Seneschal – Page 2 – Stórfréttir

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

From the Kingdom Seneschal — SCA Insurance

Good Gentles:

Below is an official announcement from the Society Seneschal regarding the SCA Insurance. Event autocrats and local seneschals should be familiar with this and the limitations outlined in this message.

If you have any questions please drop me a line.

Yours,

Duke Christopher
Seneschal, Aethelmearc

———-

Greetings to all Kingdom Seneschals,

Questions about the SCA’s insurance coverage have come up over the past year and I would like to clarify matters.

1. An officially sanctioned event conveys “coverage” of officers and the Society against litigation and does not provide medical insurance to attendees. (A participant was recently injured at an event and while the individual had sufficient health insurance, someone had a question regarding our insurance and if it applied to our participants. The answer is no, our insurance does not cover injuries sustained during SCA activities at SCA events.)

2. Our insurance does not cover stolen property. This is especially true if we rent something with wheels, like a golf cart; it is incumbent upon the group renting the item (vehicle, trailer et al.) to obtain insurance for the item with wheels from the company that rents the item. (We recently had golf carts stolen from an event and the group was out of pocket for the golf cart.)

3. The SCA’s insurance does not cover the intentional damage to event sites inflicted by our participants. (Within the last year or so, someone came upon a locked gate at an event and then drove through the gate; this intentional tort is not covered by our insurance and the group was forced to compensate the site owner.)

Our insurance over the past ten years has become increasingly more expensive and there is no way for our organization to cover the insuring our participants, rented property or intentional damage to a site.

Please pass this down to your local group seneschals.

Best regards,

A.J. Pongratz
Vice President of Operations, SCA Inc.
Society Seneschal

Subscribe to the Official BMDL Facebook Page by going to https://www.facebook.com/BMDLOfficial/

Subscribe to the Official BMDL G+ Page by going to https://plus.google.com/b/113124989304184885338/113124989304184885338/posts?gmbpt=true&hl=en

Follow the Official BMDL Twitter feed by going to https://twitter.com/the_bmdl and using the official hashtag #DebatableLands

September Letter from the Seneschal

The September letter is delayed to allow the Althing to publish the letter first. This will happen every month that coincides with the publication of the Althing. Otherwise, look for the letter from the Senschal during the first week of the month.

Greetings to the Most Excellent Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands!

Pennsic has come and gone and the one thing that stayed strongest with me is seeing how many Barony people were not only enjoying the event but how many people donated their time to making Pennsic happen. Everywhere I looked there was someone from Our Barony making it possible for everyone to enjoy themselves. I extend my thanks and appreciation for your taking some time out of your vacation so that others may enjoy theirs.

If you weren’t able to volunteer this year, there are still so many opportunities for you to share what you learned at Pennsic now that it’s over.

If you attended a class at Pennsic, please consider sharing what you learned at one of the weekly A&S classes being held by our A&S Minister, Elss. She will be hosting a variety of classes at the Washington Blvd practice site on Sundays and is looking for teachers. If you would like to teach a class, please contact her via email at ansminister@debatablelands.org. If you’ve never taught a class before and would like to share what you’ve learned, Elss or I can guide you to some resources to help you do that.

If you aren’t comfortable teaching a class, consider submitting an article to either the Althing or the Debatable Blog. The Chronicler and Webminister are always looking for articles and can be reached at chronicler@debatablelands.org and webminister@debatablelands.org. The Althing is published quarterly and the Debatable Blog publishes on an as-needed basis, so you can work on your schedule and still be able to share your knowledge with the Barony. Articles are not restricted to the Arts and Sciences, if you have a martial bent, an article about how to get started in Heavy Weapons, Fencing, Thrown Weapons, Equestrian, Youth Fighting, and Archery would be very welcome, particularly by our new participants who may be curious about what the Arts Martial are all about. If you would like to share new techniques or information about your Martial Art, please share those as well.

That’s not all – on the 28th through the 30th of October, we have our yearly Agincourt event. It will be at Camp Bucoco and there will be a little something for everyone. Head over to the event page for details.

We are also very proud to unveil two new social media accounts for Official information from the Barony – An Official BMDL Facebook page and a BMDL Twitter feed. The facebook feed augments the already very active unofficial group and will be regularly updated with posts from the Debatable Blog, official news, and event announcements. There is no reason to unsubscribe from the unofficial group and it will continue to be a place for conversation and information. The Twitter feed will feature the same information and is provided for those who are on one platform but not the other.

To subscribe to the Official BMDL Social Media Accounts —

The Official BMDL Facebook Page

The Official BMDL G+ Page

The Official BMDL Twitter The official hashtag is #DebatableLands

If you prefer to get this Official information via email, you can subscribe to the blog via email, just look for “Subscribe to the Blog via Email” on the right-hand side of the blog page. The Barony’s email list will continue to exist as there are still so many people that get their information that way. This is just another way to access information about things happening in and around the Barony.

There is so much going on and we are providing as many ways as possible to share this information in a way that people can access easily. We don’t want you to miss anything!

As always, if you have any ideas about how to improve anything in the Barony or have concerns, I am available via email (seneschal@debatablelands.org) or in person at events and meetings.

In Service to the Barony,

Odriana, Seneschal

New Social Media Accounts – What to Expect

As you may have seen in the September Althing, we are adding some Official Social Media accounts. These accounts were created in order to provide Official information and updates from the Officers, Guild Masters, etc. directly from the Althing Blog. This is only possible with Facebook and G+ “Pages”. The current, unofficial, groups are classified as “Groups” and can not be posted to directly using the blog.

These groups were not created to displace these unofficial groups, but entirely as a supplement to them. I was quite disappointed that we were unable to post directly to the unofficial groups as that would be far easier for everyone, but, having a central point of information distribution means that we don’t accidentally forget to post something somewhere and leave people out of the loop. I want to be sure that everyone has lots of time before we fully transition announcements and updates to the Official pages, so, starting on 15 September 2016, official announcements will appear in both the Official and the Unofficial Facebook and G+ groups for a period of two months (ending on 15 November 2016). At the end of each announcement will be the following:

Subscribe to the Official BMDL Facebook Page by going to https://www.facebook.com/BMDLOfficial/

Subscribe to the Official BMDL G+ Page by going to https://plus.google.com/b/113124989304184885338/113124989304184885338/posts?gmbpt=true&hl=en

Follow the Official BMDL Twitter feed by going to https://twitter.com/the_bmdl and using the official hashtag #DebatableLands

This will happen until 15 November 2016 at which point all announcements will only appear on the Official Pages. I have blocked out those dates on the Baronial Calendar with the same information above in the details of the event as an additional point of information. Every effort will be made to ensure that this information is distributed in as many places as possible so that no one is unaware of this change.

For those of you who rely on the BMDL email list for information, that will not be changing. Announcements and official information will continue to be posted on the email list as they have in the past. We do encourage people to subscribe to the Blog via email but are not eliminating the email list at this time.

The Blog is also in search of content. Do you have an article that you’ve been thinking about writing? Are you of a poetic bent and would like to share your talent with the Barony? Are you making something and want to share how you did it with others? Please consider sharing that with the Blog. If you have something that you’d like to share or just an idea that you think would be good to put on the Blog, please send email to either the Webminister, Ishiyama, or the Seneschal, Odriana.

Letter from the Seneschal

It’s Pennsic time again and for those of us that are going, it’s a time of high activity – sewing, making things, planning parties, scheduling Pennsic class schedules, and looking forward to seeing friends that we see only once a year. For those of you who are not able to attend, know that we will miss you terribly and look forward to when we can share Pennsic with you.

Since my last letter, we have welcomed some new officers to the Barony; Baroness Anna Eisenkopf is our new Mistress of the Lists, Lady Elizabeth Parker is taking on the role of Chatelaine, and THL Elss of Augsburg is our new A&S Minister. To Baroness Elizabeth Arrowsmith, Lady Edana the Red, and Master Meszaros Janos our outgoing officers; we thank you all for your service to our Barony. Vivat!

It was nice to see so many people join us for our Barony Meeting this past Sunday – there was nearly nothing left at the garb swap, the SASS auction raised $200, and folks who are new to Pennsic had the opportunity to learn more about what they were about to experience. Many thanks to Maighstir Liam and Baroness Constance for coordinating the garb swap, to Baroness Aemelia Soteria for holding the SASS auction, and to Lord Robert MacEwin of Thornhill for holding the Pennsic Newcomer’s Q&A session. Your contributions are very much appreciated.

Also since my last letter, the Barony has seen the creation of a new Guild and will be offering Equestrian activities within the Barony. The Pewterer’s Guild is lead by Lady Edana the Red and is available on a by-appointment basis on Saturday evenings. Contact Lady Edana the Red via email at edana42@hotmail.com to arrange a time. Equestrian practices are being lead by Lady Gesa Wallenstein and the schedule for those practices, along with Gesa’s contact informaiton, will be made available after Pennsic.

At Pennsic we will be holding our annual Baronial Dinner in Aethelmearc Royal Encampment on 7 August from 5p to 8p. There will be Baronial Court with some rumored Very Special Guests. Maighstir Liam is coordinating food for the light dinner. The Barony (through Liam) will be providing two protein entrees, plus water and lemonade. He is asking people to bring side dishes, desserts, and “other” beverages (the SCA doesn’t serve alcohol, but *you* can!) If you can contribute, please let Maighstir Liam know by adding your name and donation to the list.

On a more somber note, for those who knew and loved her, there will be a memorial for Countess Aidan just after the Baronial Dinner, starting at 8:30 in AEthelmearc Royal.

I wish everyone luck with finishing your Pennsic projects in time for Pennsic and, again, for those of you who are unable to go, we will be thinking of you and missing your presence.

With warmest regards,

Odriana, Seneschal

From the Seneschal

Greetings to the Debatable Lands from Odriana vander Brugghe!

Recently I was confirmed as the new Seneschal of our amazing Barony. Thank you to our hard-working outgoing Seneschal, Master Alaric MacConnal for his years of service. I would also like to thank my incoming Deputy Seneschals, THL Isabel Fleuritan and Lord Pavel Dudoladev, for stepping up to take on that role.

As the new Seneschal, I want to say hello and invite each of you to seek me out either virtually (email is typically the best way to find me, jenn.strobel@gmail.com), by voice (my number is 412.213.8116), or in person and tell me your ideas and thoughts about our Barony. What would you like to see? How are we doing as a Barony? What could we be doing better? I promise that I will listen to you and do what I can to make your ideas happen and address your concerns to the best of my ability. I look forward to hearing from you.

The job of Seneschal is to make sure that the corporate end of the SCA runs efficiently. But, my personal goal is to make sure that everyone has what they need to make their hobby fun. This shared hobby that we have is, at its core, about having fun together and sharing our unique talents with each other. I love the Debatable Lands and want us to continue to be as amazing and enthusiastic as I know we are and to continue be such a vibrant part of our Kingdom.

To introduce myself to those who have not yet gotten to know me: Currently, I am the Clerk of the Fleur d’Æthelmearc. Previously I have served the Barony as its Signet, the Kingdom as Chancellor of the Æcademy, and have had the pleasure of serving the Barony in several other offices and positions over the years. I’m also an active scribe and cook and am presently an MOL in training. I’ve been active (at various levels) in the Barony since 1988.

I love this Barony deeply and am honored to serve each and every one of you.

Odriana, Seneschal