The E-Horse

Whyt Whey Exchequer: Need state-certified certificate of incorporation & bank reference to open WW account. Cloisters coming up soon; details after Pennsic.

Whyt Whey Seneschal (as of tomorrow) Piglet, waiting on warrant. Opened Facebook group for WW.

Chronicler: not much. Send info about succession procedures & I'll include it in E-Horse. Send info about events, ditto.

Web: migrating Web site. Have ostgardr.nyc up, pointing at ostgardr.eastkingdom.org; haven't redirected ostgardr.org yet. All offices will have their own email boxes (not forwarding addresses) some time soon. This is at least a “strongly worded suggestion,” if not a requirement [unclear whether from Kingdom or Corporate]: the Powers That Be want all office-related incoming and outgoing e-mail to go through one centralized server, so they have a record of it.

Chatelaine: Bought fabric for Gold Key; will schedule sweat-shop day. Riverfest: lots of pictures (thanks for release forms).

Exchequer: No outstanding financial issues. Haven't received event report from Champions' Day (Guy says it was sent; will discuss outside meeting). Leaving office in January; have prepared lots of notes and will be happy to train. New procedures: (1) checks to an individual must have two signatures, neither of whom is related to recipient. (2) NMS fees must be turned in within 10 days after the event. (3) Kingdom wants some kind of “bank reconciliation statement” every month; not sure what this means, or who's going to read them all.

Chamberlain: Green & White takes two people and a van to move. If you want it at your event, make sure to request it in plenty of time. Discussion of whether to bring it to Pennsic. Feast gear is somewhere in Northpass.

A&S: Four regular regional A&S gatherings per month. Starting scriptorium. Newbies who want some quick-and-dirty clothing that isn't Gold Key, contact Lada.

Viceroy: Some demos are better organized than others. Need centralized checklist of stuff coming, people & activities coming, etc. Requirements like water are reimbursable; for other things like donuts, may want to put out a “great helm” where people who don't contribute food can contribute money. Anyway, communication is key: know who's bringing what.
Should hold Officers' Meeting some time soon; no single emphasis, but a bunch of little things. Work/life balance and avoiding burnout.

Captain of Archers: archery is happening. Conor placed in top 16 at K&Q's Champs. Practices happening in Staten Island, in Seaford, and Dietrich is considering running archery irregularly at Blue Mountain.

Brokenbridge Seneschal: We have an Exchequer (Lilli Redtowers). We have A&S minister (Sasha/Erica). We have Webmaster (Norana).

Past Events & Demos

Riverfest: well attended, woodcarving, stonecarving, archery, fighting, fencing, glass, etc. Low stress.

Upcoming Events & Demos

Musicians' Day (Nov. 13-15) sent to EK calendar over a month ago, but hasn't appeared yet. Will talk to Lori.

Workshops

dancing, armoring, misc. A&S, archery, fighter practice (Grant's Tomb)
Valgard setting dates for Beau Geste tournaments.

Old Business

Viceregal succession: Deadline for letters of intent was today, but selected at meeting w/o quorum, only a month ago, and not well publicized. Motion (JE) to extend deadline to August Commons; seconded (Melanie). No objection from Lada or Suuder, the only candidates who have filed letters of intent to date.

Suuder will make sure all Cantons are contacted. JE will make sure it's on both Web sites. Passed unanimously. Procedures will be discussed at August meeting. Before then, somebody (Lori, by default, unless she delegates somebody) needs to get permission from Kingdom to follow our own Bylaws.

“By unanimous vote at Commons, the deadline for submission of letters of intent for the Viceregency has been extended to August Commons, August 21. Procedures for the polling process will be discussed at that meeting.”
Consensus on this wording.

Discussion of where to hold meet-the-candidates gatherings; don't want to waste people's time with meetings where nobody shows up.

After letters of intent, we send our proposed form to Kingdom for approval. Once they approve, we request a mailing list from Milpitas, and should get Excel file in a week or so. MUST send out ballots within ten days after receiving Excel file, or it's considered invalid. Deadline for returning ballots must be stated, some time between 30-45 days after sending out ballots.

Agincourt: this is the 500th anniversary, so we should hold an Agincourt event. Discussion of possible sites, possible Royal attendance.

Fort Delaware Living History museum in Narrowsburg; consider doing an event or demo. They close for the season in September; could do something open to the public before then, or something private just after they close. There's some interest. Need to find out what local group (if any) the site is in, so as not to step on toes.

Possible Brokenbridge event: “Baconbridge: All Things Cured” Perhaps January or February.

Upcoming Commons

July: skipping for Pennsic
August 21: at Piglet's
Sept. 18: Debby K will ask if Queens Farm has an indoor room we can use the night before the Faire. If not, fallback plan at Sofya's.
Oct. 16: ???

Directions to August Commons

August Commons will be Friday, August 21st, 2015 at 255 W. 105th St., #21 (at Broadway) on Manhattan's Upper West Side

The building is on the northwest corner of 105th St. and Broadway, above Henry's (restaurant). The apartment building entrance is about midblock on 105th west of Broadway. Tell the doorman you are here for the meeting in 21. The elevator is around the doorman's desk, towards the Broadway side of the lobby. 2nd floor, exit the elevator, *turn around*, enter door beside elevator.

By Subway
The closest subway stop is 103rd St., on the #1 train.

By Subway & Bus (NO STAIRS)
Take your best route to the 1/2/3 96th St. stop; exit using the elevator.
Cross Broadway uptown to its east side, north of 96th St. Board the uptown M104 bus. Exit at 104th or 106th St. Cross Broadway, walk 1 short block to 105th St.
Enter building. Take elevator to 2nd floor...

ALLERGEN INFORMATION
2 fluffy cats, neither of whom will be in evidence
1 large friendly dog, who will appear briefly; well-vacuumed

The Viceregal Succession

From the Seneschal

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that their Excellencies, Vicereine Baroness Johanna i Visby and Viceroy Sir Gui avec Cheval will be stepping down within the next few months. As such, a polling of the populace will take place for a new Vicereine and Viceroy. Potential candidates must submit letters of intent to the Seneschal by June 19th, 2015. They may be emailed to eilionorasca@aol.com with Letter of Intent in the subject line or hardcopy to Lori Copland, Attn: SCA, 3655 Johnson Avenue, Bronx, NY 10463. Hardcopy letters must be postmarked by the aforementioned date.

Before sending letters of intent, I suggest potential candidates speak to the current Viceroy and/or Vicereine to discuss the duties, time and cost that this office incurs. I do not wish to keep anyone from seeking office, however, for full disclosure; it does take its toll which is why I feel a real in depth conversation should take place by any who chose to do so. While it does offer certain perks, it does also carry with it a special burden to represent the people of Ostgardr at many and varied events.

After the candidates list has been finalized, we will do our best to host an Ostgardr Candidates Forum in each of the Cantons. Of course, these will begin after everyone is home from Pennsic. Following this, a polling ballot will be sent out to all paid up members. Ballots of members 14 and up will be tallied toward the preference. Ballots received by those under 14 will be added to the count as at least 50% of the polled members must respond for the polling to be considered valid. A minimum of 30 days to the maximum of 45 days is given for return of the ballot.

After that, ballots will be tallied by the Branch Polling Deputy, a Regional Seneschal, and the Kingdom Seneschal (or designate). Talliers must not reside in the branch conducting the polling or have any other conflict of interest regarding the polling. Returned ballots may only be viewed by the talliers, the Kingdom Seneschal and/or the Kingdom Seneschal's designates, and The Crown. The outcome of the polling will be determined by a simple majority of valid returned ballots. If a polling fails to result in a simple majority, the disposition of the polling falls to The Crown.

I truly wish to give my most heartfelt thanks to their Excellencies for their guidance, service and dedication not only to Ostgardr but to the SCA as a whole. They are exemplary examples of that which is the heart of the SCA. A love of the world we chose to create, a place to enjoy others who have that same special love of history, art, glory and chivalry of that era which we call home. They have gone above and beyond and have set a standard that we only hope to reach for.

Relevant Law

The Bylaws of the Crown Province of Østgarðr, section II.C

Current East Kingdom Law, section VII.C.

The Governing Documents of the SCA, section V.A.1.

Note that EK Law calls for "a simple majority", while the Provincial Bylaws call for a ranked ballot that makes it almost impossible to achieve a "simple majority". In the past two Viceregal pollings, we requested and received a variance in procedures (according to EK Law VII.C.2.j) that allowed us to follow our Bylaws.