Month: October 2017

Archery is on for this Sunday. 11am to 2pm at Highland Park. See you there.

As we’re exiting yet another October heat-wave and enjoying a nice, cool day, it’s a great time to look towards our annual Harvest Revel and Barony Meeting at the Castle (still with PIE) next month.

The Harvest Revel will take place on Sunday, 19 November 2017 and again Count Byron and Countess Ariella are opening their home to us – the Castle (755 Stonegate Dr, Wexford, PA 15090 – map). There will be some changes to parking, so there will be further information coming with details about those changes as we get closer to the date.

Here’s the tentative schedule:

11:00 a.m. – Site Opens, Thrown Weapons Practice
12:00 p.m. – Pie Competition Opens
1:00 p.m. – Choir Performance
1:30 p.m. – Barony Meeting, immediately followed by a Business Meeting (all are invited to participate)
2:00 p.m. – Heavy Weapons/Rapier Practice

There will be the usual launching of the pumpkins towards the end of the day. So, bring a pumpkin and see it go “SPLAT” in glorious fashion. Only fresh pumpkins are allowed, no rotting ones as they are awful to try and clean up.

The schedule is still being confirmed and the final planning for the pie competition is still being done and we will be updating as things are confirmed. If you would like to do something like offer a short class or coordinate some largesse-making activities (or anything else), please contact Odriana at seneschal (at) debatablelands (dot) org. For those of you who are concerned about such things, it’s a bye week for the Steelers.

As usual, no garb required, unless you really want to wear garb. We will be happy to see you regardless of your attire.

If you’ve not yet been to the Castle, here is a link to Count Byron and Countess Ariella’s website for the Castle (as with most things, it’s even better in person). It’s a beautiful place and we are so fortunate that they let us hang out there.

If you’re on Facebook, please RSVP on the event page.

Greetings from you Comet Pursuivant!

It’s late, I know, but office hours begin now! Click to join the Google Hangout! Thank you! https://hangouts.google.com/call/OQLd3kHMW1VA-HicZ2taAAEE

Kieran MacRae

The Seneschal’s Spotlight will be a monthly feature that highlights an aspect of the Barony and its people.

As some of you already know, we have an online Blog called “Stórfréttir” (“breaking news” in Icelandic) as part of our website. It was the centerpiece of Ishiyama’s time as Webminister and made its debut about two years ago. Since then, there have been many efforts to make it more useful to everyone . As part of that, I want to share some helpful information about how you can use and/or contribute to it by doing a little Q&A.

~Odriana, Seneschal

Who can have an account to post to Stórfréttir?

Officers, heads of a Guild, or Deputy Officers are the only ones who may have a login to post to Stórfréttir.

If I can’t have a login, but I’d like to:
1. Post about an event
2. Share something that I’ve learned.
3. Would like to contribute an article about an event I recently attended.
4. Share documentation or a class handout that I created so that people may use it.
..or something else that would benefit the Barony by seeing it. How do I get that posted to Stórfréttir?

You can send it to the Webminister or any Officer and ask for them to post it for you.

Does Stórfréttir replace the Althing?

No. Stórfréttir is another way to share information and announcements. It was not created to replace the Althing and does not intend to replace the Althing.

I’m not super technically literate and I’m a little intimidated by the idea of learning how to use the WordPress interface to post to Stórfréttir.

No worries, the interface is pretty intuitive, there are multiple people that can walk you through the process, and there is always the option of having someone else post for you.

When I am posting an announcement or other information, I have to cut and paste it on multiple platforms. Isn’t Stórfréttir yet another place I have to cut and paste information to?

Anything posted to Stórfréttir will automatically appear on the BMDL Announcements Facebook Page, BMDL Twitter Account, the Baronial email list, and the BMDL Announcements G+ Page. The only group it does not automatically publish to is the BMDL Populace Discussion Group on Facebook. This means that you can post it once to Stórfréttir and then paste the URL to the entry onto the Populace Discussion Group. That’s two places, rather than four.

There’s also a really cool thing available to guilds who post to Stórfréttir – in the media folder that is available to everyone with a login – Kameshima has created personalized badges for all of the BMDL’s guilds. Here are just a couple —

For the BMDL Choir:

For the BMDL Fiber Arts Guild:

I hope that this has answered the big questions and that you will consider submitting something to share on Stórfréttir or including Stórfréttir in how you make announcements about your guild/practice/meeting/etc.

Greetings from your Chronicler.  My term is up in December, so I am calling for letters for the position.  Please email your letter to both myself, and our seneschal. The position requires someone both organized, stubborn and unwavering in asking/pestering people for articles and letters.  The newsletter is published once every quarter, but you can change that should you feel particularly enthusiastic and have enough content.  The job takes about 4-8 hours of time every quarter to put together.  You will need the ability to publish a PDF, and do some photo editing, you will also need to be confident in scouring the net/library for additional content .  If you have any questions about the job, please feel free to email me or my deputy.

Mistress Constance Glyn Dwr

chronicler@debatablelands.org
seneschal@debatablelands.org

This upcoming Sunday we’ll be at Highland Park, 11am-2pm. Hope to see y’all there.

The date for BMDL 12h Night has been changed to 13 January 2018. Nothing else has changed, only the date.

Celebrate Twelfth Night with us in the Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands! All are Welcome on this day to enjoy music and song and dancing, gift giving and getting, good food, and good friends!

The Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands announces that Twelfth Night Festivities will be held on Saturday, January 13, 2018 at the Lodge in North Park, (no street number) North Ridge Drive, Allison Park, PA 15101. The site will open at 10 AM and close at 10 PM.

The Officers of the Debatable Lands again will sponsor our celebration so that this is a FREE event! No reservations are required. Bring a dish to share for the Potluck. Check the list of dishes and list your own dish on http://www.luckypotluck.com/potluck/BMDL12thNightPotluck. Bring your feast gear and your potent potables – adult beverages are welcome!

The co-autocrats are Lady Kathryn Tantzel (contact info: designsbymlb (at) gmail (dot) com or Shelly Bauer, 512 Russellwood Ave, McKees Rocks, PA 15212; 412.532.8712) and THL Muirgheal inghean Dubhghaill (contact info: Muirgheall (at) gmail.com or Heather Cogan, 111 Mulberry street, Coraopolis, PA 15108, 724.683.7558). Contact either one with questions.

Please note that many activities are being planned for adults and children. More information and directions will be available in the upcoming Althings and online.

Notes from the autocrats:
• Service animals welcome.
• Handicap parking spaces are at the curb in front of the Lodge
• If you enter the address of the Lodge into your GPS you are very likely to go wrong. Follow these directions or use the following latitude and longitude: N 40°33.904′ W 080°02.477′
• The speed limit of 25 mph is enforced.
• Watch for animals of all types on the road: geese, raccoons, crows, turkeys, and herds of deer that do not run away and clearly believe the park belongs to them.
• If you feel the least bit uncertain, the autocrat may be reached by phone at 724.683.7558