Curia Notes - 2017
01/17/2017
In Attendance: Sofonisba, Armond, Geoffrey, Dahrien, Beatrice, Arnbjorn, Rhys, Jean, Sibilla, Magnus, Asabella
Officer Reports:
Baron/Baroness: Yule Court was fun
Seneschal: Please review the by-laws (in January issue of Tower and online. There are open officer positions. There is a large banner still at Washington Cnty Fair Park to pick-up. Dahrien may swing by Friday to get it.
Chronicler: Submissions for the February Tower are due Monday, 1/23/17. Directories are available for $2 each
Webminister: Nothing new. Send suggestions for a new website layout to Sofonisba. Brought Brownies & Ice Cream for his and Her Excellency’s birthdays.
Minister of Arts & Sciences: People are doing things and no one has died
Knight’s Marshal: Practices continue, no deaths. During the last No Fee Practice (1/12/17) had fighters from Jara and Windhaven attend. Attendance from CAM fighters not as high as would be liked.
Archery Captain: Practice continues at Gander Mtn. CAM is participating in the Winter Shoot and any participate in the Society Seasonal Archery Challenge.
Rapier Captain: No report
Youth Combat: No report
Chatelaine: We have active new members. Position is open
Chancellor of the Exchequer: We have money. No one has been killed. Boar’s Head made more than $2200.00
Quartermaster: Baronial property is secure. Armond will send his report to Asabella.
Herald: No report
Old Business:
Baronial Coronets: The leather ones have been repaired by Akira. They look great. We are in the queue for getting the rest of the metal pieces for the metal coronets. Magnus confirmed that silver polish won’t harm the brass elements, but we should not use brass polish on the silver elements.
Theodore’s Medieval Academy for Novices & Demo (March 11 & March 8): Lining up teachers for March 11 and fighters for the March 8 demo
Chatelaine’s Office: There was one applicant, Kiana. Curia elected to appoint her as the next chatelaine, starting April 2017. Beatrice will be her deputy as Gold Key (keeper of the loaner garb)
Youth Combat Marshal: There was one applicant, Abelard die Elster. Curia elected to appoint him as the next YCM, starting April 2017.
Chancellor of the Exchequer: Asabella submitted a letter for a third year extension, which was approved. There were no other applicants. She is now actively looking for a training deputy to possibly succeed her by April 2018, if not sooner.
Fall Crown & Coronation: Walworth County Fairgrounds are not available in Sept or Oct 2017. Jefferson County Fairgrounds never responded. Waukesha County Expo and Washington County Fair Park will be too expensive for the usual size of the events. We will continue to look for sites for possible 2018 bids.
New Business:
Herald Position: Needs to step down before term is up, will stay in office until replacement found. Letters of Intent are due by February Curia
Using the fighter site: There were a couple of Facebook discussions on possibly converting the second Thursday No fee practices at Redeemer Lutheran, that are privately sponsored, into a monthly moot, sponsored by the barony. There is a lounge area adjacent to the main hall, that could also be rented for $25 per hour ($75 for a similar 3 hour block as fighter practice) for non-fighting activities and for those who find the sound volume in the main hall uncomfortable. The discussion then expanded to options for general gatherings, that did not take away from fighting time, rotating between Waukesha & Milwaukee Counties, possibly Brandybrook Manor in the west and UWM and other locations in the east. The decision was made to plan for a gathering at UWM in April, which would be a good follow-up after the March demo & event. It was further decided that students with ID could attend fighter practice without requiring the $5 fee. Donations of course are welcome.
Guilds and Groups:
C&I Guild: in discussions regarding a viewing at Marquette University for Italian manuscripts
All other groups & guilds are continuing, no updates
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2/21/17
In Attendance: Abelard, Asabella, Magnus, Beatrice, Adriana, Sofonisba, Geoffrey, Armond, Deonysia, Arnbjorn, Dahrien, Sibllia
Officer Reports:
Baron/Baroness: Words of wisdom: More people would be nicer with more words to speak. Did you read the Tower this month? Go out and look at websites - not just SCA websites - and look at things you particularly like. Send them back to the Baron and Baroness. The officer's list exists, and should be used for actual business; if things get heated, the moderators will shut the conversation down.
Seneschal: Some officer's names are out of date on the website. Webminister will update.
Chronicler: Articles due Friday, February 24th (or as soon as possible after that). Milwaukee Art Museum has a nice medieval display, which inspired a new feature in the Tower: Photos and articles of medieval treasures that people have seen. Please submit those. Read the Tower!
Webminister: Please look at websites and report back to the Baron and Baroness about sites you like.
Minister of Arts and Sciences: People are doing things and stuff. Please let Sibillia know what you've been working on so she can add it to her report. Event on Friday at Duchess Sigrid's. Nobody has died as far as I know.
Knights Marshal: No deaths to report. Two new people, and seven regular fighters at practice.
Archery: Practice continues on Mondays. Participating in the Seasonal Society Archery competition. Currently 10% of the worldwide submissions are from Northshield, and Rhys is #1 and William # 2 for Northshield in the Winter SSAC.
Rapier: Still having practice.
Thrown Weapons: Yes, we have targets, target stands, and things to throw at them. Don't know when this will start up again, but Arnbjorn is an MIT.
Youth Combat: Abelard will step up in April. Currently working on loaner gear and some possible rule changes.
Chatelaine: Three new students this term. Students gearing up for Theodore's. No deaths that I know of. Putting together office information for the changeover in April.
Exchequer: We have a refund from Boar's Head we need to deal with. Need to check with regional Exchequer to find out exactly how to handle it. Just in case, the Curia made a motion to approve the reimbursement, voted, and passed. SCA policy has changed, and bank statements now need to go to the group Seneschal first (who would then send it on to the Exchequer). To comply, we will switch to using online statements. Logins will be given to the Exchequer, Seneschal, Kingdom Seneschal, and signatories. We will be able to log in, check statements and print them, and that's it. We will use the new seneschal and exchequer email addresses for this.
Quartermaster: Haven't opened the doors since Boar's Head. Still need to get stuff from Albrecht.
Herald: Heraldically the Barony is in good shape. The deputy has been meeting with folks to discuss name and arms submissions.
Old Business:
Theodore's Medieval Academy for Novices: March 11 at UWM. There is a website, on which the schedule will be posted once it's ready. There will be a court, and Their Excellencies would like award recommendations. There's a Facebook event for it. There's also a demo on March 8, which is mostly being organized on Facebook.
Herald's Position is Open: One letter of intent was received (from Beatrice). A motion was made to shorten the process. Voted, and passed. Question: Can you handle the office? Answer: Yes. The Curia voted and approved Beatrice as new Herald. She will step down from the position of Chatelaine immediately, and will continue to house the Gold Key.
Border Skirmish: We've received the information required to post the event on the Northshield website and Northwatch. (Note: It was posted shortly after the end of the meeting.) No equestrian this year. Feast is the same as last year. Still have open jobs: Armored MIC, A&S. There will be a planning meeting.
April Moot: At the planning meeting Cecilia volunteered to be in charge of a moot in April. Need to check with her to see if she's still able to do that, otherwise the UWM students have an alternate plan.
New Business:
Bylaws Meeting: After some discussion, we decided to have the meeting March 11, 7-9 PM, UWM. (After Theodore's.) We will have a call-in conference number.
Boar's Head 2017: We mailed a check and a contract to reserve our dates. Bids are due by March Curia.
Get-together at Duchess Sigrid's: Her Grace is hosting a party of sorts at her house on Friday night, 2/24. (It's also Sibillia's birthday that day.)
Coronets: The silver will arrive soon.
For future calendar events, note: Event Information Officer won't let us put TBD in various fields, but we can say 'Subject to change'. Just remember to update everything (Facebook, Northshield website, actual website) when actual information is available.
Domain Renewal for Website: Dahrien renewed for three years. We have the option of renewing for an additional seven years. which will lock in the price. $14.99 per year (currently). Dahrien will find out if the registrar does an actual ten year registration, or if they renew yearly; there is a fear that the company might go out of business before 10 years, and if they're renewing the DNS every year we might lose the money and domain name. A motion was made to pay $104.93 plus tax pending the answer to that question. Webminister will do the legwork and get reimbursed if needed.
Guilds and Groups:
Dance: Meeting on the third Wednesday and second Thursday each month.
Scribal: Meeting the first Wednesday each month.
Clothiers: Will schedule something.
Woodworking: Garage isn't ready yet.
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3/21/17
In Attendance: Abelard, Sigrid, Geoffrey, Rhys, Asabella, Arnbjorn, Sibillia, Beatrice, Dahrien, Armond, Sofonisba, Jean, Winifride (virtual)
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness: Words of wisdom: 42. Also, According to chemistry, alcohol is technically a solution. Alice's service is Saturday 3/25 at 1 PM, followed by a CAM post-revel/Irish Wake. We will open the five gallons of cyser.
Seneschal: We had a Bylaws Meeting, and it went well. We think it will make things smoother and more functional. We should have them posted by the end of the week. We'll vote on them at next Curia.
Chronicler: Submissions are due Monday, 3/27/17. Please send in memories, stories, and photos of Alice. Also, we have six directories left for sale.
Webminister: We still have a website. Tell the webminister if you have content to post. If anyone is interested in learning HTML, CSS, PHP, or the job overall, please get in touch. I'd be happy to teach. Geoffrey asked if we have a website/page hit counter. We used to, but don't have one actively running any more. If you want to, we can add it.
Minister of Arts and Sciences: Sewing project day on Sunday 3/26 at Beatrice's house, and Sunday 4/2 at UWM. Bring your sewing machines! Come and learn! Nobody has died from A&S projects, as far as we know.
Knight's Marshal: Nothing new to report. The March free practice night was lightly attended, possibly due to Gulf Wars. If people want loaner armor they should go to Randall's open shop night on Tuesday nights so they can look through all of the options and get things repaired or fitted if necessary. The Baron and Knights Marshal will inspect the loaner armor.
Archery: We continue to shoot pointy things at the targets designed to receive pointy things.
Rapier: No report, enjoys cyser. Potential new youth rapier fighter.
Youth: Will start working in earnest in April.
Chatelaine: All is well. New people are pitching in. And we got interest from the UWM demo!
Exchequer: See written report. Will follow up with Kingdom about the electronic statements.
Quartermaster: Will be at the locker in the next week to drop off some stuff. Also, Beatrice and Asabella both have boxes of stuff to hand off to QM.
Herald: Margaret Mellies ("Mysie") der Rosenwinkle has a new badge (a fire-breathing snail), now REGISTERED! Court report for Theodore's has been filed. Consulted on fixing the Baron's name and device. Other things are in the pipeline - ask her if you have questions or need help. The awards from the Barony have never been registered - can we fix that? Herald will look into it. It's certainly something we should do.
Old Business:
Border Skirmish: There is a website at http://www.ravenslake.org/joomla/events/border-skirmish.html. Lines of communication from Ravenslake are relatively silent, and we should fix that. Autocrat is keeping a binder of useful information to pass on to next year's autocrat. Let's play Helga Ball! Beatrice has a connection to get cabbages. We should try using a 'boost' from Facebook to push Border Skirmish. We still need liaisons for Royalty, Merchant, and A&S. (The website also lists that we need Youth Combat and Thrown Weapons marshals, and a Camp Herald.) Their Majesties Northshield will be there.
Bylaws Meeting: We had a Bylaws Meeting, and it went well. We think it will make things smoother and more functional. We should have them posted by the end of the week. We'll vote on them at next Curia. Now would be a good time to make comments.
New Business:
Boar's Head 2017: We have received a bid from co-stewards Beatrice and Winifride, with Rhys as feast steward. Proposed theme: Yule Aboard the Bonaventure (late Tudor and nautical). Beatrice has lots of experience and knows the people to ask in areas she doesn't have the answers; intends for students to staff the roles, with other experienced people as backup. Will make sure they communicate with the people who have done the jobs before - communication is critical to success. Moved to accept the bid. Voted, accepted.
Thrown Weapons Marshal: Add to section 3B of the Bylaws. Will fill the position once the bylaws are approved.
Guilds and Groups:
UWM Student Group: Raided the old Marquette University student group's storage locker, with the caveat that they could only take things they would use (relatively) immediately, and anything they didn't use would be returned; also, as things were replaced or when the students leave the SCA the items would also be returned. [Note that none of this is or was ever Baronial property at all, so this is just a note of incidental interest. The M.U. group was, with respect to the SCA, just a household, and those properties were gathered and donated by its members to the household, and left with their advisor Margaret Mellies (aka "Mysie") when the last active students left.]
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4/18/17
In Attendance: Arnbjorn, Beatrice, Abelard, Geoffrey, Sofonisba, Armond, Rachel, Jean, Dahrien, Sibillia, Winifride (virtual)
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness: Words of Wisdom: Bring your towel. We have cookies and chocolates! We have a moot on Sunday at UWM from noon-6PM. We might have another one later - the list of upcoming events is on the CAM calendar.
Seneschal: We have events coming up. I've talked to my Ravenslake counterpart about Border Skirmish. The contract with the Border Skirmish site has been signed, though we don't have our own copy yet.
Chronicler: Reports and articles for the Tower are due by Monday, April 24. There are still a handful of directories left. Send articles and reports!
Webminister: Nothing new. If you're responsible for information being on the website, please check to make sure that information is actually on the website and that it's correct.
Minister of Arts and Sciences: Had a project day a few weeks ago, and it was a great success. We will have another one in May. Projects are happening: new dress, boffer weapons, elevation ceremony research, scrolls, new songs, and more!
Knights Marshal: Last week we had a dozen heavy fighters. There is a junior rapier person. Rapier practice has been a little light, and nobody is sure why.
Archery Marshal: Practices continue at Gander Mountain until mid-May, when we switch to outdoor practices. Are fighters interested in a joint practice at Kinnickinnick River Parkway on Monday nights? If so, we'll alternate Wednesdays between Whitnall Park and Menomonee Park; if not, we'll change it up. We will also discuss this topic (combined practice) at fighter's practice.
Rapier Marshal: Nothing to report.
Youth Marshal: Boffer stuff starting this week or next at fighter's practice - we have three complete loaner kits and one more almost complete. We had a Level 1 child at practice last week who should be back, and a Level 3 child a couple of weeks ago who also should be returning.
Chatelaine: Newcomers are getting involved. Would like to arrange some demos this summer. Nobody has died. Another new member in UWM group. We've been invited to march in some or all of the Summerfest Parades, of which there are five: June 28, 29, 30, July 5, 6. No armor or weapons, but garb and a banner (which needs to be approved in advance). Maybe also Germanfest, Scottishfest, living history festivals, the library, and the Border Skirmish site. More information to come.
Exchequer: Out sick.
Quartermaster: Will schedule a time to clean the locker in advance of Border Skirmish, maybe May 27. Maybe we should get some large totes with wheels for Albrecht's tents, which he donated and are in the locker. Question, are the contents of the locker insured?
Herald: Nothing major in the last month. April 1 submissions were particularly amusing.
Old Business:
Border Skirmish: We have information and communication flow. Meeting on the 30th in Kenosha. Porta-johns are arranged. We don't have a copy of the contract, but we know they cashed the check. Northshield royalty is coming - we don't know about Midrealm yet. Need a Northshield merchant coordinator. They have budgeted so that we break even at 230 adults. Looking for historical information about previous Border Skirmish events for the binder. Don't know if we need anything special for heavy weapons scenarios this year. We think we have a Midrealm thrown weapons marshal.
Bylaws: It's been a month since the changes to the bylaws were published. The only new change since then is to change Baron/ess to Baronial Coronet, with appropriate language. Also, can remove 'access to the newsletter' to the requirements for an officer since that is in Kingdom law. There was a motion to approve the bylaws with the published changes plus these notes. Voted, approved.
New Officers: The changes to the bylaws add two new minor officers: Youth Boffer Combat Marshal and Thrown Weapons Marshal. Will post to advertise these jobs, as per the bylaws.
Boar's Head 2017: The budget was sent to some of the officers. Relevant (public-facing) numbers: Site fee for members will be $15 for adults, $13 if pre-registering. Would like to see 325 adults to break even. Will look into 'unpaid pre-reg', the way Nordskogen does it. What if we invite people to sign up in advance to stay late to clean (specifically, clean the kitchen), and in return they are comped either site or feast? Autocrats will look into this.
New Business:
Baronial Enclosed Trailer - Discussion Only: A new enclosed trailer for the group will cost ~$2,000 - $2,500, plus storage costs. We will also need to pay for insurance and registration. (We can store it at the storage locker facility.) Compare against the cost of a rental - at what point does it pay for itself? Run a cost budget analysis. Make sure we have vehicles that can tow it. Will the drivers be reimbursed for fuel? Need to make sure it's long enough to haul tent poles. Benefit: Can use it as storage. Don't need to be on U-Haul's timeline (as in, 'you must return this on Sunday between 9 AM and 2 PM'). Paint job! What's the life span of a trailer?
Guilds and Groups:
Groups in general are doing fine.
Western scribal group will resume in May.
General schedule: 1st Wednesday of the month is a meeting at UWM. Second Thursday of the month is dance practice. Third Wednesday of the month is dance practice at UWM. Fourth Wednesday of the month is Western Scribal.
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5/16/17
In Attendance: Abelard, Rhys, Arnbjorn, Armond, Sofonisba, Jean, Sibillia, Beatrice, Asabella, Dahrien, Geoffrey, Geronima, Adrianna, Sarah
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness: Congratulations to the new Prince and Princess! We have heirs! Please write letters of recommendation for Baronial Court at Border Skirmish.
Seneschal: Nothing new to report.
Chronicler: Articles due Monday, 5/22. Still has a handful of directories left to sell.
Webminister: Talked to Baroness about designs and ideas for a new instance of the website. Will keep looking for input. Is planning a 'look at options' session. He will put something in the Tower.
Minister of Arts and Sciences: Things are going well. Send me a list of projects you've worked on to go into the quarterly report. No one has died in crafting-related incidents.
Knights Marshal: No one has permanently died at practice. Attendance at practice has been light. Jean made it to the finals of Crown, Geoffrey made it to the semi-finals. Congratulations! May 'free' practice was sponsored by Her Grace Sigrid. June will be sponsored by Sir Jean.
Archery: Monday (the 15th) was rained out, so 5/22 will be the first outdoor joint practice. First outdoor practice will be 5/17. No one has died in archery-related incidents.
Rapier: Everything is good.
Youth: We have gear. We have some kids. We need more kids. Bring kids. Working on getting people added to the 'approved to work with youth' list, which is the first step towards creating new Youth Boffer MITs. (Form is here: http://socsen.sca.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Background-AuthorizationElectronic.pdf - send directly to Corporate and let the Kingdom Seneschal know that you're doing so.)
Chatelaine: Added the 'Newcomer's Info Request Form' to the CAM website (http://caeranterth.org/Officers/chatelaine_contact.php). Will be out of touch in June but the deputy (Beatrice) can cover for her. Still looking at demo opportunities. Decided not to do the Summerfest Parade.
Exchequer: We're not broke. Do we want to renew the storage locker for a year at $1224? (Motion made, approved, voted, passed.) Need to hear back from Kingdom Exchequer re: electronic banking options.
Quartermaster: Tent Day 5/27 at Armond's house. This Sunday - 5/21 - is 'clean out the storage locker' day. Meet at 10 AM at the locker.
Herald: Congratulations to Lady Adrianna on her AoA and Sir Jean on his Golden Peacock. Working with some people on name submissions. Those are happening. If you need help, please ask. "We need to do the thing."
Old Business:
Border Skirmish: Unofficial budget is a little lower than anticipated, but the official budget is a little hard to pin down. Putting the schedule together. Things are happening, like heraldic consulting and Helga Ball and heavy and rapier and archery and thrown weapons and Court. Did finally get a copy of the contract. Looking for participants for the Artisan's Row - Sofonisba will provide Adrianna with some suggestions, but please volunteer. Need chatelaine flyers at gate. Need to mark visitors with baldrics. Site tokens are poker chips. We will be policing site tokens this year, so everyone - even fighters in armor - should wear them. Their Majesties Northshield and Their Highnesses Northshield will be in attendance. We might have a Midrealm regency court. Write letters of recommendation for Baronial Court!
Boar's Head: Stewards would like a budget. Will discuss the 'no pay pre-reg' option. Will comp royalty and one attendant per royal, will comp previous CAM Barons and Baronesses. After Border Skirmish they will start asking for volunteers to help staff, probably at June Curia.
Financial Committee: The financial committee met and discussed the Boar's Head event budget and, separately, the Boar's Head feast budget. These notes are available on request. End result: The budgets both passed.
Financial Committee, Part 2: The financial committee presented the Boar's Head event budget and feast budget with their recommendation for approval. Curia voted and approved the budgets.
Trailers: Note: At this point this is still a discussion. We have met all of the checklist requirements to purchase a trailer. A Baronial trailer cannot be used for personal reasons (i.e., you may not borrow the trailer to help move a friend.) We would need a logbook of some sort (can be electronic or on paper) to track usage. A brand new 5'x8'x6' trailer costs about $2500. We need to keep the weight under 3,000 pounds or else we need to license it. It's also $10-12 to store the trailer in the same location as the storage locker. Also need to add to the budget some maintenance costs. Want to consider painting/art for the sides of the trailer. If the trailer is loaded with Baronial stuff and going to a location, other things can go along as well; for instance, if the trailer is filled with items from the locker to go to Border Skirmish, you could also throw in your armor. This is primarily for Border Skirmish and Boar's Head, but might also be used for WW or other events at which we might have a Baronial presence. We will need to have approved drivers and, more importantly, approved vehicles for towing. Insurance is covered by the driver. Try to find a trailer with a side door as well as back door. Try to find a back door with a ramp. If we buy it and we hate it, we can sell it. Over the next couple of months let's work on putting together a budget for this, since nobody seems to have any real objections. Exchequer suggests looking for used ones and doing price comparisons. (Note, an older / used one may require more maintenance.)
New Business:
Thrown Weapons Marshal: One applicant: Arnbjorn. We discussed, moved, and voted. Arnbjorn is the new Thrown Weapons Marshal.
Guilds and Groups:
Groups in general are doing fine.
General Schedule: 1st Wednesday of the month is a meeting at UWM. Second Thursday of the month is dance practice. Third Wednesday of the month is dance practice at UWM. Fourth Wednesday of the month is Western Scribal, which this month is the 24th.
UWM Student group: hasn't found places to meet in the summer, so meetings will be at Marquette.
Notes:
Curia will be at Brookfield in June and August. No Curia in July.
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6/20/17
In Attendance:Abelard, Arnbjorn, Armond, Albrecht, Beatrice, Eva, Sofonisba, Asabella, Geoffrey, Jean, Rachel, Sibillia, Dahrien, Cecilia, Adriana (virtual)
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness: Border Skirmish was great. 308 people. Weather worked well for us. The Baronial dragon wing shade fly was ripped by the winds and needs repairs. We pulled it off!
Seneschal: Border Skirmish was excellent. Haven't heard about issues or problems as far as he knows.
Chronicler: Tower articles due Friday 6/23/17. Will be out of the country next week. Handful of directories left. Get your articles in!
Webminister: Still have a website. Working on a redesign with a few people. Has learned new things!
Minister of Arts and Sciences: Submitted quarterly report, indicating that people are still doing things. Will revive monthly project day. Next Wednesday (6/28) is Scribal West. Tomorrow (6/21) is dancing at Marquette Physics Building.
Knights Marshal: We've been fighting outside. Some fighters are youth-approved. The last few "free nights" (aka, sponsored nights) have been lightly attended by heavy fighters. People are coming out to watch us fight on Thursday nights.
Archery: Practice is twice a week: Mondays at Kinnickinnick River Parkway, Wednesdays alternate between Whitnall and Menomonee. Lord Rhys won the Kingdom Archery at ITT's CAT, and Arnbjorn made it to the quarter finals.
Rapier: Practices continue.
Youth: Two regular kids. Bring more kids!
Thrown weapons: Fantastic turnout at Border Skirmish (34 throwers)! Will price out new throwing axes and knives. Will bring budget to Curia in August. We have stands and targets, and can return foam targets to Abelard.
Chatelaine: New interest at Border Skirmish. Nothing else new to report.
Exchequer: Answers to last month's questions: Cannot do discounts for non-members. So, should not give student discounts over age 18. Can't do refunds for service. In 2012 we did not pay taxes. In 2013 we did not pay taxes. In 2014 we paid $250 in June. In 2015 we paid $250 in November. In 2016 we paid $250 in November. Should we do $250 per year, or $250 twice a year? We should pay something sometime. We will discuss this at a later Curia.
Quartermaster: Used enclosed trailer for transport. Worked great. No late fees even though Armond kept everything in the trailer for an extra few days. The students used Alberic's tent. Would like to use funds for the office to buy ropes and stakes for the loaner tent. Intends to make stakes at Baronial Championships. Students say thanks for the loan of the tent!
Herald: Court reports for both Baronial and Kingdom courts have been submitted. No new name and device registrations - talk to Beatrice if you're interested in those. This weekend Beatrice will be at Known World Heralds. Teaching two classes and taking more. She can collect notes and materials from other classes - let her know by 6 PM Wednesday. She can also buy books from Jonya Booksellers if people want her to.
Old Business:
Border Skirmish: Next year should be even better. Sibillia intends to put in for autocrat next year. She will start working on next year's proposal in August. New site tokens next year. Rachel is already volunteering for Gate. Estimated $100 under budget. Rapier injury - fighter split his thumbnail, but they glued him back up and he kept fighting. Recommend that Ravenslake promote some new staff. Also need to make sure Ravenslake knows the rules about what Northshield needs in order to publish the event information in advance; we couldn't promote the event in Northshield because we were missing crucial information and missed deadlines. (This was a criticism from a number of people.) We should look at moving one week forward or back; need to beware of conflicting with Midrealm events, Mermaids, Lilies, and graduations. Had a really good Northshield turnout, many people daytripped. Helga Ball was great. Kristiana was a treat. Goal posts moved! It was wildly entertaining.
Boar's Head: Beatrice and Winifred are working on it. (Winifred is working in Madison for the summer.) Probably not major changes from last year. Need to coordinate with Feastocrat. Now that Border Skirmish is over, looking for staff for Boar's Head. If you want to help, please let us know. Have an A&S Coordinator, have Royalty Liaison. Need gate and a few other key positions. (Rachel will help at Gate.) Considering paring down martial activities and building up non-martial activities, maybe a well-heralded tournament with a ladies' gallery so people can watch and understand the tournament better. Open to discussion. Will set up a Boar's Head Planning Group Facebook group (like we had for Border Skirmish), with the caveat that not everybody is on Facebook.
Baronial Trailer: Would like to table this discussion until next Curia. Side note: Armond's trailer was very helpful and cool.
New Business:
Hospitality Ambassadors: There are members of the Barony who can't make it to meetings or events because of various physical restrictions - no car, no driver's license, medical reasons, etc. They would still like to participate. Suggest creating a group of people who could help with transport, or setting up tents, or other ways not yet apparent. Group should be private or confidential; the people may not wish to advertise that they won't be home or may not want to broadcast the fact that they can't drive or whatever. We're all moving in this direction. Need to seek aid to receive it. (Hospitalliers?)
Guilds and Groups:
Dance: Third Wednesday at Marquette, potentially second Thursday at fighter's practice. Will have more dancing to prepare for Coronation/Crown.
C&I: East, first weekend in July. West, fourth Wednesday at Sofonisba's.
Clothier's: Hasn't met in a while. Wants to meet before Pennsic.
UWM: Lower attendance for the summer.
No Curia In July.
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8/15/17
In Attendance:Abelard, Arnbjorn, Geoffrey, Armond, Sofonisba, Asabella, Arthur, Jean, Sybillia, Tatiana, Dahrien
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness: We have someone interested in the webminister job. Pennsic was fun - Her Excellency personally walked three people to Herald's Point to get them to register their names and devices. Baronial Champions is September 24 at Their Excellencies' house. Discussing combining May Day (Jara's moot) and Spring Moot (our moot) into one shared event.
Seneschal: We have an official bullying policy which has been handed down from Society. We need to post it at gatherings (including fighter's practice, events, and moots) and include it in flyers. This is a new corporate policy. We should probably also include it on the website.
Chronicler: Good job, Asabella, for turning in an article early, and thank you Beatrice for writing content. Articles for the next Tower are due August 28.
Webminister: Nothing to report. Letter of intent has been received from Winifried. Dahrien will talk to her to make sure she has the needed skills.
Minister of Arts and Sciences: Nothing to report. Will write an article for the Tower reminding people to keep up to date with what's going on. There was A&S at Pennsic and at WW. Beatrice received a Black Flame at Pennsic for her scribal work.
Knights Marshal: We've had some new people at practice, but generally numbers are low. A bunch of Midrealmers are coming to combined practice on Monday August 21 at KK River Parkway. Jean's trying to instigate a practice at Windhaven on Sunday, Sept. 17. We will need a new KM soon.
Archery: Four weeks left of outdoor practice. Gander Mountain will be closing at the end of the month, which is bad news. The good news is that the store has been bought by Camping World, who will renovate and re-open in November. We will still need a location in September and October - might go back to West Town Archery or encourage people to go to Jara.
Rapier: Need to buy a new tool called a mask tester. Costs about $75, plus tax and shipping. A motion was made to provide up to $100 for this purchase. Motion was approved and voted upon and passed.
Youth: One regular kid at practices. Some youth fighters borrowed armor and weapons and took them to Pennsic, where they fought.
Thrown Weapons: Spent $51 on range equipment and $122.77 on new weapons. Requested reimbursement of $173.77, which was approved. (Note, office has now spent its $50 allowance.) Expecting to bring thrown weapons to the practice on Thursday 8/17.
Chatelaine: Nothing to report.
Exchequer: See written report. Received the event report form and money from Ravenslake for Border Skirmish.
Quartermaster: Everything's good. There's some stuff to be returned to the locker. We need to repair the Baronial shade fly (aka the dragonwing) - will retrieve it from the storage locker and effect repairs.
Herald: Some people submitted names and devices at Pennsic.
Old Business:
Boar's Head: We should have a website soon. Volunteer!
Hospitality Ambassadors: Need some more information to set up the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Baronial Trailer: His Excellency will put together numbers and details, but a new trailer would cost $2,900. Should also look at used ones, but need to wait for details. He did talk to the storage place, who would charge $300 for trailer storage for a year. The new trailer should have a front door as well as a rear door. We would also add a false floor so that we can better store poles, and hooks or shelves (or something) along one wall. We want it in place by October if possible so we can make modifications before Boar's Head in December.
New Business:
Feast Banners: We had an inquiry about producing new banners, but the deadline was too soon to make a decision. Overall, no decision was made.
Support That's Amare: Mare Am thanks us for the donation the Barony made. In the future they will probably use the community center. It was great.
Cookie Caper: Tatiana won't be able to attend Boar's Head this year, so she's asked Gray Fox to run it for her. She is also in charge of the auction, which this year will also include items from Alice's estate. Kateryn will run that, but Tatiana will do the advance work. She plans to set up a facebook page to preview items and will allow people to suggest offers (but not bids); on the day of the event, those offers will set the base bid on items. If you have auction items please bring them to Tatiana, and please remember to bake cookies for Boar's Head.
Guilds and Groups:
Dance: Third Wednesday of the month at Marquette, potentially second Thursday of the month at fighter's practice.
C&I: East, first weekend of the month. West, fourth Wednesday of the month at Sofonisba's.
Clothier's: Hasn't met in a while.
UWM: Lower attendance for the summer.
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9/19/17
In Attendance:Abelard, Adriana, Winifride, Arnbjorn, Asabella, Sibillia, Armond, Rhys, Geoffrey, Arthur
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness: Sofonisba is out sick today. Baronial Champions is Sunday the 24th from noon to 9. Food will be pot-luck - everyone please bring a dish to pass. The main course will be roast pork. There's room for everything including archery and thrown weapons. There will be a short court in the afternoon.
Seneschal: Everything will be covered later.
Chronicler: Articles due Monday, 9/25. Remember that the Golden Griffin Challenge includes writing articles for a newsletter!
Webminister: Is ready to hand off the office to Winifride on Sunday.
Minister of Arts and Sciences: Nobody has died. Had a project day on Saturday, which was productive.
Knights Marshal: We'd like to see more fighters. Office is open, and letters of intent are due now.
Archery: Season has gone well, and we're moving indoors tomorrow (9/20) for the winter. Wednesday nights at West Town Archery. Rumors still say that Camping World (which used to be Gander Mountain) will have a bigger range. We might hold a late fall regional archery practice at Buck Rub.
Rapier: Had a small injury. We have a newly authorized fighter.
Youth: We have new gear. We'll have a tournament on Sunday to choose a boffer champion.
Thrown Weapons: Will have thrown weapons at Champions. Maybe also at fighter's practice.
Chatelaine: Two recent contacts have come through the website.
Exchequer: We have a new Kingdom Exchequer - Michael St. Christian. He's very business-like. Looking forward to the experience. Asabella is currently looking for a deputy and/or replacement - stepping down in April. The biggest requirement is that an exchequer needs to be organized.
Quartermaster: Haven't been to the site since last month. Will swap stuff with Geoffrey tonight. Will get the dragonwing out of the locker and bring it to Champs to be repaired.
Herald: No new registrations. Arnbjorn is regional herald for this region. (At large herald reports due October 1.)
Old Business:
Boar's Head: There is a website, which is now linked to the CAM site and can be added to the Kingdom calendar. Need volunteers to fill the positions which aren't already taken by students. Around 2 PM we'll have a grand ball which requires the use of the list fields; will include martial classes at that time. Looking for teachers. Cookie caper and silent auction in the merchant area. Boar's Head planning meeting once the staff positions are filled. Hope to get in on Friday for setup. Re: classes, check the Facebook thread of 'what would you like to learn in Northshield'. Asabella can't be there, so someone else needs to handle the money and paperwork.
Trailer: We looked at ads for a trailer from Farm & Fleet and Haulmark. Comparable trailers with a $600 difference in price. Can get a warranty on other. After discussion, we voted to purchase the Haulmark. Vote passed. Asabella will write a check as soon as we have a price. No license plate or registration is necessary. How should we decorate it? (Ideas welcome.) We need a CAM usage policy document / sign-up / mileage log. Quartermaster is in charge and will handle paperwork.
New Business:
Kingdom-level events: We need to host these events sometimes. We'll need to discuss it further. It's tough to get people to volunteer for three events in a year, but we still need to host every once in a while. It would be good to line up autocrats for Border Skirmish and Boar's Head by January (or the planning meeting) so we can know if it's feasible to do Crown, Coronation, or SUN that year. Homework: Everybody find a site. Consider options like not having feast. Talk to Jara about using Jefferson County Fairgrounds. Keep in mind capacity, food, price. Can it host fighting, alcohol, parking, other considerations? What happened to the list Kateryn put together? We can also share events with Jara and Windhaven. If we host SUN at UWM, maybe non-SCA students could attend for free.
Guilds and Groups:
Dance and C&I are on hiatus.
C&I West: Next week.
UWM: Students are meeting the first and third Wednesday of each month. Adriana will get a list of what classes they would like, and CAM members can volunteer to teach them. (Classes will be open to the Barony too.) October 18: Persona class.
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10/17/17
In Attendance:Abelard, Arthur, Geoffrey, Rachel, Dahrien, Sibillia, Asabella, Rhys, Arnbjorn, Sofonisba, Jean, Beatrice, Winifride
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness: Congratulations to the new Prince and Princess, Yngvar and Luce! We also have new champions. Congratulations! Armond couldn't make it tonight. We bought a trailer - now we need decoration ideas. Maybe a decal or sticker or painted image. Send ideas to baron @ caeranterth DOT org.
Seneschal: Nothing new to announce.
Chronicler: Articles due Friday October 27. All the 2016 directories are sold.
Webminister: Winifride has the office. Nothing else to report.
Minister of Arts & Sciences: Art meeting/Project Day Sunday from 12-4 at the Kenosha North Side Public Library. Annetje is running it. Another one will happen Saturday October 28 at UWM.
Knights Marshal: The usual suspects. Not sure what the plans are for Boar's Head - discussions will happen. Probably a Boar's Head Champions Tournament and a Flower Tournament.
Archery: We have archery. We have a new champion. Practices are Wednesday nights at West Town Archery. If the new Son Of Gander Mountain opens this winter we might move.
Rapier: Last week we were lazy. Talked to Cesar - he might want to do Cut & Thrust at Boar's Head if there's time and space.
Youth: Come to practice!
Thrown Weapons: Had practice at Baronial Champs with six throwers. On hiatus unless people want to do a weekend practice.
Chatelaine: No report. We have some donations specifically for the student group.
Exchequer: Nothing significant to report. 3rd Quarter report is done. Office is open - need at least a deputy to train into the job, hopefully before Boar's Head so they can learn how to do an event report.
Quartermaster: We have a trailer! Send artwork suggestions to the Baron email address. Also working on the 'how to use the trailer' guide and sign-out sheet.
Herald: Office will be open as of Boar's Head. We have one letter of intent for the office. Heraldry is slow and steady and proceeds apace. Congratulations to the Crown combatants. Write letters of recommendation for Boar's Head and Yule Moot!
Old Business:
Boar's Head: Most of our staff is in place. Still confirming marshals. (Will have conversations to that end after Curia.) Just over two months away. We can have the moderated Peer Fear discussion again, if TRH/TRM would like to do it. Want to talk to Rhys about food. Spreadsheet to track the pre-reg's (of which we have one) and merchant pre-reg's (of which we have two). Bar will be open from 11-8/9, depending on feast. Court at 4:30 (at Their Majesty's discretion). Feast at 7? Will schedule a planning meeting, probably November 4 at the Marquette Physics Building (following the Baronial Planning Meeting). Using a facebook group for all the staff people (except Kateryn, who will get her information from Tatiana). Silent Auction will be two collections: Alice's things (whose proceeds will go to an animal shelter) and other things (whose proceeds will go to the Kingdom). Ad copy for Boar's Head will be in the November Pale and Northwatch.
New Business:
Yule Moot: Rumor has it that if we ask a certain Baroness she may volunteer to be in charge of the Yule Moot.
Planning Meeting: Saturday November 4 at Marquette Physics Building. Bring suggestions for events for the year!
Future Event Planning: We need an Autocrat for Boar's Head 2018 and a Deputy Autocrat for Border Skirmish 2018. We need them soon so that we can prepare for the next year and figure out if we can handle hosting a Crown/Coronation/SUN/other events next year. (Note: At this time, there's a Spring Crown location but no Spring Coronation, Fall Crown, Fall Coronation, or SUN. We might be able to do a SUN at UWM as a free event (but people will have to pay for parking). Might be a good place for a dance seminar as well. Bring ideas to the planning meeting! And let's have a cat adoption moot!
New Herald: We received a letter of intent from Serena Ordones. After discussion we moved and voted to accept her as the new Herald at Boar's Head.
Guilds and Groups:
B&V: Geoffrey has hops to give away.
Cooking: We should start it up again.
UWM: Meeting twice a month and people are teaching at the meetings. Next class: Persona development with Sibillia (Wed 10/18)
Misc: We need to find crash space for four Canadians this weekend (October 20-22).
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11/21/17
In Attendance:Abelard, Asabella, Rachel, Geoffrey, Arthur, Rhys, Adriana, Beatrice, Jean, John Jacob, Sofonisba, Armond, Dingo, Arnbjorn, Sybillia, Kateryn
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness:We will not be holding Baronial Court at Boar's Head, but will do so at Yule Court. We're hangry tonight. His Excellency talked to His Majesty to discuss Boar's Head planning, and also authorized in dagger and case and two-sword (rapier).
Seneschal: Nothing new to report. Turned in his report on time.
Chronicler: Articles are due Monday, November 27. Read the Tower!
Webminister: Boar's Head website updates, Artisans Gallery updates. Contact her if you have suggestions and if you want anything updated.
Minister of Arts and Sciences: Nobody has died yet (as a direct result of A&S activities). Seven people were at Project Day (plus Goardlings), so - success! Please give her lists of A&S projects you've participated in for her report.
Knights Marshal: Attendance has been spotty overall. Not sure what to do to inspire more fighting, and coincidentally his term is up. Send in letters of intent. Also, nobody has died - everyone got better. Marshal reports are due November 25. And, we've resumed the 'free/sponsored practice' events on Facebook to inspire attendance from other groups.
Archery: We have practices, though it's mostly just the three regulars. The Gander Mountain building is for sale, so it's probably not going to be a new practice space in the future. Also, nobody has been killed.
Rapier: 4-6 people every week. Report is in - pushing MIT to do his paperwork.
Youth: Report is in. Bring more kids! Also, boffer fighting at Boar's Head!
Thrown Weapons: Report is in. Practices are on hiatus until Spring.
Chatelaine: We've had a couple new people at practice, and we hope they both stick around. Baronial people, make yourself known to the students (many of whom will be at Boar's Head as their first event), and don't be scary! Also, new people should stay through Kingdom Court at Boar's Head because Their Majesties are continuing the tradition of gifts for people for whom it's their first court. Also! We need more pants in the loaner garb, preferably with elastic or drawstring waists, preferably dark colors. Suggestion: raid Goodwill for scrubs and pajama pants.
Exchequer: We still have money. Report is available.
Quartermaster: We have a trailer! There is a form to fill out if you want to use it, which will be either at the storage locker or in the trailer itself. (Ultimately it will be held by the Exchequer.) Insurance is provided by the driver of the vehicle towing the trailer, so if you don't have insurance you can't drive it. Common sense rules - can't borrow it for non-SCA things, don't overload it (rated for 2000 pounds), if your vehicle can't handle that size trailer don't try to tow it. Also, loading the trailer Thanksgiving Day at 9 AM.
Herald: Have not yet seen September letters of acceptance and returns, so nothing new to announce. Will have a consulting table at Boar's Head. Will have some books to hand off at Boar's Head. (One book is currently checked out but will be returned.) Office changeover at Boar's Head.
Old Business:
Boar's Head: We got extra publicity for the BH website because someone had an objection to the presence of a 'low feast' vs a 'high feast', because it smacked of classism; this has been resolved, and thank you to that person for raising awareness of the event and driving traffic to the site. The first of the site tokens are done, and Countess Gwen is working on the next batch. (She needs more pewter.) She expects to finish that this weekend, possibly working from Armond/Sofonisba's house, or from her own studio. Pre-cook lunch for the students - details forthcoming. (Some details: Jase needs to borrow pots to make 8 gallons of soup. Might want to purchase pre-peeled hard-boiled eggs from Restaurant Supply or GFS - Geoffrey will be in touch. Can get plastic utensils from Dollar Tree.) Kateryn needs to plug in the freezer tomorrow (that's today, 11/22). Boar's Head is proceeding apace. Feast pre-cook will be Saturday 11/25 at Armond and Sofonisba's. There will be two peerage meetings (Laurel and MOD) sometime between 2-4 PM, in the royalty room.
Autocrats: We need to find autocrats/event stewards for Boar's Head and Border Skirmish for next year. It would be lovely if those people could be deputies this year. (Note: Danelle will be autocrat of Border Skirmish 2018, with Arnbjorn as her deputy.)
New Business:
Taxes at Boar's Head: There was a motion to pay taxes at Boar's Head, in the amount of $250. Voted, passed.
Gifts at Boar's Head: Their Excellencies will happily accept donations for gift baskets at Boar's Head. Please get stuff to Them.
Letters of Recommendation: Fill them out, both for Kingdom and Barony.
Yule Court: Saturday, January 20, from 3-9 PM, in the River Room at the Schuetze Rec Center in Frame Park in Waukesha. No alcohol or food restrictions. No kitchen, but enough outlets for nescos. $200 deposit, $210 rental, $50 for additional expenses. We voted to give Baroness Kateryn $460 to cover this. (Voted, passed.)
Guilds and Groups:
Dancing: Meeting ad hoc.
Cooking: Feast pre-cook on Saturday at Armond and Sofonisba's.
Brewing: Arthur opened the mead that he made.
C&I: Meeting ad hoc.
Scribal West: Meeting ad hoc.
Students: Have had great turnout at classes. Come teach things! Contact Adriana (Kiana) if you want to teach something!
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12/19/17
In Attendance: Abelard, Arnbjorn, Winifrede, Geoffrey, Eva, Albrecht, Rhys, Sofonisba, Asabella, Armond, Arthur, Sibillia, Adriana, Mysie
Officer Reports:
Baron and Baroness:Happy Holidays! Boar's Head was good. Lighter in attendance than we expected, but good. People had a good time. Ran into Drix (Calontir Trim), who suggested that the Barony invest in custom Baronial trim; the minimum order is something like $1000, but if we pool our resources... Her Excellency will post something on the CAM list and Facebook pages to discuss. (This has been suggested previously.)
Seneschal: Send in letters of recommendation for awards for both the Kingdom and Baronial level. We just had an event - did you see somebody doing something cool? Write them in! Yule Moot is also next month...
Chronicler: Deadline for articles is next Tuesday, December 26. Chronicler has purchased Microsoft Publisher, so the Tower will receive a facelift in 2018 as well - fitting for its 40th year! Chronicler has all 40 years of historical issues except for about 12 issues. (Digital back to 2005, paper before that.) We can't just post digitized copies of the paper issues because of usage rights (authors and artists gave rights to content for paper format, but not for electronic format). Arnbjorn intends to re-publish some of the articles this year. Also, maybe Winifrede will make an index to the electronic copies and update the artisan's library using that artwork. And, maybe scan the paper issues to a digital format so that they can be preserved.
Webminister: Updating calendar, officers pages, and help wanted. Officially starting the redesign, so let her know what changes or new things you would like to see.
Minister of Arts & Sciences: People have been arting. Nobody has died from A&S that we know of. Next Project Day will be at UWM on January 17 from 5-10 PM.
Knights Marshal: Letters of intent for the office are due. No one has stayed dead. Attendance has been light. January 11 will be sponsored by Sofonisba for her birthday. February 8 will be sponsored by Albrecht and Eva (pd). March 8 will be sponsored by Mysie and Dahrien. April 12 will be sponsored by Sigrid (pd). We are having practice this week (12/21) but not next week (12/28).
Archery: Practice continues on Wednesdays at West Town Archery. His Majesty has a new challenge that they will be shooting - a twist on the Nordskein shoot. All of the regular archers are now Aquilas.
Rapier: Attendance has been stagnant. Valentin came to gauge interest in Cut & Thrust, which he expects to offer at a separate practice. Nobody has died, no injuries.
Youth: Practice will be Thursday nights from 7-9 (rather than until 10). Austin - one of our regular boffer fighters - won both tournaments at Boar's Head.
Thrown Weapons: Focusing on snowballs. Otherwise, group is on hiatus until Spring.
Note from the Clerk of the Roster: We are cleaning out the databases to remove expired authorizations. Once this is done, we will ask all fighters to check their profiles.
Chatelaine: Had several people whose first event was Boar's Head, and they will be coming back. New people in general have been sticking around. Still looking for pants to add to the gold key.
Exchequer: Removed old Kingdom Exchequer from bank forms, adding new Kingdom Exchequer. Office is open. Has one letter of intent - they are due in October. Jean found some old records, but we only need to keep seven years of records so he can (and should) destroy them.
Quartermaster: Everything has been washed, thanks to Amadon. The trailer will go back to the shed this month. We lost a few glass bowls but can survive. Side note: need to add storage locker parking space to the budget.
Herald: Has been going through the materials now that Boar's Head is done. The tabards are missing - we think Idonia has them. Deonysia's device has been re-blazoned. Intend to get the Baronial award names and devices registered. Also, does anyone object to combining the Baronial Arts and Baronial Sciences awards (Flaming Swan?)
Old Business:
Boar's Head: We had a post-mortem. Still getting final numbers finalized. Prelim event report says that between gate and feast we did okay. (Thanks to Hamish for saving us money on feast!) Suggestions for food for next year: more gluten-free options. Need a better place for feast table signup. Round of applause for Rhys! Round of applause for Beatrice and Winifred! We were out by 10:30. Thanks for everyone - including the students - who did everything and helped all day. Students also had a profitable lunch, which was delicious. If we can, we should request the same bar crew. Congratulations to the people who received awards! The only complaint Jean heard about the limited fighting was from the fighters who worked with the kids, who agreed that they preferred working with the kids over fighting in the last tournament. We made money. We estimate 68 people at feast - the Troll table needs to better track how many feast tickets are sold. (Shouldn't have to count the tickets later to do the math.) Budgeted conservatively for site and feast - had budgeted for 325 people, saw 295 paid adults with a total headcount through the door ~350 (including children, royalty, and merchants). Flowers were donated, we did not print a site flyer, spent money on ads and site tokens. Need to post a general schedule in multiple places. Need to distribute menu and ingredients somewhere. (These were actually at gate.) Request signs which indicate that the feast area will be used as populace space during the day but will need to be cleared later in the day - this will avoid surprises later. Should make a laminated map of site so we can mark it up in advance. Should officially offer merchant setup on Friday afternoon (1-3PM?) for merchants who are already in town. Need to find or create a stamp for 'payable to' for checks. Bring this to Curia. Since Troll/gate was against the wall this year (so signs can be posted behind it), consider moving it so the line doesn't block the entrance to the building. Should use a tripod to hold poster boards for signage. Need to make the feast sign-up sheet available sooner in the day. Should offer more vegan/vegetarian options for lunch. Shouldn't put onion in everything. Hanging some banners from the ceiling is worth it (helps with volume). Address issues directly to autocrats throughout the day. Need multiple autocrats for overlap of duties. Reducing fighting might have reduced attendance, but impossible to say for sure. Moving Princess's Sleeve meant that some people had to choose between two events. Lots of Midrealm people went to an event there instead of visiting us. Lots of people stayed home sick. There was some grumbling about the shortened fighting, we anticipated it. Since people didn't scale/ration/throttle their fighting they used up their energy faster. Fighters had a chance to wind down and get clean before court. Overall, ending combat early was not a total disaster. Need to designate a site herald who will address all four corners of the big room, the classroom, and the hallway. Maybe the site has a PA system? The response to the tape was positive. (Note: three rolls of gaffer tape from American Science & Surplus.) The list fields seemed to be about the right sizes and shapes. The location of the boffer field didn't seem to matter, crowd-wise; from the traffic flow it might make more sense to move it back to the center of the room. Having a dedicated bardic area was liked. People used the galleries as observation and camera camps. The combined heavy/youth list table locations worked. We were surprised to find that the list ropes were in a black plastic garbage bag. Ideally they should be in the Rubbermaid tubs or maybe a canvas bag; failing that, a not-black plastic bag (preferably one that's clear). Dancing went very well; Belle reported that we had three sets of Black Nag. Once upon a time we had feast before court - maybe revisit that? Ideally we would get TRM's schedule sooner in advance. Feast seemed to go smoothly as a served feast (rather than buffet) - hot food was hot, cold food was cold. The menu looked more exotic than it was, but it wasn't particularly exotic. Some households don't seem to get to feast as a general rule. Heard a comment: "This feast was as good as Cooks and Bards". Almost all of the Northshield food people from our side of the Kingdom were in the kitchen. How do we sell more feast? The low feast/high feast was sort of a flop. The puddings were a success because of cheese (specifically, gouda). Almost nothing came back on the plates except beans, which indicates success. Why are we doing a feast of such magnitude for so few people? When was the last time we sold out feast? Having someone assigned to publicity and social media posts might help with attendance, feast sales, pre-reg, etc. It's something that Nordskogen Twelfth Night is doing well, and we didn't.
Boar's Head 2018: Do we have an autocrat yet? No.
Border Skirmish 2018: We're on the calendar. Will receive the contract in January and will get it signed ASAP. Looking for staff - contact Sibillia. We will be starting on Thursday this year so that the fields can be open on Friday morning. We'll have prestige tournaments on Friday afternoon, torchlight at night. Saturday will be melee and war practice. Troll will open at 5 PM Thursday. Encourage that Sibillia publish the 'cheddar wall' slogans. (Not re-printed here lest we offend someone.) Suggestion: Baroness' Wine and Cheese Party to go along with that, as well as a cheese making competition. Planning is proceeding apace.
New Business:
Tax Motion: The Barony of Caer Anterth Mawr shall adopt the following ongoing policy: The Barony will make an annual donation ("pay taxes") to the Kingdom of Northshield, to be applied to the general find. The donation amount should be determined at the January Curia based on the previous year's income. The donation will be made in two installments (ex: donation of $500, paid as two $250 installments). The first installment will be drafted at the May Curia meeting and mailed to the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer. A ceremonial presentation can be made in Kingdom Court at our summer event. The second installment will be drafted at the November Curia meeting and mailed to the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer. A ceremonial presentation can be made in Kingdom Court at our winter event. We discussed this and determined that it should be adopted as a policy but not added to the bylaws. (Language has been modified in these notes from the original.) We voted on this, it was approved.
Annual Budget: We now have new event budget forms and new bankruptcy forms, and a new budget policy - we need to fill out a budget form and submit it to Kingdom. We are not held to this budget. No penalties that we know of. This is a Society suggestion. Budget was discussed and approved; the actual budget will be displayed elsewhere.
Lunch for Coronation: Jara has asked us if we want to handle lunch at Spring Coronation (April). After general discussion we decided that yes, we would like to. Sofonisba is in charge and we will aim for something similar to the lunch from Boar's Head.
Heralds and Scribes: We have permission to use the Marquette Physics Building on March 24 to host a Northshield Heralds and Scribes event. No feast or lunch. Classes will include How to hold the office of Herald in Northshield, commenting on an OSCAR, Voice heraldry in different environments (including an actual medieval church), and other training. Expect Northsield Aegis Herald, Laurel Queen of Arms (Society Names Herald), Polaris Herald, Polaris Signet. Cost for renting the space is $250. Concern: We may not have enough time to pull this all together and get the word out. We moved and voted to bring it to Stallari: passed. (Mysie and Beatrice in charge.)
Guilds and Groups:
(Nothing to report)
Misc:
Next Curia: January 16 at UWM.