Office of the East Kingdom Seneschal
Good populace of the East Kingdom,
Their Majesties call for Letters of Intent to enter Their Crown Tournament. Letters are due by September 30, 2021. Please see the following announcement: https://www.eastkingdom.org/ek_announcement/september-7-2021-crown-tournament-letters-of-intent/
In service,
Medhbh
Good morning, all gentles of the East Kingdom,
On the eve of one of our most treasured events, the Coronation of a new Crown, excitement, anticipation, and eagerness for shared community are high. The Coronation of Ioannes and Ro Honig brings the Kingdom another step closer to our established traditions.
And yet, we must remain diligent in our individual and collective safety measures. If you are feeling ill at all, please do not attend this or any other event. We have all come through too much to jeopardize our current ability to gather together.
At all in-person gatherings, please wear your CDC/PHS-compliant mask, correctly, every time (unless eating, drinking, or actively fighting). This includes while in your general camp area at a camping event (obviously, event staff will not monitor whether you are masked inside your tent). If reminded by event staff, please be courteous as they work to fulfill this directive. Likewise, event staff will gently point out to parents if their young children are unmasked.
Thank you for the Kingdom’s collective effort that makes it possible to do all of the activities which brought us together in the Society.
In service,
Medhbh
Kingdom Seneschal
Good afternoon, East Kingdom,
With the Board’s most recent decision (https://www.sca.org/news/resolution-to-further-lift-suspension-of-in-person-activity-in-the-sca-as-of-august-1-2021/), as we are now back to events almost as we had previously known them.
Almost all activities which had been limited by the pandemic are back: overnight camping, feasts and dayboards, rattan & rapier practice, etc. See below for the remaining restrictions on what is allowed.
Here are the current requirements for all in-person gatherings of any size (practice, meeting, event — if it’s sponsored by a branch, the following applies):
1. Follow all federal/state/province/local requirements regarding COVID safety. Given the surge in the Delta variant, government requirements might be shifting in the weeks ahead. If you are holding an in-person gathering of any kind in upcoming months, make sure you are up to date on the relevant safety requirements.
2. All attendees must be signed in on a separate roster for contact tracing, with their legal name, and either an email or a phone number. This can be achieved either with pre-registration or a sign-in sheet at gate.
3. All in-person gatherings must display the following wording at gate (and in multiple locations beyond gate if it’s a large event):
Although the SCA complies with all applicable laws to ensure the health and safety of our event participants, we cannot eliminate the risk of exposure to infectious diseases during in-person events. By participating in the in-person events of the SCA, you acknowledge and accept the potential risks. You agree to take any additional steps to protect your own health and safety and those under your control as you believe to be necessary.
4. At this time, the East Kingdom does not have additional requirements. Their Majesties, Their Highnesses, and I continue to urge everyone to wear masks in order to create a safer environment for all and to make it easier for families with young children (who cannot yet be vaccinated and therefore must wear masks) to attend.
Branches are always able to set stricter safety requirements — such as requiring masks — than Kingdom, if they choose. Please keep me posted if your branch is considering this option. The Kingdom Exchequer Council has a fund to aid groups with cleaning supplies — please email the Kingdom Exchequer or me for details.
Restrictions that remain in place at this time:
1. Branch-sponsored in-person gatherings cannot ask about vaccinated/COVID negative status unless required by the private site owner/venue or government officials. If your branch is asked to sign a contract that includes requiring vaccination, please let me know.
2. Branch-sponsored in-person gatherings cannot use any ribbon/button/symbol/color-coded (etc) system for indicating whether the recipient is or is not welcoming physical contact like hugs. Any individual is always welcome to display such a badge, and if any individual wants to make such available to others — away from gate — that’s also fine. As long as the event/meeting staff are not distributing or otherwise seeming to require such badges, they’re fine.
3. Water-bearing in which water is squirted/sprayed/poured from a communal vessel directly into the mouth are off-limits. Bottled water is fine and water in a large cooler with a spigot is fine as long as care is taken that individuals’ drinking vessel doesn’t come in contact with the spigot.
4. Open serving bowls/platters in which participants reach in with their hands to take items (bowls of pickles, orange wedges, pretzels, etc) are off-limits. use serving utensils and/or have staff serve items for better food safety.
In service to the Kingdom,
Medhbh
Kingdom Seneschal
The Society Social Media Officer has released a new Social Media Policy. This new policy is part of the ongoing improvement and clarification around social media for SCA Inc. members and participants. For more information, see the announcement.
(for additional details, please review EK Law[https://seneschal.eastkingdom.org/docs/EKLAW.pdf] Sections I.C. and III.A.):
Laws may be enacted, amended, or repealed only by the Crown, after discussion at Their Kingdom Curia.
The purpose of Kingdom Curia is:
a. To hear reports from the Greater Kingdom Officers.
b. To put forth for discussion any proposed changes to East Kingdom Law and listen to the opinions of those with seats on Curia and those in attendance.
The following have seats on Kingdom Curia and have the right to be heard:
– The Crown and Heirs
– The Coronet and Heirs of Principalities
– Greater and Lesser Kingdom Officers
– Local Branch Seneschals
The following are invited to Curia and have the right to be heard:
– Royal Peers from any Kingdom who currently reside in the East Kingdom
– East Kingdom Territorial Baron/esses
Other gentles who wish to attend are welcome, but may speak only by permission of the Curia Facilitator.
Link to be announced
EK Law Section III.I. The Agenda for the Curia Regis
1. Any items that The Crown chooses to add to the agenda after the Curia has been called will be added to the agenda under “New Business”.
2. If a Curia notice has been sent according to East Kingdom Law, but another Curia needs to be held before the previously announced one, any items of business held over from the earliest Curia will be automatically added to the agenda of the subsequent Curia under “Old Business”
The New Groups Deputy works with members of the populace who wish to form an incipient branch or to change their branch status to make sure they understand the steps as defined in Corpora and East Kingdom Law.
Position duties include:
Candidates must be a current member of the SCA with access to their East Kingdom email account. An interest in policy and strong communication skills are essential.
Interested candidates should email the Kingdom Seneschal with a description of their background and relevant experience.
The Board of Directors has decided that in-person events can resume June 1, 2021, with limitations (see the full Board announcement).
We have updated the East Kingdom’s in-person event guidelines.
A survey to gauge the Kingdom’s level of comfort with returning to events will be sent to branch seneschals and chatelaines. The survey can also be completed online. We encourage the populace to full out the survey so we can better guide the East Kingdom’s slow and careful return to in-person events.
In service to the East Kingdom,
Medhbh, Kingdom Seneschal
Tindal and Alberic, Consules of the East
Greetings to the SCA:
In April of this year, the Board of Directors of the SCA, Inc. issued a proclamation allowing in-person events to resume in North America as of June 1, 2021, subject to any federal, state, provincial, or local government health restrictions, and subject to restrictions imposed by the Board to try to ensure the safety of our participants, given conditions of the pandemic at the time. It was stated then that these restrictions would be revisited as appropriate.
At their May 25, 2021 conference call meeting, the Board of Directors of the SCA, Inc. discussed the latest guidance from the CDC, as well as current trends in the United States in particular with regard to the increasing availability of COVID vaccinations and the decreasing incidence of illness and hospitalizations in the United States. The Board then decided to loosen many of the SCA-imposed restrictions effective July 1, 2021. The Resolution released earlier today, spells out the requirements for in-person events going forward from that July 1 date.
The Board further took the following action:
Motion by Dale Fong-Frederick to approve the following language, and require that it appear on all event notices, flyers, online announcements, and advertisements, as well as being posted in multiple locations, including Troll (Registration), at all events:
Although the SCA complies with all applicable laws to try to ensure the health and safety of our event participants, we cannot eliminate the risk of exposure to infectious diseases during in-person events. By participating in the in-person events of the SCA, you acknowledge and accept the potential risks. You agree to take any additional steps to protect your own health and safety and those under your control as you believe to be necessary.
Seconded by Gigi Coulson. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
This language will be required to appear on all event notices, flyers, online announcements, and advertisements, as well as being posted in multiple locations at any and all SCA-sponsored functions going forward. A poster with this statement can be found on the SCA website: Event Sign
A few important notes:
G’Day Everyone,
When taking office in the position of Mayor for Pennsic 49 I made a promise to everyone. That promise was that above all else, I would endeavour to run a fiscally responsible and safe Pennsic 49. It was my dear friend and mentor Viscount Sir Edward that said to me “The people that attend this event are Pennsic, take care of them.” I promised him I would. Then COVID 19 hit and the entire world was plunged into a crisis, the like of which we have not witnessed in our lifetimes.
Over the past few months, I have been in constant discussions with the Pennsic Seneschals Group (PSG), the President of the SCA Inc., Cooper’s Lake Management, and my Pennsic Senior Executive Group. In addition, I have seen the comments from many of you and listened to the comments from my Deputy Mayors and their staff.
I have kept you all updated as much as possible so that you all understand my decision-making process and so that you understand the path I am walking when I make decisions. Although change is happening and things are getting better, I must deal with the now, rather than what I think it may be like in 3 months’ time and unfortunately our vendors needs for commitment and certainty are requiring us to make commitments earlier than we originally intended.
As Mayor of Pennsic 49, I was entrusted with, the welfare and safety of the entire Pennsic Family. It is therefore with great sadness that I must inform you today that, I have decided to Postpone Pennsic 49 for another 12 months to 2022. The new dates for Pennsic 49 will be 29 July 2022 – 14 August 2022. This has been an exceedingly difficult decision to make but I trust you understand the reasoning behind it.
This postponement will be heartbreaking news to many of you and especially to the community surrounding Cooper’s Lake.
It has been arranged with Cooper’s Lake Management, that those who have preregistered for Pennsic 49 may have their registrations rolled over to 2022. If you desire a refund, please go to www.cooperslake.com and log into your pre-registration account.
Even if Pennsic 49 cannot run this July 2021, I remain optimistic that the situation will improve over the next months. I know that some of you have lost loved ones to this pandemic and my Pennsic Team and I send you our condolences and best wishes. I am looking forward to the time when I can share some time with you all at Cooper’s Lake and Pennsic War.
Yours in Service,
Sir Gregory of Loch Swan
Mayor, Pennsic 49