Fridrikr proposed holding the annual event at Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra on February 24. It’s a beautiful 19th Century church, with a modern fellowship hall and kitchen. Fridrikr noted that there are some nice high ceilings, but he does not know yet if the church building use committee would allow martial classes. If a teacher proposes a martial class, he will ask about it. He is autocrat, Bronwyn the chancellor of classes, Bryn and Olivia the head cooks, Kadlin the head lunch cook, and Orianna the tollner.

The committee is scheduled to vote on this next week, and no objections are expected.
The church rental is $500. Feast, which would be limited to 100 gentles, would cost $6 per person, for a total cost of $600. Lunch is $1.50 per gentle, with 150 expected for lunch, for a total cost of $225. Miscellaneous expenses (including the traditional tortoise scrolls for the teachers) would be $75. Total expected expenses are $1,400.

Onboard fee for adults would be $14, while offboard would be $8. The fees for children aged five to 17 would be $7 onboard, $4 offboard, with those under five years of age attending free of charge. Anticipating a $400 profit. “this could be a major moneymaker,” Fridrikr noted.
The site is dry. He did not know if open flames would be allowed during dinner, but will ask. There is no handicapped access, and little changing space. He discussed possible alternatives to the changing space issue, depending upon how many rooms are needed as classrooms.

The event’s theme is everyday life in the Middle Ages and the Current Middle Ages. He hopes that there will be dancing after the feast. Originally, he did not expect The Crown to attend, since They need to be in Delftwood the week before for the baronial investiture at Feast of the Seven Deadly Sins. However, he has heard recently that They may want to attend C3R, so he will invite Them

Fridrikr asked for baronial approval of the bid pending the site committee’s approval. Those present approved unanimously 21-0-0.

A&S:
“Things are ticking along nicely in the Arts & Sciences,” Kadlin happily reported, noting the regular practices for cooks guild, threadworkers, scribal, and both Medieval and Middle Eastern dance. She, Daedez, and Matilda served as judges for the A&S competition at Baronial Champs, and she congratulated Eldjarn on winning both the competition and the populace’s vote. Kadlin heartily thanked Phillipe for serving as her deputy and making sure she gets things done on time. However, she welcomes additional deputies, to help othothers learn more about the arts and sciences. She also seeks ideas for topics for future social meetings. “Katja has given me several wonderful suggestions which I hope to use, but I also need to know what the populace wants and/or is interested in. They can be on any topic, and don’t always have to be presented by me. Anyone who is willing to share their skills and/or knowledge is encouraged to contact me ASAP.” For the December social meeting,

Kadlin is planning a roundtable discussion of how various cultures celebrate during the winter season (Mongols, Vikings, Jews, Pagans, et. al.), especially during our period of study. Please bring food, clothing, crafts, etc. and have fun spending time with friends.

Chatelaines:
We held three demos at the Marion Library during the summer, Dubheasa reported: a threadworkers meeting, an ADEPT presentation, and a combined Western and Middle Eastern dance. We had a lot of fun at all of them, and the Marion newspaper featured us in an article. We also had a lot of fun at Astronomicon on November 11. Dubheasa added that she chatelained several non-SCAdians at Summer’s End, since the local chatelaine was busy.

There have been seven new people in the Barony in the past couple of months. They are still accepting items for the demo box. Sigvaldi and Dubheasa mentioned several upcoming demos, noting that several schools annually ask for demos when they cover world history or medieval history (including School of the Arts, Iroquois, and Grace Covenant):

Gift wrapping at Borders in Victor on December 14 and 21
Medieval midwinter festival at the Main Street Armory on December 16

ADEPT demo for a cub scout pack on December 4
ADEPT demo for Dr. Freddie Thomas High School
ADEPT demo for Sigvaldi’s boy scout troupe in February
ADEPT demo for Hilton High School this spring
SCA demo for Webster Library, also sometime this spring

Katja asked if there were any blue “Welcome to the SCA” cards to hand out to folks at the upcomupcoming demos, since they’ve been scarce at recent ones. Dubheasa said she had only 10 left. After some discussion as to how to procure more cards, Sorcha offered to make new ones on her computer, and promised she would include the barony webpage URL and chatelaine’s email on the back. Many thanks to Sorcha!!

Sigvaldi commented that he realizes very few SCAdians are available to participate in the school demos during workdays, and that it’s very often just him and Branwen. He would very much like to know if there are any other folks in the Barony who are available during the day for such demos, and noted that they’re usually scheduled for Fridays so as to be as convenient as possible.

Chronicler:
We’ve published eight issues of Fewmet this year, with the October and November issues released electronically. The online version can accommodate color photos, longer columns and articles, and active hyperlinks. Mairghread estimated that her cycle time to produce the newsletter each month has been reduced **80%** by it being published online as opposed to solely print. This could not have been possible without the dedicated help of the webministers, Donal and Sorcha.

Starting with the November issue, the newsletter’s content is available both online and as a downloadable PDF for those gentles who wish a hardcopy. Mairghread will mail a copy to any gentle who does not have electronic access, at her own expense; currently, there are two who have asked for this, in addition to the kingdom chronicler. She thinks this will cost about $30 a year in postage and paper. As requested, she had copies of the list of officer contact information, which is no longer included in the online version for privacy reasons.

Archery:
Opening with a few lines of poetry, Cedric reported that practice has moved indoors to Jim’s Pro Shop. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, there will not be a practice this weekend.

However, it will resume on December 3 at a location in Brockport. He will post directions on the Yahoo list.

Following up on a discussion from a previous business meeting, Fridrikr said he had asked the kingdom exchequer if there were any prohibitions against one 501c3 organization giving a donation to another, and she said there were none. He stated that Thescorre had a long and very close relationship with St. Stephen’s Church and specifically with Father Dick while he was pastor of the church. “We flourished because he was so generous with us,” he said. Therefore, he asked that the barony donate $50 in Father Dick’s memory to Parkinson’s Research, the charity his family requested.
Alina cautioned that if we do it for one person, it will open up a bag of worms. Similarly, Katja expressed concern that if we donate money in memory of one Thescorrean’s loved one and not for all other future ones, it would cause very hurt feelings. Fridrikr said that future requests would have to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Katrina noted that the barony wouldn’t be doing this donation merely because Father Dick was Khalek’s father but because he was a benefactor of the whole barony.
Recognizing that gentles might feel pressured to vote one way or the other, Peregrine asked for a vote by paper ballot. Those present voted 14-0-5 to approve a $50 donation in Father Dick’s name.

Kaidlin, our Arts and Sciences Minister, led the Yule celebration buffet feast and social networking. Gentles were invited to share Holiday practices including those with medieval roots.

Fredrikr presented a piece on the importance of sacrifice in Norse Yule traditions and how it has led to the current tradition of a holiday ham. (Coincidentally Peregrine and Cedric had provided one for the Yule table!) See the FEWMET article “Yule Celebrations in Viking Times “ by Fredrikr on this subject on page.

Mairghread prepared an Italian Christmas Eve (“La Viglia”) dish called Zuppa di Bacala. This is a salt codfish stew. Mairghread shared that salted cod fish is mentioned by Platina and has been a staple food in Europe for at least a millennium (Fredrikr attested to it’s popularity in Northern Europe.). In this recipe, the fish is paired with raisins and sometimes figs and flavored with cinnamon and vegetables. This combination of meat or fish, fruit and spices is well known in medieval cooking but is rarely seen today. However, Zuppa di Bacala is still served in many Italian households on Christmas Eve. It is one of the seven or twelve (depending on the region) fish dishes served for the La Viglia (literally “The Vigil” of Christmas) feast which in the Middle Ages completed a day of abstinence from meat combined with 18 – 20 hours of strict fasting. This event is also called The Feast of the Twelve Fishes and is said to represent one fish dish for each of the twelve apostles. Mairghread shared a typical modern day menu for La Viglia with twelve different fish dishes and background information including photos of her grandmother’s village near Rome where the tradition is carried on today. Copies of the recipe were also provided.

The presentations were done in period costume matching each subject matter.

Our many under-the-weather Thescorrians were wished good health concluding a faire Yule celebration!