Barony of Madrone
Curia Minutes
February 11, 2013
Attendees: 21
Baron and Baroness – Elisabeth de Rossignol – Cire says greetings but is not feeling well so can’t come. We were very pleased with turnout at A&S event and are very very happy to have Morgan Donner as our A&S champion – exceptional work. Thank you for everyone who made the event happen. Very happy to geek out with everyone. Last weekend I went to Dragon Laire’s A&S event and cooked and judged. Aelianora de Wintringham, my apprentice, won.
At Ursulmas I attended the Calendar meeting; there was a good discussion – branches cooperating is getting less and less foreign to people. Sites are getting harder and harder to get and pay for. Madrone is pointed out as example of this cooperative spirit. Everyone I saw at Ursulmas was doing something. Kate was one of the exhibitors.
Kingdom A&S will be in Blatha an Oir and I expect a good turnout there, too. Wyewood will be made a barony at that event. No news on their baronial election yet.
Seneschal – Aleksandra Lavrovna
Deputy wanted. Anyone, anyone? Bueller?
Kingdom announcements – We have received a letter from King to Madrone list re insurance co. settlement re law suit. A portion will come back to branches. No exact amount yet. Happy thing we’re getting anything back. Reminder – there is a non-disclosure in the agreement – no speculation, etc. Do not want to breach agreement. [Chron. Note – see end of minutes for complete letter from the King and Queen.]
New site fees for Kingdom and Crown events – adult $20, youth age to 10-17 $10 (half of adult) kids 0-9 no site fees. 2 adults 2 youth $60 family cap. NMS only applies to adults. Additional children are admitted at no charge. Last year was financially trying for the Kingdom. The 18k loss does not include law suit payment. Budget cuts have been made including travel funds but they were not enough to offset losses. Spirit of family cap is not to include adult children 18 or over or household members. [Chron. Note – see end of minutes for complete announcement from the Kingdom Seneschal.]
Event Close Outs
Baronial A&S – Iacobo
Had a few less people than expected. 76 total expected 80. Got full deposit back and apparently chicken was really on sale (thank you Bergdis!) so we had a $108 profit.
People really liked celebration of monarch who was a patron of the arts and sciences. Arms of the Kingdom of Castile in marzipan for dessert. Baroness Elisabeth – I blazoned it as I ate it!
Had some unexpected musicians – “Who invited The Pogues” to my event? Will think of another king for next year. Games tourney seemed to go very well. Two things didn’t go well – the rummage sale, dancing didn’t happen though we had a great little band for dancing.
Elisabeth – thank you Iacobo. Iacobo – Malka loved her largesse. Aleksandra – took home some meatballs and her husband really loved them.
Events – in Progress
May Crown – May 17-19, 2013 (Rowena) – had first face to face meeting with everyone yesterday – everything’s on track. Supplies are arriving. Checky tape! Sarra – talked with Blatha an Oir (BAO) and Wyewood and Rosamond from Aquaterra at Ursulmas. Agreed to allow us their signage and banners etc. BAO has awesome parking lot signage which we’ll get to use. We have check requests. Elisabeth – we didn’t get to do a room party at Twelfth Night so Ameline wanted to know if we could throw a party on the eric on Saturday night – can Camp Fromage party band play? (Guillaume – we’ll do something). Gate always needs help – will be open all day Friday and Saturday. Possibility of treats to be had if you’re working gate. Will recruit for gate coverage.
Events – Proposed
Sound Unity – Aug 2-4, 2013 – Aleksandra. 2nd proposal handed out.
Druim Doinean decided last year that they were going to challenge Madrone because we damaged their sheep. A group went to their August event last year. Proposed that it be settled next summer. Regional Puget Sound event. Haven’t had one in over 10 years. Midhaven site – Northern State Recreation Area – Sedro-Wooley. Where July Coronation was two years ago. $1500 for the weekend reasonably flat site. Two weeks after July Coronation. Wants to profit share some of the projected profit with Midhaven for use of the site and Drium Doinean since they are not able to have Hot Summer Lights this year (15-20%). Invitations will be issued to all branches in the region: BAO, Glymm Mere, Aquaterra, Drium Doinean, Midhaven, Earnroke, Dragon’s Laire, Wyewood. Rapier, archery, heavy. Sergeantry tourney – sergeants, yeoman, gallants, lancers. There will also be A&S points. Only payment soon is $35 to reserve site. Show of hands – proposal approved. Elisabeth – could do Ithra classes. Ask me.
Emprise of the Black Lion – September 13-15, 2013 – Guillaume – 2nd proposal handed out.
What’s different – date has settled on 9/13-15, not the 20th. Earlier date – Glymm Mere event moved weekends so moved to avoid it. Have date reservation on calendar for that now. Not opposite Coronet. Got contract from Reber Ranch; the price went up from last year. $700 for weekend, was $600. Last year was an aberration at $350 weekend and $100 for weekend practice before. They are comping practice time for prior weekend for this year. Don’t know why different. Enzio offered to be co-event steward. Have initiated conversation with current Wyewood seneschal – waiting to hear from incoming seneschal. Wants to leave open profit sharing amounts for future discussion. Have done Emprise with just Wyewood or just Madrone – but wants to continue cooperation. Turnout will probably be good since there will be a Baronial turnover – expect to have Crown there. Probably 40 more people. My initial breakeven for attendance was 92, now 117 due to site cost increase. Confident we will break even or make profit. Good that we can keep site fee low. Now grass in in-field. No longer soupy dirt there was before. Yay. Question was asked as to why insurance is $100 v last event proposal of $50. Answer: Site and equestrian both call for it. In general, insurance can fluctuate. Show of hands – proposal approved by vote of room.
Peasants Revel 2014 – July 14, 2014 is event date. Aleksandra will put in a date reservation.
Other Event Notes
Elisabeth – putting together Ithra for April 6 and 7 in Glymm Mere and we need teachers! Please see me or send me an email. Glymm Mere wants lots of hands on things.
Bergdis – looking ahead at Baronial Banquet for 2014 – doing approx 18 month thing to match energy level of new recipe development. Potential date and need an event steward. Easy to event steward. Maybe April-ish 2014. Probably use same site. One thought we have for possible cuisine – Mediterranean or Middle Eastern. No Baronial Banquet in 2013. Too late to plan one at this point.
Officer and Guild Reports
Chief Archer (Ismenia Wystan) – Archery continues in Wyewood, weather permitting. As the spring approaches we are looking to start up practices in Madrone and Port de ‘Eau … stay tuned for more info. [Chronicler’s note: the Chief Archer is looking for a replacement.]
Arts & Sciences (Kate MacKim) – Requested projects from their Excellencies. The barony needs new banners. Especially a new processional banner. I will be putting out a request for assistance in this issue. By May Crown would be good. Other new banners are also requested to dress up the baronial pavilion. Also requested new regalia cloaks for the B & B made from lighter materials than the wool currently used, perhaps for summer use.
Baronial A&S: this was another outstanding turnout for our Baronial A & S competition.
Three entrants: Morgan Donner, Karrel der Ermutigender, and Kate MacKim. The winner is: MORGAN DONNER, with a gorgeous display of her art. Congratulations to her!! Many displays of the Arts were seen, with many visitors from Dragon’s Laire. A games tournament was held and very well played. Hopefully a good event next year.
Upcoming events: Everyone should go: Kingdom A&S is on the horizon on march just to the south of Madrone in Blatha an Oir.. We will be promoting this event hoping that Madrone will make a good showing.
New processional banners and cloaks discussed: non-wool cloaks would be good and having new banners by May Crown would be good. Adrianna the Fierce is a talented silk painter, back from school. Helping Anne Rose make hers.
Her Excellency noted that Master William has poked the Wyewood coronets to the head of the line. Madrone’s are next up. Also asked about the new chairs; lost contact with the person who was at A&S last year. Cire and Elisabeth found some others that they may contact. Maybe we could get some good reproduction chairs and paint them up.
Exchequer (Julian Sinclair) – still finding the way. Gate receipts at A&S were handled really well. Made first deposit in January. Downtown branch people were really helpful. Will be out of town next Curia (March) – will be at next Social. Aleksandra will have checkbook while he’s away. Statements did not get to the meeting so balances were not reported there. Constantia was supposed to bring them and got held up at work. Will communicate balances to Chronicler later.
Drop-dead Exchequer (Constantia in der Lachun) – asked for help and an extension on Q4 report. Etiennette has event packets, they were scanned into Dropbox. Webmistress has loaded financial policy to the website. Still working on event steward/autocrat document – it is coming along!
Chatelaine (Landinn de Marest) needs a volunteer for newcomers – got a volunteer. We had 3 email inquiries. There were 23 adults, 2 youth and two children. We have 54 members of the MeetUp group. My quarterly report was submitted on time.
Chamberlain (Karrel der Ermutigender) Have property and used property at A&S everything came back fine – got new property – stamp and two stamp pads.
Lists (Rowena d’Ath-fhirdia) I was happy to represent Madrone’s Lists office again this year at Ursulmas. Along with Lucca, Tayla, Shadhra, Natasha and so many others over the course of the event. I do so enjoy attending tourneys to learn from and with the many talented Listkeepers of An Tir. It was generally commented that Madrone was very well represented at Ursulmas in doing lists and in other things. Etiennette and Kit were the “Wal-Mart greeters” for a long time. Landinn also helped at Gold Key.
Baronial Scribe (Sarra the Brave) The February Scriptorium was held, per usual, on the 1st Tuesday of the month. There were six (6) of us in attendance. We had a good discussion on scribal arts and an impromptu class by Mistress Annisa on making quills from bird feathers. Kingdom & Baronial charters were distributed. New Kingdom Charters, for Ulfr & Caoimhe, have been received, there are two left to paint but more are on their way. Please let me know if you would like to have some to paint. Please let me know if you would like to have some to paint. Matilda & Ismenia completed a beautiful OGGS scroll which was handed out at Ursulmas. Painting happens once or twice a month at Porte de l’Eau’s Friday Night Fighter Practice. Watch your emails for notification. For those with Kingdom Charters in your possession, the earlier you return them, the more likely they are to be given out at Court! Also, we (the Kingdom & Barony) are always looking for scribes to create original Scrolls. Let me know if this interests you!
Marshal (Raoukinn) Not much to report — fighting is still happening — we continue to get new people who are interested. Also, my term is up and I need a successor.
Web (Ginevra) The website continues. I have several updates to catch up on, sometime after I return from vacation late tonight. Have a good meeting!
Culinary (Bergdis) The Culinary Guild continues to meet and plan and research and cook and eat.
A&S went well, with lots of people to help. Our next cooking night is February 28 in Ballard.
We are still resolving the date for Peasant’s Revel 2013. Master Edward the Stuffy is the Event Steward. We are looking toward the next Baronial Banquet in the spring of 2014. We need a date and Event Steward. We have a date (7/12/14) for Peasant’s Revel 2014, so we can make our second proposal at Curia to get the date on the calendar.
Equestrian (Johannes Dehn) practice this Sat. Trinity Stables 1-5.
Dancing – Greetings from Trahaearn! Dance social was lightly attended in January, with 5 dancers participating (counting kids) and Toivo playing music. Dance almost happened at Baronial A&S.
I won’t be able to lead dance at the February social, but I’m looking for a substitute and hope to have news on that soon.
Chronicler (Emma la rousse d’Argentan) Minutes were taken, reviewed and finalized and sent to web minister for posting on website. Older minutes were also sent on for posting. Notes and photos were taken at A&S for use in the Leaf.
Sub-Groups
Porte de l’Eau – still flowing along. Their Seneschal is looking for a replacement. Ermine Cross probably in the fall.
St. Bunstable – no report.
Other
Baroness Elisabeth – wouldn’t it be nice if we could give out some awards at these upcoming events? Recommend!! No news on new award for small people. I talked with Spike about making new tokens for Red Branch – new design. Pewter and period. Very cool! Much easier to reproduce.
Karrell – Sergeants – Got to see new sergeants shields displayed at A&S. Have been assured that other sergeants are working on their shield boards. Looking at some possible candidates. Leave at this until hear more. Looking at doing training classes for the future. Aquaterra has a set of training classes going on every week. If anyone has comments or questions on this please let us know. Elisabeth – several people have expressed interest in sergeantry. Will set a date for getting letters of intent together. May do at May Crown.
Possible truck share/rental for May Crown – Sarra – with all stuff Barony needs to get across the mountains over to the site. Rent truck for weekend? Haul equestrian stuff for demo purposes. People then buy in to rest of cost of truck. Not part of event budget – it would be a baronial thing. Then truck users would carpool and save gas, etc. Also may allow more people to go that couldn’t go there. Etiennette – ok if financial committee allows. Discussed. Good suggestion was made by Stephen of Pembroke for organizing: blue tarp over stuff with label – tarp covers stuff so it stays together. Then put down tarp and put it down. Can drag stuff on tarp to site. Aleksandra/Elisabeth – price trucks and see.
Letters
Letter from their Majesties regarding the lawsuit settlement:
Many of you are aware that last year the SCA Inc. was involved in a lawsuit settlement in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that required the corporation to approach the Kingdoms for assistance in funding the settlement. In this difficult time the Laurel Kingdoms stood tall and supported the Society office in keeping our shared dream of the Current Middle Ages alive. Their Majesties at the time, Ieuan and Gwyneth were vocal in Their appreciation at the response from the branches and people of An Tir in responding to the call. We would like to add Our thanks and know that it made Us very proud to see the selfless nature of Our Kingdom.
Following the settlement of the original lawsuit the Society office engaged one of the SCA’s insurance companies to recover related legal and settlement costs. We are pleased to announce that the SCA and the insurance company were able to come to a settlement agreement and that the SCA has been able to recover a significant portion of the settlement and legal costs incurred. Please note that details of the settlement are covered by a non-disclosure agreement and as such more specific information on the settlement is not available.
With this result the Society office will be returning approximately 2/3 of the contributions made by the Kingdoms to the lawsuit settlement. As a result the Kingdom will be able to reimburse Our branches in a similar manner. This will be taking place in short order with details of the amounts and specific timing of reimbursements to the branches handled through the An Tir Exchequer’s office. Should you have questions regarding this process please communicate via your local branch exchequer.
We would like to personally thank all of you for your support of our Society during this difficult time and you all have Our gratitude for your sacrifice and continued efforts to make An Tir the greatest Kingdom in the Known World.
UlfR Caoimhe
King Queen
New Kingdom Event Fees:
Good Morning Everyone!
On January 28th, Ursulmas the following was read into Kingdom Law…
B) Site Fees for Crown and Kingdom Events
i) Adult (18 and over) site fee will be a minimum of $20.00 unless a variance is granted in advance.
ii) Youth Ages (10-17) site feel shall be $10.00 One half the price of adult fees.
iii) Child Ages (0-9) will be exempt from Crown and Kingdom site fees.
iv) Family caps will use the price formula of two (2) adults + two (2)
youth.
v) Nonmember surcharge of $5.00 will be applied to all adults fees for those that cannot show current membership in the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Below is the explanation that will be published in the Crier:
I want to supply some background information on the new site fees for Kingdom Events. This last year has been financially trying for the Kingdom of An Tir. The Kingdom has posted an $18,000 loss for the year. This amount does not include the amount paid out as our portion of the settlement. There is a direct link between the rise in the costs of the infrastructure for events, and the reduction of revenue from these events, resulting in the shortfall.
Their Majesties and the Finance Committee have initiated cuts in the budget including a significant reduction in Their Majesties travel funds, along with the travel funds for many Kingdom Officers. These cuts will help but are not enough to offset the losses. After much deliberation it was decided
that in order to keep up with the rising costs of sites and services, the site fees for Kingdom Events must be increased to $20.00 for adults and $10.00 for Youth 10 to 17 years old. The decision was also made to raise the age of Youth from 6 years to 10 years in order to lessen the burden on families. The addition to Kingdom Law also establishes a Family Cap, which is based on the cost of a modern family consisting of two adult and two youths, additional children are admitted at no charge. The purpose of a
family cap is to lessen the costs for a family to attend an SCA event. The spirit of the family cap has never been to accommodate SCA house-holds or families where the children are over 18, whether or not they live at the same physical address.
We are going to need your help in disseminating the information and assisting the populace to understand the need for the raise in fees.Kingdom Event fees have not kept up with the incredible rise in the fees for sites and services, and we as a Kingdom cannot afford to lose this kind of money every year…even with the return of a portion of the money paid out for the lawsuit. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask…
Thanks so much!
Dame Brighid Ross
Kingdom Seneschal, An Tir
End of Minutes
Submitted by
Emma la rousse d’Argentan
Chronicler
Madrone
February 25, 2013