Baronial Curia Meeting Minutes

October 9, 2005 (A.S. XL)

Baronial Curia Report October 9, 2005
Held in the Canton of Seashire

In Attendance:

Curia
Karren Worden, Baronial Seneschal
Maria Crook, Baroness
James Crook, Baron
Joan Chiasson , Icicle Pursuivant
Nancy Clark, Seneschal, Canton of Ynys y Gwaed
Mike Burnet, Chatelaine
Kelly Grant, A&S Mistress
Roberta Hilton, Exchequer
Joanne McDonald, Seneschal, Distant Shore
Dale Roberts, Knight Marshall
Wendy Regular, Seneschal, Canton Seashire

Populace
Lois Perry
Jolynna Worden
Tina Oliver
Matthew Nott
Mike Reid
Greg Murray
Barry Worden
James Pole
Eric Mason
Joe Chiasson
Dianne Grant
Pierre Longtin
George Johanson
Keith Noseworthy
Elizabeth Cross
Mark Simms
Jackie Bowne
Treva MacLean

Minutes of the previous meeting were distributed

Officer Reports

Knight Marshall - Dale Roberts

• Report not found on yahoo group file

Exchequer - Roberta Hilton

• Monies in the account are all accounted for up to January 1st.
• There is one withdrawal for the amount of $376.00 on January 10 that has no backup documentation, but it is assumed that it is for 12th night. Further research will be done to determine where this expenditure was made.
• Account balance is $1533.69
• It was discovered that the bank is charging service fees for every transaction of $5.00 plus $3.95 for bank statements.
• Discussion ensued regarding changing the account in order to avoid excessive banking fees.

A&S - Kelly Grant

• This will be my last report as I will not be re applying for the A&S minister's job when my term expires in December.
• Distant Shores' A&S Minister has recently moved to Dartmouth. They are in the process of electing a new minister.
• Fight Practices have moved to an indoor site the may offer space for Sunday afternoon A&S classes. Talk is of having me, Lady Estela go there once a month to teach costume classes. Lady Alessandra has been going to YYG to teach beginner Costume classes as well. Things have been quiet there this past summer, but there are hopes of renewed interest once the cooler temps arrive.
• In Seashire, weekly A&S meetings at the MFRC during fight practice have been popular. Several households run weekly get-togethers.
• Athena's Thimble meets once a month, also at the MFRC. Dabblers Guild have been running classes in Readfalh Holm.

Coronet - Maria Cook

• Next court will be at BIA
• Baron has maintained a stable health status and stayed out of hospital and thanks everyone for their concern.

Chatelaine - Mike Burnett

• All cantons either have or in the process of acquiring a gold key,
• Baronial gold key is for backup in case it is needed over an above the canton gold key,
• A guest at the B&B showed an interest in photographs of SCA events, and expressed an interest in doing a documentary for the A&E channel and may get back to Mike and Sarah to do some filming in future.

Icicle Pursuivant - Joan Chiasson

• Badges for the Barony are ready to be sent to Kingdom

Webmaster - Susan Richter (filed in absentia prior to the meeting online and presented by Mike Burnett)

• Click here for full report (PDF format)

Minister of Lists - Nicholas Hue

• No report filed at of time of posting

Company Captain of Archers - Vivian Fox

• No report filed at time of posting

Chronicler - Paul McCullough

• No report filed at time of posting

Canton Reports

Distant Shores - Joanna MacDonald

• The Canton of Distant Shore is growing by leaps and bounds,
• Approximately $1000, currently in their bank account
• They will be voting on a new A&S officer in the coming week,
• Ragnarr is the Knight Marshall and Jordan Hawkwing is his deputy

Ynys y Gwaed - Nancy Clark

• Feasts held at the Christian Reformed Church Hall: (not published in Pikestaff)
• Oct 15 with 15 attending. Schola presented by Lady Allessandra on how to make modern patterns more period
• Nov 12 with 13 attending. Schola presented by Lady Allessandra on embroidery techniques for garb.
• Dec 10 with 13 attending.
• More advertising was requested by the group to make more of the general public aware of our presence and to garner more members to expand our base of talent. It was suggested to place posters at the university and public bulletin boards and to advertise in a local arts newspaper called "The Buzz". Concern was raised that we will be thought of as a "dinner theater". Hopefully as people hear of us, that will diminish.
• Our next feasts will take place on Jan 21, Feb 18 and March 18.
• We will be restarting our "Sewing Sundays" and fight practice again on the 22nd after our next mini-feast.

Seashire - Wendy Regular - Absent (posted pre-meeting online)

• $750.91 bank balance
• No events held recently
• Fight practice at MFRC and Sunday sewing at the Bay Rd fire hall are well attended.
• The Seashire website is up and running.

Wolfsgate - Colin MacKenzie

• Seneschal was notified on October 24th of the status of this Canton and the impending dormant status which was announced to the populace in January 2006

Principality Committee

• No news to report

Old Business

• No old business is noted on the meeting minutes

New Business

• Election of New Officers:
  1. Elections for the following positions were held:
     Chronicler
     Exchequer
     Herald
  2. For the exchequer position it was reported that the Kingdom exchequer cannot warrant the interim exchequer until she is in the position on a full time basis.
  3. Discussion ensued regarding candidates for the position of exchequer. The position was to be filled in September and Kingdom is pressing for the position to be filled as soon as possible. No letters of intent have been filed with the curia from persons wishing to serve as exchequer although one person (other than the interim exchequer) expressed an interest in the position. An attempt was made to contact this person via telephone with no success.
  4. The question was debated whether to wait until the next meeting (January) in case there was another candidate for the position, or to hold an election for the office at this meeting. A vote was taken and it was decided to proceed with the election of Exchequer. (Wait 2 votes; proceed immediately 4 votes, 1 abstain)(Note; only 7 curia members were present at this point in the meeting.)
  5. A vote was taken for the position of Exchequer and Roberta was elected. (6 in favour, 3 abstain)
  6. A vote was taken for the position of Herald and Joan Chiasson was unanimously elected. (9)
  7. A vote was taken for the position of Chronicler and Mike Reid was unanimously elected. (9)
• New Event bids:
  1. BIA:
     It was reported that there are currently 88 persons reserved on board for the BIA event, and one off board. There are 12 children under the age of 8 years expected, and 15 children between the ages of 8 and 15 years. Total expected costs for this event $808.00 for the feast, $186.00 misc. and the hall is paid for.
  2. Martinmas:
     Reservations are coming in and all seats on board are currently filled, and a waiting list is being compiled. Off board seating will be physically separate from on board seating and this will be announced on the website.
  3. 12th Night:
     A bid was received from Margaret Twygge for the 12th Night celebration. Planned activities include Bardic championship, games, dance, mummer's play, Wassailing, Lord of Misrule, and various children's activities. (Vote on bid, unanimous 9)

     It was noted that the A&S Championship should be added to the list of activities.

     The event will be posted in Pikestaff as there will be a Baronial Court held at this event.

     A vote was taken on the bid, and it was unanimously accepted. (9)

Other New Business:

• Mike Reid reported on discussions concerning affiliation with the ASCA and the question if the SCA was currently in conflict with any Provincial legislation.

  Examples of similar affiliation agreements were distributed to show what an agreement with this organization would look like.

  Discussion ensued concerning affiliation with the ASCA, and reporting requirements. In the event that the SCA affiliates with the ASCA, the group will no longer report to or send membership fees to the USA, but will retain all fees in the local area.

  Discussion ensued concerning legal liability of group members should any mishap occur at an event and a lawsuit resulted. In the present state (not registered under the Societies Act of Nova Scotia), all members are equally liable for damages and could potentially face financial repercussions. Some questions were raised concerning seeking legal consultation before proceeding on this matter, however it was reported that the Societies Act of Nova Scotia was put in place to protect non-profit and social organizations from the threat of legal action and to avoid expensive legal bills.

  It was duly moved and seconded that the Barony of Ruantallan register under the Nova Scotia Societies Act as soon as possible. (The resulting vote was unanimously carried. 9)

• Baronial directories:
  A receipt was submitted for the cost of distribution of the Baronial directories by Mike Burnett and reimbursement was requested. Discussion ensued concerning a number of errors in the directory and the question was raised about making corrections. Mike suggested that any corrections should be submitted to Sarah Patterson.
• Webspace:
  The webminister (via Mike Burnett) requested reimbursement for the webspace in the amount of $165.00. Please see Webmaster Report above.
• Change to SOP's
  A request was submitted to curia to enact a change in SOP's requiring all votes to be taken by silent vote in future. Discussion ensued regarding voting, and the feeling that some members may feel intimidated and not feel comfortable voicing a dissenting opinion. It was felt that perhaps by requiring all votes to be taken silently this could be avoided.

  Such a change in the SOP's would require a vote by curia.

  It was also noted that such a change would extend the length of curia meetings considerably if all votes were to be silent as votes would have to be physically counted on each issue.

  The question was raised if this change were to be enacted at the Baronial level, would this also change what happens at the canton level. It was determined that a change in curia SOP's would not necessarily filter down to the cantons.

  It was unanimously decided that the member requesting this change to the SOP's submit the request in writing to curia at the next curia meeting and outlining the reasons why the change would be beneficial. The issue of silent voting will be decided at the next curia meeting upon receipt of a written proposal.

• Reimbursements:
  There was a request for reimbursement for port-a-potties at a recent event for the amount of $161.00.
• All curia members were requested to upload their individual reports to the Yahoo site.

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