Missive

Greetings from the new-ish Northshield Chatelaine, THL Eliane Halevy.

Since I took office July 15, I've been sorting out the details of this office, admiring the tabard I inherited from my able predecessor (Baroness Eithni ingen Talorgain), and (oh yeah) attending and recovering from Pennsic.

It may seem that the office of Chatelaine is an unnecessary frill, or even a "fluff job" where you get to be an officer without any responsibilities. This couldn't be further from the truth for my job, and I consider it my task to disabuse local groups of these notions. Demos, recruiting activities, and publicity keep the SCA involved in the local community, keep new members coming in, and educate many. Secondary benefits are important too: if your group has someone whose job it is to keep the group in the good graces of the community, think how much easier it will be to find suitable meeting/event sites!

Still, sometimes it's tough to get ideas, and it's easy to feel defeated if your group has had discouraging experiences with demos and recruiting in the past. That's why I'd like local Chatelaines, Seneschals and anyone else involved in demo/recruiting activities to feel free to contact me at any time. My information is under "Deputies to the Seneschal" in the "Officers" section of this newsletter.

I will be holding meetings at selected events for those interested in Chatelaine-type activities, and hope to be involved in plans for any newcomers'-seminar-type activities planned by local groups. (Last month I attended an amazing Newcomers' Day event in the Barony of Windhaven. Huzzah for the legendary Windhaven hospitality! You are to be commended for your work and enthusiasm.) Please contact me if your group is thinking of holding a Newcomer's Day. I'd love to help in any way I can.

The Northshield chatelaines Yahoo group is not a talkative list, but I hope to expand the conversation. All are welcome to join; simply visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/northshieldchatelaines/ .

Lastly, in the busy lead-up to Northshield's first Coronation, don't forget your local newbies. They are the ones who've attended a few local meetings but may not yet have been to an out-of-town event. They might have only one set of garb, and might not even know the epic story of Northshield's rise to Kingdom status. Tell them your stories, help them locate or make festive garb for the upcoming events, give them rides, and seat them up front in Court so they can hear what's going on. Later when they realize at what a special moment they became part of Northshield, they'll thank you for helping them to participate and enjoy!

Yours in song and service,

Eliane

Other missives from the Kingdom Chatelaine (KLO)

Posted by: Eliane Halevy Kingdom Chatelaine (KLO) on 10/1/2004