Officers Meeting Minutes

Starting with the June 2016 Meeting, the minutes for Officer’s Meeting will be made available here on the Blog by the end of the month of that Officer’s Meeting. If you have any questions, please contact the Seneschal, Odriana vander Brugghe.

Bayeux Tapestry - Comet

Meeting Date: 17 August 2016
Minutes Recorded by: Odriana vander Brugghe

Officers in attendance: Brandubh, Hilderun, Odriana, Jorundr, Isenwulf, Elss, Hara, Anna, Ishiyama.

Others in attendance: Elizabeth, Bataar, Kieran, Lijsbet (visiting from Delftwood), Liam

The meeting was opened and the previous meeting’s minutes were approved by the Officers.

Officer Reports:

Baron and Baroness
We hope everyone had a wonderful Pennsic. We certainly did, and many folks from our Most Excellent Barony. We’d specifically like to thank Mistress Arianna for land-o-cratting, Master Emrys (Broom) for acting as our camp Reeve, and Master Antonio and THL Renata as his assistants, who did much of the set up. Also, Lady Rivka, our head retainer, was incredible and there for us, arranging retainers and whatever else we needed, every step of the way, and joining Her Excellency in the ice towel adventures! Also, THL Muirgheal, who helped Rivka significantly. Also Baron William and Mistress Irene, who supported the camp and us in every way. And the folks at their first Pennsic who were ready to jump in wherever they were needed, for Court set-up, retaining, opening ceremonies, feeding us, and more: Lady Katerra, Eleanora, Ronan, and Dorothea. Special shout out to Lady Elizabeth of the Debatable Lands, who help muchly with tear down and stayed to the very end.

Thank you also to Master Liam for putting on a wonderful Baronial Party on Sunday, along with his staff, Baroness Constance, Lady Arthes, Lord Alistair, Lady Katheryn, Lord Yoshi, and I’m sure more I’m forgetting (with apologies).

We’d also like to call out the Kingdom Officers in this Most Excellent Barony who worked hard for the Kingdom and the War. Their Majesties Byron and Ariella (Being Royal at War is no small service), Duke Christopher as Seneschal, Baron Tofi as Exchequer, and Baroness Gwendolyn as Jewel Herald, as well as Master Janos as War Chamberlain, Duchess Tessa as Earl Marshal, and Kameshima-kyo as Silver Buccle Herald. And all of their staff, a good deal of whom were Debatable Landers. Also to Lady Anaya, who served on Land Staff.

We will send more thank yous to the lists – there were so many who contributed so much.

Coming up, please do send us recommendation letters for Comets for Archers to the Wald, Agincourt, and 12th Night, all of which will have Baronial Courts. Additionally, we will be holding our Archery and Youth Archery Champs at Archers to the Wald, and Thrown Weapons and Youth Fighting Champs at Agincourt. We look forward to seeing the prowess of our archers, throwers and youth fighters, for the glory of our Barony!

Also, we hoped everyone is enjoying the Excellent Towels. If you didn’t get one, never fear, we will be making more!

As always, we are available to discuss anything Barony with anyone. We are available in person, by phone, by email, and on social media (Hilda on Facebook, Brandubh on G+)

–Additional – The Baronage wanted to highlight the service of the following gentles at Pennsic: Baroness Soteria with her work with Sylvan Army Support. Baroness Anna was at the inspection point on the Battlefield every day. Lady Adeliz was second in charge of DART (she was DART2).

Seneschal
The July Barony Meeting was very successful. Nearly everything that was offered in the garb exchange was taken and Sylvan Army Support raised $200 in the auction. We had a fantastic turnout and folks seemed to have a good time.

I am sure that Their Excellencies have an extensive list of folks that contributed at Pennsic and who were recognized for their skills, prowess, and service both at the Baronial and Kingdom level. The thing that I was proudest of was seeing folks from the BMDL pretty much everywhere doing basically everything. So very proud of us.

I communicated with Byron & Ariella about the November Harvest Revel Barony Meeting and they said that either Nov. 6th or 13th work. I was going to go with the 13th. To avoid conflict with King’s Crossing’s Birthday B(r)all event, this was agreed to by the officers.

Starting with September, I will be putting out a Seneschal’s letter on the first of the month on the BMDL Blog. The letter for the Althing will be delayed until after the quarterly publication to give them priority in publication months. I encourage everyone to consider doing the same to increase communication with the Barony.

Exchequer
There was an increase in the trailer storage costs at Cooper’s Lake so a new check needed to be written. As the increase was under $75, this was approved by the Seneschal and the Exchequer.

The Baronial Dinner was $100.87 under budget.

The Exchequer’s Quarterly report was submitted on time.

A&S Minister
The A&S Minister intends to have meetings at the Washington Blvd site and then they will move to the indoor site (The Environmental Charter School) when practices move indoors.

Herald
Three courts at Pennsic. Those court reports will go out later this week. The quarterly report is in on time. A call for Letters of Intent will be going out soon as Jorundr’s term is ending and he is seeking a replacement as Persuivant.

Chatelaine
— I’ve spoken to about 8-10 newcomers in the past 2 months and that I’m still considering ideas about newcomer tokens. Also, Ruffina has agreed to be my drop dead deputy. Ronan has agreed to also deputy (not drop dead) and spread the word to the younger people out there.

Webminister
The Quarterly Webminister’s report was submitted on time.

The Webminister is seeking contributions for the Debatable Blog — anything is welcome — anyone can submit an article to the webminister using his email address webminister@debatablelands.org

Earlier on that day it was brought to the Webminister’s attention that Pharmacy ads were appearing in place of the website. The error was only occurring if you clicked a search engine link to get to the website. The website hosting company was contacted and the webminister sought other solutions until he found the source of the problem and corrected it. This still needs to be addressed from a security angle and the webminister is moving forward with that process.

Special mention was given to Ishiyama by the Seneschal for the speed of his response once he was aware of the depth of the problem. His response time from discovery to solution was within about an hour and a half. This kind of quick thinking and action ensured that we maintain 24×7 uptime for the website, which is crucial for the Barony.

Other Business
Event Bids
Event Bids for Iron Comet Challenge 2017 and Kingdom Twelfthnight 2017. Both bids were approved by the Officers and the Kingdom bid was submitted to the Kingdom after the meeting.

Revision to August Schedule
As the August Officer’s meeting always falls during Pennsic, the Officers agreed to move the August Officers Meeting to the first Wednesday after Pennsic from this point forward.

Baronial Policy Revisions
Proposed changes to Baronial Policy were distributed via email for discussion. Thank you to Pavel and Ceindrich for helping with the review.

20th Anniversary event + Fall Crown in 2017
An event bid is in the works in BMDL. Speaking with Herontir about co-hosting with them. Looking for input and co-conspirators. Want someone from every region on my staff. Financials will be running through the BMDL.

The meeting was adjourned.

Pewterer’s Guild

Pewter Casting Tools

Announcing the formation of the area’s first Pewter’s Guild. Lady Edana the Red will be opening her home to promoted the art of pewter casting. Her workshop, which sits in the rolling hills of West Deer, will be made available on Saturdays beginning September 10th. Times will be determined by those who wish to attend that day. Please contact her via Facebook (Brie Montgomery) to schedule a time. Times will be announced on Facebook.

Period techniques will be demonstrated from design, carving in soapstone and final creation. Other techniques use for casting a variety of metals will be explored as demand and visiting instructors allow. Create a personal token, badge or come with ideas. Costs vary greatly depending on each individual project and can be discussed. The workshop has everything required, but you are welcome to bring your own materials.

This is an adult work area due to the risk factors involves such as sharp tools, open flames and 500 degree or higher metals. Dress appropriately. Hair tied back, eye protection, no loose/synthetic clothing. arms, legs and feet covered.