Greetings to the good People of Ealdormere from Queen Kaylah and King Trumbrand;

We may be unable to gather in person, but the fellowship of Our Kingdom continues through the magic of technology. The wonderfully talented Mistress Marian of Heatherdale will be generously sharing her talents on Saturday March 28 at 8pm via the magic of Zoom.

All good citizens of Ealdormere are invited to share in this event! Clap your hands, dance like no one’s watching and sing like no one can hear you. Because this concert was his idea, yes, even Prince Rattanicus can sing along if his microphone is turned way way down.

In these uncertain times, everyone needs a break from the ever vexing news. Ealdormere has been very good at maintaining a positive outlook. Give yourself an opportunity to smile.

Let there be song!
Queen Kaylah & King Trumbrand

Link to Zoom http://www.ealdormere.ca/news/ealdormere-online-bardic

Greetings to the people of Ealdormere from Prince Rattanicus and Princess Isabel,  

We are pleased to release the link for this weekend’s Kingdom Bardic night.  We hope to see as many of you as we can!
​
Ealdormere Online Bardic

Join Their Highnessess Rattanicus and Isabel and Mistress Marian of Heatherdale for an evening of bardic entertainment…

​28 March 2020, 8:00pm – 29 March 2020, 12:00am
To join via web browser: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/567812491
Meeting ID: 567 812 491

To join by phone: 
        +1 438 809 7799 (Montreal)
        +1 647 374 4685 (Toronto)

Need a different number? Find your local number: https://us04web.zoom.us/u/fcYR7XiBcQ

I would also like to thank their Majesties and the Privy Council for all their help in getting this Kingdom Zoom account set up so quickly.

YIS
Prince Rattanicus and Princess Isabel

Kniaginia Xristina Viacheslavova, KMOAS and Jane Caldwell, KExch 
Greetings to the Most Noble Populace of Ealdormere from your Kingdom MOAS and Kingdom Exchequer.   We are proud to promote a new initiative that supports local artisans while welcoming new blood into our Kingdom.

One of our most cherished traditions is to present our Newcomers with a cup at their first event.  It is an offering of friendship and welcome with the hope they come to share a drink with us again in the future.

Countess Marioun, during her reign, called for a new initiative to help support this effort going forward.  While individual donation of physical cups to the Crown are always welcome, we would like to support our artisans who wish create cups to help with this tradition. 

Kingdom Policy now has room to support and encourage artisan donations towards the Cup stores.  A sub-fund has been created to supplement material and studio costs for artisans wishing to create cups for gifting.

For those wishing to find out more or to apply to fund, email the KMOAS at ealdormere.kmoas@gmail.com

Financial policy language on the structure of the fund can be found at http://www.ealdormere.ca/uploads/2/4/1/5/24151324/ealdormerefinancialpolicyoct2019.pdf

Not an artisan, and think this is cool? Donations of funds towards this project are greatly appreciated. Donations can be made directly to the Kingdom Exchequer, or to your local Branch Exchequer. Please let them know what the money is for, and they’ll direct it appropriately. Both individuals and branches can donate towards this fund.   Let’s see what magic we can make together!
    
YIS,

Kniaginia Xristina Viacheslavova, KMOAS and THLady Jane Caldwell, KExch 

Greetings to the people of Ealdormere from Prince Rattanicus and Princess Isabel.

As we find ourselves spending more time waiting for the summer campaign season to begin we have a longing for the campfire and the joy that it's heat brings.  With fire comes circles and with circles comes song. Songs then become a Kingdom.  A Kingdom that sings!
​
To this end,  Her Highness and I will be sponsoring a Kingdom of Ealdormere Bardic Circle this Saturday at 8pm.  

What you say that you have heard His Highness sing before and you jumped on board Her Majesty's Galleon for seven or eight years? Rest assured Her Highness has decided that His Highness Rattanicus will not be leading this bardic circle! In fact Her Highness thought of all the great bards that Ealdormere has and one name stood out,  Mistress Marian of Heatherdale ! 
 
Mistress Marian has agreed to bring the duct tape and the MKS (Microphone Kill Switch) for His Highness and lead this bardic circle on ZOOM this Saturday, March 28 at 8pm.

We hope to see and hear from many of you this weekend singing in the Key of Army.

The Link to the Zoom meeting will be posted as soon as possible keep checking back often and will be posted to the Kingdom Calendar.

In service to the dream.

Rattanicus and Isabel

​Prince and Princess of Ealdormere

Greetings, Ealdormere.
There have been questions and inquiries as to possible paths forward with regards to Coronation. I hope to answer some of those here.
We live in unprecedented times, and each of us is a witness to and a part of history being made. It would be easy to give in to fear and panic, but instead we embrace hope. Hope that this will begin to see some resolution, hope that we will be able to gather again, and hope that we can resume regular life - all sooner than later.
The BoD sent this missive to all Crowns and Kingdom Seneschals of the Known World: https://www.sca.org/news/recent-board-letter-to-the-crowns-and-kingdom-seneschals/
With that hope, we also recognize the recommended cutoff of 30 April for activities that the BoD has given in the missive linked above. As you know, Ealdormere has already closed practices and meetings in light of this. When it comes to Coronation on 25 April - that's less than a week from the cutoff. And so we do hope that circumstances will allow us to proceed as planned on the date with everyone being safe to attend.
Make no mistake, though, that hope must be tempered by reality. This pandemic is sweeping the globe and growing here at home at an alarming rate. We must and do plan for the likely event that 25 April will not be viable - and also that dates beyond the end of April may not be available. We are considering many possibilities. A number of you have reached out with ideas for the succession of the Crown. We appreciate each and every one of your missives, and I promise they are being taken and discussed. In any case, a decision will be made in time to give you all plenty of notice and ensure that event planners have the time needed to wind down plans gracefully.
The Board is working closely with us to ensure that we have the support we need to make the right decisions, and to provide any variances we will need to move or otherwise alter Coronation (and any other corpora-mandated events that may be affected).
We live in uncertain times, and what we can do right now is buy time to give us the best chance to assess our options without closing them off prematurely. The BoD has given us a very broad ability to bend the law with regards to our plans and although we hope to not need to do so, we will when it is clear that the situation requires it. In the meantime, being able to use the time we have to reassess our options is a luxury we still possess and should not squander.
Also know that while these missives come from the Seneschal's office, Their Majesties, Their Highnesses, and the Privy Council are all part of the discussion behind them.
In the meantime, we all should follow the health and safety guidelines handed down by the Federal and Provincial governments. At the same time, we must care for more than just our bodies. Don't descend into pure isolation - reach out to your friends and bolster each others' spirits. Share stories, show each other your works, stay in touch, and support each other. Stay strong, Ealdormere, and stay together (virtually!) We will persevere.
Stay safe, folks.

​-Lars

​Greetings, Ealdormere.

Given the rapid spread of COVID-19, the response from the Federal Government, the Government of Ontario declaring a state of emergency, and recent guidance from the SCA, this is the time to take the step and suspend all meetings and practices officially. I know that many of you have either suspended already or have had your spaces shut down, but prudence dictates making sure that we all do our part. Unless otherwise noted, this will be in effect until 30 April. 

We would encourage you all to find virtual ways to be together - we may be apart, but we do not need to be alone. There have already been offers of virtual meetings gone by, and other Kingdoms have been experimenting with great success holding virtual meetings for local groups. Facebook has some tools that may be of service, and there are also things like Google Hangouts. If you sign up for Zoom (zoom.us), the free plan allows for meetings of up to 100 people for 40 minutes at a time.

In related news, Coronation is scheduled for 25 April as usual. We are not yet at the point of making a decision about rescheduling it. The site has shut down for the next two weeks and will reassess whether they will reopen for people to use the building at that point. We will also use the next two weeks to see how things evolve. Of course, if the site is shut down then we will need to make other plans. If the site does decide to reopen, we will still make our own decision that best suits Ealdormere and its populace.

We are still keeping a wait and see stance for Lady Mary and events beyond that. We will be reaching out to the event staff of Lady Mary in the near future to be sure that we are prepared for the decisions that may need to be made as COVID continues to advance.

Stay safe, folks. 

​-Lars

Good afternoon,

Given the recent announcement postponing KAS, the deadlines for documentation and research papers are no longer valid.

We are in discussions on what to do with the event but please keep in mind that this pandemic is changing rapidly as are the Federal and Provincial guidelines mandating responses, so it may be a few weeks before we have any answers to give you.

For now, all KAS deadlines are no longer valid. Please hold onto your documentation and/or research papers.

You can reach me at ealdormere.kmoas@gmail.com with any questions.

-Xristinia 

Greetings, Ealdormere

I come with news. In the spirit of doing our part to help reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we have made the difficult decision to postpone Kingdom A&S. It will be rescheduled for a later date, to be determined. I know that a lot of you were very much looking forward to it, but these are extraordinary circumstances and we need to act such that the greater good and safety of everyone is best served.

At this time, there is no change in scheduling for Coronation, Lady Mary, or any events beyond those.

As Their Majesties and Their Highnesses have urged, please refrain from speculation. It's too early to make any decisions for these future events, but be assured that as time passes we will be assessing the situation and will let you all know as early as possible of any changes.
​
Thank you all. Take care of yourself, and your friends.

​Lars

Hey Ealdormere!

You've all seen the missive from the Board of Directors regarding COVID-19. As winter winds down we don't have a lot of events on our own calendar for the next month or so, but some of you might be going out of kingdom for fun and there are always meetings, practices, and demos around the Kingdom. All Kingdom Seneschals are monitoring the virus and what it could mean for upcoming events.

The U.S. and Canada are still in the early stages of the spread of this disease and we don't yet know the full picture. We don't have that many cases so far - at the time of this writing, 77 nationwide and 34 in Ontario.

The best thing that everyone can do for themselves right now is to not panic, but do take sensible precautions:

* Wash your hands, with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds, frequently throughout the day. Don't touch your face with unwashed hands. There are any number of memes floating around to get you through 20 seconds. Hand washing is by far your best protection.

* Wash your hands before eating, after toileting, before and after intimacy, before and after touching anyone.

* Consider alternate forms of greetings rather than hugging or shaking hands.

* Keep surfaces clean - frequently wipe down high-touch areas (toys, toilets, phones, electronics, door handles, bedside tables, television remotes, etc.) Public Health Canada recommends regular household cleaners as good, or a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water.

* Stay home if you're sick! If anyone close to you in daily life is sick now or has been sick in the past week or so, consider very carefully the likelihood that you may be a carrier and on the verge of coming down with something yourself.

* Event stewards and officers running business meetings, practices, etc should have extra cleaning supplies available, as appropriate. If an event steward is unsure whether or not to have an event, please feel free to contact me. A good indicator of time to reconsider is whether or not local schools have closed. Listen to your local health officials.

* And, hey - we’re all concerned about Coronavirus right now because it’s in the news. All of this applies to any bug going around like a cold or the flu.

For more guidance, check out the available info sites:

Ontario - https://www.ontario.ca/page/2019-novel-coronavirus

Federal - https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19.html

If you find yourself being a caregiver for an isolated patient: https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/factsheet-covid-19-guide-isolation-caregivers.pdf

SCA guidance on event cancellations: https://www.sca.org/news/corporate-guidance-on-event-cancellation/

Take care of yourself, and your friends. Be ready, but don't panic. If anything changes there will be further announcements.

Lars

Wassail for Ealdormere's newest group: The Incipient Shire of Champs des Corbeaux! 

The area covered will be the Municipality of Chatham-Kent (and surrounds). The Shire of Bastille du Lac has generously offered to sponsor this new group.

Current Officers:
Seneschal The Honourable Lady Laura Battista (corbieseneschal@gmail.com)
Exchequer Selewen de la Wode (corbieexchequer@gmail.com)
MoAS Lady Cira Squirrel (corbiemoas@gmail.com)
Web Minister & Marshal The Honourable Lord Cesare di Salvazzi 
(corbiewebminister@gmail.com)

​For meeting and practice times check out their web site at:  
https://crowsnorth.wixsite.com/champsdescorbeaux
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CrowsNorth/