Meeting Minutes - September 2005

Present: Maewyn, Katherine, Giles, Batista, Bronislava, Amata, William, Brilliana, Arnora, Valgarth, Kudrun, Ariella, Vettoria, Shane

Meeting called to order at 3:02 p.m.

Officer Reports

Arts and Sciences

• List was passed around.
• We need more displays of Shire handiwork for the Autumn Rose A&S display.

Chatelaine

• Everyone "made a lot of new friends" at Autumn Rose," quoth Arnora.
• Garb day can morph into a Newcomer's Day or even A&S day if need be. Activity suggestions included working on the Shire's loaner garb and watching cheesy medievally-themed movies afterward.
• Autumn Rose signs need fixing; some of the stakes were mangled because the ground was too hard to pound them in.
• Library research day next Sunday (September 25th) at the La Crosse Public Library Main Branch from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Chronicler

• Paperwork was signed to turn office over to Arnora in light of Toki stepping down.
• Kudrun put out an interrim newsletter for September.

Knight Marshall

• "Giles the Wounded" and "Valgarth the Sunburned" visited Wilton on Saturday and had fighting practice with Coille Stormeil's Lord Hawthorne. Currently planning to do the same this coming Saturday (Sept. 24th).
• A regional fighting practice will be held in Wilton on October 29th. His Majesty, Kitadate-tenno, currently plans to attend. (Note that this link opens a new browser window.)

Seneschal

• Has announcement for the Rapier Academy event to be held on October 1st.
• Filled out paperwork for officer changes.
• Per Corporate, we are now required to check the tax paperwork for merchants who sell at events that we host. This mainly means that we check for tax I.D. numbers and record that we did so.

Thrown Weapons Marshall

• Practice can be held at Maewyn's house, and is scheduled for after 5:00 pm this coming Sunday (Sept. 25th). Potluck to follow.
• Note that Maewyn's yard is only large enough for throwing knives, axes, etc. Arrows, atlatls, and especially siege weapons are out of the question.

Webminister

• Quarterly report submitted early, as the bulk of the quarter's work (i.e. Autumn Rose webpages) are done.

New Business

Autumn Rose Post Mortem

• Bronislava does not want to Autocrat for the fourth consecutive time next year, although she is willing to mentor a brand-new Autocrat in the background. The incoming Autocrat will need reliable internet and telephone access. Arnora will sound out Alhwin, who has expressed an interest. (Note:  We don't have to decide this now.)
• Washing the floor of the merchant's building on Wed. night was a good idea.
• Site tokens should be ready by the time that site opens; they should not be fabricated at Troll on-the-fly. (Next year we shouldn't have to deal with two colors for the two different events,w which should help.)
• If we ever again host two events in one weekend, why can't they both run at the same time? Generally agreed that "regional" events like ARRG and NASMA should move around the Kingdom.
• Question:  Does the Fair Board absolutely require that we must host a demo for the public as part of the event? Kudrun will check with her contact. Some question raised of how well the local folks would react to being shut out. Kudrun pointed out that we don't have to advertise via leaflets or fliers, which should cut down on the non-SCA traffic.
• Valgarth noted that the non-SCA guests (and even some of the SCA ones) were surprised, and not in a good way, that there was no schedule posted. He thinks that this caused visitors from the public to meander through the grounds and then leave because there was nothing scheduled to keep them there. Arnora suggested posting schedules inside the bathroom stalls in addition to the more traditional locations.
• Things that need to be taken care of before, during and after the event are more likely to be done if there are schedules that Shire members can check and also sign off on. No one should be assigned the same job for the whole weekend (unless they want it of course).
• We need larger dumpsters next year; six cubic yards was not enough. Also, having water available in refillable containers, as opposed to disposable bottles, would save a lot of dumpster-space.
• Discussion of how to encourage more of the people who consider themselves members of the Shire to pitch in at Autumn Rose. Half-price site fee idea didn't generate a lot of enthusiam because there's no good way of enforcing that.
• Out site fee totals and the cash box were only off by $4.00, which is excellent.
• The stone soup went over very well, but Kudrun forgot to put out the donations box for it, so what didn't come out of her garden will be coming from general funds.
• Security patrol didn't happen this year. Complaints about loud campers on Friday night. Amata and William volunteered to patrol next year, but want guidance, as they haven't even seen it done, much less done it themselves.
• Discussion of dividing camping area into "family-friendly" (i.e. quiet) and other (normal volume appropriate for city limits) sections. Enforcing that would be helped greatly by mapping the site and cordoning off those areas before guests arrive.
• Feast report from Arnora:
  • Happy to report that she had a lot of help:  "I had six little minions in the kitchen at any given time."
  • All feast-related equipment and supplies have since been inventoried. We are in desperate need of several kinds of serving dishes. Sarra normally brought her own, but this was never communicated to Arnora prior to the day of the Feast.
  • Wants authorization for buying enough serving gear (bowls, trays, serving utensils, etc.)
  • Would also like more feast preparation equipment as well, including knives and cutting boards. (Numerous suggestions offered by the Shire.)
  • Lesson learned from this year:  Do not overload the roasters, as we broke the handle on one.
  • Is there some reason why food can't be prepared in the kitchen, loaded into the roasters, and then cook in the serving room at the Feast Hall? Last year, the wiring wasn't up to the strain, but the Feast Hall (as well as the Lion's building) has been rewired, so this is an option for next year.
• Shane offered to donate two sets of radios (walkie-talkies) to the Shire so that we don't have to prevail upon David the Thirsty (when inevitably one of the units is lost for a week or two). Let's use them, too!
• Can we offer some stipend or waive/discount site fee to encourage more performers? If so, doing it by invitation only may be more manageable. Kudrun noted that we can't legally pay performers out of group funds. In kind idea bandied about, but nothing decided.
• William and Amata thanked the group for volunteering them to sit at head table for Feast as part of Her Highness's (now Majesty's) request to have newcomers to the SCA at head table at the events she attends.

Meeting adjourned at 5:03 p.m.

Page last updated:  20 September 2005