Meeting Minutes

September Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

7 September 2016, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

 

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

Lord Bjorn called the meeting to order.

 

Officer Reports

  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Was informed by Kingdom Chronicler that I need a warrant – His Excellency suggested we discuss sthis further after the meeting.
  • Armored Marshal (Lord Robert Throckmorton)
    • We had 12 armored fighters at the most recent Sunday practice
    • Looking at adding a Tuesday evening practice at Blackburn to the practice schedule
    • Seeking an Minister/Mistress of the Lyst for Red Tower; Mistress Margala is potentially available, would like to have at least one more MoL as well
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Also seeking MoL for Red Tower – talk to Brendan if interested
    • Janet came by Tuesday evening wanting to learn armored fighting
  • Webminister (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • We have a website!
    • We now have a hardworking deputy Webminister, Lord Pietro! yay!
  • Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri)
    • DragonCon rocked! Fan table rocked! We had a great response, several potential new recruits
  • Their Excellencies
    • Nothing to report
  • Herald (Lord Bjorn Gullharr)
    • Nothing to report
  • Arts & Sciences (Lady Veronica da Lucca)
    • This month’s 4th Wednesday class will be on how to troll an event, and will be taught by THL Maire. This will be just in time for Red Tower!
  • Reeve (THL Maire Dhocair Inghean Chairain)

    • If you wish to give her money for Red Tower, she’ll be happy to take it
  • Seneschal (THL Mathias Blackett)
    • Nothing to report

 

Recent Events

  • DragonCon (1-5 September 2016)
    • New idea from the demo/fan table – we should come up with a dedicated demo box that belongs to the Barony, so we don’t have to clear the table when we need the displayed items for other purposes:
      • A second banner
      • several samples of high-quality work to show off the range of skills we have (and new people can learn/aspire to)
      • Smaller, active demos in front of the fan table could be a good draw – big enough to draw attention, small enough to not block the table or passers-by
      • Posters mounted on foamcore to place in front of the table or hang behind it
      • Projector/laptop to project videos (example: the Scottish Highland dance group’s presentation)
    • We could use more marshals during the parade to help monitor fighters and crowds

 

Upcoming Events

  • Demo at Darlington School (Rome GA) (21 October 2016)
    • Matthias was contacted about having us take part in a demo at the Darlington School, in conjunction with the Rome Shakespeare Festival. They’re particularly interested in anything late period
    • Event/demo is on a Friday morning, so anyone who can come out to help would be appreciated. Contact Matthias if interested.
  • Red Tower (30 September – 2 October 2016)
    • Matthias contacted Siegfried in Bryn Madoc about possibly helping out with site heralding, as we still need someone. Is waiting for a respsonse.
    • Fundraiser lunch will be offered out to non-South Downs groups:
      • The Welcome Home group was suggested (Dalla Dyrfinna)? Matthias will reach out to Dalla
      • House Excelsior is already planning to do a fundraiser, so they probably won’t be interested
    • Feastcrat – the current iteration of the feast has been posted on the Facebook event page
    • Classes @ Red Tower – 16 class slots available in the schedule, 8 have been taken; if you’re interested in teaching a class, please contact Veronica. She will be posting the schedule soon.
    • Travelers’ fare – Maire will be taking care of Travelers’ fare Friday evening, and will cook enough to have leftovers available for Saturday breakfast.
    • Archery targets?
    • Tournaments at Red Tower (all with rapier and armored fighting):
      • Red Tower Tourney
      • Baroness’ prize
      • Third tourney – perhaps joint rapier and armored teams?
    • Pottycrat – Jürgen and a second person have volunteered – thanks!
    • Mistress Margala and Julianne will MoL the armored tourneys
    • Zerafina has volunteered to be the liaison for the Royal entourage
    • Mistress Allesandra has volunteered to be the Kid Wrangler
    • The Shire of Depedale will be loaning us a pavilion, and Master Geoffrey is loaning us benches (for feast?)
    • Should we have a handicapped gentle liaison? If not for Red Tower, then perhaps we should consider adding it to the list of volunteers for future events
    • We will be reusing site tokens from previous events for Red Tower
    • Still need volunteers for to coordinate waterbearing, as well as a merchantcrat
  • Castle Wars (17 – 20 November 2016)
    • Planning moves apace
    • Pietro is working on a temporary website
    • Still need someone to organize revel
    • Ideas for site tokens:
      • Possible leftovers from Red Tower?
      • Master Ximon suggested buying tokens in bulk from Chinese online vendors
      • Sir Iazzie suggested along the same line, buying old Russian coins in bulk would be both gentle on the budget and consistent with the event theme
    • We have reservations!
    • Maddie will be feastcrat
    • Veronica announced that she needs people to teach classes! Contact her if interested
    • There is a Facebook group for Artisans’ Row vendors
  • Midwinter A&S (3 – 5 February 2017)
    • Lady Allesandre has submitted a bid – MWA&S to be held at University of West Georgia (where RUM and last year’s MWA&S were held). Bid passed financial committee (yay!)
    • HRH Bart has asked Sir Tim to host a College of War the same weekend as Midwinter A&S, in Alabama (Montgomery?). This will be within the 200-mile radius for events, but it should be OK
    • If we focus our event on arts and sciences, could we do a long workshop option on Sunday, taking a specific class/topic more in-depth?

 

Other SCA Business

  • Based on previous reports from the Reeve, we have approximately $12,000 in the baronial bank account; how would we like to prioritize spending some of it?
    • Serving ware
    • Items for the demo box
    • Dedicated troll supplies set
    • It was suggested that we set up a survey to make recommendations in more detail. What do we need? How much would such an item cost? Survey will go on Facebook, baronial website, and the Yahoo! group.

 

Non-SCA Business

  • For those who attended DragonCon, your badge will get you a 50% discount at the Center for Puppetry Arts (through the end of September)

 
The business meeting was closed.

 

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 5 October 2016, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

–Raven