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April Commons Minutes – April 2023

April 26, 2023

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.

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.