Steve Baker, Chair, SCA Ltd, reports that a replacement Membership Services website for the Kingdom of Lochac has been launched.

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Sir Guy LeStrange is seeking backing to attend and participate in the Battle of Nations, "an international, full contact with steel weapons, no holds barred, western martial arts competition and festival." The 2013 event will take place in France.

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Martin Bildner reports that Their Majesties Roak and Elizabeth, at various events, have chosen to elevate three of Their subjects to the Order of the Laurel.

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Laurels and Pelicans took to the field with boffers last year and raised over $3,200 for the Royal Travel Fund.  They faced off in three melees, and Pelicans took bragging rights by winning best two out of three.  This year there will be a rematch at Panteria in May.

Two of last year’s favorite parts – silly specialty weapons and fighting nicknames – will be back.  Last year the 24 peers taking part included the Kountess of Kaos, Mistress of Mayhem, Countess Plays Like Husky, Demon Queen of Heraldry, Baroness Happy Pants and The Killigrapher.  The weapons they used depended on how much money they raised.

The competitors before the melees

Weapons ranged from $25 for a single dagger to $100 for specialty weapons.  Specialty weapons included a boffer rose, perm of death (flail wearing a wig), giant ladle, bourbon bottle, Grendel’s severed arm and a very large clipboard.

Mistress Katherine Barr of Cumberland had the most unusual weapon form, namely Master Dietrich Schwelgengräber.  They bet each other who could raise the most money.  She won and wielded him as her weapon.

This year’s melees will again be sponsored by Fergus MacRae, Baron Carolingia.  Laurels or Pelicans who would like to participate should contact Mistress Catrin o’r Rhyd For or Countess Svava Þorgeirsdóttir.  More information on how to sponsor a participant will be available at the Laurels vs. Pelicans website, where you can currently see photos of last year’s competitors

Filed under: Events, Tidings Tagged: Laurels vs. Pelicans

THLord Stefan li Rous has announced updates to Stefan's Florilegium for March 2013.

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Their Majesties Rey and Miriel chose to name three new Peers of the realm during this year's Gulf Wars.

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The birth of the Renaissance in Florence is the subject of an exhibition at the Art Gallary of Ontario with the exhibition Revealing the Early Renaissance: Stories and Secrets in Florentine Art. The exhibit will be on display March 16 – June 16, 2013.

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Lord Avram ibn Gabirol reports that Jarl Boleslav, inspired by Countess Astrid, defeated Count Thorbrandr Olafsson, inspired by The Honorable Lady Hasanah bint Khalil al-Najjar, in the final bout of the Spring 2013 Crown Tournament in the Kingdom of the Outlands.

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Hadrian's Wall faces a new challenge: waterlogged trails that are causing grass and soil erosion along the trail. Natural England has awarded the Hadrian’s Wall Trust UK£50,000 for drain repair, but visitors can also help.

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The Board of Directors would like to address concerns that have been raised regarding the sanctions process and related documents.

The authority for and actions by the Board of Directors are granted by and described solely within the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of the SCA (our Governing Documents). With respect to sanctions, this authority is found within Section V.C.3 of the Bylaws and Sections II.D and II.E of the Corporate Policies. The rest of our Governing Documents describe the authority and policies that govern Officers of the corporation, not the authority and/or policies of the Board.

The document titled “Board of Directors Procedures Manual” was a document created in 2004 as an internal set of suggested guidelines for earlier Boards of Directors. The document was outdated and has not guided the actions of the Board of Directors for at least the past seven years.  That Manual should have been rescinded and removed from the website once the current Board was made aware of the document. The Board had discussed such action many months previously, and made certain the document was properly removed at the January 2013 meeting.

All recognized SCA websites providing official documents clearly display the disclaimer that “information on these pages will always be superseded by paper copy available from the Milpitas office. Those versions of documents are authoritative for all purposes” – and the Policy on Electronic Communications within our Governing Documents clarifies that the governing version of all documents are those available in printed form from the SCA Stock Clerk, and that disputes over documents are always decided in favor of the printed version available through the Stock Clerk.

Although no such authoritative paper copy of the “Board of Directors Procedures Manual” was ever made available from the Milpitas office, the Board recognized that some recently sanctioned individuals may have relied on the contents of the Manual to guide their actions and expectations during the investigation and sanction process. As a result, the Board agreed to hear the appeal of those recently sanctioned individuals who included as part of their appeals that reliance on the language in the Manual may have prejudiced the investigation, resolution and/or sanction decision, whether or not “new” evidence was presented to the Board in the appeal. The Board took any reliance upon that Manual into account in the consideration of such appeals.

The Board of Directors has directed the Society Seneschal to review and revise the sanctions and investigations process, and the Society Seneschal has been working to consolidate information regarding sanctions for the SCA into a single document. The Society Seneschal is also working to streamline the entire sanctions and investigations process. He has engaged the Kingdom Seneschals and the Grand Council to assist in these significant undertakings. Proposed revisions will be presented to the Board for review when complete. Once these processes and documents are approved, they will be available to all participants on the corporate website and officially available through the Stock Clerk in the Milpitas office.

The first step in this process was to revise the Seneschal’s Handbook, to streamline that Handbook and remove the references to sanctions in that document, in anticipation of a consolidated sanctions process. That revised Handbook was approved at the January 2013 meeting and the Society Seneschal will be communicating with all Kingdom Seneschals in the next few weeks.

As always, any potential changes to Corpora will be communicated out to the membership for commentary. We encourage anyone with recommendations for improving these processes to communicate with the Seneschallate and/or the Board via comments@sca.org.

Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
SCA Inc.
Box 360789
Milpitas,  CA 95036

You may also email comments@lists.sca.org.

This announcement is an official informational release by the Society for Creative Anachronism , Inc.  Permission is granted to reproduce this announcement in its entirety in newsletters, websites and electronic mailing lists.

Filed under: Law and Policy, Official Notices

Hrim Schola has gone on the road!  The Shire of Quintavia wishes to welcome you to Hrim Schola XVII, the East’s annual schola celebrating the fiber arts.  As is customary, classes will be scheduled throughout the day with enough time in between to enjoy Lord Aleksei Dmitriev’s sideboard, shop and visit with friends.

Merchants are welcome but tables are limited, so please contact the reservation clerk to reserve tables.  Come, learn, eat, shop, enjoy!

Class offering and schedules can be found here.

http://quintavia.eastkingdom.org/hrim2013classes.php

Site Opens: 10 AM
Site Closes: 6 PM

Clinton Presbyterian Church
175 Chestnut Street
Clinton, MA  01510

Note:  While the main floor of our site is fully handicapped accessible, the second floor is not.  If you have mobility concerns, please contact our Accessibility Porter and we will ensure your classes are all on the main floor.

Full Event Details and contact information can be found at:

http://eastkingdom.org/EventDetails.html?eid=2429

Filed under: Arts and Sciences, Events

David J. Brunelle, Co-ordinator Historical Displays/Exhibits for Tall Ships 1812 in Midland and Penetanguishene Ontario is seeking re-enactors, artisans, entertainers, and historical displays for the event to be held August 24-25, 2013.

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Aliskye, Scribe Armarius in the West Kingdom, reports that photos of scrolls awarded at the 2013 Kingdom 12th Night are now available to view online. The photos are posted on the 12th Night website.

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Danish Stone Age pots may not be as old as originally determined if fish were cooked in them.

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Greetings to the Gentlefolk of the SCA, Here is a copy of my Florilegium article for March detailing what is new in the Florilegium this month. I've held off

Greetings (again) to all who receive these words!

There will be something new this year at Pennsic University, it will be a specific track of classes for Youth & Family.

I would ask that you all take a moment to pass this message on to any of your Kingdom, Province, Barony, Shire, Household, or other SCA-interest-based list. Even if you aren’t planning to be at Pennsic this year, you may reach someone who is, that I might not otherwise be able to reach.

The Youth & Family Track classes can be on a variety of topics, but they are typically designed either to incorporate an Adult+Child(ren) activity (e.g. – “Me & My Shadow Belly Dance Class”) or be about youth-related/themed activities in the SCA (e.g. – “Youth Archery in the SCA, how to get started”). These classes are for being taught in Pennsic University Tents, and are scheduled through Pennsic University.

The general site for Pennsic University is http://www.PennsicUniversity.org

The registration site is http://thing.pennsicuniversity.org/

In addition to these class offerings, classes specifically designed for Youth must be scheduled via and held at Youth Point. To register these classes, please e-mail me and my staff at Pennsic.Youth@gmail.com

The deadline for all class registrations, is Monday, April 15th so please do not wait to go sign up for a class.

Several people requested this as a specific track for classes, however, so far we’ve only received two class registrations. With the registration deadline fast approaching, I would like to encourage anyone who is interested in teaching, hosting an activity or roundtable, to please register on the P. U. website and submit their classes.

If there is a class you’re interested in possibly teaching, but aren’t sure where it might fit in, please e-mail me as soon as possible atPennsic.Youth@gmail.com

My thanks to you all for your time and participation in Youth Activities throughout the Society!

My best to you all,

Martyn

Lord Martyn de Halliwell, COT

Filed under: Events

Greetings to all who receive these words!

Pennsic is fast-approaching, with Land Grab Saturday less than 123 days away! I would ask that each of you pass on my message to your relative Kingdom, Province, Regional, and even local e-mail and social media lists/groups. Even if you are unable to help on the ground at Pennsic, getting word out is always greatly appreciated!

As many of you know, different Kingdoms often sponsor a day of activities and/or classes at Youth Point, this has served as the primary source of activity for Youth Point. Last year the Midrealm, the East, Æthelmearc, and Atlantia all sponsored a day of classes and activities at Youth Point. This year we’ve also got the regularly scheduled fishing class with field trip, and the Youth A&S Display, there are also three different age tracks in the Youth Theatre Program, a Youth Choir, and of course, Youth Point closes down during the Atlantia-sponsored Children’s Fete to be held in the new Great Hall this year.

While these are all fantastic activities, it is my goal this year to have Youth Point open more during the entirety of Pennsic. Last year, we didn’t open until Friday, and this year, we’d like to open starting Tuesday, July 23rd. In order to do that though, I need to have appropriate activities scheduled ahead of time.

Therefore, I am opening up Youth Point to any Kingdom, Shire, Household, Barony, Province, Canton, or group of friends that would like to donate even just a few hours of their time to providing classes or activities for Youth at Pennsic. Youth Point is open every morning from 9AM – Noon, and then re-opens from 1PM – 4PM. Any group interested in sponsoring time at Youth Point can take an entire day, a half, day, or even just a one or two hour time slot.

Youth Point actually has a vast array of craft supplies, games, toys, and other items of interest that are available for your use during your time at Youth Point, and as a Department Head, I also have a budget which can be used to obtain additional supplies.

As for needing to worry about background checks or being a Chancellor Minor / Youth Officer, no need to worry! Several of us on staff at point are already background checked, and can be available during your time at Youth Point.

In order to get the appropriate schedule into the Pennsic Site Book, and to guarantee that we’ll be able to open Youth Point earlier this year, please be sure to contact me no later than MONDAY, APRIL 15th.

The best way to reach me is via pennsic.youth@gmail.com.

I thank all of you for your time and dedication to the Youth of the Society, and look forward to speaking with many of you in the coming weeks and months.

Also, if anyone is interested in joining Youth Point Staff, we have a great time, and are always looking for more volunteers to join us.

My best to you all,

Martyn

Filed under: Events

banners-msg (49K) 3/ 2/13 Flags and banners. Period and SCA construction.

Worm-Castles-art (9K) 2/ 2/13 "Worm Castles: Ship’s Biscuits in the SCA" by William "Cookie" Barfoot.

firepits-msg (20K) 3/ 3/13 Useful ideas for firepits.