Please join us online at 7 PM Monday evening for the canton’s quarterly business meeting via this Google Meet link.
The last three months have been quiet, but we’re hoping to get things moving again as we head into the fall and winter.
July Commons Minutes
The canton’s quarterly business meeting was held online July 24. The minutes below were recorded by Alienor Salton and edited by Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin.
Attendance
Officers:
• Alienor Salton, Seneschal
• Zahra de Andaluzia, Exchequer
• Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Herald
• Simon Talbot, Webminister
• Ibrahim al-Rashid, Arts & Sciences
Absent Officers:
• Angelica di Nova Lipa, Chatelaine and Vicereine
Populace:
• Elizabeth
Provincial Guests:
• Jenna Childslayer
Opening Business
Meeting called to order at 7:08.
Alienor:
- Our canton name change has been delayed.
- The Cloisters demo has been canceled.
- Most of us on the call will be at Pennsic — please drop by the Østgarðr potluck, Thursday Aug. 8th, starting at 5:30 pm or so.
- After we get back from Pennsic, we will resume doing the kinds of activities we were doing in the spring, including gallery visits and dancing.
Jenna:
- Sept. 22-23, An Dubh has a new demo at Longwood Estates in Suffolk. Historically plausible garb is important for this event.
Exchequer
Zahra:
- Last quarter all the exchequers had a study hall. It would be nice to do it again.
Local Event
- Elizabeth: Could Appleholm host a schola?
- Simon: Appleholm likes nothing better!
- Mathghamhain: I would love to do a show-and-tell A&S day, with a simple dayboard, and live dancing & music.
- Zahra: Why not both?
- Mathghamhain: Let’s find a venue! I volunteer myself & Alienor to call around the sites we previously scoped.
Webministry
- Simon: I’m ready to step down as webminister, but willing to continue if needed.
- All: THANK YOU FOR YOUR MANY YEARS OF SERVICE.
- Alienor: Please feel free to step down now; there’s no need to drag this out past the point where you’re enjoying it.
- Mathghamhain: I will take over the office. We can arrange the logistics after Pennsic. Thank you for sticking around even after moving away.
[Meeting adjourned at 7:26pm and then almost immediately re-opened when Ibrahim joined the call.]
A&S Gatherings
Ibrahim:
- Let’s resume regular A&S gatherings when we return from Pennsic.
- We had one earlier this year and would like to have more.
Jenna:
- You can borrow our schola site, which is public transit accessible.
Closing
Meeting fully ended at 7:31pm.
April Commons Minutes
The canton’s quarterly business meeting was held online April 24. The minutes below were recorded by Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin and reviewed by Alienor Salton.
Attendance
Officers:
• Alienor Salton, Seneschal
• Zahra de Andaluzia, Exchequer
• Angelica di Nova Lipa, Chatelaine and Vicereine
• Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Herald
• Ibrahim al-Rashid, Arts & Sciences
Absent Officers:
• Simon Talbot, Webminister
Provincial Guests:
• Vitasha Ivanova doch’, Provincial Minister of Lists
Meeting called to order at 7:05.
Seneschal
Alienor: Since our last meeting we’ve hosted a weaving workshop, monthly museum outings, and several dance practices.
I am traveling for the next week, so will not be able to host a dance practice this coming weekend, but I’ll organize one when I return, before our road trip to Dancing Fox, May 13th. Our last dance practice was in a local park, and for the next one we’ll probably return to the General Grant Memorial Overlook Pavilion (122nd at Riverside).
Chatelaine
Angelica: Appleholm’s dance and museum initiatives have attracted two newcomers (Madwen and Sarah) in the last quarter. Another Appleholm UWS resident (Estar) found us via Jenna Childslayer’s online Pennsic 101 class. Estar and I traveled together to the An Dubh Schola at Stony Brook. I and other Appleholm residents have been welcoming and helpful to these newcomers, and we look forward to Dancing Fox in their good company.
Chatelaine quarterly reports to EK have been correctly submitted.
Herald
Mathghamhain: Our branch name change is continuing to wend its way through the heraldic commentary process, and no problems have been encountered so far. (The legacy household name to preserve the Whyt Whey has been subject to more discussion, but appears likely to be registrable in one form or another.) Results are likely to be made official in mid-July.
Exchequer
Ibrahim: I helped Zahra get access to the bank website. The report seems to have gone okay.
Zahra: Yes, thanks for the help, the exchequer’s quarterly report was filed.
Webminister
Alienor: I checked in with Simon, who reports that there is no news from the webministry.
Arts and Sciences
Ibrahim: Thorfinn is considering hosting some local A&S gatherings in-person at his home. Perhaps mead-making? Simple garb sewing? Contact him or me with class ideas.
Mathghamhain: Our series of museum trips are going well. It was great seeing people at the Cloisters yesterday. I’m currently looking for suggestions on other destinations for future visits.
Ibrahim: The Met is having an exhibit Juan de Pareja, a seventeenth-century Spanish painter of African descent. He’s post-period, but interesting.
Alienor: I’ve been enjoying our visits to small less-known galleries.
Upcoming Events
Alienor: Our next commons meeting will be in July.
Mathghamhain: I’d love to find a venue that was both beautiful and affordable for an in-person non-competitive A&S-themed event later this year.
Mathghamhain: I’ve asked WHIDC to confirm the date of the Cloisters medieval festival this fall — it’s probably the first weekend in October, but some years it’s been the last weekend in September instead.
Closing
Meeting adjourned at 7:30.
Wednesday May 10, 7 PM – 8 PM: Introduction to Mead Making
Wednesday May 10, 7 PM – 8 PM, with socializing time on either end of that.
Introduction to Mead Making
Learn how to make the quintessential medieval drink, mead! We will focus on modern mead-making, and also discuss historical context and practice. A small number of one gallon take-home kits will be provided for interested students.
Instructor Lorefather Þorfinnr Hróðgeirsson focuses on historical beverage research, and has been a modern homebrewer for over a decade.
Dance Studio Session, Sunday April 16
The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us for our casual weekend renaissance-dance workshop: Taci e Balla — shut up and dance!
On Sunday, April 16, we will meet at 3 PM at a local dance studio, Bridge For Dance, 2726 Broadway, between 104th and 105th Streets, in studio 2 on the 3rd floor. (Located on the east side of Broadway, upstairs from McDonalds, a minute’s walk from the #1 train at 103rd Street.)
We’ll continue to practice and expand our repertoire of sixteenth-century bransles (pronounced “brawls”). These are easy dances to learn; newcomers and first-timers are welcome!
We have the dance studio rented for just one hour, so arrive a few minutes early and be ready to dance!
Masking strongly encouraged. Please be aware of a significant accessibility limitation: there are three flights of stairs and this site lacks an elevator.
This event is free. All are welcome to join us. No Society membership or previous experience required. Modern attire; come as you are. Feel free to RSVP or just show up.
After the dancing, folks who wish to socialize may move to a nearby shop for coffee and nibbles.
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.
Canton Commons, Monday April 24
Please join us on Monday, April 24th, at 7pm for the Appleholm Commons, our canton’s quarterly business meeting (and online social gathering), online via Google Meet.
We’ll be discussing plans for upcoming activities and future events. If there’s anything you’d like to discuss, you can email the Seneschal to put it on the agenda, or just bring it up during the discussion period.
Our meetings are open to everyone. No Society membership or previous experience required. Modern attire; come as you are.
This Saturday: Take the Train to Northern Craft Day
As previously announced elsewhere, the Crown Province is hosting a Crafts Day on Saturday, April 8 from 11 AM – 3 PM, just north of the city in New Rochelle, easily accessible by MetroNorth, and it would be lovely to see some members of the canton up there.
Hands-on activities will include painting fabric heraldic banners, as well as period tabletop games, leather crafts, calligraphy and Illumination.
There’s a MetroNorth train on the New Haven line that departs Grand Central at 10:05, stops at 125th Street & Park Avenue at 10:15, and reaches New Rochelle at 10:40; additional trains follow every thirty minutes. (The train costs $8.50 each way.) From the station it’s just a two-block walk to the New Rochelle Public Library, where we’ve reserved the meeting room.
This event is free. All are welcome to join; no Society membership or previous experience required.
Period clothing is welcome, but entirely optional; come as you are.
No food is allowed onsite, but there are a couple of casual lunch spots within walking distance.
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.
Dancing by the Riverside
We had a great turnout for yesterday’s dance practice, with ten people kicking up their heels in a colonnaded pavilion in Riverside Park. It was lovely to see all these smiling faces, including visitors from Brokenbridge and Settmour, as well as a local pedestrian who wandered by and joined in.
We look forward to returning to this area in the future, but our next session will be indoors again — join us at 3 PM on Sunday, April 16th, Bridge For Dance, 2726 Broadway, between 104th and 105th Streets, in studio 2 on the 3rd floor.
Gallery Sunday, April 23: Springtime at the Cloisters
The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join for a casual weekend outing to one of our many world-class museums.
On Sunday, April 23, at 1 PM, we’ll visit the Cloisters to view the springtime gardens, which have been planted with a variety of species reflecting medieval practices and ideas of nutrition, medicine, and beauty. We’ll also traverse their indoor galleries, where they are hosting a special exhibition of late-medieval objects from middle-class European households.
We’ll gather in the park across the street from the main entrance and enter as a group. Our visit is expected to last for two or three hours. Afterwards, folks who are hungry may walk down the hill to a local restaurant.
(If you’re new to the Cloisters, it’s New York City’s immersive museum of medieval art and architecture, constructed from several medieval European buildings which were purchased piecemeal a hundred years ago and relocated to upper Manhattan, then filled with a variety of period artworks.)
To reach the Cloisters:
- By train, take the A train to 190th Street, then use the elevators to exit on Fort Washington Avenue and transfer to the uptown M4 for its final stop. Alternately, you can follow the path north into the park for about ten minutes. (Note that while maps may suggest that you could take the A or 1 trains to Dyckman Street and walk into the park from there, you should be prepared for a very, very steep climb up the 180-foot hillside.)
- By bus, take the uptown M4 bus to its last stop.
- By car, navigate to 99 Margaret Corbin Drive and look for public parking space in or around Fort Tryon Park.
Residents of New York State with a valid ID may pay what you will; for out-of-state visitors, the museum’s admission fee is $30.
The venue very strongly recommends masking. Unfortunately this site is not wheelchair-friendly due to the numerous stairs throughout the building.
All are welcome to join us. No Society membership or previous experience required. Modern attire; come as you are. Feel free to RSVP or just show up.
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.
Outdoor Dance Practice, Sunday April 2
The Canton of Appleholm once again invites you to join us for a casual weekend renaissance-dance workshop: Taci e Balla — shut up and dance!
On Sunday, April 2, we will meet at 3 PM at the newly-reopened pavilion adjacent to Grant’s Tomb, on Riverside Drive at 122nd Street. It’s still cool out, with Sunday’s weather predicted to be sunny and 50°F, so throw on some warm layers and come enjoy the amazing river view!
We’ll be reviewing the same sixteenth-century bransles we’ve learned over the last few weeks. These are easy dances to learn; newcomers and first-timers are welcome!
This event is free. All are welcome to join us. No Society membership or previous experience required. Modern attire; come as you are. Feel free to RSVP or just show up.
The pavilion, and the adjacent memorial, is a National Park, open from 9–5 Wednesday through Sundays. The site is level and accessible. Alas, the public restrooms are still closed “due to COVID restrictions,” and the nearby playground bathroom is also closed at this time, so we’ll have to scope out the nearest facilities for emergency purposes.
Directions — and see below for map:
- Subway: The closest stations are the #1 to 125th Street or 116th Street. It’s about a 10 minute walk from either; the path from 116th is downhill, while the route from 125th involves climbing a steep hill.
- Bus: Take the M5 bus to Riverside and 122nd Street, which is immediately outside the pavilion (downtown) or across the memorial plaza (uptown).
- Driving: There’s lots of on-street parking along Riverside Drive immediately in front of the pavilion.
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.