The January commons meeting was held January 19 in Whyt Whey at the home of the seneschal’s father in law. Here are the minutes as recorded by Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin. The officers reports are attached at the end.

Attending

• Suuder Saran, Viceroy
• Lada Monguligin, Vicereine
• Alienor Salton, Seneschal, Webminister
• Angelica di Nova Lipa, Exchequer
• Beatrice della Rocca, Chatelaine
• Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, Minister of Arts & Sciences
• Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Herald, Youth Combat, Deputy Webminister
• Ervald LaCoudre, Knight Marshal
• Erich Guter Muth, Minister of Lists
• Rufina Cambrensis, Chronicler
• John Elys, Deputy Chronicler
• Richard the Poor of Ely, Historian, Deputy Exchequer
• Francesco Gaetano Greco d’Edessa, Deputy Historian
• Wilhelm Larsson, Northpass Seneschal
• Vika Grigina z Prahy, Whyt Whey Seneschal
• Philip White, East Kingdom Minister of Arts and Sciences
• Adam Trent
• Simon Talbot
• Branimira of the Isles
• Seonaid inghean Mhic Aoidh

Herein are contained the minutes for the December 15, 2017 Commons and Officers Council meetings, as recorded by John Elys.

Attending

Francesco Gaetano Greco d’Edessa, Seneschal
Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, Minister of Arts & Sciences
Ervald LaCoudre, Knight Marshal
Marion of York, Fencing Marshal
Alec MacLachlan, Deputy Fencing Marshal
Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Youth Combat Marshal
Ian of Clan Mitchell, Chamberlain
Rufina Cambrensis, Chronicler
John Elys, Deputy Chronicler
Richard the Poor of Ely, Historian
Brekke Franksdottir, Lions End Seneschal

Absent Officers

Suuder Saran, Viceroy
Lada Monguligin, Vicereine
Angelica di Nova Lipa, Exchequer
Mongu Chinua, Herald
Beatrice della Rocca, Chatelaine
Arnbjorg Helga Niálsdóttir, Archery Marshal
Erich Guter Muth, Minister of Lists
Arnora Ketilsdottir, Webminister
Alienor Salton, Whyt Whey Seneschal
Wilhelm of Northpass, Northpass Seneschal
Brandr Aronsson, Brokenbridge Seneschal

 Officers Reports

Seneschal (Francesco): K&Q want to move Pennsic Court from Weds. to either Tues. or Thurs. (to avoid conflict w/Midnight Madness); they want feedback from the Populace.  Discussion.

Historian (Richard the Poor): None.

Fencing (Marion): Not running for another term.  We may have a practice space on Sunday afternoons in Levittown.

Lions End (Brekke): Working on June 2 demo; will need a bunch of Ostgardr help, especially hands-on child-friendly stuff.  Discuss fighting, G&W vs. pop-ups, etc.  There’s a $ stipend.  Brekke stepping down as Seneschal in June.

Fighting (Ervald): Outdoor practice over for the season.  Still negotiating insurance with potential practice site at Sussman Automatic.  Seamus has mostly finished making 5 suits of loaner armor.  Will invite fighters to June 2 demo.

Stuff (Ian): Cooking gear in Northpass.  Green & white pavilion is still in Whyt Whey.

Chatelaine (report via Sofya): Gold Key is in good shape, at Sofya’s place.  If you need Gold Key, contact Chatelaine well in advance, and make sure you return it.

MoAS (Sofya): Preparing for K&Q A&S & Bardic Championship.  Participate!

Youth Combat (Mathghamhain): Not much happening, as kids are in high-school-admission flurry.

Chronicler (Rufina): Recap from Nov Commons: considering supplying some old Seahorses for display at EK/Og 50Y, and also creating a “Best Of the Seahorse” handout.

Upcoming Events

A&S Bardic (Sofya): We’re hosting.  Preregister if possible: we want to minimize lines at the door because it’ll be cold.  Help out, wherever you are.

EK/Og 50Y (Sofya): 27-30 June.  Want to look good.  Judith will organize recorded music; would also like live performances of music, mumming, drama, etc.  Artifacts by some time in April.

Upcoming meetings: January at Alienor’s.  February possibly at Sofya’s. March undecided.

Officer Elections

We have nine officers present and ten proxies.

Non-Contested Offices

Web: unanimous Alienor
Herald: unanimous Mathghamhain
Chronicler: unanimous Rufina
Fencing: unanimous Alec

Seneschal

Brief discussion of voting procedure: secret written ballots with one name on each.  No decision in advance on whether the plurality wins, or there’s a second round omitting the last place finisher, or what.

Fortunately, there was a majority on the first ballot: Alienor is the new Seneschal.

Minutes of the Østgarðr Commons meeting of November 17, 2017
As recorded by Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin.

Attending

Suuder Saran, Viceroy
Lada Monguligin, Vicereine
Angelica di Nova Lipa, Exchequer
Mongu Chinua, Herald
Beatrice della Rocca, Chatelaine
Ervald LaCoudre, Knight Marshal
Alec MacLachlan, Deputy Fencing Marshal
Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Youth Combat Marshal
Erich Guter Muth, Minister of Lists
Rufina Cambrensis, Chronicler
John Elys, Deputy Chronicler
Alienor Salton, Whyt Whey Seneschal, Acting Webminister
Ben of Brokenbridge, Northpass Seneschal proxy
Zoya the Orphan
Puppy

Absent Officers

Francesco Gaetano Greco d’Edessa, Seneschal
Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, Minister of Arts & Sciences, reported by email
Arnbjorg Helga Niálsdóttir, Archery Marshal
Marion of York, Fencing Marshal
Ian of Clan Mitchell, Chamberlain
Katherine Gilliesfleur, Deputy Chamberlain
Richard the Poor of Ely, Historian
Arnora Ketilsdottir, Webminister
Wilhelm of Northpass, Northpass Seneschal, represented by proxy and reported by email
Brekke Franksdottir, Lions End Seneschal, reported by email
Brandr Aronsson, Brokenbridge Seneschal, reported by email

Opening

Meeting called to order at 8:02.

Reports

Seneschal

Seneschal unable to attend tonight; no report.

Chinua: Officer nominations will be announced today; voting for contested offices will be held at December commons, in person, by officers or their representatives with a written proxy either stating their vote or stating that a named designee can vote on their behalf.

Viceroys: On Communications

Suuder: Take note that Facebook is not our official means of communication. Official mechanism for officer communications is through the EK-hosted email server. Remember that Facebook is a public forum, and not the appropriate mechanism for contact in your capacity as an officer. It’s also not an appropriate location for bickering that might alienate newcomers.

Chinua: Should we set up separate EK email addresses for event autocrats?
Alienor: EK mail services will all change in the next few months when we migrate to Google Apps. Everyone will have a <membernumber>@members.sca.org address, and officer accounts will forward to individual addresses.
Rufina: Will archives of old officer emails migrate over from old EK server?
Alienor: That’s still under discussion. Am in communication with webministry team which is figuring out some of these details as they go.
Suuder: Transition to Google will also mean that we can use Google Chat for instant messaging using officer identities, which will be official in a way that Facebook messenger isn’t.
Beatrice: It would be nice to have a workshop for people to get accustomed to using the new tools
Alienor: Agreed, we should organize such a workshop. Whyt Whey will be one of the first five branches to migrate, so we’ll be helping to figure this out before it gets rolled out to the rest of the kingdom.

Alienor: Has there been some recent event that prompted discussion of Facebook norms?
Suuder: Not locally, but these issues have come up elsewhere in the kingdom.
Chinua: Our local Facebook groups have occasionally had heated debates that spun out of control until they were deleted by an administrator, but not in the last couple of years.

Rufina: I can see how public groups are an effective marketing tool for recruiting newcomers, but I wonder if it would also be useful to have a closed members-only group for conversations we don’t want to have be public.
Chinua: Some groups have only private or even closed groups. We could create a second group for the province that was private.
Suuder: Instead let’s agree to not put that kind of discussion on Facebook in the first place. Take it to email or other channels.

Viceroys: Officer Positions

Lada: We have received nominees for the officer positions that are up for renewal.

For Seneschal, three people submitted letters of intent: Alec, Chinua, and Alienor.

For Herald the only volunteer was Mathghamhain.
Mathghamhain: I am new at this and will definitely call on Chinua and our other experienced heralds for assistance.

For Webminister the only volunteer was Alienor.

For Fencing we didn’t get any volunteers.
Mathghamhain: Do we know whether Marion is available and interested in continuing in this post?
Chinua: If we don’t get any new volunteers we assume the current officer will remain in the position.
The Fencers: We will check with Marion and confirm.
Erich: I volunteer as tribute.

Alienor: Was Richard available to take on the Exchequer position?
Several People: we believe he will remain as the emergency deputy.
Angelica: my warrant as exchequer expires in Feb. but I will renew.

Lada: We will have an election for the contested office at next month’s commons. An email will be sent to the officers’ list with rules for voting and proxies. If you are running, please post an email to the officers list with a blurb about what you would like to do in the office.

Viceroys: Other News

Lada: Save the date of Saturday, May 12. (The day before Mother’s Day, the weekend before Viking Day.) An Dubh is challenging us in everything. Champions vs champions. Details to follow.

Herald

Chinua: We had awards at Goat’s tavern. Seahorse for Aurora ffolkes. Sea Dogs for Oliver de Bainbridge, Mathghamhain, Jenna Childslayer, and Phillip the First.

Marshal of Fighting

Ervald: Note that the new title of this office is Marshal of Fighting rather than Knight Marshal.

I have renewed my marshal’s warrant.

Have been holding fighter practice every week, have had some attendees but lately some folks unavailable due to school, work, weather, etc. Attempting to recruit new fighters.

Working on access to an indoor site at my workplace for fighter practice. Questions about insurance; acting as intermediary between society corporate office and the local business’s insurance broker. Maybe in a few weeks we can use this space, in LIC near 33rd St stop on 7 train. If that goes well, maybe we could use space for fencing, other activities, although not simultaneously.

I will contact finance committee for reimbursement of loaner gear.

Youth Combat

Mathghamhain: We had a small meet at Goat’s Tavern, with two newcomers from the vicinity of Rusted Woodlands for whom this was their first event ever.

We’ve recently received a set of matching youth tabards from Lady Angelica for which we are very grateful; this will help our fighters in loaner armor look less garish on the field.

I’ve recently begun serving as the EK Southern Region deputy and as the webminister for the youth combat program.

Chatelaine

Beatrice: Newcomers at Goat’s had a good time. Loaner garb was all returned and is in good shape. Let me know if you need gold key an upcoming events.

Beatrice: We have had inquiries about activities for very young children (~ 5 years); please let me know if you have suggestions for family-friendly activities that would be appropriate for kids in this age group.
Chinua: If we’re going to do more youth activities, we might need another background-checked person. However, “family friendly” activities with parents in attendance may not require a background-checked person.
Rufina: For family activities, we should talk to parents about what their kids would enjoy.
Everyone: we should brainstorm other activities.
Alienor: Children’s events at Goat’s were good; the youth coordinators did a fantastic job.
Everyone: That was Leona and Hugoline; they have a lot of experience and are great at it.

Exchequer

Angelica: We have money.

We’re set up to accept payments for A&S Championships via PayPal. Paperwork wasn’t difficult.

Østgarðr review of books is upcoming; Lions End completed.

Webminister

Alienor: Have made several changes recently.
• Posted provincial Commons minutes back through Jan. 2016, redacting as needed.
• Updated WordPress, plugins and themes & did some minor mailing list maintenance.
• Updated officer’s page.
• Added Document Library to navigation.
• Made a mailing list for the bylaws committee, bylaws@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org

Whyt Whey Seneschal

Alienor: For scheduling convenience of our hosts, Evenings in the Solar are moving to the 2nd Thursday of each month. Provincial website calendar page of recurring local events and our shared Google calendar have been updated accordingly. This month’s solar was an illumination class, taught by Lady Lada. Next month will be bookbinding, taught by Lady Beatrice using paper provided by Lady Angelica.

Mention was made at our last commons of Whyt Whey’s bylaws. I have seen no such beast, and would inquire of our historian and other long-term members of its existence.

Has anyone seen the orange water cooler loaned to us for Cloisters by Jenna Childslayer?

Also, we still have the green & white in Whyt Whey, and need to arrange with the deputy chamberlain a suitable date and time for its return.

Minister of Arts & Sciences

Sofya, reporting by email:

Østgarðr has been very active hosting many A&S gatherings throughout the Province this past month. Thank you all that have hosted and for those who attended.

The Queen still needs favors! Queen Matilde’s favor design is available and ready to be made. Keep in mind you do not need to embroider them! You can paint them, stamp them or bead them. Get creative! Below is the pdf link you can download:
http://im.eastkingdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MatildeFavor.pdf

East Kingdom 50: Please keep sending me items you have that might be added to Ostgardr’s display at 50 year. Time passes quickly and EK50 will be here soon so don’t wait too long. The East Kingdom 50 year celebration runs June 28th thru July 1st, 2018. Please let me know if there is something you would like to share and send to ostgardr50ostgardr.eastkingdom.org. Thank you to all who have submitted so far.

I have been holding on to fabric for the past three years that has been generously donated my members of the Province. As Southern Region Chatelaine I have read a number of reports from other baronies/shires that have little or no gold key. I would like to donate the fabric I am holding to baronies/shires in need to create gold key. There’s not a lot of fabric (less than a medium sized tub) and most is not period appropriate (hence, why we haven’t used it). I wanted to combine this fabric to the fabric that was generously given to me by Christos’s family as a gift from the Province. We are blessed to have an abundant gold key. Our workshops and recent donations have created a surplus in gold key. We can offer a choice of 2 or 3 outfits per person when previously I could barely scrap up one! In this season of giving, I think this would be a wonderful opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ and make use of fabric that has been sitting in a container for over 3 years to help others in need.
• Everyone: Carried unanimously.

Lions End Seneschal

Brekke, reporting by email:

The seneschal reported that the Bullying and Harassment Policy MUST be posted in plain sight (at the entrance to the event/meeting/etc) at ALL SCA meetings and events.

Our treasurer [Arnbjorg] was audited by Southern Regional for the previous three report periods, and a few minor problems were addressed. We do not seem to be in trouble.

Our rapier marshal [Marion] is having a major dose of Real Life, both in caring for her 96-year-old mother and with her work schedule, so is leaving most of it to her assistant, Alec MacLachlan. He is working with Historical Arts Rapier at practices in Central Park.

Our Chatelane [Duggmore] reports that there has been no activity, and no reports are past due.

A&S [Maeve] reports ongoing Bardic on Tuesday evenings and is pleading (as is usual) for articles for our newsletter.

Our Herald [Francesco] reports that he is actually (VERY HAPPILY!) doing “real heraldry work”, within the Province but not within the Canton.

The Østgarðr Seneschal [Francesco] noted that nominees for Provincial office are self-nominated, and if you’re interested in any office coming open, bids must be in soon (like Nov. 17).

Work progresses on the Provincial Bardic and A&S Championships, which are taking place on April 21 (opposite Balfar’s Challenge, as usual).

Keep our June 2 Demo open. If it’s pouring that day, it will be held on June 9. Parking will be available across Cherry Street (the back entrance to Village Green) for us, and we can use the Green & White as a large tent had been set up successfully on the green a few weeks ago.

Brokenbridge Seneschal

Brandr, reporting by email:

Greetings Your Excellency from the Seneschal of the most awesome Canton of Brokenbridge,
As Real life has made it impossible for me to attend the Provincial Commons tomorrow, here is my Seneschal’s report.

Brokenbridge is growing in leaps and bounds. At the last three commons/ A&S days we have had at least one and sometimes more new people who want to be involved in Brokenbridge and the SCA. At our Forge building class we had two new people attend. At our October commons / Sausage day we had three new people who I believe will be quite active within the canton. One couple was very eager to be involved. Anna, brought with her a skein of Scottish wool and was spinning it into thread during the meeting. She is not nor has she ever been in the SCA, it was remarked that she has been in the SCA he whole life but she just didn’t know it.

Our future commons meeting will involve another pewter casting day and an embroidery day in February taught by Sir Edward, embroidery laurel extraordinaire.

We are making plans for Deck the Halls of Valhalla on January 13. Everyone who is planning on attending should pre-reg as we are capping the event at sixty. IF you would like to teach a Viking themed class please reach out to Anneke as she is running the classes for the event. Once again we will be entertained by the amazing and barefoot Cedar the Unshod.

We are looking at sites for “Bacon Bridge Two – The Baconing” for sometime in the late spring.

A Brokenbridge bank account is still in the works.

Chronicler

Rufina: Subscribe to the newsletter!

Am amenable to posting newsletter to web site, as long as we remove mundane names and addresses. However, the print newsletter archive was produced with a sense that it had limited distribution, and am not sure we should post them to the web. Also not sure the creative material back then had releases signed at the time.
• Mathghamhain: Am not sure there’s a real drive to post the paper issues online.
• Ervald: It would be interesting to find some selected print materials to show online to give people a sense of our history.
• Mathghamhain: Maybe we could select a sampling of material from the paper archives and share them at EK50?
• Rufina: We may have some duplicate issues we could display.
• Rufina: Perhaps we could make a printed “best of the seahorse” newsletter?
• Everyone: Yes, that would be great.
• Rufina: Okay, I will look through old issues to find selected articles for exhibition at EK50, perhaps in the form of a “best of” newsletter.

Northpass Seneschal

Ben: I am here as proxy for Wilhelm who it out with a cracked rib; his report follows.

Greetings from Northpass and its Seneschal to the Province of Østgarðr!

I apologize I will not be there in person but only in spirit. (I cracked a rib and unfortunately am not traveling well.) Please accept Ben to represent Northpass as my Proxy. I promise to make all efforts to attend the next meeting even if I must be carried to it! I hope all of you are well.

We have been busy in many, many ways. First and dear to my heart, we have begun planning out the events Northpass will host for next year ranging from the tiny to the giant. The enthusiasm and offers of help are quite encouraging in many ways as it shows the growth we have had over the last 7-10 years.

Goat’s Tavern (just completed a few weeks ago) had brand new faces from Northpass as well as other groups. I personally was touched by the service of a youngling and the willingness of their Excellencies to acknowledge that service. It was a wildly successful event and we look forward to more!

Just to share a quick list of the planned Northpass events:

Northpass Yule – December 31 – Port Chester “a chance to end the year with good company and good cheer” Strict limit to 30 people

Bears Tavern – March 2-4 Peekskill “The return of a popular longstanding event at Blue Mountain” – With the kind and in person request of their Excellency this event will host Østgarðr Thrown Weapons Championship (long before the revelry gets in high gear.)

Brew U – April 28-30 Peekskill “Brewing guild and Northpass partner to bring out teaching on all forms of Brewing”

Blood & Axes 2 – (proposed) last week of June – Carmel – “similar event to last year’s ‘all things martial but especially Axes’ with this edition planned to be a bit bigger in scope and attendance. The site can easily hold 150 but we expect 70-80.

Barleycorn, Goats Tavern, and likely a “Games and Dance” event expected also in the next 12 months.

We also reworked our Cantonal Bylaws. Lots of work is now complete with clear event and financial rules included. Some policy documentation will follow over the next few months as we invite many more to run the events. We have set new committees for work in the new year on several topics. We are looking to expand our officer corps. We will continue and expand A&S, archery, games, dance within our borders. (I said we are busy… This and much of the event planning was all within a three hour meeting earlier this week.)

One odd note, with regards to the officers of Northpass, we read in last months minutes that there was a request to know something about a non-resident Seneschal for our Canton. I have individually spoke to most of our current officers and a few of our non-officers and it is not apparent to us where this question is from. From the current possible choices who have offered none now live beyond the Cantonal borders.

In short, we are active, growing and enthusiastic. We are not only wanting to do SCA locally but want to help where we can our sister Cantons and the Province. (One note of thanks to Whyt Whey for hosting one of our newest Northpassins at their “Schola in the Solar” event. She loved it. Another note of thanks to Judith the Uncertain for helping us teach mask making locally.) Also in particular please share how we can help at K&Q A&S and Bardic as many of us are planning to attend.

Sidebar: Event Scheduling

Lada: Given that so many things are coming up, we should talk about how we do event scheduling.
Chinua: We need to be careful to avoid conflicts. Last couple of months were packed, with something nearly every weekend either in Østgarðr or surrounding area. The procedures manual says the provincial seneschal needs to sign off on events in writing.
Ben: We should check with EK seneschal on event policies; there may be a rule that parent groups shouldn’t need to sign off on on canton events.
Ervald: Local events like practices and A&S don’t count for this purpose, right?
Everyone: Agreed, this is only for larger events, those with a budget, etc.
John: Policies from PPM say there can’t be more than one event within the province on any given date.
Mathghamhain: I don’t think the PPM should have the force of law, since nobody has seen it or mentioned it in years.
Chinua: Yes, but the PPM has a lot of useful material that we should consider.
Alienor: We could set up a separate mailing list, or we could just use the officers list for the schedule resolution.
Lada: Let’s use the officers list.
Alec: Also need to make sure we’re checking for conflict against neighboring branches via EK seneschal list.
Alienor: Agreed; Whyt Whey did this recently and other seneschals were appreciative.

Alienor: In future meeting agendas, let’s combine demos and events into one portion of the agenda.
Everyone: Agreed.

Fencing Marshal

Alec: A quorum of fencers just had a meeting in the other room.
• Alec has been nominated to serve as provincial fencing marshal; Erich will step back.

We are ending outdoor practice after this week, as it’s too cold.
• Attendance recently has been limited, due to weather and other commitments.
• Looking for indoor spaces, but no luck yet.

The HART (Historical Arts Rapier Training) group on Facebook is growing.
• Will write up an announcement to be posted on the web site.

Minister of Lists

Erich: We have lists.

I have been looking at an indoor site for fencing.
• The ninth floor of Meetup’s space at Broadway/Lafayette might be available for use if we had a Meetup group. Am investigating

Recent Events

Goat’s Tavern

Discussed earlier.

Schola in the Solar

Alienor: Schola in the Solar was a roaring success. We had 18 attendees, 11 classes, 8 instructors. Budgeted $200 for food; spent $196.47. Collected $116 in donations for the feast. Cost to the canton: $80.47. Reports completed & filed with kingdom, checks cut & distributed.

Looking for a site for next year. Have a new site lead from Lady Lada, the Japan Society. Will also be looking at Barnard, as suggested by Lady Vika, and re-visiting Holy Trinity Church in Inwood, which asks for a percentage of the gate as its fee.

Upcoming Events

EK Twelfth Night: January 6

Alienor: It’s in Maine; anyone else interested in going to it?

Deck the Halls: January 13

Discussed earlier.

King’s and Queen’s A&S and Bardic Championships: Feb 10

Lada: Directions to the site in Mt. Kisco are now available on the web.

We are not arranging for the block of hotel rooms as it turned out they were actually cheaper on Travelocity then through the block contract.

Would especially love to get local volunteers from Northpass or nearby to assist with breakdown and cleanup at the end of the event.

Schedule: staff on site at 8:00, doors open at 9:00, court ends at 6:00, no feast, so hopefully can complete breakdown and be out by 8:00 or so.

Bear’s Tavern: March 3–5

Autocrat will be Oliver.

Other Events

Chinua: Given the hour, let’s table discussion of demos and other events that are more than four months in the future.

Old Business

Officer Elections

Discussed earlier.

Bylaws Committee

John: We made a bunch of progress at last meeting, on November 12. Will decide on next meeting date tonight and meet soon (January 6?). Then we will present material for consideration by the officers. Will need to set aside a significant amount of time for discussion at that time. Perhaps we can pick a separate date for this rather than trying to squeeze it into an evening commons, as it’s likely that we will need most of the day for it.

Regalia Committee

Lada: We are looking at getting field coronets as an intermediate step.
• Sofya asked Ervald to come up with some designs.
• Sofya suggested a craftsman who will make a proposal.
• Lada talked to Anton, who will also make a proposal.

Upcoming Meetings

• December 15: John and Rufina’s in Richmond Hill
• January 19: Alienor’s in Manhattan
• February 16: Seeking volunteers. Perhaps Jacqueline and Luigj, or Richard the Poor?

Other Discussion

Bylaws

Chinua: I have a concern about paragraph 4.B.3. of the PPM on financial liability, which states that event autocrats are liable for financial shortfall if an event goes over budget and incurs a loss.
• John: The original version of this decades ago was that event autocrats were always liable for any loss incurred by the event. In the Alexandre and Eularia era, we changed this to only apply if they went over budget, and added a clause that the finance committee could waive that if the situation merited.
• Chinua: The liability provision as written here may be in violation of EK policy.
Mathghamhain: Maybe we can rewrite this to clarify that it’s only intended for use in egregious situations.
• Bylaws committee will consider this at their next meeting.

Closing

Rufina: Motion to adjourn.
• Beatrice: Seconded.

Meeting ended at 9:59.

Minutes Østgarðr Commons meeting October 20, 2017
Transcribed by Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin

Roll Call

• Branimira of the Isles, Hostess
• Suuder Saran, Viceroy
• Lada Monguligin, Vicereine
• Francesco Gaetano Greco d’Edessa, called Bish, Seneschal
• Ian of Clan Mitchell, Chamberlain
• Katherine Gilliesfleur, Deputy Chamberlain
• Brekke Franksdottir, Lions End Seneschal
• Rufina Cambrensis, Chronicler
• John Elys, Deputy Chronicler
• Alec MacLachlan, Fencing Deputy
• Richard the Poor of Ely, Historian
• Angelica di Nova Lipa, Exchequer
• Alienor Salton, Whyt Whey Seneschal, Acting Webminister
• Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Youth Combat Marshal

# Absent Officers

• Mongu Chinua, Herald (preparing Goat’s Tavern site; report submitted)
• Beatrice della Rocca, Chatelaine (on vacation; report submitted)
• Wilhelm of Northpass, Northpass Seneschal (preparing Goat’s Tavern site; report submitted)
• Marion of York, Fencing (power outage; nothing to report)
• Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, Minister of Arts & Sciences (on expedition to Drachenwald)
• Ervald LaCoudre, Knight Marshal (on expedition to Drachenwald)
• Erich Guter Muth, Minister of Lists (on vacation)
• Arnbiorg Helga Niálsdóttir, Archery
• Brandr Aronsson, Brokenbridge Seneschal

Opening

The meeting was called to order at 8:01.

Officers Reports

# Bish, Seneschal
• Northpass has a new seneschal, Wilhelm. He is interested in recruiting a replacement.
• Northpass asked if a person who lives outside the canton can serve as seneschal. EK law (as confirmed by EK seneschal) says it is allowed if their canton bylaws specifically allow it.
• Oliver is willing to serve, but lives in a part of the province that is just outside border of the canton.
• Oral history suggests that Whyt Whey used to have such a provision as part of its bylaws, but that it was later removed.

# Lada, Vicereine
• Important to note that, if planning an event, please check to avoid conflict with neighbors. Use the seneschals’ list to ensure that you find events that weren’t listed on the EK calendar yet.

# Bish, Seneschal
• From EK, edict from Queen, Mord has been banished from the royal presence for the remainder of the term.
• Ian: 91 knights and masters submitted petition requesting court of chivalry, to banish from the kingdom for the remainder of the term.

# Rufina, Chronicler
• Seahorse is out. Encourage people to subscribe. It’s free and makes a tasty snack.
• Question: Would you consider moving the Seahorse mailing list to the EK server? This would simplify subscription process, and would mean that other people would be able to send the Seahorse if you were unavailable.
• Rufina: Prefer to keep current process as avoids issues with EK server downtime.
• John: Sending mechanism is via Panix command line. Agree that we should have that process documented, backed up somewhere.
• Question: Can we post issues of the Seahorse to the provincial web site?
• Rufina: Yes, this is possible; wasn’t done in recent years but have no objection to doing so in the future.

# Angelica, Exchequer.
• We have money, about the same amount as last time.
• Process for PayPal setup is underway, awaiting signoff from Lada, which is forthcoming.
• Once completed, PayPal can be enabled on an individual event basis, which means that people could pay for their reservations to that event by PayPal or credit card.
• Paypal does take a few percentage points as a fee, but the convenience makes it worth the overhead for some people.
• Some confusion about whether this would impact process for accepting checks, but no changes to that side of things at this time.

# Mathghamhain, YC
• Demos at Queens Farm and Cloisters were well received.
• We’ll have a small meet at Goat’s tomorrow.
• Efforts to hold local practice in Central Park have been stymied by scheduling difficulties; recent Wednesday and Saturday proposals were swamped by conflicts with after-school activities, sports teams, and high-school admissions craziness. Will keep trying.

# Alienor, Whyt Whey
• Seventy three(!) volunteers, many from other land groups, assisted at our Cloisters demo at Fort Tryon Park Medieval Festival at the beginning of the month. Extremely successful outreach & engagement.
• We had a weaving workshop as our A&S activity this month, complete with celebrity weaving visitor from An Dubh. 🙂 Very informative. Many thanks to Lady Angelica for teaching this class.
• Our Schola in the Solar is next week. We still have room for attendees! We are offering 11 classes for a range of experience from novice to proficient, please check them out on our website: http://whytwhey.eastkingdom.org/2017/10/11/schola-in-the-solar/

# Alienor, Acting Webminister
• Recently streamlined the web site.
• New Google inquiry form, 14 submissions.
• Document library will be made public on site soon.
• Bish: could we add links to office-specific forms like heralds’ quarterly reports?
• John: In addition to EK law we used to have a link to SCA corpora here.
• Alienor: (post-meeting addition) I forgot to mention the novice’s mailing list, newcomersostgardr.eastkingdom.org, managed by our Chatelaine, to which the newest inquirers from Cloisters & Queens Farm demos have been added.

# Brekke, Lions End
• Working on a demo in Farmingdale on June 2nd (raindate June 9th).
• Lions in Spring, our local bardic competition and arts schola, scheduled for fourth weekend in April.
• Trying to make this an annual event.

# Katherine, Deputy Chamberlain
• Green and white is out, will be returned soon.
• Alienor: We need to arrange to return this from our storage unit. Will follow up with Ian via email to find a time, maybe after next week, when Math or Alax can assist with the unloading.
• Katherine: Feast gear is still out, maybe have it brought back this winter?
• Ian: Maybe leave it in Northpass because that’s where it is most often used?
• Katherine: Fine to leave it there if we get an updated inventory.
• Bish: were new knives purchased?
• Ian: expense was authorized.
• Angelica: check was written.
• Bish: Presumably that means they’ve been purchased and are in collection in Northpass.
• Katherine: We should get the inventory updated to be sure.

# Richard, Historian
• Is it true that at An Dubh investiture, Sofya received a Maunche and was made a Laurel, both on the very same day?
• All: yes, it may seem crazy, but it’s true. Also was apprenticed and then released from apprenticeship.
• Richard is assisting several people who are investigating history for 50th.
• Annals are being shared now and plan is to print a nicely formatted copy for 50th.
• Lada: We could have scribes write it out. Maybe Alienor could work with other scribes to letter the whole thing?
• Richard: there’s a type of historical document called a canon table; we could do one of those for each of the various championships, each order, etc.
• Lada: there is a Seadog scroll which we need to update with recent recipients.

# Alec, fencing
• Have been holding practices in Central Park. Attendance last month has only been 2-4 people.
• Investigating an indoor space for use over the winter
• New Facebook page under construction for local fencing efforts named “HART”
• Several people: make sure you avoid confusion with the Hart of the Kingdom of Acre

# Chinua, herald, reported by proxy
• There was a court at Cloisters. New champions were selected. No precedence-creating awards given out.

# Wilhelm, Northpass, reported by email
• My apologies that I could not be able to attend in person but I am onsite helping to prepare for Goat`s Tavern. First, I look forward to seeing many or most of you there. If any of you are not yet decided on your attendance, you should consider the many classes, the great company, and the joy of gathering at the Blue Mountain lodge. It should be excellent.
• We completed another Barleycorn (John Barleycorn Silver Celebration) and appreciate greatly Lady Aurora ffolkes for her running of the event. We love the site and have happily run the event for either at least a quarter century and appreciate the support that Northpass has received from Greater Ostgardr and beyond. It is a very large endeavor and we will be beginning to plan for next year soon. There is a few remaining reporting items that have yet to be in final form as of this writing but all is in order.
• The other item of note is some officers have changed in the last few months. Firstly, Lord Thomas has stepped down, effective immediately after announcement at our last Northpass commons. The Cantonal Knight Marshal position is also newly declared open. So, as drop dead I am newly re-minted to be the Seneschal. I do not expect a long term though and my goal is to get deputies and seek one of them to take the post as soon as he /she is ready and willing.
• We have a very long list to things that are in process so we expect to have much to report going forward.

# Beatrice, chatelaine, reported by email
• We have had a great last month, with some really wonderful demos. Cloisters, by Whyt Whey was tremendously successful, with larger numbers than we had last year, from all reports. The weather was beautiful, and everyone had a great time. We also had Queens Farm demo, which was my first time there. Despite some unfortunate circumstances on my part, a good time was had by all. I think it’s a demo with a great deal of potential, and I’m looking forward to working with the autocrat to make it even better next year.
• All told, we had 86 potential newcomers sign up for more information. They have been added to a new mailing list, and information sent to them.
• Gold Key is still in good condition and all accounted for. A tub will be sent up to Goat’s Tavern this weekend, with Lady Angelica di Nova Lipa, my new deputy. Many thanks to the folks who reached out and asked for it.

Officer Elections

# Bish
• Several people have put in for officers positions.
• Lada: if you don’t have a deputy, publicize that you are looking for recruits.
• Bish: Open offices are seneschal, herald, webminister, fencing, chronicler,
• Alienor: Why is Exchequer not up for replacement, given that she has served for two years?
• Several people: Because it’s in the bylaws that Seneschal and Exchequer should not change hands at the same time because they are key members of the provincial finance committee.
• Others: We’ve reviewed the bylaws and they don’t mention this issue.
• John: There is a Policy and Procedure Manual, the PPM, which contains additional rules that aren’t in the bylaws. Some processes were recorded in this separate document to make it easier to change them without the overhead of changing the bylaws.
• Mathghamhain: I’ve never heard of this document and it does not appear to be available online.
• Lada: Would the current exchequer like to step down?
• Angelica: yes, as family obligations mean that sometimes I am out of town for several months which makes it hard to fulfill the duties of the office.
• Several people: Richard is the emergency deputy exchequer; perhaps he could be convinced to serve for one year and then seek new candidates in the next year’s election cycle.
• Richard: let me think about it overnight.
• Mathghamhain: we should put out a call for volunteers to either take on this role or serve as deputy.

Future events:

# Vika & Thorfinn, submitted by email
• Thorfinn and Vika intend to run Picnic in the Ruins again, at the same site. We will submit our proposal to the parks department in early November when proposals open up, and will request the last weekend in April, and failing that, the first Sunday of May. We won’t know whether we have the site for several months, and will update the officers when we find out.
• Several people: Need to resolve conflict with Lions in Spring
• Alienor: (post-meeting addition) Thorfinn and Vika have been informed and will select a non-conflicting date.

# Lada
• Deck the Halls of Valhalla, Jan 13, same plan as last year

# Lada
• K&Q bardic in Feb
• Have volunteers, could use more general assistance
• Would like to find a volunteer for royal liaison, although maybe royals will provide one from their end. Volunteer needs to be available for the full day, interested in playing this type of role, and able to go up & downstairs with ease.
• Was investigating hotel block, $125/night for nearby hotel. Regular rate is $160.
• Question about whether we should sign this contract as it requires that we’re on the hook if the event is cancelled.
• Need to decide this in next few weeks.
• Angelica: let’s check rates via alternate booking mechanism, and check the wording of contract.
• Lada and Angelica will discuss, and are empowered to make this decision as they see fit.
• Bish: would welcome the input of anyone who is running for next term of seneschal.

# Rufina:
• Musicians’ Day is usually in November, not happening this year due to site issues, but maybe next year.
• Also, unrelated, Alexandre and Eularia are in Finland for Drachenwald crown tourney.

# Katherine:
• Queens Farm about to go into quiet period for the winter, we could approach them to use their education building for events.
• They have a big space that could be used for a large A&S event, tent painting project, or other craft event that needs space.

Other Business

# Lada:
• Bylaws committee, want to meet at our place sometime soon? Propose Nov 12.
• Committee members will discuss and confirm.
• Alienor: do you want a mailing list for the committee?
• Lada: yes.

# Bish:
• Any updates on the regalia committee?
• Lada: No recent changes. There are a couple of design ideas in circulation. We’ll present those after we have a chance to talk w. Sofya.

Upcoming Meetings

• Nov 17: at Chinua’s in Staten Island

• Dec 15: at John and Rufina’s in Richmond Hill

• Jan 19: at Alienor’s in Manhattan

• Bish: thanks to Branimira for hosting tonight’s meeting here at her home.
• All: Enthusiastically seconded.

Closing

• Richard: Motion to adjourn, 9:12
• Many people: seconded

MINUTES OF Østgarðr COMMONS September 15 2017
Transcribed by Alienor Salton

Attendees:

Francesco Gaetano Greco d’Edessa, aka Bish, seneschal
Erich Guter Muth, minister of lists
Beatrice della Rocca, chatelaine
Angelica di Nova Lipa, exchequer
Alienor Salton, seneschal Whyt Whey
Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, youth combat marshal
Alec MacLachlan, fencing deputy
Jacqueline Helene Loisel
Luigi
Richard the Poor of Ely, historian
Thomas of Northpass, seneschal Northpass
Philip White, EK MoAS
Mongu Chinua, herald

Reports submitted via email:

Brekke Franksdottir, seneschal Lions End
Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, MoAS
Rufina Cambrensis, chronicler

8:04am — meeting called to order

Bish, seneschal: office is coming up for election at the beginning of the year. We will need a new seneschal. Bring the information to your canton commons. Candidates should have letter of intent in by October Commons. Vote in person or via written proxy at the November Commons. Office starts in January. Other positions expire this year. Some discussion over when Angelica’s term as exchequer expires — this year or next year?

OFFICER REPORTS

Erich, MoL: we had lists. Role of MoL is to help any fighters or fencers who need help running lists, to assist the marshallate of the respective field. Has paperwork in case they forget theirs. No reports received or sent. Exception would be at an extremely large tournament — if event does not have an MoL, he will supply it, but you have to reach out to him in advance.

Beatrice, chatelaine: 4 newcomers interacted w/ the chatelaine at Barleycorn. Luigi also brought 4 newcomers. No complaints. Everyone had fun. Gold Key was borrowed & returned in good condition.

Angelica, exchequer: we have money. Note to cantons: there will be a review of books (canton & provincial) coming up shortly, by EK.

Alienor, seneschal Whyt Whey: had to submit a 2nd insurance certificate specifically for the parks dept. w/ special wording. Was subject to corporate late fee, grrr. Beatrice will speak to royals tomorrow about their needs for the demo & ask for a contact name. Mongu says they may have a 12×18 travel pavilion. Festival organizer wants to put an archery range near us??!? Have expressed consternation. Still collecting parking pass info; thank you to everyone who is opting for public transit instead. Please let Alienor know if you need stuff picked up before the event.

Oct. 28th Whyt Whey Schola is on. Hosting it ourselves due to site search failure (selected site tried to charge us 30% more than their advertised rate). Is on EK event calendar. Brief discussion about insurance requirements, since we are too late to be in the Pikestaff, this cannot be an official event. However, we are not handing out awards and do not need an insurance certificate. Alec suggests we call it Schola in the Solar! Acclaimed.

Banners (new Whyt Whey device plus 2 personal arms) printed by spoonflower.com on polyester chiffon. $40 for 2 yards. Device passed 2 weeks before Pennsic and we were able to fly the banner at Pennsic. See Mathghamhain if you need assistance generating artwork to be printed via spoonflower.

We have the sheetwall from the EK royal encampment with the old device. Will display at EK 50th, then pass to the historian for archival. Will be making new sheetwall to present to royals at next Pennsic.

Mathghamhain, youth combat: fighting at Barleycorn included 6 fighters, one of whom was new (from Aethelmarc). Marshalled at River War, received donations of loaner equipment there. Identified some items to purchase to round out the gear to have 6 full sets. Rounding up kids for Queens Farm & Cloisters. Will be bringing the pell. Goal is to run some practices this fall. Coordinating with kids who want to do it & their parents to see if we can do Wednesdays near fencing / dancing or Saturday afternoons in Central Park.

Meeting interrupted by call from Viceroy. Bish told him we are more than halfway through officer reports. He is too far away to join us. Traffic is working against them.

Viceregal report (phone): Barleycorn was fun; thanks for showing up.

Alec, fencing: there was fencing at Barleycorn. Brendan Firebow (of Staten Island) is new champion. Allocated marshals-in-charge to 3 events (Yehuda at Barleycorn, Marion at Queens Farm, Alec at Cloisters). Beatrice reports 2 of the new fencers’ armors have been made. There are 2 more in the queue. Practice in Central park the last couple of weeks is going well. Have decided to try a new area further down the path — has better lighting.

Wishlist of loaner gear for the fencers: a couple of loaner masks for new people, a couple of gorgets, 2-3 pairs of gloves, a loaner sword. Total expenditure would be about ~$600-650 ($100 masks, $110 gorget, $60 gloves, $175 for the sword). Will suggests making our own gorgets; already have 3 loaner gorgets. Marion has a loaner mask passed to her by Bish at a Commons earlier this year. Will need loaner gloves in several sizes. Jackie asked about fundraising efforts — split the bill w/ Østgarðr. Thomas suggested putting out a donations bucket at Queens Farm. Consensus was that it would be better to do so at an event rather than a demo. Prefer to avoid taking money from non-SCAdians. Alec suggests bidding on a fencer at a tournament to raise money. Winners get a small prize, both fencer & bidder. $$ goes to fund.

Indoor site for fencing practice needed! Site search has turned up places that will accept anything but fencing.

Richard, historian: Brendan Firebow won provincial fencing champion. Ervald ran thrown weapons challenge tourney, however there was no winner because he didn’t know what the requirements were for being a champion. Discussion of whether there should be a minimum score. Mongu presents strong argument against it, to forestall situation where champion maintains position for 8 years. Richard suggests leaving to discretion of viceregents, as it is their champion. Final javelin throw at Barleycorn was an amazing finish to the contest. Archery champion Conor Ó Ceallaigh, who also became a member of the order of the sea lion.

Bish asked if Richard had been asked for material for EK 50th. Richard says yes, he will be submitting artifacts. Encourages others to do likewise.

Thomas, seneschal Northpass: Barleycorn went well. No negative vibes. Money still being worked out; think they broke even. Very labor-intensive. Thomas is at the end of his seneschal term (2 years). He will not be seeking a second term.

Mongu, herald: tournaments at Barleycorn. Conor Ó Ceallaigh became a companion of the order of the sea lion. Mathghamhain asks if there were order of precedence change lists from the order meetings. Lada took the notes; will check with her. Past reports have been that having the web order of precedence updated has not happened. Mathghamhain successfully put in 2 change requests that were handled within 24 hours. Will move forward with doing more. Richard as historian has info on what happened when, and can supply dates. Mathghamhain will email Richard & then put through the updates as needed.

Mongu, archery (unofficial): archery is happening. Long Island practice is sporadic. Staten Island is similarly sporadic, being held between events and on an RSVP basis. Will be having practice this Sunday (day after tomorrow). Next week is Queens Farm & then Cloisters, then 3Gs, then Goats Tavern (may or may not hold practice that Sunday). Check the Facebook page to see if practice is being held, and text or call if you are attending.

Brekke, seneschal Lions End (email): nothing to report.

Sofya, MoAS (email): A&S Report-September

• Favors for 50th: 1st set of Ostgardr 50 year favors have been completed! On Sunday, August 27th TeamOstgardr came together and finished close to 100 favors that were distributed at Barleycorn. Thank you Alienor, Beatrice, Angelica and Anneke for taking the time out and energy to make this happen. Production on another 100 favors will begin in October for distribution prior to the East Kingdom 50 Year celebration.

• Favors for the Princess: ​Princess Matilde’s favor design is available and ready to be made. Below is the pdf link you can ​download: ​http://im.eastkingdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MatildeFavor.pdf ​Keep in mind you do not need to embroider them! You can paint them, stamp them or bead ​them. Get creative!

• EastKingdom50: Please send me your photos for the EastKingdom50 year celebration June 28th thru July 1st, 2018. Please let me know if there is something you would like to share and send to ostgardr50 at ostgardr.eastkingdom.org. Thank you to all who have submitted so far.

Rufina, chronicler (email): E-Horse is out. We held it until after Barleycorn so that we could include any Provincial awards given in Viceregal Court. We will not be at An Dubh investiture [family visit; see above], so if someone could report back to me about awards given at Court, I’d be grateful 🙂

EVENTS

Barleycorn: see above.

Queens Farm: Saturday & Sunday of next week. Ian is autocrat. Mongu asks if there will be thrown weapons at Queens Farm. Unsure if there is an archery marshal in charge. Marion is fencing MiC, Erich is running one or more tournaments.

Cloisters: see above.

Goats Tavern: Thomas reports that more classes are being created. There will be no live goats at the event. Information on the calendar event listing is minimal. Is a family-friendly schola with lots of socializing. Thomas will nudge the autocrat to update the description. Encourages Alec (who was curious about the event) to also call the autocrat and ask for more information. There will be youth combat.

Bears Tavern: needs an autocrat.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Thomas urges us to pitch in more with general site cleanup, post-event, to support the autocrat & seneschal.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

October: Mongu Chinua
November: Alienor Salton (unless someone from Queens or Brooklyn wants to volunteer to spread things around geographically)
December: no meeting

MOTION TO ADJOURN

Richard, seconded by many.

Meeting closed at 9:19.

August Østgarðr Commons

August 18, 2017
Transcribed by John Elys
Attending:
Francesco
Beatrice
Aethelstan
Jacqueline
Erich
Godiva
Mongo
Lada
Sofya
Ervald
Erlandr
John
Ian
Katherine
Brekke
Angelica
Alec
Elionora
Thomas
Sue
Philip
Richard
Convened 8:00 PM
OFFICER REPORTS
Exchequer (Angelica):
no change in $, except that check to American Legion cleared. Nordenfjord has filed its quarterly. Various other stuff.

Lions End (Brekke):
no news.

Chamberlain (DK):
still have tent, feast gear is in Northpass

Chronicler:
E-Horse went out; send us stuff.

Nordenfjord:
Erlan is Acting Seneschal (Aethelstan has just stepped down); sent in request for warrant just before Pennsic but haven’t gotten reply yet. Have filed for status restoration. Bylaws say election in September. Erlan has been nominated for EK Chancellor Minor, effective December, so she won’t be running for Seneschal. Most likely candidate is Kaylee (sp?).

Combat (Ervald): Several new fighters as of Pennsic. Fighter practice restarted on Tuesdays. Looking into indoor practice site in L.I.City. Seamus of Arindale to make 5 suits of loaner armor, $500. Championship to be at Ft. Tryon Medieval Faire.
Sofya:
sending notes by e-mail. Making 50th Anniversary tokens. Children made impressive presentation of toys to Crown. Lots of Ostgardrians taught at Pennsic.

Brokenbridge:
no news, except fighter practice is happening.

Herald:
Sir Edward, for his 65th birthday, received a wooden plaque saying “Get off my grass” in Latin. Reuben received AoA: generally helpful guy. Ryouku’jin knighted. Brendan Firebow received OGR & Bronze Ring (from Midrealm).

MoL:
Kingdom discussing changes to authorization process, temporary authorization cards.

Whyt Whey:
Device passed, got banner printed by Spoonflower. Ft. Tryon faire coming up. Royal Progress. Combat, classes, fencing, dancing, youth combat, chatelain’s table, etc. Piglet will bring G&W, keep for two weeks thereafter until I&K return from Rome. Discussing insurance, parking, etc.

Discussing Schola for 28 Oct.

Fencing:
practice resuming this week. Provincial championship @ Barleycorn. Debuted G&W arming jackets at Pennsic. Fought as part of Southern Region army.

Northpass:
Barleycorn is coming. Reserve. There’s still yurt space.

Historian:
Did anything happen at Pennsic? (Various people answered.) Give me stories & tales.

Chatelaine (Rowan): Gold Key seems to be in good shape. There was a Chatelaine’s meeting at Pennsic; nobody went. Making more G&W fencing arming jackets (pattern has been approved by fencing marshals). Send newcomers to me. Running low on business cards.
Seneschal:
At Riverfest, there was no Chatelaine’s table; need Chatelaine kit.

Viceregency:
Pennsic was great. Held court during OG potluck. Alax was declared Youth Combat Champion, as well as Warden of the Fry [baby seahorses] and Gatherer of Prisoners. Discussion of paid social-media marketing (targeted by geography, interests, etc.) on Facebook to bring newcomers to demos, events, etc.

Archery:
resuming at Cedar Creek & Staten Island. Have FB page “statenislandarcherypractice”. Practice has been slow (down from 10/week last year to 4/week).

9:00.

RECENTLY PAST EVENTS
nothing recent. Blood & Axes at Veterans’ Memorial Park: cheap, happy to have us, but no kitchen.
UPCOMING DEMOS
Nordenfjord demo on Thursday, Oct. 12 at Empire State College in Nanuet; could use additional demo-ers. 6:30-9:00 PM. Ft. Tryon Oct. 1. Request parking passes by Aug. 25. QCFFD Sept. 23-24. Doesn’t seem to be on EK calendar yet; Mitch will investigate.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Musicians’ Day not happening due to lack of dates.

Barleycorn: assembling lots of cooks, staff, etc. Enclosed room for A&S & musicians (directors’ cabin btw. archery & beach); discussion of how this meshes with archery. Art gallery (?) Gate is at director’s cabin at corner of field (other side of bridge).

EK A&S and Bardic Champs: Site (Mt Kisco American Legion) got our check. 10 Feb. confirmed. Day board, no evening feast; need cooking help. Need parking staff. No martial activities. Need breakdown crew (esp. from Northpass). Enter competitions.

EK 50th: June 28-July 1, 2018, at [new] War of the Roses site. We have 10’x10′ space at entrance to Hall of History. Need stories, recordings, pictures, artifacts, etc. Contact Sofya, well in advance.

Lions End small demo June 2 (or 9 rain date); hands-on family-friendly arts, fighting & especially youth fighting. On Village Green in Farmingdale. Pop-ups would be preferable to staked tents.

Lions in Spring 4th Saturday in April.

Goats’ Tavern 21 Oct. at Blue Mountain.

Next week at Michelle’s in Hawke’s Reach: Ask The Bishop about Research.

COMMITTEES
Bylaws committee hasn’t met recently.

Coronet committee hasn’t met recently.

NEW BUSINESS
None.

UPCOMING COMMONS
Sept. 15 at Piglet’s in Manhattan
Oct. 20 at Kapajs’ in Bronx
Nov. 17 at Mungu’s in Staten Island

Meeting adjourned 9:45.

MINUTES OF Østgarðr COMMONS JUNE 16 2017
Transcribed by Alienor Salton

Attendees:

Francesco Gaetano Greco d’Edessa, aka Bish
Luigi Kapaj
Brekke Franksdottir
Ervald La Coudre the Unlucky
Sofya Gianetta di Trieste
Branimira of the Isles
Marion of York
Arnbjorg Karlsdóttir
Duggmore Dougles
Jacqueline Helene Loisel
Ian of Clan Mitchell
Katherine Gilliesfleur
Erich Guter Muth
Beatrice della Rocca
Thomas of Northpass
Alienor Salton
Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
Lada Monguligin
Suuder Saran

8:02pm — called to order

Bish: Seneschal’s report: Nordenfjord, sponsored by us, is under suspension. Bish spotted the issue in Pikestaff. Nordenfjord didn’t know about it. Bish got in touch with central region seneschal, who said they hadn’t received reports since 2015. Aethelstan has been in the hospital. Deputy seneschal is Erlandr. Today Bish got email from central region seneschal — no reports received since Sept. 2015. Suggestion from Ian: check with southern region seneschal. Also check personal / old email addresses that were used. Bish asked why are they still incipient? Answer: Up-to-date reports for a full year are needed. They are doing everything else.

OFFICER REPORTS

Thomas of Northpass: Blood & Axes went well. 54 people. Would like to make it bigger. $200 site fee; broke even. Could seat 150 people at picnic benches under cover & bring in a field kitchen. Vendors have to register w/ putnam county & pay taxes & fee. Site is spacious; needs to be used. Ask for site at beginning of year because the Westchester county parks schedule fills up when it opens. NO alcohol. There was tons of room for each activity: fighting, fencing, thrown weapons, youth combat, archery.

Canton-wise: Northpass is gearing up for barleycorn. Still need to change NY, NY on the event announcement to North Salem, NY, to adjust expectations. Looking for a head feastocrat. Menu planning is under way. They are talking w/ Duchess Isabella about recruiting someone, perhaps from outside the province. [move to upcoming]

Northpass has $$, people are reporting on time.

Alienor, Deputy webminister:

1. Alienor is now officially deputy webminister & now acting webminister as Arnora is on maternity leave.
2. Minor cleanups to ostgardr.eastkingdom.org; input welcomed on additional content / updates. Please let her know if you are having any difficulty with your EK email. [Marion of York requested assistance.] 3. Bish asked about the mailing list issue; it was resolved as per facebook comments.

Alienor, Whyt Whey seneschal:

1. Visit to McAlpin Hall did not pan out: inaccessible. Trying Cafe Victoria next. Smaller but large enough for a schola and accessible. Have additional leads such as Holy Trinity Church in Inwood. Our exchequer is checking EK policy to see if there is anything to prohibit us signing a contract for a fixed % of the gate. Still aiming for Oct. 28th.

Mathghamhain, youth marshal: lovely time was had at Blood & Axes. The pell was a huge hit, encouraged newcomers. We had half a dozen kids in armor, plus 5 kids who came by to practice w/ the pell.

Brekke, Lions End seneschal: planning to have schola 4th weekend of april next year. Would like this to be an annual event. liked this year’s format; enjoyed having A&S and bardic championships at the same time.

June 2nd they have been asked to do a demo in farmingdale. The rain date is June 9th. A&S centered. Archery is out of the question, but could show how to make arrows. Would love activities for children, including youth combat (pell!!). Lada asks if we can bring the idea to An Dubh, as it is on their border. Brekke says she will talk to Michelle in Hawk’s Reache.

Reports are submitted. Brekke wants to step down at the end of her term, June 2018. She needs someone from lions end to step up.

Ervald, marshal of armored combat: fighter practice tuesday night, McCarren Park!! Thanks to meeting people at Viking Day & new SCA participants coming in, they have half a dozen newbie fighters. Need loaner armor. Bish says the old armor was sold off. Gui & Valgard sold them because there was no room for them when the armory space went away. Chamberlain adds he was not consulted about storage. $$ went to the province; province can use it to buy more. Feasibility & budget requested. Exchequer is not here tonight. Questions: how much $$ was made from the sale? Sofya points out we need to figure out what we need. Beatrice says there was a line item in the budget about making loaner armor — consult with exchequer before proceeding. Luigi suggests we check with Valgard & Gui to see if it was their armor or provincial. Ian wrote a check for dark victory armor. Is what was sold dark victory? Or made by Valgard & Gui? Bish bought blue plastic armor. Dark victory is black plastic. Ian reports it was deliberately ugly to encourage people to get their own more attractive armor. Suuder points out some armor was covered with cloth (those are the sets they built & donated). Thomas suggests we figure out how much armor we need. The $$ is secondary. Erich would like some of the barrels from Blue Mountain that thomas is mentioning. Lada says they talked about it on the way over — first identify need, then identify how much $$ you need. Suuder: promote the idea of setting aside a certain amount of $$ from our coffers to buy new equipment for each fighting division. Get a budget together & you can buy it at Pennsic: save $$ and shop around. Ervald has a preliminary plan for purchases. Sofya suggests we publicize the list for donations. Erich points out people can make armor: Erich, Suuder, Mathghamhain, Alexie have all volunteered. Ian suggests purchasing good munitions grade helms ($150) at pennsic. Mathghamhain suggests also gauntlets. Moved to new business; will return to at end of meeting.

1st report is late because paperwork needs doing regarding Ervald’s authorization. Duke Brennan is coming to McCarren park on Tuesday.

Ervald asks us to say we are coming to fighter practice Facebook invitations so he can continue inviting more people to them.

Does anyone know any fighters who want to fight in the army of Østgarðr this year?

Sofya, MoAS: thank you for making my report to the EK look really impressive. Still working on favors for the queen; she will need a lot for Pennsic. Please keep on doing them. Favors for Østgarðr 50th are in progress. The design is done. After Pennsic & before Barleycorn we will have a sweatshop. We will machine embroider 150+ of them, then will need volunteers to sew & finish. Children’s largesse dragons are being collected; please announce to your canton that additional medieval toys are needed: catapults, puzzles, games, hand puppets… children will present the gifts.

Marion, fencing: practices run by Erich, who reports moved to Central park, going very well. Everyone is coming out to it from everywhere. 1st version of Østgarðr fencing hood is made, punchtested & marshal-approved. Fencing armor will be tested at Potted Arms this weekend. (Erich will be sewn into it.) Fencers who are able to make it to the Central park practice will be brought over to Erich & Beatrice’s to make their own hoods. Thomas will try to replicate in Northpass for those who can’t make it. Marion points out we should budget for masks, which we can’t make ourselves. Small loaner masks from BAT practice were rescued. Erich is storing them. EK marshallate has passed new rules concerning in-mask padding. No padding between metal & face == not legal. Bish donated a mask to fencing at meeting.

Arnbjorg, archery: Lions End starts practice next week at Cedar’s creek around 9am (weather has been sucky). Mongu Chinua has been holding practice on Staten Island; cancelled last week for Riverfest. [side discussion re: acre fair: (re-ignition of sand’s point) — 1500+ people showed up for riverfest; parking for 600 cars. suffolk county requires physical ambulance on site. sunday cancelled due to saturday’s problems.] An Dubh has lost their practice space, will be using Lions End practice for theirs. We are still looking for a thrown weapons practice area, for which we a need big backyard & neighbors who don’t mind. They also do atlatl practice in Lions End. Eanraig the Bonesetter became master bowman.

Katherine, deputy chamberlain: green & white made it to 2 demos. Thanks to Jackie & Luigi for getting it to the Bronx. It weighs a ton. They need more advance warning & assistance to haul it out of storage.

Ian: as far as use of the g&w in coming season — Barleycorn? Thomas says they could probably use it. Queens Farm. Cloisters: will need to pick up from Queens Farm. Ian & Katherine will be in Rome; Alienor & Mathghamhain will store it for 2 weeks. Reminder: the list markers go with the g&w.

Katherine: additional personal property often shared include changing tent, screened tent. Please ask to borrow them! Sofya points out this has come up before, so we need to do a better job of planning. Jackie: having an autocrat in charge of each demo has helped. The list stakes, list ropes, g&w & tent stakes & poles are provincial property. List of needed items: hammer, changing tent, screened tent for food, etc. would be helpful. Thomas points out we need heads of depts. to include lists of staff & equipment needed. Feastocrat needs to recruit volunteers etc. Lada points out that the autocrat’s handbook needs updating, with separate checklist for demos. Ian says Lady Lillie put effort into autocrat’s handbook w/ checklist for demos! Sofya has a copy; will send it to Alienor to put up on website. Sofya suggests an autocrating class. Jackie recommends a checklist for a demo, is opposed to list of people whose personal property is available: suggests we ask on list or facebook, etc., if property is needed. Gold Key is in the chatelaine’s keeping. We need a new (updated) inventory list. Kitchenware is at Wilhelm’s. Add new inventory from fighting departments as it is added. Get archery inventory from Mongu & Arnbjorg.

Ian: we need more list stakes, either wooden or metal. Recommend metal for longevity. Erich (MOL) has new suggested design.

Erich, minister of lists: we have them. Spoke to southern regional mol, working on getting database to run everyone’s auth card & see who is expired. We have some expired marshals — when your auth card has expired, you has no longer a marshal.

Beatrice, chatelaine: bunch of newcomers, yay! There will be a mini-event for new fencers at Erich & Beatrice’s for making fencing armor, which can double as garb. Working on green & white; have fabric for it. Sofya has gold key because Beatrice’s apartment is small. Gold Key is in great shape, w00!

There was no chatelaine at Riverfest. Last-minute drop out by Beatrice due to illness meant no chatelaine’s table. Bish had mentioned making up kits. Beatrice supports this idea. Do we have any demos between now & commons after Pennsic? Eternacon [which we are not attending after all, see later minutes]. Bish passes around business card idea. There is a giant plastic banner somewhere? 6′ long? Sofya has never had it. Let’s put out a call to see who has it. [Ed: it was tossed after it became very worn. Was also out-dated as website has changed.] Lada recommends a box of chatelaine kit that goes in with the g&w to be stored by the chamberlain. Sofya suggests making up a kit on demand to give to the autocrat of each demo/event: signup sheet, clipboard, business cards, pamphlets, banners. Ian points out when everyone is responsible for something, no one does it. Autocrat should be responsible for reaching out. Thomas & Lada suggest putting chatelaine materials online for emergency printing: signup sheet & 3-fold pamphlet for sure. Design critiques for business card from Ervald, Mathghamhain. Katherine suggests it include a space for writing in your own name, as person who has been interacting with the newcomer. Order flat white for writing on.

Bish received reports…

exchequer: we have $$ – savings $7,050.94; checking $6,215.57

Rufina: Musicians day: we have registrar (gate), waiting to hear back from Blue Mountain lodge re: dates.
Rufina, chronicler: nothing to report.

Suuder: Pennsic pre-reg ends tomorrow. if you are not pre-regged we will not have space for you. 40 people registered for Østgarðr so far. (12 last year.) nordenfjord will be camping with us.

We will not be bringing the g&w to Pennsic; will rent something there instead, as that is much easier. We will have a common tent.

Riverfest: we need an autocrat that is going to be there. This year’s autocrat has alerted us that if we want to do it again, we can let her know, but she has no pony in this race. She will be our contact with the group, but not autocrat. (The check is in the mail. $400.) Fencers, thrown weapons showed up. Archery can’t be done there — not safe. Gaming table, some a&s. cooking demo. Jackie suggests seneschal should touch base with autocrats to ensure ball isn’t dropping due to an attack of life. Ian says historically Viceroy & seneschal communicated w/ autocrats of events & demos well beforehand to check on preparation. Suuder agrees. Brekke got the impression that we expected Riverfest to just happen. It ended up a bit underplanned. Was successful with public anyway, yay! Sofya would like to autocrat Riverfest in future. Richard the Poor got a lot of kids playing board games, says Suuder.

Suuder: Saturday, Suuder was assaulted by his majesty while attending someone’s vigil. Full-on ass slap. “Greetings, your excellency!” “Thank you, your majesty!?” Do we respond? “Where on this effigy did the knight touch you?” asks Lada. Talk to Suuder later with suggestions. Jackie asks if we can make up a butt and present it to his majesty in court.

Lada: submitted bid to host kings & queens A&S & bardic. Have not heard back yet, maybe in july. feb. 10th & 17th are the proferred date options.

Runymede Dinner at Pennsic is a potluck. Lada requests any brewers with a spare bottle to contribute it to Østgarðr’s contribution to this dinner.

Goats tavern: upcoming.

Musicians day: [see earlier minutes for report]

Queens Farm demo: Ian reports he has called them & said it’s not on their website. They were surprised & fixed it. Sept. 23-24, 11-6. It is unpaid but has lots of contact, very family oriented. Co-autocrat is katherine. Overnight camping is available. They will contact various dept. heads for assistance after Pennsic since it is not until the end of September. Last year, youth combat very well received. People came back sunday for more & were disappointed. Mathghamhain will try to do both days this time (will have to be there 2nd day for picking up g&w anyway). Notes from Queens Farm: “supply hay bales for archery targets, move llamas so they don’t get shot.”

Cloisters demo: nothing new to report [Ed: IT IS NOW A ROYAL PROGRESS EVENT EEP]

Eternacon: needs autocrat if we are going to do it, Ervald cannot because he is running his own thing. Lada & Sofya suggest asking Stephanie, who was enthusiastic about it last year. Richard wants to help with gaming. Bish can do kumihimo braiding. Lada messaged Stephanie on Facebook to gauge interest. Marion asks about martial activities. Ervald says there is a small deck that can be used. Marion asks if it is worth it for fighters to show up — will there be any audience? Upshot: no one is willing to autocrat. July 4th weekend is too close & is booked with alternate events.

Thomas will no longer pencil anyone in to Blue Mountain lodge. You must send them a check directly to book.

By-laws committee: hasn’t met.

Regalia committee: no changes.

Bish: create new committee for purchasing. Ian, Erich, Suuder, Bish.

NEW BUSINESS

Sofya: EK 50th is June of next year. We have a spot in the hall, Sofya would like to run it. Offer accepted by universal acclaim. They are using the Wars of the Roses site.

Mathghamhain: documenting history of provincial armory. Error in armorial database for Lions End: wreath color was submitted as black. Database has been updated to say black. Mathghamhain has been updating websites to match that. Canton’s home page has green wreaths. Alienor will get in touch with Arnora to figure out how & take care of it.

Order of the Seahorse is not linked to the seahorse badge. Would like consent of Viceroy, Vicereine & seneschal to tell Yehuda (Blue Tyger Herald) that badge of natural seahorse proper is associated with the Order of the Seahorse. Blue crined or hippocampus is populace badge. Fixes approved. Mathghamhain will alert Yehuda to this effect.

Looking through EK order of precedence — a number of awards given out at provincial courts have not been listed. Quite a significant number are missing or mislabeled. Lada asks what needs to be done to rectify. Mathghamhain would like copies of past provincial court reports, volunteers to flag missing items. Bish will get reports from southern region herald. Brekke points out these go back really far — there are members of orders from when Ian and Katherine were giving out awards that are not listed in the op (Brekke’s seahorse, for instance). Lada: can these things be rectified? Mathghamhain says yes, if we can get the information. We should ask John & Rufina if they have access to old records of the Seahorse (newsletter) where this information is published. Please forward more recent provincial court reports to Mathghamhain. Ervald offers to send Seahorses from 1988 to 1992 to Mathghamhain.

Next meeting canceled, August Jackie & Luigi, Alienor will take September, Jackie & Luigi again in October.

Duggmore suggests post-incident reports from demos & events. Write down what went well and what didn’t work; what was borrowed, who was there, etc. Then next autocrat can review the reports when planning for the next one. Questions: where to store? Katherine suggests we come up with a standard format for reporting. Bish will make up a form & we will vote on it at the next meeting.

Bish thanks everyone for bringing food. Please take leftovers home.

Suuder moved to adjourn. Jackie seconded. Adjourned at 10:49.

Ian: we need to discuss funds for spending on armor at pennsic. Re-opened meeting. We need helms, gauntlets. Bish suggests $500. Finance committee (Bish, Lada, Suuder) agrees. Mathghamhain points out youth combat received a similar amount last year. Bish requests all departments send him a proposed expenditure list.

Re-adjourned at 10:53pm.

Meeting start: 8:30? May 19, 2017
Transcribed by Alienor Salton.

Attending:
Thomas of Northpass & Lady Aurora ffolkes (our hosts)
Bish
Oliver de Bainbridge
Richard the Poor
Alienor Salton
Angelica di Nova Lipa
Luigi & Jackie Kapaj
Sofya
Ervald
Esnade & Victor (of Northpass)
Suuder & Lada

OFFICER REPORTS

Seneschal (Bish): we are having a meeting.

Exchequer (Angelica): we have $$. Gilded pearl $$ went to kingdom. Alienor will inform EK webminister Lord Greylever that Gilded Pearl is defunct & may be removed from the “needs webminister” list.

A&S (Sofya): many things are happening in the province. Clothing workshops, pewtersmithing, etc. There is a silk banner class on sunday.

50th anniversary will be a big deal — East Kingdom is preparing for next year, reaching out to historians. Magdalena will be in charge of the 50th year site. It will take place in June of next year, at the site of this year’s war of the roses (Albany area). We need to think about the Østgarðr display for it. Please mention any ideas you have about our display to Sofya & Richard (as our historian).

Østgarðr 50th favor is in development, showed off work in progress (sewn sample by Sara Murphy plus the new images of the seahorse with an L). Sofya’s kids gave her an embroidery machine, so work can be spread between Sara & Sofya. Linen & thread will be provided by the province. Sofya will make one large purchase, to keep the favors consistent. Sewing & assembly / finishing will start after Pennsic. We are making at least 100.

Please let her know about anything A&S related that is happening so she can brag about us in the upcoming report. There is a new SCA artisan’s list, by Master Lorenzo, from Meridies, about which we are raising awareness. Cf., https://artisans.dellacivetta.org

If you want to teach, there are many nearby events that need teachers. The Queen’s hand pie challenge is coming up. Please check out EK calendar for events that need assistance. Michelle from Hawke’s Reache does a monthly schola; Bish will be doing a Q&A on research at one in August.

Knight Marshal (Ervald): practice is happening on Tuesday nights; new fighters are showing up. Old fighters please start coming! McCarren park, in Brooklyn, 1-2 exits south of Kosciusko bridge. There is lots of on-street parking. Non-fighters also please come show up to talk to people who are watching while other people are fighting, for outreach. Our Knight Marshal is looking forward to Viking fest this weekend & gearing up for Pennsic. There is a new Facebook event announcement for fighter practice each week, please feel free to invite interested parties. Bish points out (from reading Curia minutes): marshal of armored combat is the new title for knight marshal.

Whyt Whey (Alienor): Anneke is becoming deputy webminister of Whyt Whey, Alienor is becoming deputy webminister of Østgarðr. Awaiting response from EK webminister Lord Greylever re: warrants.

On Anneke’s status for holding canton officer as a resident of Brokenbridge: EK bylaws: “1. only residents of the canton/riding may hold canton/riding offices unless they choose to change their charter to allow officers other than Seneschal and exchequer to live outside of the canton/riding.” Østgarðr bylaws: “To be an officer of a canton a person must have been active in the canton three months to hold canton office other than canton seneschal which requires a six month residency.” Our interpretation is that Anneke, who has been active in Whyt Whey for much longer than 3 months, is allowed to hold canton office other than seneschal, which has a residency requirement.

Cloisters demo is on the EK calendar for Oct. 1st. We will be repeating last year’s successful innovations (classes, fashion show, sing-along chorus, youth combat, popup & table layout) along with our usual favorites (fighting, fencing, dancing, A&S displays). Any new ideas, please suggest them now so we can work on them. Usual planning will start post-Pennsic.

New event in Whyt Whey! We are planning a schola for Oct. 28th, co-autocrated by Godiva and Beatrice. Proposed site is McAlpin Hall, 2nd floor of the West Park church, 86th at Amsterdan (near the 1 train). Easy to reach from Penn Station. Proposed activities include “Toast Your Failures” competition, sharing failures & lessons learned from those projects, hand pies for the delectation of all, and a silent auction to raise funds for the provincial coronets.

Fencing & dance practice are ongoing in Central Park, near each other on the same evening in Central Park. 4 attended each practice this past Tuesday. Archery practice resumes on Sunday at Willowbrook park in Staten Island. Please let Alienor know if you would like a ride out there.

Beatrice is leading an effort to make fencing hoods in the provincial green and white. Linen is acquired. Facebook conversation will begin among Beatrice, Caitlin, Ann, Will, Godiva and Angelica. Please let Beatrice know if you would like to be included in this effort.

Alienor is working on youth fighter tabards in the provincial green & white. Youth combat list and pell are ready to be deployed! Huge thanks to Mathghamhain for his beautiful work. Youth fighter practice will begin in Central Park soon. (Ervald requested youth fighter practice consider joining the adult fighter practice in McCarren park on Monday nights. Unfortunately, the strictures of school nights combined with the distance from Manhattan, where the current youth fighters reside, prohibit most youth from attending.)

Whyt Whey herald reports that 2 devices have recently been submitted. 2 badges are in submission. 1 device is being prepared for submission. Mathghamhain remains open to assist anyone in or out of the canton who wishes to register a device, add a badge or reformat their heraldic art for use on banners or other types of display (business cards, machine embroidery, silk painting)

Historian (Richard): a book Richard wrote ages ago — A Geographic History of the East Kingdom — was located on an Aethelmarc website. Mathghamhain is converting it for modern web display.

Northpass (Thomas): they had a commons meeting (where we met tonight) a few weeks ago. Wilhelm is running Blood & Axes in early June. Barleycorn will be at the usual time. They are correcting the EK calendar event listing for it from New York, NY to North Salem, NY, to obviate the mistaken impression that it is happening in Manhattan. All reporting is up to date. (Sofya thanks the province for their timely reporting. Says it makes her job much easier and is very much appreciated.)

Bish: 3 officer reports to share from email (Brekke, Rufina, Mongo).

Lions End (Brekke): is unable to attend tonight or tomorrow. Will attend owls head demo in lions end. They have been running a bi-annual schola. Would like to switch to running it annually, to improve attendance. People are more likely to put it on their event schedule if they can expect it around the same time each year. Their target date is the 4th Saturday in April. Also, there is a big demo planned in Farmingdale, June 2nd next year. Their rain date is June 9th. Needs fighting. Hands-on youth activity appreciated.

Chronicler (Rufina): please use rufina.cambrensisgmail.com for NOT chronicle related business. Do not use the seahorse address for non-chronicle related business such as event planning.

Herald (Mongu): Sofya’s device is passing without comment, has not reported out of Kingdom yet. Sofya is most appreciative of the work put in by her consulting herald and is confident it will pass without any hiccups.

Viceroy (Suuder): is allowed to / charged with taxing the waterways of the province! Need seafaring folk (privateers if you will) to help in this endeavor, liberating some taxes. Angelica points out MSR has a navy. Pirates please step up. Will compensate.

Vicereine (Lada): Pennsic! Please come, consider camping with Ostgardr. Pre-register so we get our full land allotment. For opening ceremonies, please represent in green & white. We are hosting a party on Tuesday of war week, a provincial pot-luck. Bring a dish, hang out, will have a good time. Raise a cup to Bish in his absence. Should be a large camp this year. Lots of people coming back.

RECENTLY PAST EVENTS

Lions in Winter made $40. The silent auction put them over the top.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Blood & Axes (https://www.eastkingdom.org/EventDetails.php?eid=3170): June 2nd. Putnam County Veteran’s Memorial Park. Run by Wilhelm. Will have fighting, fencing, youth combat, archery, thrown weapons. Details are missing from printed Pikestaff, but are available on the EK calendar. Has no kitchen, so field kitchen is it. Esnade is offering rides from the Ardsley Metro North train station. Contact Thomas of Northpass via email to connect w/ Esnade for lifts.

Barleycorn (https://www.eastkingdom.org/EventDetails.php?eid=3144): Sept 8-10, is in the works. Some jobs are assigned; some still need filling. Details need updating, will be done in the next month.

Goat’s Tavern (https://www.eastkingdom.org/EventDetails.php?eid=3138): Oct 22nd at Blue Mountain. The theme is nautical. There will be a family-friendly schola. Please see Philip for details. Needs instructors.

To-be-named-later Whyt Whey schola, Oct. 28th. See WW seneschal report, above.

UPCOMING DEMOS

Viking Day (https://www.eastkingdom.org/EventDetails.php?eid=3192): tomorrow! Owl’s Head Park, Brooklyn. Lada will be there at 8am ready to set up. Green & white is coming, please show up to help set up. Still bring popups so there is room for all in shade. No specific schedule. Event opens at 10am. Fighter authorizations if Orlando shows up. At least 3 fighters will be there. Youth combat will be there, also fencers.

Riverdale Riverfest (https://www.eastkingdom.org/EventDetails.php?eid=3191): Sunday June 11th. Contact Lori, lcopland@aol.com

Cloisters (https://www.eastkingdom.org/EventDetails.php?eid=3213): Oct. 1st.

COMMITTEES

By laws: no activity. In response to query from Alienor, Lada reports that yes, they will be documenting provincial awards.

Regalia: Sofya reports they have been looking at various styles of coronets. Will be speaking to Ervald & Mathghamhain about drafting a design for the coronets. Encourages adding items to the silent auction at incipient WW schola for fundraising. $60 has been raised already. Donations eagerly accepted. Designs, budget & process will be reviewed by the province. Will be taking bids for construction. Bish recommends we get a bid from Bjorn of Northpass.

NEW BUSINESS

Eternacon last year will be at Nassau coliseum this year July 1-2. They want us back. Free admission for demo participants. (Bish asks that Ervald email him a reminder to attend.) The demo needs an organizer — Esnade stepped up to volunteer, although she can only attend on one day. Ervald will make a Facebook announcement. The table with crafts & activities was most successful last year. Games were really popular. Stephanie from Silver Horde was also popular: she had a full table of games & children’s activities.

Lada: is urging a royal progress event for the province! She suggested Coronation or 12th night. Has evaluated 2 potential sites. One is insufficient in size, parking or accessibility. Mt. Kisco American Legion is the front runner. Dates for this site are not available for 12th night. Site has 2 rooms, 250 people . 2 kitchens. Lada suggests we put together a bid for King’s Champion A&S and Bardic. Potential dates at site are 10 & 17 February. Bids for the championship are due June 5th. Ian is helping Lada put a bid together. Sofya says yea. Site is also available for coronation but we are too busy around that time. If no commons is available, Lada asks can we roll with it, and post to officers list for approval? Consensus is yes. First pick of jobs goes to Northpass as local-est group. Bish would like to troll. Site will need crossing guards for parking. Lada has event report from last A&S championship; they made $$ on it. Lada is doing site negotiations, let her know if you want to come along. Sofya will join her. Sofya suggests we chat with the kingdom A&S minister, Master Philip, to see if other bids are in place.

UPCOMING COMMONS

June meeting: Bish.
July: canceled for Pennsic.
August: Kapaj’s.

Meeting adjourned: 9:37pm.

Crown Province of Østgarðr Commons Meeting
April 21st, 2017

Attendance:

Lady Sofya Gianetta di Trieste, Arts and Sciences Minister
Lady Beatrice della Rocca, Chatelaine
THLord Suuder Saran, Viceroy
Lady Angelica di Nova Lipa, Exchequer
Baroness Jacqueline Helene Loisel
Genie Silverberg
Lady Alienor Salton, Whyt Whey
Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Youth Marshal
Mistress Rufina Cambrensis, Chronicler
Master John Elys, Deputy Chronicler
THLord Mongo Chinua, Herald
THL Lada Monguligin, Vicereine
Lord Erich Gutermuth, Minister of Lists
Baron Luigj Vascili
Luigi

Start Time: 8:10pm

Old Business: None

Reports:

Chronicler: Seahorse is out. Please remember to subscribe to the newsletter.

Youth Combat: has resumed events in Rusted Woodlands tomorrow at Balfar’s. Trying to get more kids available on weekends. Building youth pell. Have banner made by Lady Alienor

Whyt Whey:

Still talking about hosting schola, need new leads.

New people came to meeting last night.

Looking for deputies to overtake positions: Erica for deputy webminister.

Just got certification as charity, and so will be able to use Google EK.

Next class is tablet weaving,

Branch arms are past kingdom, no commentary as of yet.

Supplying things for Picnic in the Ruins.

Recorder schola was a great success, will be having another.

Exchequer:

We have money, and still have some line items outstanding.

If you have receipts outstanding, please get them in soon.

Chatelaine:

We had some great turnout working with Hawkes Reach at the demo at ICON.

There are some more demos coming up, and some great events that will be open to the public during the coming months.

Reminder to those who are coming to upcoming events, that if you need Gold Key, please contact me!

Minister of Arts and Science:

Great to see so much happening. Between workshops, game nights, pewter smithing, pouch making, recorder classes. Forge making. Just wonderful to see such diversity. Outdoor activities adding more ans stuff. Lions in Spring coming tomorrow. Favors been working on embroidery machine for favors for 50th year, as personal tokens for next year will be reimbursing for the thread.

Hoping to schedule banner classes specifically with an eye for Pennsic. Checking with Angelica for silk etc making.

Pennsic University class submission deadline is coming soon check website for more information

Been making stuffed toy kits for children’s largess. They are really easy to make.

Northpass: nothing happening, everything is quiet

Minister of Lists: We didn’t have any lists.

Fencing: Gardener practice to that end.

Herald: No report.

Archery:

It is getting warm, so we will be shooting again May 20th.
We had 4 new fencers show up at our last practice.
We are getting fencers coming down from Northpass and the community is growing.
We are considering moving off of Tuesdays to avoid competing with Glen

Viceregal:

Come to Lions in Spring.

We have business cards

We’ve been doing a lot of canton events here and there; want us to start thinking about having an Østgarðr event for Østgarðr, as opposed to canton events.
Suuder researching a possible event: medieval escape the room event (dungeon cell that you need to escape from, using a combination of skills). Would be a different event.
Possibly a competition? One maybe 2 rooms run at the same time? Details still to be worked out. Conversation in the room seemed largely positive

What would populace really enjoy? Please contact the Viceregents for with ideas and suggestions

Upcoming events

Lions in Spring: April 22nd event in Lions End. Østgarðr Arts and Sciences championship. Come, submit, and enjoy!
Balfar’s Challenge: April 22nd. To those going, good luck!
Picnic in the Ruins: Apr 29th music, dancing, socializing, potluck, no fighting, no fencing, no archery, no classes. no banners, no changing facilities
Silver Horde anniversary event May 12 – 14th.
$17 and $10 [Web page says $15 — ed.] for feast
camping in cabins, in Estonia house in An Dubhagain
theme is Siege of Kiev.
would like to have nice a&s display.
Lada and someone will be having an AoA day, to fill in empty shields on scrolls: first come, first serve.

Viking Day: May 20th
Lada is onsite coordinator. Bring displays, pop ups, etc. If you need special things, pls contact Lada. Still looking for marshals.

Riverdale Riverfest: June 11th details are on the website, check back for updates

Blood and Axes: June 13th details are on the website, check back for updates

Jackie motions to adjourn, John seconds, all approved. Meeting concludes at 8:50pm

Highlights from February Østgarðr Commons

[Official Minutes will be available soon via e-mail]

17 February 2017
Transcribed by John Elys

Viceregents: Went to Curia. More later.
Coronation of Honig & Johannes, April 1 in CT. Provincial presentation of Stuff. Competition among Cantons. Point system. Winning Canton receives a heraldic banner painted by Lada. Those not living in a Canton are invited to negotiate for their services, or come up with a presentation themselves, or something.
50Y EK Celebration in June/July 2018; if you have antique realia, bring them.

Whyt Whey: Monthly A&S is happening. Planning event in Prospect Park for last weekend in April.

Historian: We have a new Queens Champion (Sofya). Now all we need are a Kings Champion, a Bronx Champion, a Nassau Champion, a Richmond Champion, a New York Champion, a Westchester Champion, a Putnam Champion….

Chatelaine: going to ICON in Long Island: fighting, fencing, A&S, March 17-19. Talk to her if you want a presenter’s pass.

Whyt Whey A&S: more discussion of monthly A&S classes, hand-stitching, pouches, etc.

A&S: received a bunch of hand-me-down stuff, trying to triage. Fabric, clothes, archery supplies, etc.
Autocratting class at Jenna’s, 24 March.
Ostgardr Bardic & A&S championships coming up 22 April.
5 Ostgardrians entered EK Bardic Champs last weekend: Lada and Sofya were finalists, and Sofya won Q’s Champ.
EK 50th: would like to make 200 “Ostgardr 50” favors (seahorse w/L)

MoL: no news.

Chronicler: hug your friends, cherish your loved ones, because you never know.

Northpass: Bear’s Tavern in 2 weeks. Blood & Axes 2-4 June at Veterans’ Memorial Park; site is incredibly absolutely totally dry. Kathy running Barleycorn, Stan running gate, various other staff. If you’re in charge of a department, you form your own staff.

Youth Marshal: quiet for the winter.

Whyt Whey Herald: new WW arms have passed Kingdom, off to Society.
Mathghamhain declared Provincial Youth Marshal by acclamation of the Officers.

Fencing (Marion): practice still going on Wednesday evenings in Inwood (Holy Trinity Episcopal, Siemen & Cummings). May have a site for Sunday afternoons in Levittown.

Exchequer: We have c. $10K of our own.

Web: All officers should have an ostgardr.eastkingdom.org address; most of you have never checked it. Also maintaining yahoogroup for officers; Arnora would rather use non-eastkingdom.org e-mail addresses on it, both to keep things informal and because when an office changes hands, webmaster can control the eastkingdom.org address but can’t change the yahoo password associated with it. [Aside: I think she could; talk to her.]

Brokenbridge: A&S classes & commons & food. Getting bank account. Postponing Baconbridge.

Marshal: Discussion of public visibility, army, etc. Fighter practice @ McCarren Park on Mondays, starting in March. Something about armor website (captainzorikh.com/scaarmor)
Thrown Weapons Champion (Ervald): will talk to Excellencies about choosing successor.

Lions End: John Capobianco wants demo — maybe next spring — at Farmingdale Green. Want fighters, fencers, hands-on A&S, family-friendly…

Seneschal: looking into NYIT as event site (big open flat fields, gym, dining hall, etc.) in Brookville, near Glen Cove.

Viceroy: Report from Curia. Earl Marshals can now have deputies who are not fighters. Silver Mantle (AoA-level award for miscellaneous stuff that isn’t covered by any of the other AoA-level awards: thrown weapons, equestrian, wrestling, whatever). Policy: officer business can be done on personal e-mail address, as long as everything is copied to your officer address. If we need anything from Kingdom MoL (authorizations, etc.), request it soon because the office is about to change hands. New “Young Teens Chatelaine” office, actually held by a young teen. Extending bid time on large events (400+): you need to have a hard date and site by 24 months before event.

Past Events: none.

Upcoming Demos: ICON.

Upcoming Events: Lions End hosting Bardic/A&S Champs 22 April. Also drop-in classes (teaching kitchen, fiber area, mail area, etc.)
Blood & Axes 2-4 June, Wilhelm is steward.
Big Apple Con: would like activities table. Might also have panel on “how researching your costume illuminates your character”. Penn Hotel, 11-12 March. Contact Ervald.

Bylaws Committee: not much since last Commons.

Coronet Committee: discussing designs.

New Business: reaching out to people who live here but don’t play w/Ostgardr.
Jibril suggests war practice in Astoria Park, in June (probably 24th). It’s a public park, so it’s de facto a demo. Need a bunch of pop-ups; no stakes allowed.

Exchequer: got request from rapier people for a $65 “punch tester”, which is mandated for safety testing every other year. The nearest person who owns one is in Suffolk County. Purchase approved.

An Dubh fencing championship, probably 17 June.

March 17 Commons @ GdG’s place
April 21 Commons @ Mongo’s place in Staten Island
May 19 Commons @ Lake Mohegan