Canton of Caldrithig Meeting Notes 16 November, 2003 Comments or questions should be directed to ANGHARAD or the person identified as the contact in the notes. ATTENDING: Angharad (CHAIR), Erec, Siglinde, Stephin, Wilhelm, Dubh, Phil, Richard, TSivia ACTIVITY REPORTS: 1. armoured had a few new people attend, but basically only two people were fighting this week. 2. Dancing had about 7 people doing English country dances (a mix of easy and more complicated dances). 3. Rapier had about 30 people earlier today. 4. A&S a. Scriptorium is dead until there are signs of interest in getting it started again. b. West End A&S meetings have about 8 people attending. They are working on a Prince's banner. c. Friday A&S has a smaller group but is also meeting regularly. d. Bardic meets on the first Wednesday of the month and is going okay. e. There was no report on Hard & Soft A&S, although they continue to meet regularly. DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1. Hare: - The poetry contest sponsored by TSIVIA went well, despite the fact that the entries were stories instead of poems. GENEVIEVE (DONNET'S daughter) won. - The Latin contest ANNE organized also went very well and people had a good time with it. This type of contest is well worth repeating. - ERCADH OF TRINOVANTIA NOVA won the pub sign that STEPHIN had made. - The children's garb exchange went quite well. There were some trades and several donations to the Gold Key. Thanks to SKYE for putting it together. - The costs have not yet been finalized but we made money on the bar, lunch and feast. We may lose on the entrance fees because the budget had been for 200 people and attendance was lower than anticipated. Also, there were extra costs for the custodians who claimed they worked on clean-up until 2 am. ANGHARAD explained what had remained to be cleaned and how much will be charged. As we may want to use the site again, she will not dispute the bill when the final version arrives, but she may include a polite note with payment expressing some surprise at the time claimed considering how little she thought remained to be done when we left the site at 11:45. - There was A discussion about what worked and what didn't: a) The rapier list could have closed earlier but it was not a big deal as there was plenty of room for fighters, fencers and dancers. * b) The cafeteria tables were difficult (some broken, very small) and it was crowded in the cafeteria, even though we fed fewer than the 150 planned. Next time, this could be partly resolved by putting the off-board people in the gym. There is no problem with eating there, but there are no tables on-site so they would need to eat picnic style. Also, this may cause complaints that off-boarders are isolated and can't see any entertainment. c) The kitchen and day-time custodial staff were outstanding. d) The lack of tables is a problem, especially as some who promised to bring folding tables forgot to do so. Thanks to some quick thinking from REINHART, we were able to secure tables from the community centre next door. e) There was a discussion of alcohol v. no alcohol at events during the moot, and it appears most people have no strong views either way. This may be worth considering as non-alcohol events would open our options considerably regarding sites and could also lower our costs. f) The kitchen was small and the stove didn't work well. This site would not have worked if virtually everything had not been pre-cooked. Future cooks should keep this in mind when planning menus. g) The feast format had mixed reviews. Most people liked the choice, the fact that there was little waste, and it was different, but there were problems behind the scenes. We need more people to serve and clean up, and more training for servers. There was much praise for AELFLAEDA, who did an excellent job organizing the servers with a difficult feast format. Thanks also to DAME ELEANOR, who designed and produced five different feast tokens to identify who was eating what meal, and to OUEN who made the format work at the gate. h) We need new and more SCA signs to get people to the events. SIGLINDE offered to organize this at Friday A&S nights. i) People liked how the entertainment was structured but there wasn't enough space in the hall. Thanks to DUBH who organized this. j) The kitchen inventory needs updating. Some items on the inventory were not in the boxes, which caused a few minor problems. Thanks to REINHART we solved the tea towel problem, and we made do without the other items. We also need to sort through what is never used and get rid of it, in order to make room for needed items (such as serving spoons, a sharpening steel, and possibly some good quality knives). SIGLINDE said that JUDITH was willing to work on going through the inventory, if there were some other volunteers. SIGLINDE undertook to make sure something was done before Practicum. * k) There was also a discussion about items that had been lost when loaning out feast gear to other cantons. It was agreed that we should write off any hope of collecting for the items already lost, but look seriously at a rental arrangement with damage deposit, or guarantee of replacement (with signing for each item before and after loan). This discussion was then deferred to a later date. l) We need more people with Smart Serve training. WILHELM advised that someone with Smart Serve must be at the bar at all times, rather than just available somewhere on site. Courses are run regularly at Algonquin, and ANGHARAD will raise the idea of paying for more training with the executive. m) There is a STRONG NEED FOR VOLUNTEERS, especially for clean-up. The kitchen clean-up crew was the school's kitchen supervisor, the daytime cooking staff (SIGLINDE, JUDITH, SUSANNA MINOR) and THEODULF. Admittedly, the kitchen was cleaned up before court was over. SUSANNA and THEODULF deserve special mention because it was only their second event, they had both done more than their fair share of service during the day (SUSANNA was in the kitchen all day, and THEODULF was a server). SIGLINDE noted that she had also prepared the lunch because there had not been a single volunteer to do lunch. There had also been no volunteers to coordinate overall site clean-up or to do kitchen clean-up, despite repeated calls to do all three. Several people noted that the group is at high risk of burning out the few volunteers who remain. AROUND THE ROOM: 1. WILHELM suggested we organize a field trip to the National Gallery, with a guided tour focussing on medieval and renaissance art. If we request it, a tour guide specializing in this period can be made available for a cost of about $30 per group. He suggested we plan for January. This idea was enthusiastically received, and WILHELM will follow up with details. 2. SIGLINDE advised that she had preserved some of the leftovers from Hare into jam, sauerkraut, pickled eggs, etc. and that these might be useful contributions to the pot-luck Christmas feast on December 21. The group agreed to do the gathering as a mix of pot-luck and SIGLINDE'S food, so that those who wish to can make a financial contribution to cover food costs, rather than bringing food. SIGLINDE will get a list of what she has to DUBH, who will prepare an "event" notice for circulation. - SIGLINDE also explained Their Majesties' request to organize updating of regalia and preparation of gifts for other kingdoms, and asked people to think about how they might wish to contribute. 3. TSIVIA wants to re-start the Cooking Guild using the church kitchen. She will coordinate this through DUBH. The $30 cost for each use of the kitchen will be borne by the Guild. SIGLINDE suggested that the Guild may wish to consider some of their meetings to coordinate with future pot-luck events so that everyone can see what the cooks have been doing. TSIVIA and SIGLINDE will work together on this. 4. DUBH noted GEOFFROI'S honourable mention in the William Blackfox Awards for SCA newsletters, and also asked for contributions to the Chronicle. GEOFFROI would welcome event reports or whatever people wish to submit -- it doesn't have to be a scholarly piece! 5. ANGHARAD noted that Chiara's poem of bunny Frou Frou in Chaucerian English had been published in the most recent Tournaments Illuminated. - ANGHARAD also announced that we would return to having meetings only on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. There will be no meeting next week, but there will be one on November 30. 6. DUBH suggested that A&S activities take place before the meetings, to capitalize on attendance. She will line up some activities. The meeting was adjourned at 5:15. Canton of Caldrithig Meeting Notes - 16 November, 2003 1