The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us for a sociable evening of historically-themed fun and glamor.
On Friday May 31, starting at 7 PM, we’ll visit our local progressive gothic cathedral, St. John’s, for a medieval-themed Pilgrimage to Pride event hosted by Internet personality the Greedy Peasant. Expect fabulous attire, cocktails, crafting stations, and campy performances.
Historical clothing is optional but encouraged, especially in bright chromatic hues to match the pride rainbow theme.
The cathedral is located on Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street. The closest subways are the 1 train or the B/C lines, both of which have Cathedral Parkway / 110th Street stations; there are also numerous bus lines in the area.
We’ll gather on the steps out front (or in the vestibule if the weather is inclement) and enter as a group. (If you miss us at the entrance, call Mathghamhain at 917-502-7795 to link up with us inside.) The event should last about two hours.
Tickets are available for $25 via the cathedral; higher-priced tickets are available for those who want to financially support the event, but they do not come with any extra perks.
The building is ADA accessible, with a ramp to bypass the front steps. Masks are optional.
This is not an SCA-organized event, so we’ll be joined by lots of other folks who are into history and DIY fashion, and might get a chance to connect with other people who share our interests.
It was great seeing folks at the Grolier Club today for a viewing of their “Judging a Book by Its Cover” exhibit, including volumes with elaborately-tooled and decorated leather bindings from the fifteenth century onwards.
Our party of six also ventured upstairs to view a few additional tomes before heading around the corner for a wide-ranging discussion over a hearty lunch.
We’re on the lookout for more exhibits to visit in the months ahead, so please let us know if you have destinations to suggest, and we look forward to seeing you on our next outing!
The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us for a celebration of spring at our May Day festival!
In the spirit of a traditional May Day gathering, we will mark the change of the seasons and rejoice in the return of warm weather with period music and dancing, decoration of a maypole, garlands of flowers, fruity drinks, picnic finger foods, and cheerful company.
Our merriment will begin at noon on Saturday, May 4; if you’d like to help with setup you are free to join us at 11:30 AM. (If the weather is inclement, we will reschedule to our rain date one week later on May 11.)
We will gather in Sakura Park, a lovely city park located on Riverside Drive at 122nd Street, adjacent to Grant’s Tomb, a few blocks north of Columbia University. (See below for directions.)
All are welcome to join us. Feel free to RSVP or just show up. No Society membership or previous experience required. If you’re new to the SCA, we’d love to meet you!
This event is free. If you would like to contribute to our potluck picnic, please bring a shareable snack or beverage. (We’ll provide a serving table as well as paper plates and cups.) Flowers and other springtime decor are also welcome; contact the event steward to coordinate.
To heighten the experience, please wear clothing evocative of some era before 1600. Strict historical accuracy is not necessary; we just ask for you to make an attempt to step out of the modern world. If you don’t have period garb, we can provide an outfit for the day; send us an email with the sizes and genders in your party and we’ll do our best to outfit you.
Public restrooms are located across the street in the Federal Memorial Visitor Center, which is open until 4 PM.
We look forward to seeing you soon at our celebration of spring!
Event Site Directions
Sakura Park is located on Riverside Drive at 122nd Street, adjacent to Grant’s Tomb and just north of Columbia University.
By Car: This park is just two blocks from the West Side Highway and features plenty of free street parking along Riverside Drive within easy walking distance of the park.
By Subway: Take the 1 to 116th Street, then walk between along Broadway between the Columbia and Barnard campuses to 120th Street, take a left to reach Riverside, and proceed two more blocks further north. (The 125th Street station is half a block closer but the walk is steeply uphill).
By MetroNorth: Take any Grand-Central-bound line to 125th Street. Go downstairs to exit the station and walk west along 125th Street for one minute to reach the M60 bus stop. (You can pay for the bus with a smartphone or a “tap” of a credit card.) Take the bus to 120th Street and Amsterdam and then continue three more blocks along 120th to reach Riverside Park.
By Bus: The M5 bus stops just outside the park. The M60 stops on 120th Street at Amsterdam and on Broadway at 116th Street.
By Bike: There are CitiBike docks at 120th Street.
Our Inspiration: Pre-Modern Village Festivals
Villagers’ Celebration, woodcut by Nikolaus Meldemann, circa 1530.
The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us on an informal weekend outing to one of our many world-class museums.
On Saturday, April 13, at 2 PM, we’ll visit the Grolier, an exclusive club for antiquarian book dealers and collectors. Their “Judging a Book by Its Cover” exhibition focuses on the art of bookbinding, and includes a number of impressively-bound fifteenth-, sixteenth-, and seventeenth-century volumes as well as more-recent items. Before leaving we’ll take a brief detour to their secondary exhibit on hieroglyphics, which also includes a couple of period manuscripts and very early printed books.
The Grolier is located at 47 East 60th Street, between Madison and Park. The closest trains are the N/R at 5th Av/59th St, the 4/5/6 at 59th St, and the Q at Lexington/63rd; there are also numerous bus lines in the area.
We’ll gather outside the front entrance (or in the lobby if the weather is inclement), then enter as a group. (If you have trouble finding us, call Mathghamhain at 917-502-7795.)
The galleries are small, so we expect to finish the exhibitions within an hour or so, and afterwards folks who are interested may walk across the street to Café Bilboquet for snacks and further discussion.
Gallery admission is free. The building is ADA-accessible. Masks are optional.
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. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Detail of “Bookbinder” from Jost Amman’s Book of Trades (1568)
We had a lovely trip to the Morgan this weekend, touring the “Medieval Money and Morality” exhibit and following it up with a visit to the opulent personal library of the Gilded Age robber baron himself.
Thanks to everyone who joined us, and we look forward to scheduling more of these local outings in the coming months!
The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us on an informal weekend outing to one of our many world-class museums.
On Sunday, March 10, at 3 PM, we’ll visit the Morgan’s “Medieval Money, Merchants, and Morality” exhibit, which includes numerous manuscripts, artworks, and artifacts from the late medieval period and into the renaissance. Covering the period in which capitalism emerged and upended the medieval economic system, the exhibit focuses on the cultural and material products created by this transformation, as well as the social and religious forces arrayed against its rise.
The Morgan is located on Madison Avenue between 36th and 37th. The closest trains are the 4/5/6 at 33rd St, the N/Q/R/W and B/D/F/M at 34th St, and the 7 at Bryant Park; there are also numerous bus lines in the area.
We’ll gather outside the front entrance (or in the lobby if the weather is inclement), and then enter as a group. (If you miss us at the entrance, call Mathghamhain at 917-502-7795 to link up inside the museum.)
We’ll probably spend about an hour or so in the museum, and afterwards folks who are hungry may walk a block down Madison to get a snack in a fancy coffee shop.
Museum admission is an exorbitant $25 with discounts for seniors and students. The museum is ADA-accessible. Masks are optional.
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. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our trip to the Africa & Byzantium exhibit at the Met this afternoon!
Our party of eight viewed art and artifacts combining Byzantine, Islamic, and African influences, with origins spread over more than two thousand years and more than two thousand miles of north and east Africa, followed by a pleasant repast at a local diner (coincidentally run by descendants of the Byzantines).
We look forward to seeing you all on our next gallery outing soon!
The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us on another informal weekend outing to one of our many world-class museums.
On Saturday, February 24, starting at 2 PM, we’ll visit the Met’s “Africa and Byzantium” exhibit, which includes numerous period art works and artifacts from north and east Africa showing the shared influence of Byzantine and local cultures, as well as a few post-period examples showing the legacy of this synthesis. The special exhibit is positioned between the museum’s halls of Greek and Roman art and the halls of Medieval art, so we’ll likely loop through those on our way.
The Met is located on Fifth Avenue at East 82nd Street. The closest trains are the 4/5/6 at 86th, and there are several busses that run along either Fifth or 86th.
We’ll gather on the front steps, weather permitting, or in the lobby atrium, and then enter as a group. (If you miss us there, call Mathghamhain at 917-502-7795 to link up inside the museum.) We’ll probably spend about two hours in the museum, and afterwards folks who are hungry may walk over to Madison to get a snack in a local coffee shop.
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. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Alienor: Welcome back! I’m now mostly recovered, but have been sick and out of commission for a long stretch of this winter, so I don’t have much to report.
Exchequer
Zahra: Our financial reports for this quarter have been filed with the kingdom.
Mathghamhain: I’ll follow up with you about posting the summary portions of that report to our website as required by Corpora.
Chatelaine
Angelica: My office has been very quiet. No direct emails or contacts with newcomers.
If you notice someone new show up at an event or in one of our social media channels, please let me know so I can welcome them!
Arts and Sciences
Ibrahim: Our workshop this fall was a success; largesse was delivered to the royals.
I look forward to resuming museum visits; my schedule doesn’t alway allow me to join, but it’s great that we’re taking advantage of the opportunity our city provides.
If anyone missed our canton’s trip to the Cloisters’ exhibit “Rich Man, Poor Man,” this week is your final chance before it closes.
Herald
Mathghamhain: I have filed my quarterly report with the kingdom heralds.
Our canton name change was finally accepted and registered in December.
I’m sorry that process took so long; the College delayed the passage by five months in order to debate and then establish a new policy allowing branches to retain their old names during a change.
Webminister
Mathghamhain: I have filed my quarterly report with the kingdom webministry.
I’ve updated the branch name on the web site, and worked with the webministry to migrate it to the new domain name.
All officers should now be able to send and receive email using the new domain name.
Email to the old domain name can still be received, perhaps for the next year or so.
Officers, when filing your next report to your kingdom counterparts, please remind them of the name change and ask them to switch your office address in their address book, office-related mailing lists, and office-related Google Drive permissions.
I still need to switch the populace and officer mailing lists to use the new domain names.
Upcoming Activity
Mathghamhain: I had planned to organize an outing to the Met’s “Africa and Byzantium” exhibit during January, but illness prevented it — let’s select a new date.
Saturday, February 24 seems like it would work for a bunch of us; I’ll announce it.
Alienor: The largesse workshop in November was really pleasant; I’d love to do more of these casual shared group activity days (rather than formal classes as such).
Angelica: Yes, that would be lovely.
Ibrahim: My building has a street-level garden that could be used for a craft night.
Alienor: Would people like to resume dancing when it’s warm enough outdoors?
Zahra: Yes, definitely.
Angelica: We could also consider early music concerts. There’s a Gothic early music series at St Malachy’s in midtown on Thursday afternoons.
Mathghamhain: I reached out to the WHIDC about the Fort Tryon medieval festival they typically hold on the last weekend of September or first weekend of October.
I haven’t heard back yet, but in past years they didn’t really get moving on this until the spring, so it’s too early to know whether they’re going to hold it again this year.
Events Elsewhere
Ibrahim: On March 2, Crown A&S Championships (Quintavia — Worcester, MA) will also have an option for non-competitive display.
Ronan: On March 23, at Mudthaw (Settmour — NJ), a friend of ours is receiving an award. (Probably not transit friendly, but maybe could car service from NJ Transit?)
Also considering going to Coronation, on April 6 (Concordia — Schenectady).
Jenna: On May 18, Lions End Schola will host the provincial A&S championship (Glen Head); the site is easily accessible by transit.
Closing
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30, followed by a few minutes of socializing.
All are welcome to join us. This will likely be a brief meeting. We’ll review our status and consider plans for the coming months. We look forward to seeing you!
