January Council Minutes
January 26th, 2009 / A.S. XLIII
Sizzler
1010 Postal Way, Springfield

Council began about twenty minutes late, as people ate dinner and made some adjustments to our new meeting room. Ceridwen noted that the doors shut out noise from outside very well, but the acoustics of the room itself were going to make any conversations especially loud, so she asked folks to keep their chatter and side conversations to a minimum.

Tadhg led off, letting us know that he found 12th Night quite awesome. He was glad to see so many of Adiantum's populace there. The word from last month had been Courtesy, and he had urged all who attended 12th Night to practice it; now he shared some definitions of the word. Modernly, Courtesy is define as excellence of manners or social conduct; a favor; or help or generosity. In medieval times, however, Courtesy was defined simply as the manners of the court, or nobility, a constant way to act toward one's equals as well as their betters. Tadhg found it interesting to note that nowadays, we tend to view Courtesy as something extra to tack on to our actions if we are feeling kind or generous, a virtue that is not always practiced. In the SCA, however, we are all assumed to be members of the nobility, even if it is only from a lesser estate; regardless of whether we have earned any title, we are all of noble blood. He therefore encouraged us to act as if this were always so. He thanked those who had researched the definitions for Courtesy, and announced that this month's word is: Chivalry.

Baroness Morrghan thanked everyone who had had a hand in putting on 12th Night – she found it absolutely awe-inspiring, and hopes that all who attended had a wonderful time.

Ceridwen said that everything is going well as far as she knows, and that her duties have been fun and enjoyable, so far.

Old Business:

After her initial remarks, Ceridwen gave us the final report on 12th Night. In spite of last minute difficulties from weather up north, we still had 645 people show up. The event made a profit of $4,820, of which the Barony will have $1,205. She's awaiting reimbursement for some additional things. The hotel is VERY happy with us, and would take us again any time. She estimates that 200 of the hotel's 220 rooms were booked.

Iurii sang the praises of the hotel's housekeeping and other staff, who were incredibly attentive and helpful for all manner of preparations, both before and during the event.

Ceridwen said that she could not have done this event without the help of her own staff; they were invaluable. They are also willing to do the event again, as soon as 2011. In fact, they're already doing fundraising, just in case!

There are approximately 300 leftover site tokens which can be sold for such a purpose, though Alysaundre was going to have more to say on that, later. Apparently, coloring books featuring some of the designs for the stained glass were sold at the event, and it is rumored that Marian and Raven are preparing a second printing, since they proved to be so popular.

A LOT of the decorations – worth about twice what the actual budgeted amount for décor was – were donated by Baroness Yseult, which is why everything looked so awesome.

Ariana then gave a report on her preparations for Egils. She has gotten off to a slow start, but has held a couple of meetings, and most of the staff positions have been filled. Elizabeth is working on the Crier copy and will send it off ASAP. Forms will also be sent to the Egils website. She did some double-checking, and the fee for the 2-page ad spread for the Crier is already included in the budget. Alysaundre has the Artisans' Village just about filled up. Rachel is overeeing pre-reg and has a deputy for gate. Publicity and Combat still need people to fill them.

Johanna asked if there will be public meetings. Ariana wants to have regular meetings; the trick is finding a good night. She will advertise the meetings whenever possible.

New Business:

Alysaundre has proposed to replace the Gold Key pavilion. It is approximately 15 years old, is afflicted with mildew, and is starting to leak. He wants to make a brand-new pavilion out of rain-treated Sunforger canvas. He already has the canvas, and if not used for Gold Key, it will go to other projects. When not at use at our own events, the pavilion would be used as a Baronial pavilion abroad, for the populace of Adiantum to gather under. He would decorate it with the Baronial populace badge and other general marks of identification, so as to encourage multi-purpose use of the pavilion, and would make a silk banner with the Gold Key insignia to fly in front of it when it is being used for that purpose. Gold Key makes money for the Barony, so he feels that this is a very justifiable expense. To raise funds, he is willing to sell leftover tokens from 12th Night and from Tymberhavene's 11th Night for $1.00 apiece, to offset the cost. He would start working on it in March, and would collect reimbursement after Egils. The total cost would be $426.90.

Morrghan added that the Gold Key pavilion is often the first thing that newcomers see when they arrive at an event, so she feels that the expense is worth it to create a good first impression.

The vote was taken, and Council unanimously approved a brand-new shiny Gold Key pavilion. Alysaundre feels that this will also be a great opportunity for people to learn how to make a pavilion, as he is willing to use this project as a tool to teach others.

William Cristofore recommended that Alysaundre talk to Baron Ulfheddin about forging stakes for the pavilion.

As a final small announcement, Elizabeth said that when she had autocratted last year's October Event, nothing got done on it until after Egils, and that's not healthy. She would like to see plans for such an event being made now, rather than waiting for months after Egils.

Council then moved on to Officer Reports.

Archery (Saethryth): Target archery marshal training will be finished next week. William Cristofore will be certified as a marshal once that is complete. She will start working on targets for Egils in February. She took advantage of some post-holiday sales to buy supplies, so most of her budget has been spent.

A & S (Alysaudre): Now that we are moving into the tourney season, emphasis at Sewing Nights will be on tourney garb. A & S meetings will begin in earnest starting in March, and there will be an Artisans' Social on February 28th and March 28th. At the March social he will be doing classes on pewter casting, soapstone molds, and turnshoes, and Angharad will host classes on knitting and on Monmouth caps. The Social will run from 10 am to 9 pm at the Terry Street mobile home park; directions and further details will be forthcoming.

Ceridwen asked him if he had a working key to the storage unit. He did, but he gave that to Baroness Katerine; she will make copies. Ceridwen still needs one. Rachel then asked if Alysaundre had a key to the PO box. Likewise, he had possessed it, but thinks it is on the same keyring that he gave to Katerine. Ceridwen does have a key to the PO box at present. Karis added that she will need a key to the Lynx Hollow park gate.

Chamberlain: This position is currently vacant. If you are interested in filling it, please contact the Seneschal. This position has some very important requirements, so you should consult with her to see if it will be a good fit for you.

Chatelaine (Fionnbharr): She talked to lots of people at 12th Night. She needs to get brochures to hand out, and wants to make business cards as well. The Copy Shop was recommended for printing business cards, as that is where we have an account. Ceridwen did caution that the SCA Inc. has been getting a lot pickier about what they will allow to be printed as a representation of the Society, so she should have any designs double-checked before she goes ahead and prints them. As for brochures, there may be some old ones in storage that she can use.

Chiurgeon: This position is currently OPEN. If you are interested in filling it, please contact the Seneschal. Iurii is working on getting the necessary qualifications to hold the position.

Chronicler (Aesa): This month I sent out e-copies of the Bear to my former electronic subscribers, and sent in the PDF to our wonderful Websmith, who put a link up to that and to all the other Bears on the Barony's front page. It looks great.

I took the liberty of printing up 15 hard copies; 8 of them have already been mailed out and 1 is being reserved for the Library, but I brought along 6 extras to bring along and hand out. By the end of the evening, 3 of those had found homes.

Printing cost $6.60; postage cost $3.78. I also bought my print cartridge for the year and it cost $17.07.

I renewed my membership on January 13th, and so am all up to snuff, there.

Exchequer (Rachel): It has been a stressful month, but a productive one. We have approximately $9,400 in the bank. She is working with Ariana to coordinate pre-reg for Egils. She needs to get the appropriate people listed as signatories on our bank account; these individuals would be:
Ceridwen ferch Morgan (Melissa Howerton), Seneschal
Rachel Vashnia (Abigail Eller), Exchequer
Alysaundre Welden d'Ath (Alex Haughland)
Fearga Kavanaugh (Jonna Hayden)
and a Kingdom representative (usually a member of Principality). In this case, that would be Adrien von Brandenberg (Erin McDonailed), Summits Exchequer.
All other individuals need to be taken off the account; only the above will be able to sign checks for the Barony.

She also noted that there was a slight increase in the dues for our storage: $1,185.60 for 6 months, a $15 increase. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a huge amount, so she doesn't recommend changing facilities anytime soon.

Gold Key (Alys): She wasn't present.

Herald (Angharad): Heraldry Nights will start up in March, with a class on book heraldry. Voice heraldry will happen in April. She is available for consultations and will be submitting her own arms very soon! She needs a deputy. She hasn't heard about the status of the populace badge, yet. Elizabeth will harass various people for details. Elizabeth could tell us that a couple of names of Baronial awards were approved, and it does appear that the populace badge is going through the process of review, slowly but surely.

Library (Alysaundre): Several back issues of the Elf Hill Times were donated to the library. He will be bringing the library to the Artisans' Social in March.

Marshal (Aaron): He wasn't present. Official practices continue to happen on Wednesdays. Unofficial rapier get-togethers are occurring on Saturdays, courtesy of Mauera Cethin. The Honorable Lady Mauera makes a special trip here from Corvallis to do so, so if you are at all interested in rapier you are highly encouraged to take advantage of her knowledge and guidance!

Park Liason (Karis): Kees has received official notice of the office changeover. He will be available in the next couple of weeks to meet with her and she will address the issue of the key to the park and other needs for Egils. She needs to get the dates of the event in order to get the special use permits squared away.

Pied Piper: This position is currently OPEN. If you are interested in filling it, please contact the Seneschal.

Scribe (Elizabeth): There have not been any Scribal get-togethers lately, but that will change in February when she begins to host them at her house again. She may move the Scribal Days to the Artisans' Social to take advantage of the facilities and what is typically a large number of attendees. We really need to get cracking on painting charters! She is working on calligraphy, but making very slow progress. She needs to get a deputy who can step up in September.

Seneschal (Ceridwen): She turned in her quarterly report; things are going fine. She needs to finish up the Customary, as we are super ultra behind on that. She also needs a deputy.

Thingmakers (Marian): She could not be present, but sent in a report. There were flurries of activity for 12th Night preparations. The heraldic bags and masks went over very well; only one bag did not find a home, and that will be donated to largesse. Most of the masks were returned so we can enjoy them again in the future. The various members of visiting royalty were very appreciative of them, as they had often not had time to make their own masks. At the next Thingmakers, they will do leatherburning!

Waterbearer (Iurii): His tenure ended on a positive note at 12th Night, where he helped at the rapier tournament. He got many positive comments from the various competitors; they appreciated his presence there very much. One lady from British Columbia donated oranges for the last hour of the tourney, and those went over very well. He enjoyed getting to watch the tournament close-up. He gives his thanks to all those who helped him during his service in this position, and enjoyed his duties. The Barony of Adiantum thanks Iurii for his cheerful and dedicated service in this office.

As an afterward, the SCA Inc. has decided that Waterbearing is no longer needed as an official office. Volunteers can still perform waterbearing duties in much the same way that it has always been done; it will just not be done under the auspices of an office or official overseer. This also means that there will no longer be a separate budget for this office; waterbearing costs will now be covered under the budgets for individual events.

Webminister (Digr): He finished his quarterly report. He has no issues in his folder, so feel free to contact him with any issues, requests, questions, or other work. He also welcomes any work on the Armorial.

Work Party (Ambrose): Ambrose will go on a walkabout on the site on February 7th. No actual work yet – just taking stock of issues or damage, making lists, things like that. If you want to tag along, you are welcome to do so. Marian is disappointed that she can't go this time, but she will be at the first official work party with tea and snacks, and that's a promise. Ariana will try to be there, and offers transportation to anyone wishing to go. Juan added that rubber boots are strongly recommended!

As one last note: the manager of Sizzler's was happy to have us, and offered to let us use their other private room, which is apparently bigger and a little quieter, next time.

The following people were present:
Tadhg O' Murchadha the Wanderer (Tadhg Simmons) – Baron of Adiantum
Morrghan O' Siodhachain (Sara Simmons) – Baroness of Adiantum
Ceridwen ferch Morgan (Melissa Howerton) – Seneschal of Adiantum
Rachel Vashnia (Abigail Eller) – Exchequer of Adiantum
Diel of Norwich
Digr Ketelson
Unna Rosenkranz
Karis Pursey
Fionnbharr Starfyr
Iurii Levchenich
Alysaundre Weldon
Angharad Vach
Ariana Aislinn
Juan de Leon
Elizabeth Turner de Carlisle
William Cristofore of Devonshire
Saethryth Seolferloc
Johanna Trewpeny
with a special guest appearance by Griffin!

Council will be held again on January 23rd at Sizzler by Gateway Mall.
These notes were taken, compiled and edited by Aesa Sigtryggsdottir.. If you feel there is an inconsistency between what you remember and what happened, you may contact me at silverwolfadiantum [AT] yahoo [DOT] com. Apologies in advance if I mis-spelled your name. Rhonanai!