The time flies and we are approaching the end of our first term as Kingdom Minister and Deputy Minister of Arts & Sciences. It is our pleasure and intention to request a second term, but we encourage anyone interested to also consider applying for this position. Therefore, we are calling for letters of intent for the position of Æthelmearc’s Kingdom Minister of Arts and Sciences, to begin at the end of our first term on January 12th, 2022.
Applicants would preferably have some knowledge of scoring rubrics and about the format, setup and running of the Kingdom Arts & Sciences Championship, the Queen’s Prize Tourney, and Arts & Sciences Faire. Please don’t hesitate to contact either of us for more information, we are more than happy to answer any questions you may have!
This announcement is from the Kingdom Seneschal, Master Illadore de Bedegrayne.
Greetings to the Populace of Æthelmearc!
SHORT VERSION: Crown to be held in Misty Highlands, August 21st , 2021, letters due to Their Majesties by July 21st, Coronation to be held hopefully in September, with an October Crown following. If you plan on entering this tournament, please listen to this video/read this email in full, as it has specific requirements.
First and foremost, Letters of Intent to Their Majesties must be provided no later than 30 days prior to Crown Tourney- so by July 21, 2021. We highly recommend using the online form on the Kingdom website. The form will be turned on within a few days by our Kingdom Webminister. You may also use email or regular mail but we recommend sending that in quickly.
As we are limited to 150 people who may attend an event, pre-registration to Crown Tourney for those other than Their Majesties, required officers, staff, or entrants will open after July 21st date. Pre-registration will be required. Crown tourney will be live-streamed for those who cannot attend. A more formal event announcement will be forthcoming. Please understand that if the BOD does not lift the 150 person rule, if you are not a combatant couple or staff, you might not be able to attend.
Coronation: The preferred date for Coronation is September 25, 2021. Alternate dates may include September 18 or October 1. New Heirs will have the option of having their Coronation online, at a small local event (say in a park), or another event scheduled in September. Should none of these options be viable, Coronation will occur on the morning of October Crown Tournament. Heirs will need to choose which option they would prefer on the day of their victory. This is not the norm as most Æthelmearc heirs have several months to make Coronation happen. This decision was made due to our desire to get back on track as a Kingdom.
October Crown: It is our intent to have another Crown in October, with letters due to The Heirs 30 days prior to the event. The details for October Crown are still being determined but the preferred date will be October 16th or later. The October Heirs would step up in April 2022.
As you can see, Combatants and Consorts who enter the August 2021 Crown tournament need to consider not only what it means to be Royalty during a pandemic but also the time commitment for the quick turnaround for Coronation and the next Crown Tourney.
I know you may have many questions. Please feel free to contact me at seneschal@aethelmearc.org and I will do my best to answer them.
Illadore de Bedegrayne
Kingdom Seneschal
A video version of this announcement is available here.
As Mistress Arianna of the Gazette reported previously, Master John the Artificer (John Robert Rose) passed away on November 25th, 2020. Recently, his niece reached out the Kingdom of Aethelmearc to ask his friends and SCA family to share stories and pictures, so that his family may use them in an online virtual memorial that is being planned.
His niece has shared this information about his final arrangements:
A small funeral mass will be said on Friday, February 26th*, at 11am at Sacred Heart Church, in Highland Falls, NY. It will run live feed from [the Facebook page noted above], any who wish to attend virtually can sign on … at 11 am to catch the live service.
*If you would like to send Flowers for his Mass on Friday, you can contact Lilies of the Valley, in Highland Falls, NY. Their phone number is: 845-446-4446.*
We are currently planning a larger, virtual memorial to honor my uncle’s memory more in detail, and to invite friends and family to share together. The date of this is to be announced, anyone who wishes to be a speaker, or share pictures please let us know and we will gladly add you to the program. Thank you!!
[*Editor’s Note: The original version of this story had the date of the funeral mass on the 19th, but since it was delayed until the 26th due to inclement weather, the date was updated to the 26th.]
This winter, join the Barony of Thescorre at our annual schola as we move our festivities to a virtual space for the year’s C3R…. The COVID Corvid College of Three Ravens!
We are gathering together on Saturday, February 27, 2021 and using Zoom, Facebook, and our Barony Website to organize and run the event! While we are still physically distanced from one another, this is an opportunity to join in classes, A&S, workshops, bardic activties, feasting, and court from the safety of our homes.
This year, we are celebrating all that we love about the SCA and we have the unique opportunity to share that love with any and all who want to participate. We hope that this virtual format will allow gentles from Æthelmearc and the Knowne World entire to join in our fun as we work to learn together and come together in the safest ways possible.
If gentles have any questions, please reach out to the Event Autocrats, Lady Gwen Cooke (Jenn Bigelow-Carlson) or Lord Torbjorn Sigurdson (Jon Carlson).
REGISTERING FOR THE EVENT
You must complete the Google forms appropriate (listed below) to get the Zoom log-in information.
To register to attend the event and access the ZOOM Rooms, please fill out this form.
To register to teach a class for C3R, please fill out this form.
To submit an entry for A&S or Largess, please full out this form.
(Entries can be traditional SCA projects OR can be projects you have worked on during the pandemic to help your neighbors using your SCA skills, such as mask making, cooking for neighbors, etc.)
To perform during our feast (singing, playing instruments, or storytelling to name a few things), please contact Torbjorn.
We look forward to seeing everyone in this digital platform this winter when we come together for this year’s COVID Corvid College of Three Ravens!
I have a few things to cover tonight – some good, some more difficult. Bottom line up front – I need for you, for all of Æthelmearc, to hold two separate ideas at the same time – we must double-down right now on keeping ourselves safe, and we need to think about what re-opening looks like in the future.
First – doubling down to keep ourselves safe. Unfortunately, WV, PA, and NY’s infection rates are not good right now and, in conjunction with Their Majesties, The Earl Marshal, the Deputy Kingdom Seneschal for Pandemics, we are extending the fighting and fencing ban until at least April 1st. I also do not recommend having in-person gatherings for the next few months, as we deal with these new COVID variants. If you are going to have one, please contact Duke Christopher at pandemic@aethelmearc.org.
Also, I highly recommend doubling down on mask wearing – and getting the vaccine when it becomes available if your doctor recommends it for you. I got my first shot three weeks ago and so far no adverse reactions – but no super powers either.
So, now the better news. The SCA, in general, is starting to talk about what opening back up looks like, as the current projections, with the current vaccines, and the new vaccines that are coming on to market, show that we likely will be in a better place come summer. Also, Pennsic Staff and Coopers Lake are currently planning on Pennsic happening – though that does 100% depend on whether or not the State and County will permit it happening.
We are not opening up immediately, it will be likely summer before Æthelmearc opens up, but I would like for you to consider what that means for you. What form and timeline does reopening take, for yourselves, your family, your friends, your Shires, Dominion, and Baronies?
Please start thinking (and planning) about what the next summer may look like for you and yours. I encourage you to share these thoughts and concerns with me. Please email me at seneschal@aethelmearc.org. I have some thoughts but I would like to hear yours first. This is just the beginning of a conversation we will have together as a Kingdom over the next several months.
This week starts a new interview series courtesy of Master Quinn Kerr:
“The past year has left many of us with a lot of time on our hands. Time to finish those projects we have meaning to get to, finally try some of those drills or pell work we have been avoiding etc. It is also a great time to reflect on why we do what we do. And why do we love it so much. Recently some questions were posed to the members of the Order of Defense (the rapier peerage). Their answers are both fun and enlightening. So, we begin a series called “5 Questions for a Member of the Order of Defense” Enjoy!”
Master Eric Grenier de Labarre, with his wife Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina, after his elevation ceremony to the Order of Defense, 2017.
This week’s answers are from Baron Master Eric Grenier de Labarre, nicknamed Grendel.
1. Of all the things you could have done in the Society, why did you choose fencing?
When I first got involved in the SCA, back in the middle 90s, I tried out a bunch of different activities, but fencing was what really clicked for me.
Partly, I just really enjoyed the activity of fencing right from the start; but also, I really felt comfortable in the fencing community. I found the standard “peerage track” SCA activities unwelcoming of a casual new person, but the fencing community really opened up and welcomed me, and I quickly made a small army of really good friends, many of whom I am still close to today. Fencing wasn’t a peerage track activity in those days, so there was kind of a “band of misfits and ne’er-do-wells” atmosphere when a bunch of SCA fencers got together to eat and drink and talk.
2. Why do you still fence?
I still enjoy the activity of fencing itself, although I’m reaching the age where I think my best fights may be behind me. But I’m still determined to holding up the “fencing banner” here in the Barony of Thescorre where I live, until someone comes along to take over from me.
As a White Scarf and member of the Order of Defense, I feel a responsibility to stay active and aware of what is going on in fencing, to provide whatever teaching and service I can offer, and to try to preserve the ultra-inclusive culture that drew me into the fencing community in the first place. Now that we are a peerage activity, there is the danger that we could start to become exclusive, in ways that I have observed a lot of peerage communities in many kingdoms do. I think that anyone who wants to participate in fencing should be welcomed and supported, regardless of their skill level, gender, age, body type, physical capability, persona, SCA affiliations, awards, etc.
3. If you could go back in time and give the “new” you advice what would it be?
Hmmm. I guess I would just tell Past Me that he’s on the right track. There is not too many things from that time I regret greatly. Maybe just tell him not to sell that Apple stock.
4. What is your most memorable moment as a fencer?
It’s probably a three-way tie: the first time I won Queen’s Rapier Championship, my elevation to the White Scarf, and my elevation to the MOD. Each one was a surprise at that moment. I also cherish my memory of seeing the Order of the White Scarf of AEthelmearc opened by King Yngvar and Queen Caryl at Harvest Raids; it inspired everything that came after for me.
5. If you were to start all over again would you do anything different?
Greetings Æthelmearc!
