Stórfréttir

Good evening Barony!

Recently I asked the officers of the BMDL to tell me what they do to tell the populace what the offices are and their responsibility I plan on posting this as a weekly series here as well as having it published in the Althing, to start off let’s meet the Webminister!

Office: Webminister

What does the Webminister do? The Webminister maintains the content and oversees the administration of the Barony’s web presence, located at http://www.debatablelands.org/ (and also available at the easier to remember http://www.bmdl.org/). This includes both the static content of the Barony’s web site, as well as Stórfréttir, the Barony’s online blog. The Webminister also works with the Social Media Deputy to ensure that Stórfréttir information is properly disseminated to all the Barony’s various social media outlets.

What information does the website have? In addition to welcoming those who are learning about the SCA for the first time, the website has sections detailing the history of the Barony, upcoming events that the Barony is hosting, our regular activities such as guild meetings and martial activities, online resources such as a list of email lists relevant to Baronial activities, as well as contact information for all the officers, guildmasters and martial generals for the Barony.

What’s on the Blog? Stórfréttir, the Baronial blog, is the primary source of information for Barony-wide announcements, as well as various tidbits of information that the Barony might find useful or interesting. To get to Stórfréttir, go to https://debatablelands.aethelmearc.org/blog/, or go to the Barony’s website and click “Stórfréttir” on the menu.

What do I do if there’s something I want to have on the website? Send email to webminister@debatablelands.aethelmearc.org and we can start a conversation about getting your information out to the public. After all, we’re here to serve you!

In Honor and Service,
亀島
Kameshima Zentarō Umakai
土地の議論のウェブサイト管理者
Webminister, Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands

Webminister’s Note: The following post is from Lady Rivka, Head Retainer for Their Excellencies.

From THL Bugga Bilibit, our current Baronial A&S Champion —

At our BMDL Twelfthnight celebration, we will be holding a competition for a new A&S Champion. There is no theme as such, just bring your best beautiful thing!

Her Ladyship can be contacted via facebook or email (kathrynsings(at)mac(dot)com).

The Seneschal’s Spotlight is a monthly feature that highlights an aspect of the Barony and/or its people.

It’s New Years Eve and traditionally, a time for reflecting on the year that has just ended.

The Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands is an amazing group filled with talented, passionate, fun, interesting, and smart people. Each one of you makes up this Barony that I love so much and without your presence and participation nothing that we do would be very interesting or much fun. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been playing with us for a month or for 50 years, your contributions are appreciated and wanted. Thank you to everyone for making 2017 awesome.

For all of us, let’s make 2018 a year where we pick up a new skill or become better at a recently learned skill. I’ve seen quite a few more seasoned members of our Barony pick up fiber arts, illumination, and making new clothing for themselves to suit their persona better. Us old dogs can indeed learn some new tricks. If you’re a relatively recent participant and you’ve been considering attending a Fiber Arts Guild meeting or an A&S Meeting, make that plan. Set your goals reasonably and don’t worry about where someone who has been doing something for 20+ years is in that art, they started somewhere and, if my own attempt at Medieval Spanish Clothing this year are any indication, beginner work looks pretty much like everyone else’s beginner work.

If your thing is Service, consider volunteering to do a thing you’ve not done before or not done in a while. If you usually Autocrat, volunteer to help with setup/cleanup. If you are usually Head Cook, volunteer to Autocrat. If you aren’t sure about what you’d really like to do, there is no harm in asking an Autocrat what things they need help with with their event. There’s even an upcoming event specifically geared towards getting new people involved — Tavern in the Park — THL Elß is autocratting and if you want to help with that, contact her at ansminister(at)debatablelands(dot)com.

This last year was an amazing year for Our Glorious Barony, I know that 2018 will be even better.

Aude aliquid dignum,

Odriana, Seneschal

The Paladin’s Pantry program is a drive that collects excess food, drink, blankets, and camping supplies at SCA events, and conveys them to local food banks to benefit those in need. We put the “large” is “largesse”!

Greetings to the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands!

At BMDL 12th night (January 13th) the Paladin’s Pantry project will be collecting for the Pittsburgh Food Bank.

These items are super easy to buy, you can usually find them at your local Aldi or Goodwill. Imagine yourself homeless in this cold bitter weather or among the 15% of Allegheny County residents who are food insecure and think of how a small act of kindness could make your life better.

Please bring an item or two!

We are collecting:
Food Items
Clean used blankets, gloves, mittens, and/or coats
Feminine Hygiene Products

The Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank lists these as their most needed items:

• Cereal (Low in sugar, high in fiber)
• Tuna or Salmon (Packed in water)
• Canned fruit (Packed in 100% juice or water)
• Canned beans (Black, garbanzo, etc.)
• Peanut Butter
• Hand soap and other toiletries
• Toilet/facial tissue
• Laundry detergent
• Diapers (Infant and adult)
• Canned vegetables (No or low sodium)

There will be a table at BMDL Twelfthnight for your donations, just look for the Paladin’s Pantry signage. If you need additional information, please contact Lady Alethea Cowle at lake.strobel(at)gmail(dot)com.

Greetings,
The number of people who have indicated that they would be interested in having fight practice on December 31 is so small that I have decided that we will not have fight practice this week.
We will return to our regular schedule on January 7.
Have a Happy New Years.
Robert

Greetings to the Most Excellent Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands!

There’s a chill in the air and the days are getting shorter. It’s time to pull out the woolly sweaters, cocoa, and fuzzy slippers. It’s also the time that many of us turn to more peaceful pursuits to help us get through the long nights.

While you’re planning your winter activities, please consider taking a few moments to write in the people that inspire you for a Baronial or Kingdom award. It only takes a few minutes and it is a good way for you to share the accomplishments of others. There are online forms available at the Baronial website and at the Kingdom website to make it even easier to share the accomplishments of the many talented people we are fortunate to have here in the Barony. The Online Award Recommendation Form for the Barony or the Kingdom Award Recommendation Form are the quickest and easiest way of making sure that the right people are contacted.

For those of you who use social media, we recently welcomed a new Social Media Deputy, Brehyres Gwendolyn the Graceful, OL. She will be moderating the Facebook group and is your point of contact if you would like to have something posted to Stórfréttir, our online blog. She can be reached at socialmedia (at) debatablelands.org.

We have also unveiled a new way for you to share your ideas, concerns, or recommendations for things that you would like to see happening in the Barony, the Baronial Suggestion Box. The Suggestion Box has is space to enter your name and email address if you would prefer a direct response. You also have the option to submit your feedback anonymously, as that tends to clear barriers to offering honest, constructive feedback. Please contact us so that persistent problems are not permitted to continue becoming a source of conflict, unhappiness, and apathy towards participating with the Barony.

We have our annual Twelfthnight celebration coming up on 13 January 2018 at the North Park Lodge. This is also when we will be holding our next Barony Meeting. The event announcement is on the BMDL website (here is a direct link).

We also have another event coming in February – Tavern in the Park. You should see an event announcement from Elß soon.

My term as Seneschal will be coming to an end in February, and I will be seeking a second term, however, I am calling for letters. Send your letter to the Baronage and to me – baron(at)debatablelands.org, baroness(at)debatablelands.org, and seneschal(at)debatablelands.org. The deadline for letters is Thursday, 1 February 2018 to allow sufficient time for your letter to be reviewed by the Officers’ prior to the February Business Meeting on 7 February 2018.

As always, if you have any ideas about how to improve anything in the Barony or have concerns, I am available via email (seneschal@debatablelands.aethelmearc.org), in person at events and meetings, or using our new Baronial Suggestion Box.

In Service to the Barony,

Odriana, Seneschal