Category: Activities

Memorial Day Parade – Join Us Monday Morning!

Join the Barony (and our most favorite mercenaries, Clovenshield) as we march in the most charming neighborhood parade in Pittsburgh! Spend the morning with us as we march in the Lawrenceville Memorial Day parade, ending in the historic and beautiful Allegheny Cemetery.

Garb/armor required, because we are showing off to thousands of east-end Pittsburghers. Let’s drum up some new folks while strutting our stuff in style! Clovenshield is again leading the parade logistics, and will be providing the gorgeous float, for those who wish to ride and wave.

Fighters, you will never be more lauded and appreciated… come out and flaunt your skills for the not-yet-newbies. Not a fighter? Great, come walk or ride, waving at babies and blowing kisses to veterans – this demo is a blast!

If parading isn’t your style, we have fun for you, too! At the end of the parade is a community picnic, with food trucks and entertainment, and the Barony has a table! Help Lord Ronan talk to interested folks there!

Need more reason to come? Ice cream at the end is on the Baroness!

Plan to start staging at 9am. Park at the end of the parade and take the free shuttle to the staging area. The parade ends by your car! Read more about the details here:
http://debatablelands.org/events/2019-05-27%20Memorial%20Day%20Parade.php

Deep thanks to Lord Yingerz and Lady Kat Fixis for arranging our participation and the float, and to Lord Ronan for agreeing to set up the table at the community picnic.

For those reading on the email list, an unformatted version of the post is available by clicking the link below.

Wood Shop Day 04.28 report

It was a bit chillier than expected, and a lot less sunny than hoped for, so we were not able to spread out into the driveway. In spite of the weather, we did manage to get a lot of work done under cover in the garage, much more than one person could have done safely alone, so thanks to everybody who was able to make it. We did a bunch of cutting and shaping to make pieces. Next steps involve cutting joinery onto the pieces, which means a lot of marking of the locations for that joinery first.

The Woodworking Guild’s next planning meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 23rd from 7pm to 9pm at the Panera in Oakland.

The next Woodworking Guild shop day is scheduled for Sunday, June 2nd, but the time and location has yet to be determined.

Top 10 Reasons to March with the Barony in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Tomorrow (3/16)

  1. You can win the Skirmish of Grant Street in the Great Battle for Pittsburgh!
  2. You don’t actually have to walk… ride on the float and wave to the crowd!
  3. Guys. Guys…. We are between the Jimmy Buffet fan club, the Ghostbusters cosplayers, and the Derby Brats – under 17 Roller Derbyers… doesn’t get much better than that.
  4. Selfies with WWII veterans!
  5. When the drunk folks shout a certain beer slogan at you and our whole float shouts back “DILLY DILLY!!” watch them… Lose.  Their.  Minds.
  6. Blowing kisses to the toddlers, and their sweet little faces staring in awe.
  7. The BALLISTA! Even better, watching the tipsy revelers freak out and duck when you swing it around to point at them!
  8. No one will ever cheer louder for you when you win your battle than a drunk Pittsburgher.
  9. Possible tipsy guest appearance by Svava’s mom!
  10. You don’t want your Baroness to be guarded solely by mercenary scum*… do you…?

BONUS! Free pizza and revelry afterwards at Bella Notte!

Some Details:

  • Meet in the strip district at 20th and Liberty between 9 -9:30am
    (There’s actually quite a bit of parking in that area… There’s a bunch at 21st and Smallman, and look around 18th-21st streets, Penn Ave, and the side streets, Liberty will be closed. You’ll need to walk a couple blocks to the float)
  • Wear garb of course, but you can deck yourself out with green and shamrocks, too – we  encourage it!
  • Very family friendly. Every kid that has come with us has enjoyed themselves – and sometimes people throw candy!
  • More details (and some rules) HERE 
  • Facebook event is HERE
  • Many thanks to Lord Yingerz, the organizer of this demo, to Lady Kit Fixis, and to Clovenshield for their strong support of this parade activity!

See you there!!!

*This list item approved by Clovenshield (Ying said I could say it!)

End of Year Letter

With the end of one year and the beginning of another, it is the traditional time to reflect on the year past and the year to come. I am always pressed to find the words to express just how highly I think of everyone in this Barony. I am honored to serve as your Seneschal and proud of what we as a Barony accomplish every year. The kindness, talent, generosity, enthusiasm, knowledge, and volunteerism shown by all of you is inspiring.
From gathering items for gift baskets for the Royalty to sharing your expertise to train new martial participants you are all amazing volunteers. The countless hours that you put towards helping make the Barony, the Kingdom, and the SCA a vibrant organization is truly a gift to each of us. Your efforts are seen and appreciated.

Here are some highlights from the last year:

January
This year started with a lovely, smallish Baronial Twelfth Night, run by THL Elss and Lady Kathryn, where so many people received recognition from our Baron and Baroness, including the The Royal Livery Company (the first time they were recognized). It was also where we got to see Mistress Graidhne elevated to the Order of the Laurel.

February
Lady Zianna generously donated new list ropes for our use in indoor combat. They were immediately used for the Carnegie Science Center Demo where we had over 100 people join us to make this Demo so successful we are invited back and in a leading role. The William Blackfox awards were announced and the BMDL took home six awards. We also had a very successful Tavern in the Park event autocratted by THL Elss and Lady Elsa.

April
Baron Leonard passed away mid-month, which was a significant blow to the Barony as a whole. We had a demo at CCAC South that was very successful. The Comet Persuivant began a project to make Baldrics for everyone participating in a martial activity at Pennsic. The Brewers Guild came out of dormancy and set their first meeting date.

June
We hosted the Known World Heralds and Scribes event, coordinated by Master Alaric and THL The baldrics for martial activities at Pennsic were finished and handed out to as many people as possible, the rest to be distributed at Pennsic. We also had an Iron Comet event, autocratted by Don Jorundr and the Barony got new Champions.

July/August
PENNSIC – As always, the BMDL was everywhere – volunteering, coordinating,

September
The Barony hosted the first ever Known World Commedia gathering. We had the pleasure of hosting so many talented visitors and rumor has it that it’s going to be held again.

October
Agincourt, now in its 12th year, was held during its traditional weekend and was autocratted by Baroness Constance and Meesteres Odriana.

November
We had our traditional Harvest Revel Barony Meeting at the Castle – there was pie, GLORY!!!, singing, pumpkin launching, and fellowship.

December
We had our first joint fencing practice with Broken Plow, which will now be held the first Sunday of the month at the Broken Plow studios in Creighton, PA. We also had end-of-year retrospectives from quite a few people published on Stórfréttir. We also saw the untimely passing of Lady Amanda and Jamie MacMichael, over which most of us are still processing our grief and our hearts are with their families.

The coming year is starting out just as full as last year —
Kingdom Twelfth Night on 5 January.
Baronial Twelfth Night a week later, 12 January, where we will also have our Barony Meeting.
Aethelmearc Grand Tournament on 2 February.

There was a recent call for letters for the Office of Baronial Minister of Arts and Sciences, those letters are due at our February Business Meeting on Wednesday, 6 February. If you are interested in the position or serving as a Deputy to learn more about the realities of the office, please check out the call for letters on Stórfréttir. We welcome new people to put in letters and become part of the Barony’s Leadership.

We also have a call for letters for the Office of the Comet Persuivant. While the current Persuivant is interested in serving another two-year term, if you are interested in the position or would like to serve as a Deputy Herald to get an idea of what that job entails, please read the call for letters on Stórfréttir. Those letters are also due at our February Business Meeting.

We have the most amazing Barony in the Known World and I am perpetually impressed by the breadth and depth of opportunities that we have here, not only in knowledge but also in service and martial skill.

aude aliqid dignum*,

Odriana, Senschal

*dare something worthy