Shire Meeting Minutes, November 2009

Attending: Rhieinwen, Umberto, Catherine, Ismay, Mayken, Wilhelm, Lareej, Thomasina, Alia, Morgana, Alexander

 

Meeting started: 7:00 p.m.

 

Officers

A&S. Albra was not present but sent a report with Morgana, who said Carreg Wen’s Harvest event is coming up, and there will be a scriptorium and other classes.

 

Chatelaine. Aran was not present but sent a report. He hopes the Costumed Fighter Practice was successful and that he’ll be at the next one. He is now an authorized Thrown Weapons Range Marshal.

 

Chronicler. Rhieinwen said we got several nice compliments from highers-up about the Kolfinna memorial in the November issue, and hopes everyone enjoyed it.

 

Constable. Ismay had no report.

 

Exchequer. Mattea said the 3rd-quarter report is done. We had change in net worth of $681.37 and we still have a number of outstanding checks. She has written one check to the Ojai Women’s Club for Yule and another to SCA Inc. for insurance for Yule. The current balance minus those checks is approximately $8400.00.

 

Herald. Richard will be stepping up in Jan.

 

Lists. Thomasina said the Costumed Fighter Practice, where she didn’t have to do Lists, went well.

 

Marshal. Wilhelm said the Costumed Fighter Practice went very well, everyone enjoyed it, and we’d like to do another one. (See below for more info.) We now have a Thrown Weapons Marshal in the Shire now. Two people expressed interest in archery and hosting practices at their locations. This will probably get organized in Jan; if you don’t hear more from Wilhelm, then poke him.

 

Quartermaster. Rhieinwen said everything that went to GWW was returned except for the poles, which are still in Wilhelm’s garage. See also the GWW wrap-up below.

 

Seneschal. Catherine thanked everyone who camped with Darach and helped with the shower truck. Everybody took their turn, huzzah! Isles Anniversary is on Nov 14 and it’s good for us to support them, as they’re not getting many people at their events. Insurance for Yule has been requested. We are on the list for Court business for Coronation.

 

Webwright. Wilhelm had no report.

 

Youth Officer. Mayken said she put out a request to the Youth Officer list to see if anyone wants to do something for Queen’s Champion Equestrian, but we don’t usually have anything. If two unrelated adults want to do something, that would be nice. Umberto volunteered to be one of the adults.

 

Guilds

Textiles Guild. Albra sent a report that Textile Guild is still going although there seems to be a post-GWW/pre-holiday lull.

 

Brewers Guild. Wilhelm said Aran placed second place at GWW in a brewing competition, huzzah! Their next meeting is this coming Thursday and they are planning on doing an ale. For more info, contact him.

 

Cooking Guild. Catherine will be making contact with the Isles Cooking Guild to set up some collaborative efforts or at least a recipe exchange. Perhaps if there’s a time when Isles and Darach do an event together, we could collaborate for the feast. Wilhelm has a friend who does cake decorating classes and is willing to do classes in Darach and Isles. Catherine will put it on the list.

 

Herbal Guild. Morgana said the last meeting was Oct 15; two people attended. Thomasina and Morgana made a couple of things for presentations. The next meeting will be Nov 19, they will be working on Yule presents or whatever anybody wants to do—let her know.

 

Woodworking Guild. On hiatus. Ismay said Luzia wanted to congratulate Alia who won for best unfinished project at GWW for her chest. Alia wants it on record that she has an award-winning chest. (Chronicler’s Note: For pictures—and documentation—of Alia’s chest, see pp. 3–5 of the December issue of The Oak Leaf!) Umberto said he talked to Luzia about fixing the Shire benches and they will pick a date that works for everyone interested.

 

Old Business

Guild Meetup/Costumed Fighter Practice Wrap-Up. Wilhelm wanted to thank the Herbal Guild; everybody seemed very enthusiastic and curious about what the guild was doing. Morgana said the next time she will have fighter care packages for sale, as there was much interest in them. The next Costumed Fighter Practice will be Dec 13 at Via Marina Park in Oxnard. They will be taking it on the road in the future, as we have several people in Simi/TO area. Una can help us get Camp Comfort in Ojai which has a fighting field and a kitchen—maybe we can combine it with Yule. Morgana noted that a Costumed Fighter Practice in Simi should be in Jan or Feb. Rhieinwen said we made a good contact with the Camarillo Parks system and maybe we could use Mission Oaks Park again. Morgana suggested that summer would be good to have one in Ventura in the middle of downtown park with the pagoda that nobody can remember the name of.

 

GWW Wrap-Up. Umberto said GWW was fabulous (several people did jazz hands) and the pavilion worked well as a central gathering place for people as well as for vigils. A number of small things were noticed, either at other campsites or things we borrowed:

¨      The 6-foot table we’re using is an old one that’s falling apart. Carreg Wen brought a nice sturdy fold-up plastic table. there’s a 6-foot and a 4-foot available. Umberto will do more research, but they’ll be about $60 each. A motion was passed to do more research. Thomasina also has a card table that belongs to the Shire.

¨      We have been using a clothing rack at the War that keeps breaking; Thomasina said it’s very handy. Umberto is looking at something that would hang off the Shire poles on the outside of the pavilion, as well as shelves that would hang inside. The shelves would probably not more than $20. Ismay asked how often we would use shelves. Rhieinwen said they would be useful at any event.

¨      We need to make velcro straps to use instead of bungee cords for the poles.

¨      We would like to paint the Shire device on the pavilion roof. Ismay said Panther Pavilions sells the appropriate paints. Rhieinwen will ask Albra about the stencil we used for encampment walls.

¨      We are looking into more LED lights and chandelier.

¨      We need a box or two for ropes and stakes (to replace the unwieldy milk crates). Alia offered to make canvas bags for the Shire benches, which also need repair.

There will be more discussion at the next meeting about these and other repairs/upgrades.

 

New Business

Presentation for Coronation. We have some herbal stuff: Sore muscle soak and bruise balm, embroidered lavender sachets, lavender wands. Catherine will get bags. The Shire voted to give $100 to the Kingdom Travel Fund.

 

Shire Pavilion at Queen’s Champion Equestrian. Ismay suggested we offer the Shire pavilion to TRM to use. We voted to do so.

 

Shire Eric at Isles Anniversary. Wilhelm asked if they can use ours. We voted to let Wilhelm take the eric, noting that Isles should be gently reminded that they should ask us ahead of time.

 

Upcoming Events

Queen’s Champion Equestrian (Ismay), Nov 28. Rhieinwen is running Gate with Mattea’s tutelage. Other than being the body running this, Ismay hasn’t a clue what’s going on because she hasn’t heard from Arabella. The eric will be set up for anyone who wants to show off their fighting prowess. Catherine is doing lunch for Their Majesties. Alexander said TRM are looking for guardspeople, especially rapier. We received a note from Mistress Eilidh, Deputy Kingdom Seneschal, thanking us for taking on the event last-minute.

 

Yule (Ismay), Dec 19. This is a wet site, note to Brewer’s Guild. Cost is w/in $50 of The Grange. They seem excited about us. They’re run by the Chamber of Commerce, so if all goes well, we’ll have an in there. We can’t tack banners, but bring them and we’ll do what we can. Bring Shire tablecloths. Have insurance, everything’s signed.

 

Black Oak Lodge 2010 (Mattea & Alia), March 19–21. We have the contract from Fina at St. Vincent de Paul and will be sending the check. They are looking for volunteers, especially someone to do soup kitchen and to run Gate. Lareej volunteered to be in charge of naked men (i.e., kitchen cleanup). Mattea proposed keeping the Exchequer office through the first quarter of 2010 so she can handle BOL finances. Catherine said if both Mattea and Alia are fine as well as Rowan, she’s fine with it.

 

Darach Anniversary, May 15. We need an Event Steward!

 

Pirate Tournament (Lareej), Jul 31. Lareej will be talking to Arroyo Verde Park.

 

Alexander thanked the Shire for making his vigil special; he appreciates everything people did.

Meeting finished: 8:13 p.m.