Meeting Minutes - June 2007

Present:  Kudrun, Brilliana, Vitaliano, Vettoria, Allyssa, Maewyn, Valgarth, Ariella

The meeting was called to order at 2:18 p.m. at Cameron Park in La Crosse on June 17th, 2007.

Officer Reports

Arts and Sciences

• The A & S list was passed around.
• A & S Nights are only scheduled for the second Thursday of the month during the summer, because folks have so much other stuff (SCA and non-) going on.
• That being said, please feel free to contact Valgarth if you want to schedule one-on-one time for an A & S project at other times.
• No shows at the previous A & S Night.

Herald

• It's been pretty quiet lately; she's been sending the same report.
• Vettoria was interested in a household device with which to mark Alyssa in case she slips away during an event.

Exchequer

• The P.O. Box fee was paid in April.
• Vettoria would like to have the checks ready for the Fairgrounds and the Lion's Kitchen at the next meeting or before.
• No receipts were handed in since the last meeting, so checks were issued. The totals in various accounts are identical to May, and run as follows:

Seneschal

• Kudrun has found a Deputy Seneschal with an eye to stepping down after several years in office. Maewyn agreed to serve as Deputy.
• As Maewyn was out of the Shire inspecting the site for Warlord's and Warriors for Thrown Weapons, he was voted in as Deputy Seneschal, with one nay and one abstention due to lack of language skills.
• Kudrun would like to become Deputy Chronicler, but as she refused to cross the street for long enough for the Food Co-op to refill her coffee, this was not voted on.

Webminister / Chronicler

• The June White Birch was sent out on time.
• Reports for both Chronicler and Webminister were due on June 1st and submitted a few days before that.
• A book review would be appreciated to flesh out the one currently underway.
• A bare-bone Feast page is up for the Autumn Rose website. Details will be fleshed out when the ingredients list is finalized.

New Business

Autumn Rose

• Vitaliano asked Brilliana to calligraphy/illuminate the Feast menu and a photocopy will be placed on each table.
• We need to have an ad-hoc planning meeting by the end of the month, as the Autocrat's work schedule is making it difficult for him to attend Shire meetings.
• Brilliana has talked to T-Bones, and he has verbally confirmed that he will sell lunch at Autumn Rose.
• We will ask the Milkshake Ladies to provide shakes at Autumn Rose at the Trempealeau Fair in July.
• The July Shire meeting will be held on July 22nd, not the 15th, first at Trempealeau County Fairgrounds so that we can talk to the Milkshake Ladies and do an informal walkthrough of the grounds. Plan on winding up at Kudrun's house at around 2:30.
• The August Shire meeting will likewise be held at the Fairgrounds so that we can do the traditional inspection.
• Despite the fact that the show animals at the Fair are being re-arranged somewhat this year, we will still need to power-wash the Merchant's Area, and possibly the Feast Hall as well.
• Last year, the County employee responsible for cleaning the Feast Hall building did not do a thorough job, and there were spots that had to be hastily mopped of aged cow dung. This year, Vitaliano will try to inspect that building even before the July meeting, and alert the County board if the building is not reasonably clean.
• At this time, we do not know if any demonstrators or performers have committed to be at A.R. The merchant who normally hires the Middle Eastern dancers will likely not attend the event, so we don't know if they will be available.
• Valgarth will contact Hilltoppers for the dumpsters. Any deposit or pre-payment checks will be ready at the next meeting.
• Preferably, we can have Hilltoppers deliver the dumpsters on the Friday of the event, so that someone will be there to show them where to situate them.
• Vitaliano has a verbal confirmation from the Lions that he can use the kitchen. However, they require that he use charcoal rather than logs in the grill. He will use wood chips to flavor the meat.
• We need enforcers to make sure that campers who intend to be up late camp in the noisy area, leaving the quiet area to those who want to turn in early. Ariella will take the lead on making and posting signs.
• No tokens have been made, although two ideas, involving wooden roses and wooden leaves, have been proposed. The color of the cord will determine site vs. site and feast admission. Valgarth will follow up on the pricing of the leaves; Brighid, who found the wooden roses, will be contacted to follow up on the price of the roses.
• Maewyn will ask Morgan if he is again willing to provide biscuits and gravy for the Sunday morning breakfast. Maewyn will likely see Morgan at WW.
• At this point, it does not look as though we will have Royalty, so Vitaliano asked how Head Table will be filled. Traditionally, this is done with the tournament winners (in default or Royalty or reigning Baron(ess). Vitaliano suggested that the mid-remove performers (a.k.a. his "pages" who are sent to the four corners of the world). Stunt Royalty? Viscount Leif and Viscountess Astrid are supposed to attend, but Leif is already Vitaliano's "bouncer". Inquiries will be made.
• Vitaliano was not able to acquire sheets to be dyed as canopy and wall hangings for the Feast. He is still contacting hotels.
• The Turkish coffee house folks have--to present knowledge--confirmed their attendance. However, the Caffeine Addict's Guild will NOT be selling breakfast on Saturday morning, so there is a need for that. Bronislava, as Merchant Coordinator, will be contacted to ask her to determine whether the coffee house will attend Autumn Rose.
• Vettoria noted that per regulations, merchants must have their paperwork to her BEFORE the event. Email and fax submissions are perfectly acceptable.
• At the time of the meeting, we were not aware that anyone had committed to Marshalling the Fencing at the event. Will follow up.

  Follow-up Note:  Lord Michiel Ui Conallain graciously offered his services for this office. Huzzah for Lord Michiel (and Lord Hawthorn while we're at it!).

• The Equestrian folks couldn't commit by the deadline we set, so there will be no Equestrian activities this year.
• Brighid has not applied for the background check required for those running Youth activities. The SCA has (apparently) only recently designated the firm responsible for making these checks. Price (and reimbursibility) to be determined. The background check process reputedly takes a month.

  Webminister's Note:  Information regarding the details of the background check has not been verified, despite scanning the www.sca.org website and the Youth Activities web pages on the www.northshield.org website.

• The Chiurgeon's kit should be filled before the event, to minimize errand-running during Autumn Rose.
• The Fairgrounds sign is invisible to those coming from the north on Highway 53 because of overgrowth. Ariella will provide a large sign to indicate where guests are supposed to turn.
• Further discussion will have to happen via the Yahoo! Listserve, as we need a number of questions answered before the July meeting.

Other Business - Proposed 2008 event

• Vitaliano suggested that we host a combined Archery, Thrown Weapons and Arts & Sciences event at the archery club he mentioned at the previous meeting.
• We can have exclusive use of one of the buildings, which would provide kitchen facilities, tables, and electrical outlets.
• The site does allow camping. However, NO campfires would be allowed, given that the area is forested by pine trees.
• For a Feast theme, we could possibly have a stew snit. The cost of stew could be in part defrayed by the Shire, as a stew to feed many is considerably more expensive than having a pie as the site fee. More discussion needed.
• The stews could be judged. Discussion of a populace vote supplemented by cooking laurels.
• As the event would be A & S themed, Ariella noted that she has previously offered to organize an "Iron Tailor" type of event. If there are sufficient outlets for sewing machines and enough tables, she would be interested.

Other Business - Report on the new Warlord's and Warrior's event site

• Maewyn returned from inspecting the new WW site, which was arranged at the last minute due to the unsuitability of the old site.
• Maewyn reported that the campgrounds (the site of summer events like RockFest, CountryFest, etc.) is huge. There is room enough to add siege weaponry and combat archery to the heavy fighting.
• There are no stables for the Equestrians.
• The site also has very few trees, so plan on bringing shade flies. It was suggested that if the Shire plans to make its own encampment, we should bring the flies in storage.
• Showering facilities are on site, as well as flush toilets. However, these are not necessarily conveniently situated.
• The handicap-accessible facilities are extremely limited. Anyone requiring those facilities are strongly encouraged to contact the Autocrats as soon as possible.
• Bear in mind that the "camping" that takes place on the site is done in RVs, so it is set up for that more so that traditional camping.
• The weather at the site has been very dry, so burning is by permit only. If the dry weather continues, there may even be a ban on burning. Plan accordingly.
• At this time, no one knows what effect the change in location will have on attendance.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 pm.

Page last updated:  23 July 2007