Subject: Notes from business meeting, 2/16/20
Chancellor Minor report: Eleanor reported that Cat Spoonbreaker is now our deputy Chancellor Minor. Eleanor will remain our Shire’s Chancellor Minor, but she is also now serving as Northern Regional Deputy Chancellor Minor.

Fencing report: Lily reported that fencing is going great, with good turnout. Some youth are almost ready to be authorized. We approved the purchase of two loaner youth gorgets, and a longsword. Jordan is replacing the existing gorgets with a better model. In the future we will need another small-adult gorget, a few more hoods, and a jumbo fencing jacket.

Marshal report: Tearlach will fill in as our Knight Marshal, by virtue of his white baldric which grants him this power.

Baronial situation: David Poirier said that we don’t need to do anything at the moment. Panther Vale is still exploring the question, on their end.

Web Minister report: Katherine (and others) would like to get an alert in their regular email, whenever a new officer gmail is received in the Gmail account, because it’s hard to remember to check the gmail account. Marieke will ask the Kingdom Webminister if this feature can be added.

Pursuivant report: Dafydd reported that he will pursue some plans after Mimir’s Well. He would like to create a shire armorial, and update our collection of painted canvas banners for shire members. Jordan asked if the populace badge on the Freehold website can be re-posted with the correct coloring, and in higher resolution, so he can use the correct sigil to mark our loaner gear. As this graphical stuff is beyond Marieke’s powers, Kastana will assist.

Mistress of Arts and Sciences: Rosie reported that our April meeting will be for creating masks for Fool’s Feast, which will have the theme of Carnival in Venice. Dafydd is ready to lead a silk painting class, but it’s not scheduled yet. The group also thanked Rosie for her timely sharing of A&S information from the kingdom. Rosie has found some of the shire song books. She also has a box of various lengths of cloth for future projects. Marieke offered to teach some European dancing, probably on some upcoming weeknight.

Exchequer: Katherine reported that our treasury is healthy, the year-end report is finalized and submitted, and the 2020 budget has been calculated. Documents are on the Mountain Freehold Google drive, and if you want to know how to access that, ask Katherine. She’s looking for a deputy exchequer to train. She mentioned a few rules to consider: we need to provide receipts for reimbursable expenses, and we can’t pay people for services or time (not that we ever have…)

Seneschal: David Poirier reminded us that only he can sign contracts. This applies to demos, events, meeting locations, and anything else that might require a signature.

Chatelain: Odd is settling in. He has SCA contact business cards if anyone needs to replenish their supply.

Mimir’s Well: Eleanor reports everything is on track. The schedule of 25 classes is published. We are making a special effort to include youth activities. We voted to subsidize 15 kits for one of the youth classes (making the battery lanterns) because the parts are kind of expensive to ask a class fee for, but the product is really cool and will add to ambience at events. This should easily fit into the event budget. For food, Cat said there will be a dayboard, and a dessert buffet just before Court. Feel free to bring dessert dishes to contribute, but it is REQUIRED that they be accompanied by a complete and accurate ingredient list. Also, importantly, the site is dry…. seriously and absolutely. No flasks, no bottles in paper bags, no gift bottles. We don’t want to risk losing this excellent site.

Affordable hotel space: David Poirier is working on an arrangement with the Hampton Inn (near Exit 17) for affordable hotel rooms for SCAdian visitors. They also have a ballroom available for $600 that could be useful.

And we got all that done in an hour! Well done, folks! As always, additions and corrections are welcome.

Marieke