The province’s monthly commons meeting was held April 19, 2023. Here are the minutes as recorded by Mathghamhain ua Ruadháin. The officers’ reports are attached at the end.

Attendance

Present

• Angelica di Nova Lipa, Vicereine
• Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, Vicereine
• Nagashima Ichiro Ujimichi (“Uji”), Seneschal
• Alienor Salton (“Piglet”), Exchequer and Seneschal of Appleholm
• Drasma Dragomira, Herald
• Zahra de Andaluzia, Chronicler
• Friderich Grimme, Webminister
• Albrecht Anker, Chatelaine and Social Media Officer
• Ervald LaCoudre Edwardson, Armored Combat Marshal
• Alexander MacLachlan (“Alec”), Fencing Marshal, Deputy Seneschal, and Lions End Exchequer
• Vitasha Ivanova doch’, Minister of Lists
• Kunigunde Wedemann, Chancellor Minor
• Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Historian and Appleholm Herald
• Arnora Ketilsdottir, Seneschal of Brokenbridge
• Iola Wulfsdotter, Seneschal of Lions End
• Ragnarr Bliskegg, A&S Champion

• Catelin Straquhin, Brokenbridge Herald
• Eadwine the Younger, Brokenbridge Exchequer
• Hanya Vladimirovna Polotskaya, Brokenbridge Arts & Sciences
• Richard the Poor, Northpass Exchequer
• Simon the Tanner, Northpass Arts & Sciences

• Gibbs Moryss
• Ilia Aleksandrovich
• Jenna Childslayer
• Lada Monguligin
• Oliver De Bainbridge

• Robert d’Whitmont (“Harry”)

Absent Officers

• Brandr Aronsson, Arts & Sciences

Opening 

• Called to order at 7:30 P.M.

• Uji: Read the SCA Policy on Harassment and Bullying.

Vicereines: Thanks

• Sofya: Please review our viceregal report, circulated by email.

• Thank you to everyone who has contributed to recent classes, demos, events and more over the last month, including the New Rochelle demo, the scribal workshop, and Brew U. 
• Particular thanks to folks who’ve gone above and beyond: Simon the Tanner for his leather exhibit at the New Rochelle demo, and to Piglet and Mathghamhain for setting up shelving in storage.

• Put in your recommendations for folks deserving of recognition with kingdom and provincial awards.

Seneschal: Northpass

• Uji: Northpass is proceeding towards reinstatement. Four officers have been warranted: Medhbh as Seneschal, Simon as Arts & Sciences, Richard as Exchequer, and Marcus as Webminister. 
• I am unsure whether the canton is officially active yet, or when that will happen. There’s a rumor that it’s going to be made official at Crown Tourney, but I have no concrete evidence of that.

Seneschal: Kitchen Gear

• Uji: At Brew U, several of the cooks discussed the Province’s feast gear.
• We went through the knives, vegetable peelers, can openers, and other sharp implements, and have set the worst of them aside to be discarded (or perhaps to be given to Baron Ian as historical artifacts).
• We are in discussion with the Vicereines to propose tossing those and buying new items to replace them.
• Arnora: Do we have a few knives in good shape for use at Crown?
• Uji: We have some usable knives, but we need a few more paring knives, etc..
• Mathghamhain: Did these items go bad, or were they always bad? Do they just need to be sharpened?
• Uji: Sharpening will only make them usable once. We would rather get a few quality pieces.

• Friderich: The knives being discarded are very old serrated knives that were donated to the Province years ago and no longer useful at our events. (The good chef’s knives that we purchased recently are still in good shape.) 
• Friderich: We have 7 good chef’s knives, 2 crappy paring knives, 2 peelers, 2 or 3 serving forks. We also have 2 make-do bread knives.
• Mathghamhain: That sounds reasonable; let’s aim to get a few good knives, not a big set of sub-par blades.
• Uji: A good knife will last for generations.
• Ragnarr: I would love to have any knives you were going to discard for knife-sharpening practice.
• Jenna: For the knives that are being kept, I would be happy to spend an hour in the kitchen sharpening them.
• Friedrich: Most of the ones that are being kept just need to be honed with a steel, not really sharpened.
• Uji: We will set up a committee (and mailing list) to research what to purchase, then make suggestions: a few paring knives, a few peelers, etc. 

Vicereines: Upcoming Events

• Sofya: There are a bunch of upcoming events to discuss.
• Thursday there’s a sausage making workshop at Brandr’s house and he’d like your help.
• April 26 is An Dubh Schola
• May 20 is Lions End Schola
• May 20 is also possibly the date for the Viking Day Demo, if we’re proceeding with that.

Crown Tournament, May 6, Arnora

• Arnora: Crown is approaching.
• Pre-register by Tuesday!

• We need volunteers for two shifts as food servers.
• We are also recruiting volunteers for breakdown that evening (in addition to whatever help we’ll get from random people who didn’t explicitly sign up but nonetheless  stick around and help).

• Arnora: We also need five easy-ups and nine tables (4’ or 6’ or 8’) for use in the food area. 
• Reach out to me directly if you have some you can share for the event. 
• We’re renting a cargo van, so if you get supplies to the new provincial storage unit in advance, we can transport them to and from the event for you.
• Sofya: I have a long non-folding table I can donate to the province, 6’ or 8’.
• Friderich: We have two eight foot tables, but Lilli and I cannot attend the event as we will be out of town.  Can anyone get the tables from us by the Thursday before?

Lions End Schola, May 20, Ragnarr

• Sofya: The Lions End Schola is coming up — pre-register and join us!

• Ragnarr: The site limit is 40 people plus staff; we’re currently around half that. Please pre-register.
• Lunch is a potluck; let me or Jenna know what you’re bringing.
• Jenna: Reminder, the site is bone dry, no alcohol at all.

• Ragnarr: We will have great classes, and will post info soon.
  • If you want to teach, reach out to me. 

• The Provincial A&S championship will be there. Come display you work. We will have four categories of awards. If you win, you get to hold the fancy book of champions, and write an entry in it about your A&S work.
• Catelin: Can people submit A&S entries without attending?
• Ragnarr: I will discuss that with the vicereines.

Viking Day, May 20, Lada

• Lada: There was interest in doing a small-scale demo at Viking Day, by people who weren’t going to the Lions End Schola. 
• We’re splitting up the responsibility for the event. 
• We can use my house to stage up supplies: a couple of popups and tables/chairs to be carried into the park on the day of the event.
• Alec will coordinate setup and hand off mid-day to Catelin who will coordinate until the end..
• Catelin: I will coordinate with Albrecht on getting demo literature — pamphlets, banners, other Chatelaine material.
• Catelin: We’re planning on a minimum of eight people, including a few fencers. Maybe an armored fighter can let kids use a foam sword to whack-a-knight. Bring your own bench. We’ll put on exhibitions for the audience.
• Friderich: Was whack-a-knight allowed again?  It was banned for a while.
• Arnora: Anyone who’s going to hold any kind of weapon at a demo needs to sign a waiver.

Farmingdale Demo, June 3, Iola

• Iola: We’ve started working on the Farmingdale demo. 
• Haven’t yet added it to the calendar. It’s the same date as SRWC.
• The Junior Firefighters will set up green and white for us. 
• Same garden area near the gazebo that we used in 2019. 

• Uji: I will assist with getting this organized and on the calendar.

Local War Practice, June 25, Ervald

• Ervald: Shoutout to the provincial fighters who were at Southern Region fight practice, including Perez, Ragnarr, Albrecht, Ryou, Francisco, Alec, Marion.

• I’ve been talking up the idea of a war practice, Sunday June 25.
• Some interest from knights and household leaders from around our region.
• I’m selling it to the out-of-towners on the grounds that it’s close to the bridge, and close to a beer garden.
• This will serve as a dry run for provincial fighters (and our neighbors) before we fight together at Pennsic.
• It’s also an opportunity for the regional Gold Lance to practice together.
• Albrecht: Gold Lance is one of the three divisions of the Southern Army.

• Ervald: Do we think it’s important to bring tents?
• Albrecht: People would be willing to bring their own popups.
• Ervald: Should I ask for approval to put up tents?
• Lada: Asking for a tent permit makes the Parks Department more skeptical.
• Sofya: For a previous event of this type, folks brought chairs and tables but not popups; this approach should still work great — as long as it doesn’t rain.
• Ervald: Okay, I won’t include tents in the permit request.

• Ervald: I am inviting those who are interested in making this a success to volunteer:
• Cooks, please make some food to bring. 
• Come help people set up and move gear around.
• Line marshals help with the fighting.
• Chatelaines to talk to passersby..

• Ervald: For the purposes of paperwork, this is a practice, not an event.
• Mathghamhain: Does that mean no income, no expense? And means we can’t list it in the EK calendar?
• Ervald: Yes; I would rather avoid paperwork. Cooks can put out a tip jar to cover expenses for food.
• Alienor: Don’t let the paperwork daunt you. The reports are not onerous, and I am willing to run them for you.

• Vitasha: That’s the same day as Pride.
• Albrecht: I won’t be able to attend because of Pride, the city will be tangled.
• Ervald: Okay, let’s talk offline.

Barleycorn, September 2, Alec

• Alec: I’m still assembling a team. Catelin’s acting as my deputy.
• It’ll be a one-day event, on September 2. 

• We should put it on the calendar to ensure other people don’t conflict. 
• Uji: Provincial procedure says we shouldn’t put it on​​ the calendar until we have a budget.
• Uji: I will put it on the planning calendar to be visible to other event planners
• Lada: I think it’s on the planning calendar already. https://www.eastkingdom.org/planning-calendar/

.

• Ervald: Do you want me to run Sir Edward’s challenge?
• Alec: We’ll talk about it, but it won’t be the provincial championship.

• Simon: Let me know if you want help.

Queens County Fair, Sep 9–10

• Sofya: We were invited to demo at the Queens County Fair, Sept 8-9-10.
• This is the weekend after Barleycorn.

• Do we have interest? We’d do setup on Friday and then have two full days.
• Among the upsides are being able to have archery and thrown-weapons ranges.
• Typically a low yield in terms of finding new participants from that audience.

• Catelin: We’d get better results if we were by the food instead of by the rides.
• Arnora: The pig-racing music is super annoying.
• Lada: But that’s the only place that can support archery. They’re probably not willing to move us into the area of the rides.

• Uji: It’s been a couple of years since we’ve done this.
• Sofya: Yes, it’s a lot of work, during a time when we’re already busy.
• Angelica: Their event coordinator is asking specifically for fighting, but we can only do that if we have buy-in from fighters.

• Sofya: no conflicting events on calendar.
• Jenna: normally would be all-in on this demo, worried about covid.
• Should rebrand it as a small camping event. Potluck dayboard.
• Always takes a long time to put up the green and white because debating where to place it. Math makes nice maps, but the problem is that the midway has crept further and further into our area. If rides block us, it’s less valuable.
• Needs to be an incentive for the fighters / archers to come out – prizes
• Arnora: What if we do something like an Østgarðr vs An Dubh showdown?
• Catelin: We have a bunch of new local interested folks. Very small scale local event. Maybe combat archery if we have marshals, if the space allows it. But I would give up archery in order to get a better location.
• Mathghamhain: I’m all for re-branding, but it’s inescapably a demo.
• Jenna: yes, but we have privacy in the evening, camping potential, free overnight parking..
• Lada: In recent years, we limited fighting and fencing to one day to concentrate the combatants into a single day.

• Ervald: I’ve been doing this event for years and am fond of it.
• We currently have a bunch of young local fighters who will be excited to participate. I suspect we can get a bunch of fighters two days in a row if we sell it as an opportunity to practice in a county fair in the city.
• Generally instead of cooking we eat off site, because we can’t have a campfire. You can try to organize an after-hours activity, but the fighters will want to go eat afterwards.
• We set up tents in the evening, then take them down in the morning. 
•  You have to move your car after drop-off; don’t leave the car in camp. 
• To drop gear off on-site, arrive in your car before 8 AM to unload and then move your car to the parking lot before the crowds arrive.

• Catelin: Being gawked at is good marketing.
• Sofya: Sounds like there’s interest; Catelin do you want to call them? Or should we find someone else to run the event?
• Catelin: Sure, I will be the event coordinator.
• Catelin: I’m also deputy steward for Barleycorn, assisting Alec, so I’ll be super busy for the next six months.

• Uji: That sounds good.
• Ervald: I’ll co-coordinate fighters.
• Jenna: Catelin, ask them if we can use fire bowls.

King’s County Fiber Festival, October 7

• Ragnarr: King’s County Fiber Festival asked us to participate again. 
• They previously told us they are excited to have us back and would lower our rate and improve / enlarge our position. 
• I might not be available because it’s Arnora’s birthday, October 7. Does someone else want to organize it? Are people interested in making it happen?
• Uji: Did we get new people engaged as a result of last year?
• Albrecht: We got emails as Chatelaine, but folks were maybe more SCA-adjacent rather than specifically SCA folks.
• Lada: We got people following us on Instagram.
• Sofya: It’s hard to quantify results. It was really popular. We re-activated an old member. I think it was worth it. Going again will get more people engaged. 
• Ragnarr: At the next commons I will ask for a volunteer to run it.

Other Upcoming Activities

• Ragnarr: On Sunday, April 30, I’m holding an armoring workshop at my home workshop. Might cook some  barbecue. Will plan another session in May or June.

• Alienor: Dancing Fox is May 13, I have space in my car for folks who want to join us on the road trip. Reach out to me offline.

• Mathghamhain: Join Appleholm at the Cloisters on Sunday!

Final Business

• Uji: Albrecht, did you have news about Discord or Chatelaine activities?
• Albrecht: I am looking for chatelaine help at events, and that I can eventually pass the role on to.
• Also planning on making some improvements to our Discord service but haven’t had time yet. 

• Kunigunde: Even if something doesn’t show up on the agenda, we should discuss upcoming events. For example, at last commons, we didn’t discuss the details of the New Rochelle gathering, which led to confusion about whether it was an event or demo, and if it was in garb or not.
• Uji: We always have “old business” and “new business” on the agenda so those things can be discussed if they come up.

• Zahra: Send me pictures, text, etc for the e-Horse! Thanks to the contributors!

• Arnora: Event stewards, note that insurance certificates from corporate are taking a long time to arrive.

Closing

• Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.

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Viceregents • Sofya Gianetta di Trieste & Angelica Di Nova Lipa

• New News:
  • 40th Annual Queens County Fair: Fri-Sun, Sept 8-10, 2023. We have been invited to attend the 40th Annual Queens County Fair. Are we interested in participating?
    • Reminder: Barleycorn is the weekend of September 1st.
• Upcoming Events:
  • Arts & Crafts Night: Thursday, April 20th
    • Help prepare for Crown Tourney and enjoy some delicious sausage hosted by Lord Brandr.
  • Schola at the University: Wolfie Welcomes the Ducks: April 22nd: Support our An Dubh duckies!
  • Lions End Scola: May 20th
    • A&S Champion will be selected-Please enter!
    • Limited space, so please pre-reg!!
• Thank you to all for making the past months demos, classes and events successful this past month!!!
  • New Rochelle demo: Thank you Oliver and Angelica for spearheading a demo with activities in our northern lands and thank you to all who participated in making it a great day.
  • Scribal Workshops: Thank you Lada for organizing successful scribal workshops in Brokenbridge!
  • Brew U: Great drinks and delicious food with amazing classes were on the menu for this event! Thank you Oliver and Fiona for organizing Brew U and making the event a success.
• Special Recognition:
  • Simon the Tanner: Thank you for bringing your leather goods to the New Rochelle Demo and sharing with all your skill and talent.
  • Alienor and Mathghamhain: Thank you for taking the shelving to our storage facility and organizing our inventory! 
• Kingdom award recommendations: Their Highness Brennan and Caoilfhionn have posted their award recommendation deadlines for Their upcoming reign. If you feel someone is worthy, please submit it online to the EK website. The next deadline is May 31st. https://surveys.eastkingdom.org/index.php/945932/lang-en
• See one of Ostgardr’s consistent contributors?  By all means, nominate them for  recognition with a Provincial award… the easy-peasy process is on the Ostgardr website:  https://ostgardr.eastkingdom.org/provincial-orders-awards/

Seneschal • Nagashima Ichiro Ujimichi

Questions keep coming in regarding Northpass status, and there is a rumor being spread that I will address in commons. 

We are forming a committee to discuss getting rid of Ostgardr feast gear that is broken/damaged and creating a list of needed purchases and a wish list.

Exchequer • Alienor Salton 

Sent out check for Deck the Halls food reimbursement.  Filed final Deck the Halls and Bears Tavern event reports.

Set up shelving in the Østgarðr storage unit, replaced keyed lock with numeric (code added to officers drive inventory folder storage facilities information doc).  Unit was successfully accessed by others for Spring Crown equipment staging, Brew U equipment retrieval & return, and event sign retrieval (for repainting, vivat Arnora!).

Met with fellow local exchequers to talk about reporting and procedures.  Started a procedures manual on the Østgarðr exchequer shared drive.

Worked through Q1 exchequer report to kingdom twice, with Frank’s assistance; am $30 out of balance.  Have bumped to kingdom for support.  Was reminded by filling out the report that I have not been officially warranted.  Re-applied through the google form provided by the exchequerate.  I have received no response, so I continue to act as though I have been properly warranted.

Formatted gate sheets for use at Brew U, to expedite entry.  Working on likewise for Spring Crown.  How it works: the gate sheet is one tab of a Google sheet with separate tabs for paypal, mail-in and combined registrations, formatted gate sheets, and refunds.  The PayPal tab is copied and pasted from the sheets sent by the PayPal team.  Mail-in is filled in by the person taking mail-in registrations (generally the exchequer).  The combined tab is populated by a query of the PayPal and MailIn tabs.  The formatted gate sheets then pull from the combined tab.  The Refunds tab is kept there so all registration information is in the same place.  Its behavior is not automated.

Herald • Drasma Dragomira

Not much to report this month (again). Heraldry submissions from the populace are still moving along nicely.

I am still looking for deputies; if you’re or someone you know is looking to learn or do either court heraldry or book heraldry, this job has opportunities for both.

Also, Herald’s Q2 Kingdom reports are due May 1st.

Chatelaine •  Albrecht Anker

Quite a few emails from newcomers this month.  With spring moving into summer I see these picking up more.

Chancellor Minor • Kunigunde Wedemann

There will be a Youth Pointe at Crown Tournament, alongside the location for Youth Rattan Championships. I will have materials available for various activities to prevent complaints by the Youth of the EK that there is nothing for them to do.

Arts & Sciences • Brandr Aronsson 

We will be having our April Arts and Science Night on Thursday April 20 from 7pm to 10pm. We will be learning to make sausage as well as helping Brandr make a vast amount of sausage for Crown Tourney.  

The Ostgardr Arts and Science Championship will take place at the Canton of Lion’s End Schola “Let the Lions Roar” Saturday May 20th from 11am – 5pm. I encourage all Ostgardian Artisans to participate in this event even if you just come to display what you are working on.

Armored Combat • Ervald LaCoudre

Fighter practice has moved, with the fencers, back to McCarren Park in Brooklyn on Tuesdays, official time, 7 PM – 10 PM, but people are encouraged to gather as early as 6:30 for warm-ups and all the other things that people do before they put on their armor.

There were a half-dozen Ostgardrians making their mark at the Southern Region Sunday war practice. There are estimates of about ten fighters with us (including combat archery) for Pennsic, which brings up the subject of our Sunday, June 25th war practice. I am filling out the application, and I will find out if there are rules regarding tents and shelters. I spread the word among folks at the SRS, and there was interest, especially considering the Czech beer garden not far from Astoria Park. My armor workshop is shut down for the moment, but I can travel to help people build or repair armor. I also can still loan out armor, most of which is in my storage in Astoria.

Fencing • Alec MacLachlan

Fencing practice has moved back to McCarren Park in Brooklyn as of  April 4th.  

We had 4 fencers last week and I’ve had some people talk to me about it (either in person or by email).

We got a fencer re-authorized yesterday at the Southern Region Army practice in NJ.

Minister of Lists • Vitasha Ivanova doch’

No activity this past month for the Minister of Lists. However, in May, I will be assisting the Kingdom MoL with the lists at Crown since we are hosting.

Webminister • Friderich Grimme

I am continuing to update the website on a weekly basis.  Many thanks to the officers who have either emailed me requesting information or who have placed their activities directly on the Ostgardr calendar.   If any officer needs instructions on how to add events directly to the Ostgardr calendar, please email me.

When posting events/activities, please try to give me 2+ weeks notice, as the Ostgardr ongoing posts give information in two week chunks.

Chronicler • Zahra de Andaluzia

No report.

Social Media • Albrecht Anker 

My focus stays on promotion and ensuring our social media is a safe space to share information with everyone. 

Historian • Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin

No report.

Whyt Whey • Alienor Salton 

Since last provincial commons, Appleholm has hosted a weaving evening and 2 dance practices.  We anticipate scheduling several outdoor dance practices at General Grant Memorial Overlook Pavilion (122nd at Riverside) in the coming month, as we prepare for a road trip to Dancing Fox, May 13th.

We have an outing to the Cloisters on April 23rd, 1pm, to visit their gardens and the special exhibit of late-medieval objects from middle-class European households.

Our next canton commons (which we hold quarterly on the 4th Monday of the relevant month) will be April 24th, 7pm, at our usual Meet link: https://meet.google.com/azp-fqtb-dbn

Lions End • Iola Wulfsdotter

Spring Schola planning is complete. Date set for May 20th.

‘Planning for Farmingdale Demo in progress. Contacted the liaison for the Farmingdale Fire Dept. & was approved by their council. Date set June 3rd. Rain date June 11th. Not posted to the EK events calendar as of yet.

Brokenbridge • Arnora Ketilsdottir 

Brokenbridge had a commons on Monday, April 17th.  After an intense rap battle, we elected Catelin Straquhin as our new herald.  Plans for Viking day progress.  Armoring workshop/potluck BBQ to be held on April 30th at Ragnarr/Arnora’s house.  

Discussions on going inactive continue.  If we do so, our funds become part of the Ostgardr general fund after two years of inactivity.  We will be inviting the EK Group Lifecycle Deputy to our next commons meeting (05/15/23 at 8pm) to answer any questions that we have.

The Province’s monthly commons meeting was held on March 15, 2023. Here are the minutes as recorded by Mathghamhain ua Ruadháin. The officers’ reports are attached at the end.

Attendance

Present

• Angelica di Nova Lipa, Vicereine
• Nagashima Ichiro Ujimichi, Seneschal
• Alienor Salton, Exchequer and Seneschal of Appleholm
• Drasma Dragomira, Herald
• Brandr Aronsson, Arts & Sciences
• Zahra de Andaluzia, Chronicler
• Friderich Grimme, Webminister
• Ervald LaCoudre Edwardson, Armored Combat Marshal
• Alexander MacLachlan, Fencing Marshal and Deputy Seneschal
• Vitasha Ivanova doch’, Minister of Lists
• Kunigunde Wedemann, Chancellor Minor
• Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Historian
• Arnora Ketilsdottir, Seneschal of Brokenbridge
• Ragnarr Bliskegg, A&S Champion
• Fiona the Volatile
• Freddie
• Gibbs Moryss
• Hrefna Aronsson
• Ilya Alexsandrovich
• Jenna Childslayer
• Lada Monguligin
• Oliver de Bainbrig
• Perez ben Meir Gershon

Absent Officers

• Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, Vicereine
• Albrecht Anker, Chatelaine and Social Media Officer
• Iola Wulfsdotter, Seneschal of Lions End

Opening 

• Called to order at 7:35P.M.

• Anti-harassment statement was reviewed.

April A&S Gathering

• Angelica: We need someone to lead an open Arts & Crafts evening in April. Brandr, as A&S minister, can you organize it?
• Brandr: I’ve been traveling with the forge but can host things when I get back to the city. What date did you have in mind?
• Angelica: It’s always the third Thursday of the month. Next will be Thursday, April 20.
• Brandr: Okay, we’ll have people over at my house for a hands-on workshop on sausage making, with the results to be served at Crown Tournament.

Dancing

• Angelica: Thanks to Alienor for organizing a local dance practice in recent weeks. 
• Alienor: We’ve done three so far. The next is Sunday, April 16. And Dancing Fox is May 13.

Awards

• Angelica: Send in award recommendations! It’s not hard. There are links on both the provincial and kingdom websites.
• Perez: How do I provide extra information about how the recipient would prefer to be recognized?
• Uji: If they don’t have a wiki to hold that kind of information, use one of the fields on the web form to include it with your recommendation. 

Northpass Update

• Uji: The Kingdom Seneschal has confirmed that Northpass is being reinstated and the Province is not involved in that process. 
• Uji: A small corps of officers has been selected. They are currently being warranted. Once that’s done, the canton will be established. The new officers will be seeking out people who can be designated as deputies once the canton is official.
• Uji: I’ve been meeting with them weekly and will continue to share information as needed. They’re currently selecting a bank to host their account. 
• Oliver: Is there a timeframe — months?
• Uji: Perhaps a month or two.

Health of the Cantons & Province

• Uji: I wanted to talk about the health of the province and cantons. Lions End and Brokenbridge both had meetings about this recently. I am concerned about the health not just of the cantons but of the province. 
• We’re about to undertake our third royal-progress event in thirteen months. I am concerned about people burning out. Pace yourself. Join the order of the carrot.
• Arnora: Regarding Brokenbridge, at our last commons, we started an unofficial discussion about letting the canton go dormant. Nobody is eager to do it, but we’re struggling for a few different reasons. We’ll talk about it more in our canton commons meetings. It won’t be decided by a vote – it’ll be decided by people either stepping up for officer positions, or not. Show up to our meetings, and everyone’s opinion counts.
• Uji: In Lions End, we’ve discussed several ways of keeping the canton healthy, including expanding to cover zip codes that are currently Ostgardr Proper. Healthy cantons means a healthy province.

• Lada: I’ve spoken with other baronies with cantons that have gone dormant. It’s okay, it happens periodically in every group, due to the natural ebb and flow of energy in the populace.
• Jenna: An Dubhaigeainn had a canton that shut down because its most active members all became baronial officers and couldn’t simultaneously be canton officers.
• Mathghamhain: A lot of cantons have gone into abeyance over the last decade; even before Covid the East Kingdom was seeing a decline in the number of cantons. I suspect that in many areas, cantons were more vital twenty or thirty years ago, when most communication was face-to-face, and that nowadays online communications means it’s as easy to coordinate Province-wide without driving two hours across the city.

• Uji: There’s no strict time-limit on restarting from dormancy. One local branch went dormant for ten years and then restarted. It’s also possible to run a quiet canton on a very limited basis, with just three officers.
• Uji: For Lions End, zip code expansion into Queens now looks like the least viable approach. 
• Uji: If you have suggestions, please contribute to the ongoing discussion we’ll be having in the months ahead.

Brew-U

• Fiona: Twenty people have registered, six classes are planned so far, but we need forty people to break even. Have collected $1100, need $2000 to cover expenses.
• Oliver: The last of these events had to be canceled for poor attendance. Perhaps the EK Brewers Guild should have their events concurrent with another event.

• Friderich: Is there a site-rental cancellation fee? That would influence the cost comparison between continuing or canceling.
• Oliver: I would have to look into it.
• Uji: Oliver, please research the site cancellation fee.
• Fiona: Was the site rental fee $700 or 900? 
• Oliver: We paid the “in-county” rental fee of $700.
• Alienor: It was paid for via the carryover from Goat’s Tavern being canceled due to site problems last fall.

• Uji: We could auction off random items from the lost and found.

• Uji: Does that loss include if you adjust the food budget for lower attendance?
• Oliver: Even if we adjust the food budget, we’d be $200-300 short.
• Jenna: How much could you trim the food budget if the number of people was lower?
• Friderich: I don’t have the final bid, but the food budget was $25 for Saturday lunch and dinner plus Sunday breakfast.
• Fiona: If we cut the food budget by $100, we’re still about $530 in the red.
• Fridrich: Are people daytripping or staying overnight?
• Fiona: Paypal has 14 overnight and 6 day trippers, and Oliver has checks for 6 overnight.
• Uji: When we’ve had uneaten food in the past we’ve managed to save it for future events.
• Angelica: It still ends up mostly being a loss.

• Friderich: When will we know for sure so I can start buying food and prepping it? I’d like to have four weeks to be sure. Two weeks is the absolute minimum but would make prep rushed and more difficult.
• Fiona: I’d like to have another week to recruit people.
• Alec: Can we pick a date by which we’ll make the choice?
• Friderich: If we’re going to do this, I would like to start working on March 25th. Pushing back to April 1 makes things harder.
• Fiona: Perhaps if we don’t get enough pregregs to justify it by March 24th?
• Mathghamhain: Can we get updated financial numbers before the decision has to be made?
• Friderich: Can we have a meeting to review on Friday, March 24th?
• Mathghamhain: That doesn’t need the entire officer corps; I think you would only need the finance committee to review.
• Uji: I’ll gather information next week and review with the finance committee.

• Mathghamhain: If you’re only looking at losing a limited amount of money, we could accept a bit of a loss — some events make a bunch of money, it’s okay if others lose a little.
• Angelica: What would we be willing to lose? Maybe $200?
• Mathghamhain: A $250 loss wouldn’t be upsetting when we have $10,000 in the bank.
• Angelica: Uji, please schedule that meeting for March 24, and make sure that we have the necessary information, including pre-registrations and rental cancellation fee.

• Alienor: Paypal has only been up for a week. The bid says that it sells out every year. Perhaps with more advertising you could sell out the remaining seats.
• Uji: I haven’t pre-registered yet.
• Alienor: Is the event being marketed online? I haven’t seen it.
• Fiona: I’m trying to post about it on Facebook, please support it.
• Mathghamhain: Please send something ready-to-post to Friderich for the website/mailing list. And If you send me something ready-to-post I can post it on the kingdom discord.
• Fiona: I’ll do that.

Lions End Schola

• Ragnarr: I’ve agreed to be the official event steward for the Lions End Schola, and am excited to help make the event happen, currently two months away.
• Ragnarr: This is your chance to enter the provincial A&S competition, which will have four separate awards. 
• Jenna: For non-drivers, note that this event is located at an LIRR station.
• Uji: Vitasha, you mentioned maybe teaching a class?
• Vitasha: I have family obligations to deal with, and can’t guarantee whether I can make it to the event or not.

Youth Activities at Events

• Kunigunde: There’s been a discussion online about activities that kids would enjoy at events, and I’d like input. 
• Kunigunde: Most of my tenure has been taken over by plague, and then a recent event cancellation, so it feels like I’m operating in a vacuum.
• Fiona: I’ve done kids activities in An Dubh. Avoid things that are too complex or that require too many kids, they fall apart. Crafts work, as do scavenger hunts. I have lots of projects I could share.

• Fiona: It’s hard to predict what mix of kids you’re going to get. 
• Arnora: The biggest draw for us as parents would be to know that there were going to be more kids in the same age range there. 
• Arnora: At St. Andrews there were no little kids, but they had a picnic table with “old fashioned” games (not necessarily period) with wood pieces that allowed for imaginative play.
• Kunigunde: It’s nice that simple board game pieces can be used for free play.

• Fiona: Teens are over youth activities, and they don’t want to be at the “little kids table.” For older teens, it’s more engaging to find ways they can contribute to the adult activities.
• Kunigunde: Yes, we can provide a table for teens to congregate at, but it’s harder to handle younger kids.
• Fiona: It’s awkward to have the youth point off in the corner of the event; you don’t want to get stuck babysitting when parents leave. 
• Mathghamhain: I think the most important part of youth point is that it’s a place for kids to meet up with other kids — spending time with the other kids is more important than organized activities.
• Alienor: For older kids, I think it’s fine for them to have their headphones, give them outlets so they can recharge their devices, and let them hang out in their own space.
• Kunigunde: But somewhere close enough that adults can keep an ear out for trouble.
• Jenna: For the Spring Crown event, maybe put them near the barn, where they can get an extension cord, on the margins so they’re not an eyesore, but close enough to keep an eye on.

Crown Tourney

• Arnora: Our bid was accepted, and the event is just eight weeks away. 
• Arnora: I’m still waiting for an answer on whether it will also include youth champs, but hope to get that soon.

• Arnora: Attendance cap was increased from 300 to 450, but dayboard count was not, so there are now 150 extra spots that are cheaper but don’t include dayboard.
• Arnora: Paypal pre-reg opened this morning. There will be separate pre-reg flows for entrants/consorts, for royal staff, and for volunteers.
• Ragnarr: When can combatants register?
• Arnora: Entrants are supposed to enter by April 6. There’s a kingdom form that is currently closed but should open soon. 

• Arnora: There’s word-of-mouth knowledge about the Veterans’ Memorial Park, but it’s not written down and nobody knows it all. I’ve started a document to gather notes about the site as an institutional memory.

• Ervald: Are we expected to provide the marshals?
• Arnora: I’ll find that out tomorrow.
• Mathghamhain: The marshals and heralds are all provided by kingdom.

• Alec: Are there any other martial activities at Crown?
• Lada: No. Just rattan.

• Brandr: We learned some lessons from doing Barleycorn at this site, so we’ll be better able to prep, and Arnora is working on getting us additional kitchen equipment. 
• Brandr: Perez is going to cook some dishes and help with prep, and will organize his own assistants to help him with that prep work. 
• Brandr: Beth is running the kitchen on the day, and managing the calendar for the prep schedule.
• Brandr: I will be cutting up a lot of meat and will need help.
• Brandr: We need a lot of help. On the day we need a kitchen prep person and a runner. 
• Kunigunde: What does the runner do?
• Brandr: Move food back and forth between the  indoor kitchen (refrigerators and sinks) and the outdoor kitchen (cooking and serving)
• Brandr: Biggest problem at the last event was lack of servers and someone to oversee them. For this event we’re going to recruit a volunteer to lead the service.

• Uji: How can we help? Should we schedule weekly meetings?

• Arnora: I don’t want to put too much burden on local people who might be on the edge of burning out. In the coming days I’ll reach out to neighboring groups and ask them to provide teams to cover volunteer slots. 
• Arnora: If you want to help, or if there’s a specific role you want to play, reach out to me now. At the next commons I’ll recruit more aggressively for positions we haven’t filled yet.

• Zahra: If someone asks for volunteers, I don’t know what to offer, but if someone asks me for specific help with a specific role at a specific time, I’m happy to do it.
• Arnora: I’m glad to play that role. 

• Arnora: I want someone to make an Event Steward baldric so that it’s easy for people to find me on the day of the event.
• Angelica: I’ll make the baldric.

Inventory

• Arnora: I’d like to know when the inventory will be complete and centralized so I can figure out what needs to be purchased for Crown.
• Uji: I’ve started working on this, and may be able to work on it again this Sunday, or next Sunday. 
• Uji: Stuff is scattered around the province and I’m working on getting it centralized.

• Arnora: Where is it located?
• Uji: The pig roaster is at Lada and Suuder’s 
• Lada: Also a couple of other things: sandwich boards, maybe a few small odds and ends.
• Uji: There’s gear that Francisco held that’s listed in the spreadsheet.

• Uji: The inventory list is online, I will work on updating it. 
• Uji: Volunteers would be appreciated.
• Arnora: Volunteers for working in the unit, or for moving stuff to it?
• Uji: We need to do both. 

• Mathghamhain: If someone wanted to help, could they go to the storage or would they be locked out?
• Uji: Alec, do you have the key?
• Alec: The lock that is in use is a key lock. I haven’t been back to the site since it was set up.
• Uji: I’ll need to get that key from you.
• Angelica: The numeric padlock gave Alec trouble. He will give it to Uji, who will apply it to the unit. There’s a numeric code for the building and the lock.

• Alec: The list poles from Barleycorn are at my family’s house in Mt Sinai, enough for 4 lists.
• Alec: Also, An Dubh might have extra gear we could borrow.

• Alienor: We have shelving that was purchased for the storage unit. We need someone with a vehicle to move it to the storage unit. 
• Uji: I’d like to go to the storage unit on Sunday. I will make arrangements to come by and pick up the shelving.

Scribal Event Proposal

• Lada: The kingdom’s Signet office reported that over the last year, the kingdom dropped from 90 active scribes to 60. I’ve been trying to train people to join their ranks. 
• We have several talented people in our area who are willing to train, and there appears to be folks in the southern region who are interested in learning. 
• I would like to organize a scribal schola/workshop event in Brooklyn.
• Goal is to be newcomer-friendly. Would relax the garb requirement.

• I’ve started putting together a draft budget. 
• Site rentals for 2,000-square-foot spaces in Brooklyn for eight hours going for $450-570 on PeerSpace.com.
• Other expenses would be minimal: potluck dayboard; no site tokens; maybe $50 for an insurance certificate. 
• We would break even if we got 40 people paying $15 each.

• Lada: Looking at dates around the end of June or early July.

• Jenna: I will check with An Dubh about the schedule for Potted Arms.

• Jenna: Too bad this couldn’t be combined with Brew U. 
• Lada: That’s not a great venue for this event; we need bright lights and work surfaces.
• Kunigunde: Good lighting is not optional for scribes. We need light!

• Jenna: Lions End is still waiting for a date on the Farmingdale demo, around the beginning of June.
• Lada: I don’t w​​ant to move out onto Long Island for fear of losing visitors from New Jersey.
• Mathghamhain: An outdoor demo for the public doesn’t seem like a great venue for scribes who want to sit indoors and talk to each other.
• Alienor: For sites, we care about tables and chairs and lighting.

• Mathghamhain: The event sounds like a great idea.
• Alienor: I’ll follow up with you about a scriptorium. Would you want to include a backlog scroll session? A handful of local scribes drove down to Delaware for a scribal backlog day a few years ago and it went very well.
• Lada: Yes, I would love to include both structured and unstructured activities.

• Lada: Okay, I’ll reach out to the sites and research costs and dates and follow up.

Fighting practice

• Ervald: We have enough local fighters to fight as a unit this summer. 
• There are places in the city where we could have a regional practice, not just for the province, and invite folks in from neighboring groups. 
• This would be a fight practice, not a formal event as such. 
• When we’ve done this in the past it helped to have non-fighters come and provide support.

• Ragnarr: It sounds great. 
• Alec: We had practices like that 15 years ago and they were great.
• Ervald: Jibril has suggested something similar. 

• Ervald: We could look at Kissena Park, Astoria Park, Prospect Park. But McCarren Park is too crowded.
• Ragnarr: Do we need a permit to do this in a city park?
• Perez: Note that kingdom war staff has emphasized including other skills, including combat archery and siege, so we should either include those disciplines, or make it clear that the venue doesn’t allow it.
• Ervald: We probably can’t have archery in city parks.
• Lada: Victory Field in Queens has good parking, but it’s not transit-accessible.

• Ervald: If you have other ideas, let me know. When would you want it?
• Uji: Before Southern Region War Camp.
• Ervald: Should it be Saturday or Sunday? I’m leaning towards Sunday.
• Alec: Not as much planned for mid-late June.
• Perez: Lots of fighters will be away for Beltane and NRWC.
• Kunigunde: Northern Region War Camp is June 30- July 2
• Ragnarr: Central Region War Practice is this Sunday.
• Alec: There will be fencing at Central Region War Practice..
• Ragnarr: Southern Army Sundays are these dates: April 16, May 14, June 18, July 16, Aug 20, Sept 17, Oct 15
• Mathghamhain: Maybe on Sunday, May 21? Or June 11? Or June 25?

• Perez: Post the idea to the Southern Army page to get a preview of who might be interested and what dates work.

Final Business

• Jenna: On March 29th I’ll be holding an online “Pennsic 101” class.

• Zahra: Thank you for sending material to the E-Horse, keep sending me art and articles! The next issue will be June 1.

• Mathghamhain: I noticed that Friderich’s report mentioned that he would not be seeking another term and wanted to thank him for his service; he’s done a great job of posting regular updates to the website and mailing list.
• Angelica: Hail Friderich!

• Meeting ended at 9:44 PM.

---

Viceregents • Sofya Gianetta di Trieste & Angelica Di Nova Lipa

Bid for Crown Tourney-May 6th-Accepted

His Majesty has verbally confirmed that our bid for Crown Tourney has been accepted. Arnora will speak further when we discuss the event.

Special Officer Meeting

On Friday, February 24th, 2023, as mandated by the Charter, a Special Meeting of the Ostgardr Officers’ Council was called to discuss the validly submitted petition to remove Lord Nagashima Ichiro Ujimichi from the Office of Seneschal.   A quorum of the Officers’ Council was achieved.   There were insufficient votes from Officers’ Council members to move the proposal forward. We thank the interested populace members for expressing their views before and during the meeting. We also thank the Officers’ Council members for their careful consideration of the petition and counter-arguments, and for their promptly submitted votes.

Reinstatement of NorthPass: Uji will speak further however, we would like to share information provided by our EK Seneschal on February 22nd via email:

“Northpass *will* be re-established as a Canton. This is not negotiable, and Ostgardr Proper does not get a say in how it is done. This is being handled outside the normal procedures due to the settlement. Once the group is established according to the settlement, which is being managed by Society, Society will be stepping out of the management, and all future running of the group will be handled per Kingdom and Society Governing Documents.

What are the re-establishment steps?

• A beginning slate of officers reviewed and approved by Society
• Return to Active status
• Return of Name / Group Arms
• Establishment of bank account and return of funds

All of these steps are being handled by Society, my office, and the plaintiffs.

Once these steps are complete, I will notify Ostgardr that it is done and routine procedures for all groups are to be followed.

Those who have a zip code in Northpass who do not wish to participate in Northpass activities are not required to do so. They can play wherever they wish”

Arts & Crafts Night: Thursday, March 16th

Lady Alienor: The topic will be weaving writ small, illustrating weave structures with potholder loops & looms.  In-person event-Appleholm. More information is available in the event announcement.

Would someone like to teach for April’s A&S?

Scribal Workshop: Sunday, March 19th, from 2 to 4 pm in Broken bridge

Brew U: April 15-16th

Oliver/Fiona

Schola at the University: Wolfie Welcomes the Ducks: April 22nd:

Support our An Dubh duckies!

Lions End Schola: May 20th

A&S Champion will be selected-Please enter! Limited space, so please pre-reg!!

Special Recognition:

Alienor & Math: Dancing!!

Kingdom award recommendations: Their Highness Brennan and Caoilfhionn have posted their award recommendation deadlines for Their upcoming reign. If you feel someone is worthy, please submit it online to the EK website. The next deadline is March 31st.

https://surveys.eastkingdom.org/index.php/945932/lang-en

See one of Ostgardr’s consistent contributors?  By all means, nominate them for  recognition with a Provincial award… the easy-peasy process is on the Ostgardr website:

https://ostgardr.eastkingdom.org/provincial-orders-awards/

Seneschal • Nagashima Ichiro Ujimichi

I continue to be involved with the re-establishment of Northpass, including online meetings with the selected officers. Officers have started the warranting process and will be seeking deputies once Northpass has come back officially.

Exchequer • Alienor Salton 

Sent checks for Deck the Halls food reimbursement, Bears NMR, Spring Crown site fee, Spring Crown insurance certificate reimbursement, and Storage Post (northern counties storage) through June.

Set up PayPal (with EK PayPal team) for Brew U and Spring Crown.

Created shared Østgarðr exchequer drive, managed by the exchequer and deputy exchequer, visible to the seneschal and viceregents.  Have begun the slow-burn process of archiving material from Frank & Angelica’s shared exchequer folders into this drive.  (The difference between Google shared drive and shared folder means that the offices can own the shared drive, and so access transfers automatically when positions change.  If other offices have shared folders that they are passing to their successors, I would suggest an upgrade to a shared drive.  I can help you figure out how to create it, add your office and then remove yourself.)

Received event report for Bears from Oliver; have not yet processed it. Event report for Deck the Halls needs final polish (I was late with the reimbursement check, oops).

Storage Post rates go up April 1st, from $34 to $40 for our unit.

I understand that the provincial storage unit has been provided with a keyed padlock.  Our discussion was that would be a numerical padlock, which I understood had been provided by Angelica.  Was there a problem with that lock, who paid for the new lock, and how do we proceed from here with getting a key-less lock on that door?

What’s up with the New Rochelle Library A&S night?  I will need some lead time to write them a check, since they have to circulate via USPS.

I am working on the new signatory form for corporate.  Will be conferring with the signatories in the next month to schedule a bank signing party.

Herald • Drasma Dragomira

Not much to report this month. Heraldry submissions from the populace are moving along nicely as there’s a few of them that have made it into the submissions process the last few months.

Chatelaine •  Albrecht Anker

Quiet for the end of February into March I believe it is a vacation window to most. I need a Chatelaine team.  We have lots of events coming down the pipe and one person is not enough to maximize our coverage to draw interest from new players.

In summary, I think everyone should take a look at the potential Discord changes and send me any questions as well as offers to join the Chatelaine team.  I will be unable to attend this month’s meeting as I am away on vacation.

Chancellor Minor • Kunigunde Wedemann

I have nothing to report. However, I would like to open a short discussion on what kinds of youth activities people would like to see at local events, and which events should have youth activities. A discussion in the unofficial EK discussion group on the Book of Faces about events being family friendly/not family friendly had me thinking.

Arts & Sciences • Brandr Aronsson

Greetings not much to report either.  I will be back in NYC in three weeks and hope to begin some arts and craft nights.

Armored Combat • Ervald LaCoudre

While fighter practice has been regularly happening at the Manhattanville Community Center on Wednesday nights, attendance has been low, particularly among armored fighters. I understand that some of them have been going to the armored combat practice in Nutley, NJ.

But in the meantime, there have been several new people who have been showing up for training, giving me and Sir Ilya the opportunity for focused training in things like sword technique, footwork, and distance. Several of the GladiatorsNYC fighters (who’s practice runs concurrently with ours at that location, and by whose generosity we are able to use the space) have also benefited from this training. Some of them intent to authorize and hope to join us at Pennsic.

This week’s cold and snow notwithstanding, I expect the weather to be nice enough to start practice inMcCarren Park on Tuesdays on the first week in April.

Regarding my workshop and loaner armor: I have lost my apartment, so my workshop is closed and all the armor I have is in storage near that apartment. The armor can be retrieved as needed for loan and use, it will simply require specific notice at least one day in advance. Coming to help pick it up and transport it to and from practice is a plus.

I have a friend with a workshop in Brooklyn next to Industry City, and he is very amenable to letting it be used for armoring, so if anyone needs armor work done, let me know and we can make an appointment.

I am also considering one or two “group armoring” workshop days between now and Pennsic. This would be targeted towards making sure armor is ready for authorizations, war practices, and, of course, Pennsic itself.

With this in mind, i believe we are approaching a “critical mass” of Pennsic Ostgardr fighters to do the following:

I would like the province to consider hosting a large open/invitational fighter practice (not necessarily an official regional or kingdom practice) between now and Pennsic. Possibly in Astoria Park, Prospect Park, or Kissena Park, probably on a Sunday. This would enable those who have trouble getting out of town for a big war practice to have some sort of war practice here in town. We could hold authorizations in time for Pennsic for those who had not gotten authorized yet. Also, Sunday used to be a popular weekly fighter practice day for the province.

To this event we would invite Ostgardr-based fighting households, Ostgardr-adjacent households, neighboring baronies, and regional and kingdom commanders. This would raise our profile in their eyes, give them all one more chance to practice together before the war, as well as give newer Ostgardians an opportunity to meet more of our neighbors.

This has been done before, in Kissena Park, our old Sunday fighter practice site. One thing that made it work was a team of non-fighters who helped to support this “event,” with water, refreshments, first aid, and other “fetch-and-carry” type stuff. A few people provided homemade snacks for the fighters, with donations accepted to defray the cost. The donations turned out to be so generous from the out-of-town fighters, there was a profit!

By doing this as a practice rather than an “event,” we would not have the attendance level and demographics of a full event, and thus not the expectation and obligation to commit the degree of labor and resources that a full event would require (no court, no feast, no changing rooms, no troll, etc).

If we can pick a day at the upcoming meeting, we can start planning and sending the invites right away.

I will be at fighter practice tonight, splitting my time between training and paying attention to the meeting. Fel free to call me when it is my turn to report or if anyone has a question for me.

Fencing • Alec MacLachlan

Fencing Continues at the Manhattanville Community Center on Wednesday nights.  Still just two of us,

I think towards the end of April we will be going back to McCarren Park for practice.  (When it’s warmer.)

Minister of Lists • Vitasha Ivanova doch’

Nothing to Report

Webminister • Friderich Grimme

I am continuing to update the website on a weekly basis with a list of upcoming activities in the province.  If you would like something promoted in a separate blog-post to the website please let me know.  Related, if you would like an event website created, please let me know.

Looking to the future, I am not planning to seek renewal of my warrant when my term as web minister expires in December of this year.  I am actively looking for someone to succeed me in the office.

Chronicler • Zahra de Andaluzia

No report.

Social Media • Albrecht Anker 

My focus stays on promotion and ensuring our social media is a safe space to share information with everyone.

The big thing I am working on is converting our discord server to a Community server.  This will give our group more visibility and more tools for us to use to make Discord a place to communicate, plan and grow.  With that comes some changes:

• Members will have to have a verified email before they can send messages.

• Discord will automatically scan and delete media sent in the server that contains explicit content (this excludes channels that are designated as age-restricted).

• We will have a community updates channel made so discord can send updates for Community admins and Moderators, this will need to be a private staff channel.

• Have a title and description that accurately describes the server.

• Have clearly posted rules and guidelines.

• Have a moderator team.

Historian • Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin

I’ve continued to record local happenings in our Annals, and am expanding my list of “old timers” who I would like to interview to collect memories of the province in its earlier decades.

Whyt Whey (Appleholm) • Alienor Salton

Since last provincial commons, Appleholm has hosted 3 dance practices, including a live music session, all of which went very well.  Next indoor practice is April 16th.  Hopes are high for outdoor practice as the weather cooperates.

Our cultural outings to the Morgan Library (for She Who Wrote) and the Bard Gallery (Staging the Table) were well attended.  Appleholm will be hosting a serrated-fan folding paper/linen workshop, based on a video in the Staging the Table exhibit, in the near future.

The Morgan Library will be hosting an exhibit on Medieval Money, Merchants & Morality at the end of this year.  In November, we will plan an outing.
https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/medieval-money

The Met will continue hosting Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color, for another week.  If you can’t make it to the gallery, you can check it out online:  https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/chroma

Upcoming activities:

• Østgarðr A&S evening: Weaving Writ Large (swatching historical textiles with potholder looms), Thursday, March 16, 7-9pm, 255 W. 105th St., Apt. 21

• Taci e Balla! dance practice, Sunday April 16, 3-4pm, Bridge for Dance, 2726 Broadway, 2nd floor

Our next canton commons (which we hold quarterly on the 4th Monday of the relevant month) will be April 24th, 7pm, at our usual Meet link: https://meet.google.com/azp-fqtb-dbn

Lions End • Iola Wulfsdotter

No report.

Brokenbridge • Arnora Ketilsdottir 

BrokenBridge should be having a Herald election (Ragnarr vs Catelin: The Final Battle) at our next commons.  

Following commons last month, and probably following each of our commons’ going forward until September, BB is having an unofficial discussion about becoming inactive.  Our next commons is on Monday March 20th at 8pm if you wish to join (zoom link).  Brokenbridge considers its populace to be anyone who is active in Bb, and all opinions are welcome.

We are having this as an unofficial discussion because it is not something that happens with a bang (like a big vote) but with a whimper (simply no one steps up to fill certain officer positions).  The discussion has included people’s reasons for feeling one way or the other as well as memories and feelings towards Brokenbridge.  So far, no one has been particularly in-favor of becoming inactive but rather willing to accept that it might be the best route to go given the circumstances.  We welcome anyone to join us next week to be part of this discussion.