The E-Horse
The Crown Province of Østgarðr's Electronic News Source

August 2017 | AS LII | Volume 6 | Issue 10

 

Meetings
June Østgarðr Commons
Directions to August Østgarðr Commons

Upcoming Events
Local Activities

Goings On About Town
Museum Exhibits
Concerts

Articles of Interest
The Things You Find In Bogs
Where Even the King Sits Alone
Medieval Medicine for Modern Maladies
Oh, Those Naughty Mosaics!
Nine Days a Queen


Meetings

June Østgarðr Commons

Crown Province of Østgarðr Commons Meeting

Transcribed by Piglet Evans

Meeting start: 8:02 PM, June 16, 2017

Attending: ("?" means the note-taker isn't sure whether that person was there)

  • 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 Fletcher 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 [Mlada of Østgarðr]
  • Suuder Saran [Brad of Østgarðr]

OFFICER REPORTS

  • Seneschal (Bish):

    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. Stan Cohen has been in the hospital. Deputy seneschal is Aethelstan?. 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.

  • 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.

    Northpass has $$, people are reporting on time.

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

  • Alienor, Deputy Webminister:

    • Alienor is now officially deputy webminister & now acting webminister as Arnora is on maternity leave.
    • 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.]
    • Bish asked about the mailing list issue; it was resolved as per facebook comments.

  • Alienor, Whyt Whey seneschal:

    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.

  • 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. Luigj 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 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, 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.

  • Exchequer (Angelica):

    we have $$. Savings $7,050.94; Checking $6,215.57

  • Rufina, Chronicler:

    nothing to report.

  • Suuder, Viceroy:

    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.

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

RECENTLY PAST EVENTS

  • 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.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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

  • Musicians' Day: we have registrar (gate), waiting to hear back from Blue Mountain lodge re: dates.  [Edit: subsequently CANCELLED for lack of dates.]

UPCOMING DEMOS

  • 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.

  • 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:

    Oct. 1st.  Nothing new to report
    [Edit: IT IS NOW A ROYAL PROGRESS EVENT EEP]

COMMITTEES

  • Bylaws: has not met since last Commons.

  • Regalia: no news.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Ian: we need to discuss funds for spending on armor at pennsic. 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.

UPCOMING COMMONS

  • July: cancelled for Pennsic.

  • August: Kapajs'.

  • September: Alienor's.

  • October: Kapajs'.

Meeting adjourned 10:49, re-convened for one more item of business (included in the above), re-adjourned at 10:53.

Directions to August Østgarðr Commons

August Østgarðr Commons will be Friday, August 18th at 7:30PM at the home of Jackie and Luigj Kapaj, 4291 Napier Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470.

DIRECTIONS

By Car:

From Westchester and north:

Take the Major Deegan (I-87) south to east 233 Street, follow the long exit ramp to the light at the end, and turn left. Go one block and turn left at the light onto Van Cortland Park (there's a gas station on the left hand corner).

* Go three blocks and turn right onto Napier Ave. We are on the right hand corner of Napier and E. 236th Street.

Park anywhere you can, but follow normal parking regulations; don't block people's driveways and watch for the few "No Parking" signs.

From Long Island/Queens:

Take the Throgs Neck or Whitestone Bridge to the Bronx. Follow signs and take I-95 towards the George Washington Bridge. Stay on 95 until you see signs for the Major Deegan (I-87) exit. Stay to the right on the exit and ...

** take the Major Deegan (I-87) north to exit 13 (east 233rd Street). The exit ramp has two lanes; stay to the left and go straight. At the second light, turn left onto Van Cortland Park, and see * above. 

From Manhattan:

Take your best route to the Major Deegan (I-87) (we usually use the FDR and go over the Willis Avenue bridge), and see ** above. 

From Brooklyn:

Follow directions for Queens or Manhattan, whichever you prefer. 

By Public Transportation:

Take the #4 Lexington Ave. train to the last station (Woodlawn). Cross the street to the bus shelter, and catch either the BX16 or the BX34 to Napier Avenue. Walk three short blocks on Napier to our house (at the corner of East 236th Street).


Upcoming events

Østgarðr Events


Did You Know?

The Crown Province of Østgarðr has a badge, "A seahorse erect azure, hoofed, orbed and crined Or," that residents of the Crown Province have been using, de facto, as a "populace badge" for many years.  You could wear it on your hat, or paint it on your goblet, or embroider it on a pennon.  Let your Østgarðrian Spirit Flag fly!


Woodcut of frolicking peasants
Goings On About Town

Museum Exhibits

Concerts

Our Webbed database of upcoming early-music concerts in the Østgarðr area seems not to have survived the transition to the East Kingdom server. Until we get it working again, please see polyphony.com.


Articles of Interest
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