Martial:

Archery – No report filed.

Fence – No report filed.

Heavy – Discussion of the Investiture tournament is ongoing and the details are starting to come together – see more under the event discussion. We have lost the William Seeley school as a fighter practice, but Frodo is seeking alternative sites, such as UConn Avery Point.

Nothing reported from Bowman’s Rest, and the Ravenhill spot is vacant. In Fennbrycg, Lothar hosts an armor workshop at his house on Tuesday nights, and Hergeirr is looking for possible fight practice sites in the Norwich school system. Lothar also encourages local marshals to contact him as he reviews warrants. If you can’t prove that you are breathing, you will be replaced with those who can.

Youth – There has been no youth practice due to the temporary loss of the William Seely School. It will resume as soon as we either get the school back, or have a new practice site. I will be up at Birka next weekend, marshalling on the youth list. Marshals, Marshals in training, or those interested in becoming a marshal in training for youth combat that will be there are encouraged to find me on the youth lists.

Bowman’s Rest -- Mistresses Anarra and Ana Ilevna announced a demo that will be held at the New Britain Public Library on 5/20/06 (Saturday). This will be a combined collegium/demo – classes to be held in the library’s public room that are open to Scadians but also to the general public. There is a small kitchen available, and they would love to see some cooking classes (perhaps creating the lunch and/or a late afternoon snack) and the room has space for 2 other classes at a time. This date must be confirmed, and is opposite Boredom War, but this is a great opportunity to get new people. If you want to teach, please contact Mistress Anarra or Mistress Ana Ilevna.

New Britain Library Display Case – they are also looking for stuff to display in the library’s glass cases for the month of May. These cases are large and approx. 30 ft. long. Anything to do with the Middle Ages would be fantastic – armor and late period items are especially needed. You must be willing to have it on display for the entire month.

Dragon’s Aerie – Tinkar passed on a message from Frodo that the Sunday fight practice is currently closed, but Frodo is working on finding another site. Muirne also notes that 4Q will be held again this spring, though there is no date yet.

Fennbrycg – Nothing to report.

Ravenhill -- Nothing to report.

Arts and Sciences – Report: I am not aware of any A&S activity at the Baronial level. I would like to start having some roving workshops. I was thinking once a month, each in a different canton. Any subject. I need volunteers to teach and host. Any takers? I would be glad to host at my house. I have little A&S talents, but would LOVE someone to teach a beginner's illumination workshop. I do know how to make soap, and I could possible teach that. Any takers? How about Sunday, Feb 5? jclauer321@yahoo.com

  As a side note...I have not yet been able to do all of the activities I had hoped (including attend BBM meetings!) when I took this position. I will gladly continue as MOAS, but if there is someone else who wants the job, please let me know. I am not doing the position justice.

Chatelaine – The rescheduled Sage Park demo will be happening on Friday, 2/3/06. Dinsdale will be sending out more information soon. He finally saw the public access video footage of the 2004 Sage Park demo and thought that we looked very good. He is working on updating the current demo brochure and would like to have that updated for the Sage Park demo. He also noted that 2 people helped at the Bergental Quadrangle Museums demo that took place in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Chiurgeon – No report.

Herald – Nothing to report.

Web – Not present.

* Exchequer: We have money – around $4300.00

Election News – The Special Edition of the Chanticleer is done and ready to be mailed. The request for mailing labels was slightly delayed due to a snafu with the zip codes, but it was sent out to the kingdom seneschal last Wednesday. The election deadline will be March 15^th. We will need a 2/3 response rate in order for the election to be valid, so its important that everyone vote. Given the strong slate of candidates, there is the possibility of a runoff election.

The responses to the Candidate questions have been received and I have posted them in the Files section of EK-BBM. They will also be made available on the BBM website. Also, the "Meet the Candidates" session will be part of an A&S workshop held on Sunday, 2/12/06, from 10am – 4pm at the Army-Navy Club in Manchester, CT. The Meet the Candidates session will be held from 1-3pm.

Investiture News - please see below.

Baroness: Not present – nothing to report.

Sage Park Demo, 2/3/06 – see Chatelaine’s report above

New Britain Public Library demo, 5/20/06 – see Bowman’s Rest report above

Events: 4Q (Dragon’s Aerie) – date unknown

Baronial Investiture:

Estimated Expenses for BBM Investiture

Event Fees

Family cap prices might be adjusted slightly downwards.

Event Name

After a spirited debate with many great (and a few odd) suggestions, we have decided on the following: BBM’s Investiture and the Field of Acorns and Pearls: Cadell’s Memorial Challenge. Thank you to everyone for a fun brainstorming session!

Activities

So far, we have the following lined up: royal court (perhaps more than one), baronial court, merchanting, the pas de armes, archery, a&s contest, rapier, youth combat (and hopefully a youth quest), , dayboard. All of these will take place on Saturday.

Field of Acorns and Pearls

We will be discussing this tourney, as well as the heraldic decorations for the event, in depth at the A&S day on February 12^th. Sir Lothar has some fantastic plans and has already gathered a great deal of support and interest from the kingdom’s fighters. Some preliminary plans include heraldry to decorate the list field, viewing galleries for the ladies that will be decorated with painted and stenciled designs, banners, and more. We will need the help of everyone to create the spiffy stuff that will wow everyone at the event. Please come to the meeting on 2/12 and volunteer!

Prizes

Sir Lothar is planning an exciting day that will see many prizes awarded to individuals and groups. We talked about prizes for best death, best chivalrous act, Baron/ess’ choice, best dressed entourage, choices to be made by the ladies. The size of the prize is not important, nor is the monetary value. What we want to offer are cool prizes that people will really appreciate and treasure. Many offers were made, but I was not able to write everything down. IF YOU CAN VOLUNTEER TO MAKE/OFFER/BUY A PRIZE, PLEASE CONTACT MUIRNE. Offers and suggestions included an oak chest (probably to be filled with small stuff and offered to the best entourage winner), a customized pair of gloves, small wooden or cardboard painted boxes, a cloak (to be decorated with painted stencils!), small cross stitch embroideries (probably of acorns) and much more that I probably didn’t hear.

Site Tokens

Mistress Camma has graciously agreed to cast pewter tokens for the event. Tokens will probably be in the shape of an oak leaf or an acorn.

Dayboard

Liz and Scott Weeks (sorry, am blanking on SCA names) have volunteered to provide a dayboard for the event. This dayboard will be sold on a first-come basis and as a separate fee of $3.00. People will have the opportunity to pre-reg for the dayboard or buy it at the door. At this time, they will be making enough food for 200 people. Current menu includes hardboiled eggs, cheese, bread, butter (honey and regular), jam, fruits of the season, period salad, steak strips on a stick, water and sekanjabin.

Merchanting Idea

Leandra (our site contact) will ask about the possibility of using the Lions’ concession stands and offering them to merchants. This would be very handy if the weather forecast calls for rain.

Site Visit

This will be planned for sometime in early March. People who are interested in visiting the site should contact Muirne. Hopefully we can get some pictures taken as well for those who can’t make it.

That’s it for now. More information to follow soon. My thanks to everyone that came to the meeting.