is required for the position

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

• This is our penultimate meeting with everyone! We’re going to Pennsic on Friday.
• We really appreciate how the barony held together for the past three years during the pandemic and during our tenure.
• Thanks to Myeong Su and the RUM crew for a great event. Congratulations to everyone who was recognized at RUM and we’ll see you at Pennsic or Red Tower!

SCA Business

• RUM:
  • Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong:
    • Thanks again to everyone who helped with RUM! If you’d like to run RUM or have any questions, please feel free to contact to me at seongmyeongsu.sca@gmail.com

• Castle Wars Bid:
  • Ysabel and Hessa have revised the bid for Castle Wars from before, revised budgets look good.
  • If anyone is interested in learning how to run an event, please contact Lady Hessa or Lady Ysabel so you can shadow and learn
  • Paypal fee line may be off on the spreadsheet, will check and edit
  • Macintosh may not require additional insurance, will check contract to confirm
  • Lady Hessa has talked to Ellawin about Equestrian
  • General budget may be used to cover emergency expenses, like ant killer, etc.
  • Mairghread made a motion to approve the budget, La Magnifica Justina seconded the motion.
  • Bid has been approved.
  • PDF of the bid will be passed around to the Financial Committee for signatures.
  • La Magnifica Justina made a motion to add $100 to the General Budget 

• Red Tower:
  • Baron Piers: 
    • Site visit on the 12th, if you want to go, let me know so we can coordinate timing. 
    • THLady Mairghread may go to have a deputy marshal look at the field.
  • Lady Raven: 
    • Look at the parking situation for weekend parking. Check if they’ll allow for archery for the large field in the back.
    • Possibly look into using the field set up from Red Tower last year to see if we can set up the same way for this Red Tower.
  • Master Mathias: 
    • Magistra Mara will be taking over as live weapons marshal since Conor couldn’t get the weekend off.
    • Site tokens: get with Mathias to see if we have site tokens already
    • Quote 200 site tokens in just materials for fingerloop from Luke, $100 was budgeted for site tokens.

• DragonCon:
  • Not doing anything for DragonCon as the Barony for the parade or demo table.
  • Lord Ælfric remembers someone mentioning a change for an onstage demo at DragonCon for 15 mins, may need to look into if there’s a post for that for more information.

• Pennsic Meridian Hafla:
  • Acharya Margavati: If you’re going to Pennsic, Meridies is hosting a hafla on Tuesday night by the request of Her Majesty. If you’re available from 7pm-9pm on Tuesday to help setup or come afterwards to help cleanup, or want to volunteer for checking IDs, we’d love to have you, Meridian Royal Camp is in block N03. You’ll get free food (before everyone else!)
  • Party starts at 9pm, if you come before 8 to help direct traffic, it would be appreciated.

Non-SCA Business

• None reported.

The business meeting was closed @ 8:25 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on September 6th, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

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.

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.

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.