Present: Dafydd, Marieke, Thomas, Rosie, Cat, Lily, Eleanor, David, Findabhair, Eric, Aethelwulf.
Moving to Quarterly Meetings – Thomas heard nothing for or against his proposal to move our business meetings to a quarterly schedule, so they will be held quarterly, henceforward. The next business meeting will be the third Sunday in January (the 16th) unless something arises to bump that date.
Moot Review – Thomas reviewed the notes from the recent Moot which was held on the topic of how to increase and encourage heavy list fighting in the Freehold.
Fencing Report – Lily reports that recent fencing practices have been very well attended by youth and adults. We are lacking loaner gear in XL sizes, and Lily will put together a proposal to purchase one XL gorget, one XL mask, and canvas material for one or two XL fencing jackets, so that it can be voted on by the shire. Cat has recently sewn some fencing hoods, so there are plenty of those at the moment. Lily also requested some mask-expanders (frames to go inside the mask to help keep the mask away from the mouth) to make cloth masks more comfortable to wear while fencing. These might be considered a Covid-related expense and we will ask Katherine to check if this expense is reimbursable by the Kingdom.
Heavy List Report – Aethelwulf hopes to hold weekday outdoor practices in Milton, when spring comes. For loaner gear, he says we could really use a new loaner helmet or two. The last practice had 10 heavy fighters – but not all of them have their own gear yet. The hodgepodge of loaner armor is still a hassle. It will be better when we have the new pieces from Dietrich. Also, Dietrich has offered to teach an armor-making session, which might help our newer folk get their own personally-fit pieces.
Archery Report – David reported that we have a potential new site for archery next summer, a bit closer to our core of activities, thanks to our new Freeholders, Pete rand Julie. David is thankful that the shire purchased an arrow-making jig, and he has plans for it…. But first we need to order a pile of shafts, and feathers.
Youth Activities Report – Eleanor is expecting a surge after kids can get vaccinated. Meanwhile things are in a holding pattern. Eleanor has her eye on options to continue the process of getting warranted as a Youth Heavy Marshal, but it’s not feasible at this time.
Arts and Sciences Report – Rosie will try to schedule Dietrich’s armor-making workshop. She reminded us that A&S activities can happen on any Sunday, concurrent with the usual fencing and heavy list practices – and also that Findabhair is scheduling A&S eve nings on the first Wednesday evening of each month at her home. Rosie reminded us that Her Majesty is in need of favors, embroidered or otherwise devised. (An image is here: https://ih.eastkingdom.org/index.php/honigs-favor/) Dafydd’s recent class on fabric-stamping had 3 enthusiastic attendees.
Kingdom Twelfth Night – this will be taking place in neighboring Panther Vale on Jan. 8. Event details are here: https://www.eastkingdom.org/event-details/?eid=3778 This is a Royal Progress event, so there will be a Royal Court. Marieke said Freeholders should start thinking about how they can help out at this large, complex event. Findabhair has a plan for a bread subtlety that could be presented to Their Majesties.
Freehold Yule– Eleanor suggested that we do a small, informal pot-luck at one of the December Sunday fighting practices. (We’ll need to check if the school will allow this.) There didn’t seem to be much interest in doing a full-scale Yule this year in the Freehold, since the Kingdom Twelfth Night in Panther Vale will be taking the place of our more humble effort. Dafydd and Marieke are wondering if Katherine is willing to organize another Gift Exchange this year. We had great participation from both shires last year.
New Social Media Handbook – Thomas mentioned that the new handbook is out. It can be found here:
https://www.sca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SocietySocialMediaHandbookSept2021.pdf
We are allowed to mention non-SCA activities related to our interests, but we must clearly label them as not officially sponsored or sanctioned by the SCA Inc. it is not required for shires to have a Social Media Officer, but it might be a fun job for the right person – any volunteers?
The meeting ended after an hour.
Notes by Marieke.