By THL Constance of Caldrithig
We serve the Crown. But without a Seneschal, the Crown has no weight. Without an Exchequer, the Crown has no funding. Without a Herald, the Crown has no Voice. Without a Marshal, the Crown has no might. Without the Minister of Arts and Science, the Crown has no beauty. Without a Chronicler, the Crown has no lineage. Without a Clark-Registrar, the Crown has no reach. And without a Chatelaine, the Crown has no new subjects.
The SCA is a volunteer organization, as we all know. In order for our groups to maintain their status and to continue to do things like have Armoured Combat or Fencing Practices and hold events, we need a few officers at the helm to keep the business end on course.
The Barony is a local group unto itself, but it is also an important mid-step between the Canton/Strongholds and the Kingdom. Baronial officers offer advice and guidance to the Canton and Strongholds’ officers, and offer timely reminders on reporting deadlines, in addition to filing their own reports.
Currently the Barony has a couple of open positions:
The Chronicler is a required position for Baronies by Kingdom Law. Maister Colyne has been filling in for some months now, but this position is available right now. Duties include publishing a quarterly Chronicle according to Society guidelines, and maintaining the new Chronicle blog. You do not need to produce all the content yourself, other members can absolutely write articles, poems, and contribute artwork.
The Chatelaine is many members’ first contact with the SCA. Deemed the SCA’s “welcome wagon” a Chatelaine eases a person’s entry into the group. Baron Duncan will be stepping down on July 31. Our Barony has gotten a name amongst local festival planners as a fun group to have participate. The Baronial Chatelaine can choose to organize these demos or delegate them to a Canton/Stronghold Chatelaine, or other contact. Largely an email based job, this is a good one for anyone looking for a soft introduction to working an officer position.
The Seneschal is the “president” of the group. Seneschal is a required position as per Society rules. They run meetings and sign contracts. They are the legal representative of the group. This sounds scary, and it can feel like a lot of responsibility to manage the calls for bids and organizing agendas and spearheading projects. In reality, at the Baronial level, it can be a pretty chill job. There are few events hosted by the Barony – most are hosted by the Canton and Strongholds. Lady Petronill’s term is up in November. Applications are appreciated before the end of August.
The Exchequer is the “treasurer” for the group. Exchequer is a required position as per Society rules. They maintain a ledger and financial policies, prepare an annual budget, and write cheques for the Barony’s expenses. Oh, no! Math! Truly, all the math is done for you. You are given reports to complete in Excel, with all the formulas already there. If you can manage your own money, you can be an Exchequer. My term is up in November. Applications are appreciated before the end of August.
Both Caldrithig and Greyfells are seeking Exchequers as well. The Canton/Stronghold level is a little busier than the Baronial level, since these groups have local practices and more frequent meetings. The position is no less important, and both have been open for some time.
The Minister of Arts and Sciences is the cheerleader for our artistic endeavours. The Honourable Noble Estienne is on their second term in this office and will be seeking a successor early next year. The only required duty for this position is to file reports, but there is scope for so much more.
If you have any questions, you should reach out to the officer currently doing the job or someone who has done it in the past. You will have all the info you could ever want and more.
I want to end with a heartfelt thank you to all the people currently holding offices and others who held them in the past. The time they spend outside of the game enables us all to attend events and practices locally. Officer positions can seem like a lot of work and responsibility for little reward, and it’s true, this work sometimes goes unnoticed more often than others. Again, thank you to them, and to you who are considering taking up these roles.
