MINUTES

Meeting on April 7, 2001 (Coronation)

The January retreat was a success!!! In fact, we want to have more than one a year in various parts of the kingdom so everyone has a chance to attend. We tentatively talked about having them as lead-ups to Queen's Prize and Kingdom A&S - in other words January and late June/July. Also mentioned was the need to consider feeding everyone when planning a retreat. A potluck or stew pot works well. We will make decisions about the next retreat at our Crown meeting.

The aba needs you! Or more accurately, we desperately need more wool yarn to weave the cloth with and more roving to spin into that yarn. Get either to Diachbha ASAP. Crown is the drop-dead date for getting the yarn submitted. After that date, we will be foreced to supplement with commercially spun. Maeve is coordinating the embroidery bits needed - mostly so we use similar scale for the work and for those who don't design their own patterns. Any one wanted to weave trim is needs to be in 120" lengths - about 3 1/2 yds. If you need some of the silk, Diachbha still has some. Remember, all assembly will be done at Lilies so all the parts must be completed before then. Good luck and thanks to all who have helped so far.

Luzia is heading up a bag project. Make an approximately 8" bag in any medium before Lilies. We will display them all week and give them as largess to TRM the final weekend. Ideas include: weaving, knitting, embroidered, sewn. It doesn't have to be fancy.

Caitlin has volunteered to make a special thank you item for Mistress Aiden Cockran (spelling is probably wrong). Mistress Aiden sacrificed watching the fireworks last year to draw up our contract with Eddie. Her device is on the on-line armorial for those interested. Thank you Caitlin and let us know if you need any help.

Catherine Anne is gathering largess that TRM need to distribute to the many wars they are planning on attending. The list includes Lilies, Diamond, Grey Niche and Pennsic. Largess is typically given to all atttending crowns and sometimes a few others. Ask Catherine Anne if you have any questions about what would be suitable - her e-mail is available on the Calontir Kingdom Officer's page under Exchequer.

TRM have also decided to continue using hand-made seal tags - also known as scroll ribbons. I have specifics at this time but narrow has been preferred by the past two reigns - 1/8". If you don't like weaving in this small a scale, try braiding, kumihimo or lucet - all are appropriate.

At this time, since all but 1 or 2 at the meeting have e-mail access, we decided to keep the newsletter in this on-line format. Mighel will also re-post the minutes on the website for more general access. Maerwynn will privately snail mail a copy to those who don't have on-line access.

The tent rental at Lilies last year seriously depleted our funds. We are asking everyone to submit $5 in dues at Crown or Lilies. We use these funds for special projects and regular guild needs.

Mighel maintains our web site but it seriously needs more and new information. Get info to him but make sure the copyright is yours to give. He is open to other sugggestions about the appearance of the web page and is planning more links to related web sites. If you now of other good sites, let him know. The web site (and our newsgroup) are visible outside the kingdom and we have gotten positive feedback for both.

Merchanting at Lilies will no longer be attempted. We had more luck and positive PR from the classes and display items so that will be our focus this year. Merchanting will still be a possibility for Kris Kinder Mart. Since we will not be selling anything, the Lilies staff should cover the tent rental costs for us. Dejaniera has volunteered to coordinate and already has many assistance for specific days. The main need is for someone to occupy the tent and direct people with questions. The advantage is that you have to stay in the tent working on and even getting caught up on your current projects all day and get to attend all the classes as well. If you want to teach a class or there is a class you really want taught, contact Brigida soon. Print deadlines are fast approaching. Brigida can be reached from the RUSH webpage which is linked to the kingdom webpage.

Dejaniera will sponsor the Sheep to Shawl contest again this year. The Guild will sponsor a fighting tournament with guild members finding a fighter to sponsor into the tourney and the prize provided by all of us. Aoibheann will be scheduling this and arranging specific details. We have not yet decided if the Guild will sponsor a A&S competition so this will be discussed at Crown.

Lilies is when we decide on the new officers for the next year. Cassandra has volunteered to be Guild Head. If anyone else has thought about it, we have the following position with current people given in parentheses: Guild Head (Maerwynn), assistant Guild Head (Cassandra), Secretary (Tamara/Mighel), Advisor (Diachbha). If I missed anyone, please correct me.

In summary for the Crown meeting to be held May 26: Details of next retreat Final submission of aba wool yarn, pick-up silk for embroidery/trim $5 dues collected Lilies A&S competition decision

Other items will also be added to this agenda, but we already know about these so be thinking. For reference, Calontir's webpage is http://calontir.sca.org

As you can tell from the above minutes, we had quite a meeting and excellent turn-out. I didn't count but I know we had at least 20 people at the meeting. I overheard one comment that I wanted to share. I can't give verbatum but the idea was 'This Guild is the most active in the kingdom right now and it's fun'. Way to go members. I know this was a big concern a couple of years ago. I personally felt a sense of excitement about all of our projects. With such an active membership, I don't feel guilty about not contributing to EVERY thing we sponsor but I WANT to. Keep the ideas rolling.

Tamara