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

Absent Officers

Mongu Chinua, Deputy Herald
Arnbiorg Helga Niálsdóttir, Archery Marshal
Alec MacLachlan, Fencing Marshal, Deputy Seneschal — Influenza
Ian of Clan Mitchell, Chamberlain — Nursing Duty
Katherine Gilliesfleur, Deputy Chamberlain — Surgical Recuperation
Brekke Franksdottir, Lions End Seneschal — Automotive Trouble
Brandr Aronsson, Brokenbridge Seneschal

Opening

Doors opened at 7:00 for dinner.
Meeting called to order at 8:01 PM.
Alienor: Attendance reviewed and introductions made.
There are some free books and free fabric available to take home with you.

Officer Report Items For Discussion

Alienor: Officer reports have been circulated; please read them.
Tonight we’re just going to review the items which require discussion.

Seneschal – Officers

Alienor: Thank you to the former officers whose terms have just ended.
Welcome to the new officers whose terms have just begun.

Herald – Provincial Registrations

Mathghamhain: College of arms has asked us to settle what tincture the Badge for Order of the Seahorse is. Few folks from the time it was registered are around, and the only ones who can remember this are Ian and Katherine who say the badge was intended to be brown. This comes as a surprise to many. We’re going to appeal for variance to also claim usage in blue.
We are working on name and badge for a youth award, Order of the Sea-Urchin. A cute design concept has been approved; Mathghamhain is soliciting illustrations and will work towards finalizing art, and settling on a submittable name.

Chatelaine – Newcomers

Beatrice: At demos last fall, some 90 or so folks signed up to receive information from us and were put on a newcomers mailing list. We now plan to migrate them to the regular mailing list via some combination of just subscribing them and/or sending them the subscription instructions.
- Beatrice to work with webminister and chronicler to notify people who are currently on the newcomers list and get them moved over.

Webminister – Email

Alienor: Officers who have not logged in to their new GMail accounts, please do so, or request help if you need it. Officers who have not yet mastered the “Send As” option, meet with me after the meeting for a walk-through.
In addition to the ostgardr.eastkingdom.org web and email addresses, we also have a separate domain name at ostgardr.org. The EK webministry is having some technical difficulty ensuring that email sent to that domain gets delivered to the correct mailboxes. Few people are actively using @ostgardr.org email addresses, but these have been posted in various places for a long time and it would be good to not break them.
Vika: We should be able to set up forwarding rules at Panix that handle the mapping from ostgardr.org to the EK equivalents, which would allow this domain to remain in service without requiring support from the EK webministry.
- Resolved that this is the correct next step.

Chamberlain – Inventories

Alienor: We should bring our inventory of provincial goods up to date.
There are inventory files from last year that are stored at Yahoo.
- Mathghamhain to log in and find them.
Alienor and Mathghamhain are in possession of the green-and-white pavilion and are overdue to return it to storage at Ian’s.
We believe Ian has some additional green-and-white flagging in storage which can be brought out if needed.
Wilhelm has possession of the provincial feast and kitchen gear in Northpass. New knives were purchased last year and are included in this gear.
- Wilhelm will inventory these items and share a list.
Ervald is due to take receipt of the newly-constructed provincial armored fighting loaner gear from the armorer who is building it.
- Ervald will collect the armor and present the armorer’s invoice to the finance committee for payment.
Erich has possession of the provincial fencing loaner gear.
- Erich will inventory these items and share a list.
- Fencers are discussing possible purchases of additional gear and will present a list of what more they’d like to get.
Sofya and Angelica are in possession of the provincial gold key garb, for which the inventory is up to date.
Mathghamhain is in possession of the provincial youth combat gear, for which the inventory is up to date.
It is unclear whether there is any provincial archery gear.
- Suuder will talk with Chinua and provide an update.
We don’t think the province has any thrown weapons gear.

Chamberlain – List Poles

Alienor: The province’s supply of list boundary poles is dwindling as the white-painted wood ones age and are broken in use. It would be good to obtain more for use in upcoming events; for example, Brekke has requested a double-rope boundary for Farmingdale to ensure children are kept a safe distance from the list field.
There are (at least) three different styles of poles we could construct; Erich knows a pattern using two interlocking pieces of plywood, there’s a style with dimensional lumber recently built by Settmour (Mathghamhain’s youth list poles are a smaller-scale folding version of these), or we could construct more metal poles like the ones we currently own. The wood ones can be used on asphalt, whereas the metal ones are more compact.
- Resolved that we’ll try to make a batch of metal ones as the first step, and then round out the collection with some additional wood ones later.
For metal poles we would need the assistance of someone who can weld rings or equivalent rope attachments to the top of each pole; who do we know who can do this welding for us? Currently active metalworkers are Brandr and Alexie. There are some inactive armorers we might be able to ask, including Dame L.
- Everyone, if you have other recommendations for welding assistance, mail contact details to the officer’s list.

K&Q’s Championships — Largesse

Alienor: Northpass has started working on a gift to the royals for the King’s and Queen’s A&S/Bardic Championships in February, including a variety of items such as period trinkets, napkins, local brews and more.
- Resolved that we should offer to contribute additional items to it.
- Alienor will check with Northpass coordinator, Oliver de Bainbrig, to confirm next steps.

K&Q’s Championships — Registrations

Lada: Please attend, and pre-register via PayPal to minimize the line at the gate.
Angelica: PayPal payments have been working well, aside from some minor confusion as people adapt to the new system.

Farmingdale Demo — Planning

Alienor: The Farmingdale demo in June is a new addition to our calendar championed by Countess Brekke. Will be held on the village green adjacent to town hall as part of their summer weekend activity series. We have an inquiry into the town as to how many attendees we can expect.
- Alienor to work with Brekke to recruit members from the region to exhibit and lead activities.
- Also need to assemble information for those participants, including availability of parking, changing spaces, restrooms, etc.

EK50 — History

Lada: Seeking a volunteer to act as project manager for gathering historical information about champions and members of our orders and coordinate having scribes create scrolls for each.
- Everyone, if you would like to volunteer, please contact Lada.
Alienor: Our Chronicler has volunteered to collect stories from the newsletter.
- Rufina: I have several specific stories in mind but have not yet been able to retrieve them from the archives in our attic.
- Ervald has additional newsletters in his collection which he could share.
Sofya: I am gathering stories, photos, and artifacts that reflect our history.
- Everyone, please share any items you might have.
- Vika: I will share photos from Pennsic 25, where Ostgardr was the organizer.
- Rowan: I will share a book of photos Sofya can scan.
- Sofya: I will check with Gui to see if he has the cockroach combat medallion. (Ervald does not have it; Valgard is another possibility.)
Sofya: We are working towards a series of interviews with folks from Ostgardr’s history. I am setting up the contacts, Ervald will film and edit. Some clips will be shown at EK50th and (with subjects’ permission) all of them will be posted to YouTube for display on our web site.
- Simon: I can assist with video editing if that would be helpful.
Alienor: Richard’s Annals have been posted to the website and are being highlighted in a series of weekly emails/posts. Please add more details!
Richard: And if you notice any errors in the Annals, let me know.

Upcoming Commons Meetings

February 16

At Ervald’s workplace in Long Island City.
Sofya is holding a fundraiser for the provincial coronets.
- Everyone, bring money and buy something!

March 16

To be held in Northpass, either at Wilhelm’s or at Apollodora’s.
- Wilhelm to report selected location to the officers’ list.

April 20

Hopefully to be held in Brokenbridge; perhaps Brandr or Ragnarr have space?
Sofya may be able to host if Brokenbridge is unavailable.
Alienor can host if other options fall through.

Event Calendar

Alienor: Let’s briefly review the long list of events on the calendar for this year that are either in Ostgardr or that people might travel to.
For events outside of Ostgardr we’ve noted travel times from Central Park; your mileage may vary.
Jan 27, Birka (5 hour drive NE): Several people are going. Consider carpooling.
Feb 3, Dancing Fox (1.5 hour drive N): Several people are going.
Feb 10, K&Q’s A&S / Bardic (In Northpass): Please attend!
Feb 17–18, Ædult Swim (3 hour drive W): Several people are going. Now has A&S in addition to fighting.
Mar 3–4, Bear’s Tavern (In Northpass): Drink and throw axes — but not in that order!
Mar 9–11, Known World A&S (2 hour drive W): Arts and scholarship.
Mar 17, Hrim Schola (2 hour drive NE): Fiber arts.
Mar 24, Mudthaw (1 hour drive W): Rattan, fencing, youth combat.
Apr 7, Coronation (3 hour drive NE)
Apr 13–15, Brew U (In Northpass): Brewing.
Apr 21, Lions Awaken (In Lions End): Arts schola and canton bardic champs.
Apr 21, Balfar’s Challenge (2 hour drive NE): Fencing, rattan, youth combat, archery, thrown weapons.
May 5, Crown Tourney (14 hour drive): visit scenic Halifax!
May 6 (?), Picnic In The Ruins (In Brokenbridge)
- Vika to confirm date and site availability
May 11–13: An Dubh–Ostgardr Challenge (1.5 hour drive E): Come represent the province in a seahorse-duck showdown.
May 19 (?), Viking Day Demo (In Brokenbridge)
- Need to check with Brandr for details.
May 19, Beyond the Mountain Baronial Investiture (2 hour drive NE)
May (?), BaconBridge (In Brokenbridge): details unconfirmed
- Need to check with Brandr for details.
Jun 2, Farmingdale Demo (In Lions End)
Jun 8–10, Known World Heralds and Scribes Symposium (6 hour drive W)
Jun 8–10, Southern Region War Camp (1.5 hour drive SW)
Jun 9–10, Riverdale Riverfest Demo (In Bronx)
- This event is tentative and does not yet have anyone leading it.
Jun 28-Jul 1, East Kingdom 50th Anniversary (3 hour drive N)
Jul 6–8, Blood & Axes (In Northpass): Thrown weapons , archery, fencing, rattan, youth combat.
Jul 27–Aug 12: Pennsic (6 hour drive W)
Sep 7–9, Barleycorn (In Northpass): Provincial championships for rattan, fencing, youth combat.
Sep 22–23, Queens Farm Demo (In Lions End)
Sep 30 or Oct 7, Cloisters Demo (In Whyt Whey)
Oct 20–21, Goat’s Tavern
Nov 16-18, Musicians’ Day (In Northpass)
Nov 17, Hundred Minutes War (1.5 hour drive NW)

There are also a few events under discussion for the fall but not yet been scheduled:

Dance & Games (In Northpass)
Northpass Schola (In Northpass)
Whyt Whey Schola (In Whyt Whey)

Other Business

Armored Combat

Ervald: If things go well, following our commons meeting at my workplace I hope to be able to hold rattan practice there.
Will re-open rattan practice at McCarren Park in March or April depending on the weather.

History

Richard: What awards were granted at Valhalla?
- Mathghamhain: They’re listed on the site and Facebook. I will CC you on future court reports.

Sad News

Rufina: Lady Moosh, formerly very active in Lions End, has been ailing for some time and is now in hospice.

MeetUp

Erich: I work at MeetUp and can sponsor a group there for free, which would allow us to list events on their calendar, and might draw in some newcomers. In the future, may be able to host events in their spaces for a small per-person cost.
- Resolved that this is something we should explore further.
- Erich will obtain more information and send it to the officers’ list.

Former Seneschal

Bish: Thank you all for making my job easier over the last two years.
I would particularly like to thank Beatrice for her many efforts.
I am now assisting Richard as the province’s Deputy Historian.

Closing

Meeting closed at 9:28 PM.

Viceregals • Suuder Saran & Lada Monguligin

Scrolls for EK 50th

Need someone to pull take charge of the organization of the project.

To work with Master Richard to pull the names of all Champions and organize them into chronological lists by championship position
Pull the names of the Provincial Orders inductees in chronological order if possible.
Organize scribal gatherings and track progress on the project.

I, Lada, am happy to offer guidance wherever needed. Do we want this to be individual scrolls or do we want this to be in a manuscript format? Amount of work to create one or the other will vary greatly, but it’s not impossible especially if we get started now.

You do not need to be a scribe to be the organizer of this. This is about project management and not artistic skill per say.

EK Curia

The agenda for the upcoming curia has been posted. We will be attending and if any of our populace have comments on any of these items please let us know.

Autocrat K&Q A&S and Bardic

Site will open at 7am (pending site confirmation) for staff as per kitchen crew request.

I could use a few more hands at set up (7-8am) and breakdown (5pm or when court starts).

Breakdown/clean up of downstairs, as soon as court starts, save perhaps the areas of vigils. ETA 5pm pending confirmation of final schedule with TRM.

Kitchens breakdown, as soon as Ansbjorg says it’s ready for clean up.

Paypal Pre-reg: I got a couple of folks saying they did not get a paypal invoice after doing the survey. I forwarded these to Angelica to see if she can assist.

Seneschal • Alienor Salton

Officers

Thank you to Arnora (Webminister), Mongu (Herald, Deputy Seneschal), Marion (Fencing), Alec (Deputy Fencing) & Bish (Seneschal) for your service! Please welcome Alienor (Webminister, Seneschal), Mathghamhain (Herald, Deputy Webminister), Mongu (Deputy Herald), Alec (Fencing, Deputy Seneschal), Richard (Deputy Exchequer) and Vika (Whyt Whey Seneschal) in their new positions.

Seneschal, Exchequer, Herald, Chronicler, Webminister and Chamberlain all have deputies. Chatelaine, MoAS, Knight Marshal, MoL, Historian, Archery, Fencing and Youth Marshal, do you have any candidates for deputy? Thrown Weapons and Youth Activities are both open positions at provincial level — have we any candidates?

Tracking officer report submissions is now EK law (not just custom) for seneschals, including for officers of sub-groups. Google document “Østgarðr Officers & Reporting Schedule” supports this activity, shared with seneschal & deputy, canton seneschals, viceregals, webminister & deputy. Please notify any relevant canton seneschal & the provincial seneschal when you file your reports with your regional officer. A courtesy copy to the viceregals is always appreciated.

Please email reports for commons to the officers list, preferably by the Wednesday before Commons, so we have time to read & consider them.

As suggested by our new herald, please email your fellow canton officers, to get acquainted. Some of us are new; some of them are new. How can we work together to support our members?

Upcoming Events & Demos

Google document “Østgarðr Event Planning” lists upcoming local & notable events, some not yet listed on the EK calendar, shared with viceregals, seneschal & deputy, webminister & deputy, canton seneschals & webministers. If you would also like access, email webminister@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org

K&Q A&S/B: Do we have royal gift chest contributions? Shall we contribute to the Northpass largesse?

Farmingdale demo: Brekke, can you find out from the organizers what is the expected audience turnout? Can / ought we recruit additional chatelaines?

EK 50th preparations: Rufina / John, how is the Seahorse collation coming along? Ervald, any progress on your interviews? Everyone, are you reviewing the annals as they are highlighted? Does anyone know where to locate the cockroach medallion cast in bronze?

Cantons

Which of our cantons have bylaws? Whyt Whey runs on local custom. Northpass has been amending theirs. Lions End, Brokenbridge — what is your status, and are you happy with it?

Your new seneschal & deputy seneschal are very interested in the hopes & dreams of our cantons. I have attended Northpass, Whyt Whey & Lions End commons; will visit Brokenbridge next. Alec is planning a similar tour. I expect to return more than once to visit & see how things are going.

Equipment

Ervald reported last month that the loaner armor was almost complete. What are we lacking to pay the armorer — do we just need a receipt, or is there anything else from finance committee?

We’ve had some chatter about fencer’s loaner gear — can we get a list of what is still needed?

Bish organized lists of provincial inventory last year. Are those inventories up to date? Let’s move them off yahoogroups and onto Team Drive (Google) so all officers have access. I need a volunteer with a yahoogroup ID to retrieve them, please.

Business cards are A Good Idea[tm]. Mathghamhain can help you design ones incorporating your heraldry. Numerous printing solutions are available. Please print and carry some with you to demos! We are all chatelaines / ambassadors for the Dream.

Kingdom & Corporate

Reminder / clarification: the EK harassment policy must be posted at all *events*, included in *site* handouts. (Not required at meetings or demos, nor in class handouts.)

The EK Chronicler position is open.

Pikestaff is astoundingly out of date. Please take a moment to review your office and submit corrections. Please check regional deputies, EK heads, reporting dates, as well as your own personal information, if it is filed there.

Sir Edward has pointed out there is only one Easterner running for the Board of Directors.

Exchequer • Angelica di Nova Lipa

Balances

Total held in our Ostgardr bank accounts: $13,067.60

This breaks down as

Checking Account: $ 6,008.38

Savings Account: $ 7,059.22

Of this amount of money, roughly $ 4,000 is held on behalf of Brokenbridge and the incipient Shire of Nordenfjord.

NMS

Brokenbridge has requested a check for the NMS (Non Member Surcharge) fee to be sent to East Kingdom as required, and I provide it (tonight, Friday January 18th) to Brokenbridge.

Kings & Queens Arts & Sciences AND Bardic Championships

We have over 60 pre-registrations for this event, the greater bulk of which come to us through the EK PayPal setup.

I will provide the Gate/Troll with all pre-reg’d information.

I have the cash box and will have it prepped with seed money for the event.

Chatelaine • Beatrice della Rocca

It has been a cold winter, but an active one, with newcomers attending many events throughout the Province, including Yule in Northpass, Goats Tavern in Northpass, and Deck the Halls of Valhalla in Brokenbridge, as well as our regular Arts and Sciences Solars in each Canton, and Dance practice. It is wonderful to see newcomers, and so many people supporting them.

Gold Key

Our Gold Key is accounted for, with most of it being held by Mistress Sofya, and some being held by Oliver de Bainbrig of Østgarðr Proper. For those looking to donate, please give the items to me, and I will look them over and send them on to Mistress Sofya.

Newcomers’ List

We had created a newcomers’ list shortly after the Medieval Festival at Fort Tyron Park, due to the large number of signups we had for that event, and a short, introductory email was sent out to them at that time. However, upon further research, we do not need a separate mailing list for newcomers. It was my understanding that access to the Seahorse, and the Provincial mailing list was for members only, and this is not the case. As a result, I see no reason not to fold the newcomer’s mailing list into the general members mailing list.

Reports

My formal reports to Kingdom have been received and are up to date.

Arts & Sciences • Sofya Gianetta di Trieste

Below is my MoAS report as well as well as an update on the EK50/Ostgardr hall of history. I am also submitting the Coronet Committee report as well.

King & Queens A&S/Bardic Championships Feb 10

Still time to enter. If you have any questions about entering please feel free to reach out to me.

Please pre-register to help expedite the flow at troll. You can register using Paypal.

EastKingdom50

Group working on the hall of history display for Ostgardr:

Mathghamhain Ua Ruadhain
Ervald the Optimistic (Zorikh)
Master Richard
Mistress Judith
Viceroy: Suuder: inspiration and advice
Viceriene: Lada: inspiration and advice

We are off to a running start with our hall of history display. Plans have begun to interview for oral histories, scrolls of our provincial awards and a decorative display.

We are currently collecting photos and tokens from the past. If you have something that you have that you feel like to share, please reach out to me at ostgardr50@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org.

Coronet Committee

Ervald has worked on a couple coronet designs. We are looking at creating a variety of styles for review.

Possible private fund-raiser to be held at February commons hosted by Mistress Sofya.

We are working on creating an on-line fund-raiser so we don’t have the issue of space. I’ve reached out to Ellesbeth Donofrey who organized on for our Majesties to help with ours.

Herald • Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin

My first couple of weeks as provincial herald have been busy and exciting.

Court Heraldry

I made it through my first full-scale provincial court without flubbing anything too badly. Award notifications have been submitted to Shepard’s Crook and a narrative report posted online. I have notes about some things to improve for next time, and would welcome feedback and suggestions from those with more court experience.

Working with Canton Heralds

I’ve reached out to our local canton heralds to ask about projects we should work on this year, and ways I might be of service to them. (I encourage all provincial officers to similarly open a line of communication with their canton counterparts.) Ragnarr of Brokenbridge suggested that since several of the canton heralds are new to the office, it would be productive to hold a local symposium focusing on book heraldry, where we would walk through the submissions paperwork and go over some pointers that would help them work with folks who were interested in registering names and armory. I hope to make this happen in the coming months.

Coloring Our Natural Seahorse

The College of Arms has decided they will no longer accept the tinctureless state of our “natural seahorse proper” badge for the Order of the Seahorse, and we must decide which color it is so they can figure out whether other submissions conflict with it. The badge was registered in 1975 so we reached out to several people who were present in Østgarđr in that era; most could not remember any details, but Ian and Katherine reported the intention at one point was for the natural seahorse to be brown. If the provincial council or order members have strong feelings about this, we may be able to reserve a second color.

Order Of The Sea-Urchin

Their excellencies would like to create a provincial youth award. We have a candidate for a badge design awaiting approval from just approved by the viceregals, and hopefully will be working on drafting submission-ready art and name elements in the coming weeks.

Populace Registrations

I’ve prepared one submission of name and armory since taking office, and have three more in progress.

Training

I delivered the heraldic-registration class for newcomers that had been prepared for the Whyt Whey schola again at Valhalla in Brokenbridge, and have talked with Archubeas of Northpass about holding a similar class in that region later this year. I’m grooming an enthusiastic newcomer in hopes that she may eventually serve as a deputy book herald.

Longer-term Projects

In the coming months I’ll be working on a number of research and documentation projects:

Assembling a history of the province’s name and armory registrations.
Illustrating a provincial armorial showing names and arms of current members.
Preparing designs for banners, maps, and other displays for the EK50th event this summer

Armored Combat • Ervald LaCoudre

No report submitted.

Fencing • Alec MacLachlan

I came down with the flu late last week, and still can’t shake this damned cough, so I won’t be at tonight’s Commons.

Still looking for an indoor site, within greater NYC. Nothing yet.
Ronan from An Dub has offered use of his Real Estate school in Lion’s End for a late Sunday afternoon practice. Since I can’t make it, because of work, I said it would be Marion’s. I think he’s trying to talk to her about that. I’ll talk them this weekend to confirm.

Archery • Arnbiorg Helga Niálsdóttir

No report submitted.

Youth Combat • Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin

There is little news to report from the youth combat domain this month.

Kingdom Rules Update

I am working with the East Kingdom’s Deputy Earl Marshal for Youth Combat to update our kingdom rule book to reflect changes made last year in the Society’s rules; we hope to be finished before the spring season begins.

Background Checks

We are seeking additional people who are interested in working with children and youth activities and who are willing to allow a background check to be run against them, as it is expected that the kingdom will begin enforcing more-stringent requirements for adult supervision this year, and having additional background-checked individuals will give us a greater ability to continue running programs for youth at our events. Two people volunteered at the last Whyt Whey commons, and if we could get a couple more from elsewhere in the province we would be in great shape. If you’re interested or have any questions, please let me know via email or in person at our next meeting.

Minister of Lists • Erich Guter Muth

Nothing to report.

Webminister • Alienor Salton

Website Correction

I have updated the Østgarðr website on our home page (https://ostgardr.eastkingdom.org/) to report accurately our canton boundaries. According to the seneschal’s postal code spreadsheet (http://seneschal.eastkingdom.org/docs/EKPostalCodes_040715.xls), Northpass is Westchester & Putnam counties. The Bronx is in Østgarðr proper.

Website Contributors

As far the website goes, I would very much like to encourage content providers, and am happy to supply WordPress author or contributor logins for anyone who wants one. I would very much like to see more trip reports (events, exhibits), book reviews and such content on our site. Please email me if you want a login. Alternately, email me if you have some content you would like me to publish for you.

Gmail

Conducting official business through EK office accounts is now EK law. In light of that, I am pleased to report that our Gmail migration is going well. As of this writing, 9 officers have successfully integrated. 6 have logged in & still need to practice setting their send-as From address to their office address. 3 have never logged in — I am working with them via their personal email to help them get started. 1 deputy has a brand-new account & 1 deputy does not use email. We can do hands-on tech support at the end of the meeting for those who would like.

If you only have one office, you can set your default send-as for both From and Reply-to headers using Gmail settings. You will still need to know how to set the header on an ad-hoc basis, to cover cases in which the membernumber address has crept into the headers, for whatever reason. Please always check your From header before sending your mail.

Speaking of deputies, there is more than one way to handle deputy email. If you like, the office can be set up so that email to either address (office or deputy.office) goes to both the officer and the deputy. This supports the deputy being up-to-speed on all current business for the office, and also sending outgoing email using the office address (but signing the mail as themselves in the signature at the bottom). If you choose this option, I recommend also BCCing yourself on all outgoing mail, so you and your deputy see both sides of the traffic. In the other main option, you and your deputy do not see each other’s traffic unless you specifically request that mail related to the office be copied to the other’s inbox (ask the webminister for this service). In all cases we are not advertising the deputy addresses on the website.

Ostgardr.org

Our Gmail transition will not be complete until the webministry is able to shut down mail services on the EK servers. This shut down is delayed until they figure out how to handle our legacy domain, ostgardr.org. How attached are we to this domain for mail services? Is anyone still using it for email? Can we simply drop it? Or do people have strong feelings about retaining it? Please comment! Either here or at the meeting. Thank you!

Mailing Lists

Our mailing lists have migrated! We are now running as google groups. You should see no significant differences. Please email me via webminister@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org if you have any problems with the new lists.

Yahoo Group

The Østgarðr officers yahoogroup still exists. Please do not use it. Please ONLY use ostgardr-officers@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org to communicate with your fellow officers. Thank you!

Google Apps

We now have a Google team drive for Østgarðr officers, and have begun adding access for officers and moving shared documents to it.

In other Google apps news, we have a shared provincial calendar. Currently, access is shared with me, Arnora, Brandr, Conandil, Apollodora, Sofya, Mathghamhain, Vika and Marion of York, all of whom have had updates for the calendar in the past. I hope to apply the officers group access to that calendar soon. If you want access before then, please email webminister@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org and I will add your membernumber account directly so you can update the calendar.

Chronicler • Rufina Cambrensis

No report submitted.

Chamberlain • Ian of Clan Mitchell

Due to my wife being in rehab I will not be attending the January meeting. She continues to heal, slowly.

The feast gear remains in Northpass and the Green&White is in the possession of the Seneschal. (We have to figure out a way to get it back to storage in Queens)

Historian • Richard the Poor of Ely

Continuing to maintain the Annals, as always.

Northpass • Wilhelm Larsson

Life is good in Northpass. Life is busy in Northpass.

Events

Much of our focus is on events and we are closing up the paperwork on the just enjoyed Northpass Yule. It was an interesting idea but worked wonderfully. Plans are to again run this event at the end of this year. It was fun with the mixture of longtime SCAdians and many who are in their first year in and even their first event. It was also the first chance as Event Steward for Apollodora.

We also are looking forward to Bear`s Tavern (which is all full overnight and nearly so for daytrip.) Oliver has promised us great fun as always as we celebrate the Black Death. Odd choice for a party theme but there we are!

After that we will hold Brew U. We had a site issue where they called us to let us know they double booked our date. We were able to work with the brewing Guild to get a date that worked for the guild, for Northpass, and without conflicting with any Ostgardr event. From what we have so far we know we will get a good showing but there is still more space at the event. Anyone need to make a reservation at commons?

We are also working hard on Blood and Axes and are getting very excited about Barleycorn. With Blood and Axes, the site will be the same but the food will be prepared by Countess Brekke. Last year was great but this year we are looking at a slightly larger event. With Barleycorn we should announce that this year’s theme is the Knighting of Sir John Barleycorn and we are looking to focus on all things Knightly. The youth combat program is mostly in place and we are looking to host an amazing program there. We are also honored to host the Metalsmith`s Symposium In this year’s gathering. Both events should be grand.

This month, we are also rejuvenating Northpass Game days and starting an embroidery group. We are looking to restart our dance practice. Archery has been happening but not yet as a regular practice. We have a good number of exciting possible gatherings over the next few months. There will be lots to do up in Northpass. The reason for this new activity is the recent influx of new members and active non-members. There is a lot of excitement recently and we have many persons to get clothed and engaged. We relish the challenge as that is a “good” problem.

Business

The business side of things is less a showy part of the dream, but in recent months we have been busy there too. We have newly approved by laws. We have been adding to our officer corp. With the latest officer addition of Chronicler we are about to launch “The Stronghold” as a newsletter after a many year gap. We are actively looking to expand the officer corp further as we grow. We have budgeted moneys to make purchases of new gear as needed and have the resources to fund the rather large site fee commitments needed in advance for the year`s planned events. We are working on many other things that we believe will soon come to fruition and so hope to be sharing much more news in the next few months.

Lions End • Brekke Franksdottir

From January Meeting

Planning is underway for the June 2 demo in Farmingdale. A list has been prepared of ~15 people to contact re participation.

Planning is underway for the April 21 schola. Will need to prepare some signs and arrange for some Gold Key garb to be on hand for walk-ins.

A space has been identified for possible fencing and A&S activities, probably Sunday afternoons.

Mercurio, new to the area, was appointed webminister for Lions End.

Whyt Whey • Vika Grigina z Prahy

Officer Changes

Seneschal: Vika Grigina z Prahy (your humble correspondent)

Herald: Erich Guter Muth

Webminister: Anneke Valmarsdotter

Activities

We are officially declaring quarterly Commons meetings (January, April, July, and October), with special meetings called as necessary–e.g., it’s assumed there will always be one in September for Cloisters planning.

We are planning to paint a new sheet wall for EK Royal with the new canton arms, and voted to sponsor a dag for the EK gate fundraiser.

This month’s Solar was a basic fitting/measurements class, and February’s will be spinning.

Brokenbridge • Brandr Aronsson

No report submitted.