Greetings, Freeholders! Here are my notes from the lovely, pleasant, productive Moot held on June 29, 2014, at the home of Lisabetta and Erasmus in North Hero.

Present: Aethelwulf, Thora, Lisabetta, Erasmus, Gwynedd, Maegwyn, Tearlach, Blythe, Rudth, Sean, Katherine, Marieke

FIGHTING PRACTICE – continues, every other weekend – roughly the second and fourth Sundays of the month, except when major local events conflict. Practices are in the Mills River Park in Jericho if the weather is good, or in the Underhill ID School Gym if not. We are trying to dress up, have crafts, and engage interested spectators. Practices are posted on the Freehold Facebook page, and the Five Shires Facebook page. (Whoever thinks of it should also post the notices to the Freehold email list.)

COLDWOOD (PLATTSBURGH NY) DEMO – August 30, we think, not sure of when/where. A bunch of Freeholders are planning to head over and help out. More details will be posted when known.

DEMOS/PUBLICITY IN GENERAL – The Mills River practices serve as a demo, but they’re not held in a population center and we might need to think about a better location. Our indoor spring demo at the Underhill ID school was publicized, but not well attended – not very visible. The Lutheran Fair in May was a good demo opportunity. We discussed Oakledge Park as a good future demo site – but there may be a cost for pavilion rental, and there is a charge for parking. If we can pull together a good demo, it’s worth publicizing it in Seven Days. Somebody also suggested having flyers available for “coming events” which could be handed out at the gate of an earlier event – say, if we planned a summer event, we could have a flyer ready to be handed out at Panteria.

BIRTHDAY BASH – we discussed several ideas for location, including the Greek Orthodox Church, the St. Albans church, Brewster River campground, the well-provisioned camp that’s up on the northern border, etc. At the end of the meeting we all felt that having a public demo/event  in the St. Albans Park followed by an evening feast in the St. Albans Church would be the best way to go. Details are being worked out. September is very full, so this may happen in early October.

YULE FEAST – we are hosting Yule feast this year (we alternate with Panther Vale). Although the St. Albans church is nice, we will look into a more convenient location that’s closer for our Panther Vale friends.

The Greek Church in Burlington is under new management so it’s not clear if we’ll get as good a deal as we did before. We will ask Alaxandr about the West Rutland Town Hall, a site he has recommended in the past.

BORDERS – Our shire senschal, Sean, has composed a formal letter to Dafydd, our regional seneschal, asking for the zip codes that are included in Rutland County. If successful, this will expand Freehold territory to the south, in order to include Alaxandr and his lady.

PANTERIA – we discussed, at length, ways we can help at Panteria next year. This means “Really Helping in a Significant Way.” People who sign up for the meal plan are already supposed to help in the kitchen for an hour or two (and often don’t). But much more help is needed, at the event and for clean-up at the end – if Panther Vale folk burn out, the event just won’t happen and that would be a very sad thing. We’ll be in touch with Panther Vale to see what we can do, but this will require a commitment from Freeholders to give up some of our “fun time” to make sure the event continues to happen.

WEB PAGE – Our website looks great and is helpful for newcomers. It would be nice if we could have a quick and easy way to add current events and news about local activities to our website. Can Alaxandr link a blog to the site so that people could contribute little tidbits? Marieke will inquire.

NEW CHATELAINE – Lady Katherine has volunteered to be our chatelaine. Vivat!

WALLET CARDS – Lisabetta will design little SCA contact cards that we can hand out to the public, and have them professionally printed at a low-cost site that she uses for her own cards. The Moot attendees approved this purchase.

LARP SWORDS FOR DEMOS – the Moot attendees approved the purchase of several LARP style foam swords that could be used informally at demos.

ARCHERY PRACTICE – would be nice; there is a pent-up desire to shoot. A marshal would also be nice (Emrys is working on this) and of course, a suitable location must be found.

NEXT MEETING/MOOT – Blythe offered her lovely dwelling in Richmond as a location for a future meeting, moot or gathering.

Them’s my notes – feel free to add, discuss and debate!

Marieke