Present (via Zoom) : Kastana, Götar, Hákon, Guðrún, Tómas, Vindiorix, Nickolai, Æthelwulf, Katherine, Dafydd, Séamas, Leo, Marieke
Seneschal
We reviewed the notes from the October meeting. Since then, we have elected some new officers: a Seneschal (Kastana), Knight Marshal (Hákon), Minister of Arts and Sciences (Séamas), Pursuivant (Alaxandr), and Thrown Weapons (Stefania).
We also put on a fun and successful Crown Tournament in October, and Leo fought his way to the final eight in the tourney.
Arts and Sciences
Séamas reminded us that the theme for our Shire Arts and Sciences Championship (to be held at Mimir’s Well) is “Imperfections.” He hopes that entrants will have an opportunity to talk about their entries. Voting will most likely be by populace choice.
Additionally, he is planning a display of things you’re thankful for, either items you made yourself or were given by others. This will allow non-artisans to showcase their treasures, as well.
Séamas has started monthly A&S checkins on Facebook so people can show what they’re working on.
Nickolai asked about providing project kits of materials that could be assembled and personalized. It’s OK for him to charge a materials fee for these if he likes.
Social Media
Kastana is working on getting the Mountain Freehold Discord Channel set up, with much-appreciated assistance from Hope and Cermit. There will be an “Announcements” channel, and it will be possible to set up “roles” so users can be notified of activity in various interest areas. The roll-out will be to shire officers first, for testing purposes.
Chatelain
Leo thanked everyone for an excellent Yule Feast.
Congratulations to Nickolai, who is Stonemarche Fencing Champion, and Eseld, who is Stonemarche A&S Champion. This is the third time recently that Freeholders have championed our neighboring Barony of Stonemarche.
People should update their East Kingdom wikis with their new awards and offices. Contact Leo if you need assistance.
Leo explained that the shire officers are always available to talk with Freeholders and prospective Freeholders about their place in the shire and to discuss any concerns. We want the Freehold to be a welcoming place for everybody.
For the Winter Rennaisance Faire in Essex Jct, help is needed on Friday pm (Jan. 31) to set up, on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 1 & 2) to staff the tables and perform fighting & fencing demos, and to take down on Sunday afternoon. The sign-up sheet is here. Bring a craft or some way to interact with the public. A 4-hour shift at the table will get you into the Faire for free. As we did last year, we’ll use the Faire to promote our newcomer-friendly Mimir’s Well event (Feb. 16).
Leo also said, we have a lot of talent in our shire and we need to continue sharing our enthusiasm and knowledge with others. Networking is a good thing. Nickolai wondered if it would be helpful to have some of our summer meetings in local parks with more visibility, perhaps mid-week – a larger gathering, with us in garb, doing interesting things and chatting with passers-by. We’re not planning on changing our convenient, free school access on Sunday afternoons at Brown’s River, since it’s helpful to have bathrooms and an indoor location if the weather requires it. But we could do more, on different days, in different locations.
Marshal
Hákon explained that it used to be the case that all Chivalry were automatically marshals. A recent change has resulted in the need for Chivalry to get warranted, in order to serve as marshals. Hákon will get his marshal paperwork completed at Birka.
AEthelwulf reported that heavy-list practices have been a bit light lately, with the holidays and other events taking up a bunch of our weekends.
Exchequer
Katherine explained that Dietrich almost made it, but was called away at the last minute.
We made a good profit from Crown Tourney. PayPal worked well for advance reservations, but we weren’t reimbursed for about two months – so it’s good to have a cushion in our bank account for such things, when we put on major events.
Yule Feast broke even, but the feast itself ran quite a bit in the red. The Finance Committee is working on a policy involving training and mentoring that will help guide feast cooks in the future.
In ancient days, people pre-paid for their feasts by mailing in checks, and we could get a good head-count. It is difficult to budget when you have no idea how many will be eating.We can do advance reservations by PayPal for smaller events too, but there’s behind-the-scenes work involved in setting that up each time. Even if we do that, we still can’t take payment via credit cards at the Gate (yet…).
Katherine explained that there’s a special page in the yearly accounting spreadsheet that tracks allocated funds. We’ve had $50 allocated as a Marshal Expense, but unspent, for several years now. If Aethelwulf or Hakon can spend it (on foam padding?) sometime this year, the accounting will be greatly simplified.
The big year-end financial report has been successfully filed.
The meeting ended after about an hour.
Notes by Marieke