A&S BMDL – Make and Take – Thursday, Nov 16th

Greetings!

Thursday/tomorrow is A&S in BMDL, and we all will be hand-sewing little sacks filled with lavender. These little things will go into your armor bag, your gear bag, your sock drawer, wherever you need a nicer scent. I will bring material, stuffing, thread, needles, and of course, lavender. Need I mention these make good stocking stuffers for your favorite fighter?

We will be at Victory Pointe Gaming Lounge (and ice-cream parlor), upstairs in the game room, at 1113 Carson Street on the South Side, starting at 7 PM. Come early if you wish, people start arriving about 6:45.

Upstairs is not Accessible, so if you need assistance or have questions, please call or text me, (724-759-3333).

Park safely — they ticket like crazy on the South Side. A best place is across the street in the bank parking lot, open and free after 6 PM.

See you there!
Elss Augsburg

A&S BMDL – Weaving Anywhere – Thursday, Nov 9th

Greetings to the Debatable Lands!

Thursday is A&S in BMDL, and we will be continuing our fiber-fun trend with a class on Weaving Anywhere taught by Mahin Banu Tabrizi. We will build our own looms out of string and small sticks, and weave on them. This is an easy-peasy way to have fun with string!

We will be at Victory Pointe Gaming Lounge (and ice-cream parlor), upstairs in the game room, at 1113 Carson Street on the South Side, starting at 7 PM. Come early if you wish, people start arriving about 6:45.

Upstairs is not Accessible, so if you need assistance or have questions, please call or text me, (724-759-3333).

Be sure to park safely — feed the meter if needed. They ticket like crazy on the South Side. I think the best place is across the street in the bank parking lot.

See you there!
Elss Augsburg

A and S at Washington Blvd NOT on Nov 13th

As this Sunday is the Barony Meeting and Practices with PIE at the Castle in Wexford, there will be no A&S at Washington Blvd. Make PIE, eat PIE, vote for PIE!

Also, I am looking for an indoor location for us to meet, so please keep your eyes open and let me know if you find anything around. Examples of places on my list so far: Panera (but no privacy or reservations); Stoke’s Bar on McKnight Rd (private room available); JoAnne Fabrics (unused classrooms, reservations needed); Tech Shop (East Liberty (on bus routes, probably free).

So, looking for: anywhere central, easily accessible by bus, and free or low cost. Let me know of any ideas!

Thanks, Elss Augsburg
BMDL Minister of A&S

September Barony Meeting – Guild Hall/Newcomer’s Meeting

Bayeux Tapestry - Comet

The September Barony Meeting will be held on Sunday, 18 September 2016 at 1:30 p.m. at the Environmental Charter School (829 Milton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15218). Martial practices will be moving to the ECS to share the space with us and be able to participate in both the meeting and the Guild Hall.

The September Barony Meeting has traditionally been our Newcomer’s Meeting and this year is no different. This year we will be featuring a Guild Hall to highlight our various Guilds. If you’re a new member, long-time member, or something in between come join us that the Environmental Charter School and learn a little bit more about the kinds of activities available in the Barony.

THL Elss of Augsburg is coordinating the Guild Hall. If you would like additional information about participating in the Guild Hall or have any questions, phone or text Elss at 724-759-3333. If you would like additional information about the Barony Meeting, please contact Meesteres Odriana at seneschal@debatablelands.org.

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.

Officer’s Meeting this Wednesday

​Odriana, our Seneschal​ writes:

Wednesday, 1 June 2016, is our bi-monthly Officer’s Meeting. We will start at 8:00 p.m. and the meeting room is Porter Hall A18B. I have attached the minutes from the previous meeting for your review.

If you have it already put together, please send me your report for the meeting so that we have complete records for the meeting minutes.

Also, I have no agenda items beyond Officer’s reports at this time. If you have agenda items, please send those to me by Tuesday, 31 May 2014.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Sunday Practice May 15 WITH Champions Tournaments!

The Baron and Baroness write:

Greetings to the Debatable Lands from Brandubh et Hilda,

The time has come to name new Martial Champions for our Most Excellent Barony. We invite all interested fighters and Fencers to join the tournaments, at any level, and from any place. However, only Debatable Landers and gentles with Green/Friendship Comets are eligible to become Champion.

We will be having tournaments for both Heavy and Rapier fighting, after the Barony meeting. May 15th, at the Washington Blvd practice site.

Our outgoing Rapier Champion is Dona Fredeburg. The format of the tournament is To Be Determined. We hope fighters of all levels will compete, from new fighters to White Scarves and Masters of Defense.

Our outgoing Heavy Fighting Champion in THL Lothar Hugelmann. As the out going Champ, he’s announced that it’s a regular double elimination tourney with a “span your shield” rule. Barons, Viscounts, Counts, Dukes, Chivalry, Please feel free to enter if you wish to be Champion.

In addition we need Archers! Lord Yoshi will be hosting an archery tournament to choose the Barony’s representative to the Scarlet Guard Challenge at the Guard Inn event in Hornwood on June 11. So tune up your bows to shoot in this engaging challenge.

We are truly looking forward to seeing you all there!

Cheers,
Brandubh et Hilda

Heavy and Rapier Fighting Champs May 15th

Hello Debatable Lands!

The time has come to name new Fighting Champions for our Most Excellent Barony. We invite all interested fighters to join the tournaments, at any level, and from any place. However, only Debatable Landers and gentles with Green/Friendship Comets are eligible to become Champion.

We will be having tournaments for both Heavy and Rapier fighting, after the Barony meeting. May 15th, at the Washington Blvd practice site.

Our outgoing Rapier Champion is Dona Fredeburg. The format of the tournament is To Be Determined. We hope fighters of all levels will compete, from new fighters to White Scarves and Masters of Defense.

Our outgoing Heavy Fighting Champion in THL Lothar Hugelmann. As the out going Champ, he’s announced that it’s a regular double elimination tourney with a “span your shield” rule. Barons, Viscounts, Counts, Dukes, Chivalry, Please feel free to enter if you wish to be Champion.

In Levitate et Caritate,
Baron Brandubh and Baroness Hilda

May Scribal Meeting – Gilding with Mistress Antoinette

Scriptorium-banner

Unto the Barony, greetings from Kameshima, head of the Baronial Scribes’ Guild!

First, I would like to thank everyone who attended last Wednesday’s Scriptorium Roundtable. We had several gentles from the Debatable Lands, Sunderoak and Gryffyn’s Keep, and held an excellent discussion of the kinds of things, including specific classes that people would like to see as well as evening organizational formats. We are looking forward to a productive and educational Scriptorium open to one and all.

Second, speaking of Scriptorium: next month’s Scriptorium will be a class on gilding note cards taught by Mistress Antoinette de la Croix. This class will be held at Carnegie Mellon University in the Pake Room in the University Center. The class will begin at 6:30pm and end at 9:30pm If you would like additional information, or have any questions, please contact Mistress Antoinette directly at mistressantoinettedelacroixATgmail.com.

Starting in June, we expect to return to our regularly scheduled time and place, 7pm at our house in the North Hills.

Finally, thank you to everyone in the Barony and surrounding areas who attended yesterday’s Macclesfield Psalter workshop, to Mistress Antoinette for teaching, and of course to Their Majesties for opening up Their lovely home so that students from across the Kingdom could gather to learn calligraphy, illumination and gilding techniques taken from this beautiful 14th c. manuscript.

Scribal activities are alive and well in the Barony, and I look forward to working with everyone who is interested in learning these rich and rewarding arts to help continue making the Æthelmearc College of Scribes the envy of the Known World.

In Honor and Service,

Kameshima Zentarō Umakai