Our Seneschal, Lady Kassandra Aiantide, begins this unusual August meeting of Great Council with the following announcements:
- The BOD has decided that all in-person events are suspended through 1/31/2021, including Birka. Coronation (mostly virtual) is still on for August 15.
- There are now mailing lists for all of the silver-level awards, a great way to get in touch with folks who aren’t on FB. If you have questions about signing up, contact Kassandra (or Symon).
- There has been a suggestion from EK Seneschal to have officers change Baronial website info and email signatures to include pronouns, if they’re comfortable with that. Symon has already done his, so you can see what it looks like. You can also put pronouns in your email signature.
- Kassandra now has a deputy: Lady Patience Faircloth!
- There will be a review of a proposed bylaw amendment from Eadgyth (later).
Officers of the Barony:
- Baron Thomas of Effingham and Baroness Raziya bint Rusa are invited to speak. After un-muting, they announce that they will attend Coronation and report back to all of us. They will speak about Falling Leaves later in this meeting. Please write in children for the new Baronial award — don’t leave it only to their parents or their Excellencies. Thomas reports that a piece of Ancient Regalia, a Ring formerly belonging to Cariadoc, is going to be repaired by a generous gentle at no cost to the Barony.
- Seneschal of the Canton of the Towers: Master Ivan Matfeevich Rezansky says they are going to postpone a planned August event to September.
- Chatelaine: Baroness Isabelle de Montreuil Sur Mer is unable to unmute herself at this time. She sends word that Newcomer Night will be August 17; stay tuned for an announcement on FB.
- Chancellor Minor: Lady Fiore di Bardi mentions that there is a slate of children’s activities at the Kingdom level presently taking place online; ask her for more information.
- The Chronicler, Baron Kendrick del Grenewode, says this: Short minuscule next month cause no event calendar till 2/1/2021. If anyone has a topic or an article needing help to spring onto the pages of the newsletter please contact me!
- Dancemistress: Lady Aelia Fortunata. In the interest of Public Health and Safety, I feel it is safest and in our best interest to cancel in-person dance practice until next spring. That being said, in lieu I will be running virtual dance thingies once a month. We’ll be doing things like playing with reconstruction, learning more about our sources and so on. The first of these will be Thursday, September 10.
- Golden Gryphon Pursuivant: Anezka of Carolingia continues to hold heraldic office hours. Next will be Tuesday 8/11, 6:30 – 8:30. The Kingdom of Ansteorra will hold a Heraldic and Scribal Syposium online on 8/22: http://herald.ansteorra.org/ahss2020/
- Historian: Mistress Eowyn Eilownwy of Alewife Brook has no announcements.
- Marshal of Archery: Master Peter the Red is not present, but archery practice has resumed; see the Baronial email list for details.
- Marshal of Thrown Weapons: Lord Arngeir Refskegg says Hello! He thanks Serafina and Eadgyth for helping him reopen the ranges in Carlilse and Framingham. An announcement has been posted to FB, the email list, and the Baronial web site. There are many extra guidelines as detailed in the announcements.
- Minister of Arts and Sciences: Lady Catriona Genevra says that Virtual Pennsic is going on. Many classes are available through YouTube, and there is a FB group for Virtual Pennsic. Once September is upon is, she would like to have Carolingian online craft nights in a stitch-n-bitch format. Day of the week TBA, drop her a line if you have ideas.
- The Webminister, Lord Symon of Barnesdale, sends this report: No real news on the web side at this time. Some minor fixes to the website that you already know about. Starting to explore what a virtual Falling Leaves might look like. I have a web meeting Monday night with Tindal and Alberic’s award scheduler so I won’t be at council.
Principals of the Baronial Orders:
- Daystar: Lady Kira: there will be an email to the group, watch for it in the next week or so.
Representatives of the Guilds and Activities:
- Lady Fiore di Bardi announces that the Needleworkers are presently taking a Pennsic hiatus, and will next meet 8/27 at 6:30.
Events:
Patience solicits people to organize online activities for Falling Leaves — contact her to discuss.
Announcements (SCA-related):
Eadgyth: Am I really supposed to lead a discussion of the proposed by-laws amendment? What does that say, again?
IV. Events. C. Prospective autocrats shall submit or present a “proposal” for the event to the Great Council and a budget to the Finance Committee for consideration. *After the event proposal is approved, any subsequent changes to the purpose or scope of the event, or to the event budget, shall be submitted to the Great Council for consideration before being implemented.*
(Text *between asterisks* to be added.)
This is mostly codification of our usual practice, but also clarifying in the By-laws another part of the process because we don’t always remember to tell autocrats everything they need to know.
Discussion of proposed amendment: Justin suggests adding the word “major” to “subsequent changes”; discussion ensues about what “major” means. Caitrona suggests an “escape hatch” of consulting the financial committee, in case of last-minute issues that arise after the last Council before the event. Patience agrees on the grounds that Council meets only once a month and more flexibility is needed. Raziya suggests defining “major” in terms of a percentage of the original event budget. Eadgyth then proposes that changes to purpose or scope must go to Council, but changes to budget may go to the financial committee. Many additional gentles contribute to the discussion and a general consensus seems to be reached.
Justin du Coeur may have found a suitable platform for some kinds of online gaming, stay tuned for an announcement.
Justin also brings up the annual officer review: terms of office are a squishy 3 years. This year, these are up: Exchequer, Cooks Guild, Historian, Jongleurs, Thrown Weapons, and Webminister.
Caitrona says, the next EK Ethereal Court will take place on Sunday, August 9, at 4 PM. At least one Carolingian will be receiving an award!
Announcements (non-SCA-related):
Eowyn says that it is mundane election season. The primary in MA is September 1. Don’t forget to register and vote! https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleidx.htm
Shannon says that there is a non-SCA Costume College going on, CoCoVid: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiN9xlndUXLk9g108Ip0vxrI4mNPF36to
Kassandra, having no gavel, bangs her phone upon the table. Next meeting 9/14.