Welcome to the Online Clann Tartan Newsletter for October 2011

Mankato History Festival

Our event year ends on the second weekend in October with the History Festival run by Jack McGowan at his site in rural Mankato. The History Festival opens with school days on Thursday and Friday, October 6 and 7, and closes with a public day, Saturday October 8. As has been noted in these pages before, it’s a smaller, lower-key event than Big Island, but always pleasant and charming, although the weather varies enormously—at both events—from year to year. The site is a big open space surrounded by woods, with a pretty riverfront and an ever-growing assortment of structures. We set our own schedule for all three days of the History Festival as groups and families arrive in our camp. Saturday’s official hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information on setup will come out later; for now, have a look at http://www.historyfest.com/.

Staff Elections at the Fall Business Meeting

The November Members' Meeting will be held Saturday the Fifth at 10:00 at Yoders' house, the rec center no longer being available on Saturdays. We will be holding Staff elections. Positions open are the Captain, the Head Campfollower, and all positions under them. The position of Chief of Staff will be open in the November 2012 election. If you are interested in being on the new Staff please contact the Chief of Staff, or any Board member.

Wanted!

Submissions for the Newsletter!

Items must be received by the 15th of each month to be considered for inclusion for the upcoming months issue. Mailed submissions will not be returned unless requested. All pertinent submissions will be considered as space permits. All research articles must reference at least three sources. Submissions may be broken in multiple parts.

Deadline for articles to go in the November newsletter will be the 15th of October.

     Present for the Board were Bruce, Julie, David, and Mia; Margaret
     was also present.

     Previous minutes were passed as amended.

     The Treasurer reports we have new, cheaper insurance.

     The Vice President had no report.  Her next project will be trifolds to
     hang in history, archaeology, and theater departments.

     David needs a copy of the cookbook; he can data enter it into a more
     accessible format.

     The Quartermaster sent in a report that several tents were damaged at
     Scottish Fair by inexpert handling.  We also need candles.
     The practice swords were used at mini-muster.

     Staff is to look into strap repair on the trailer.  One of the side
     straps for long things is broken.

     We need to figure out the best plan for spigot maintenance for the water
     jug.  Should it be kept wet?  Dry?  Refrigerated?

     Guilds are going into summer dormancy.  Music will not meet.  Dance will
     only meet on second and fourth Tuesdays.

     Dun Gowan work weekends will be when Laura can get away.

     We discussed what to do for transportation to Thunder Bay.

     We discussed a recruiting party at Convergence.

     Mia is to check the Mankato contract, also to ask John O'Duggan
     again about the musket.

     Mia is also to ask Glenn if there is an on-line manual at the old site.

     There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned.

     Respectfully submitted...
     

Board Meeting Minutes — July 19, 2011.

    Present were for the Baord were David, Julie, Bruce, Karen, Anthea,
    and Mia.  Margaret was also present.

    The May Members' minutes were approved.

    The president thanked the vice president for the business card project
    now complete.  Our next project will be for new trifold brochures.

    The treasurer deposited money for Scottish Fair so revenues are up to
    date.  Expenses for Johndezvous and Tactical have also been posted.  A
    lot of money has been put out for trailer maintenance and repair.

    We still need to get canvas from Tamaye Ceannedeach.

    Quartermaster's report:  there are now two muskets out for repair and we
    still have no cannon.

    Camp Reps had no report.

    Sword can meet at park near David's on second Wednesdays.

    Dance might find a free location in St. Paul.

    Members attending Thunder Bay discussed logistics.

    Glenn was asked to add Hudson to the newsletter.

    Mia is to get contracts for Big Island and Mankato.

    Respectfully Submitted...

Board Meeting Minutes — August 16, 2011.

No meeting, lack of quorum!

Clann Tartan Staff Meetings

Recent staff meetings have been devoted to planning for Fort William, Hudson, and Big Island. In all three cases we were unable to use the trailer: There was nobody going who had a vehicle that could haul. Staff had to carefully choose what was to be brought and how. The results of these discussions are summarized below.

If you need to contact someone associated with Clann Tartan, here is where you find out how. If you are unsure who to contact, you can always email us at: info at clanntartan dot org

Our garage is located at 4352 Nicollet Ave S in Minneapolis. Access is in the alley on the west side of Nicollet. South bay of the double garage. Minor problems or issues should be reported to Bruce. In the event of an emergency, the landlord is Brad at 763-670-9200

Guilds

Contact:
David Vavreck
baethan1630 at yahoo.com
612-378-1973

Music

We will sing and play music of many styles and places from our period. Bring your voice and/or your instrument(s). Neither need be period correct.

The Yoders have graciously offered to host music once a month. We will meet at their house at 4736 12th Ave S, Minneapolis, from 7 - 9pm the 4th Monday of each month.

To contact the Yoders, call 612-825-4519 or email to Julieyoder at juno dot com.

To contact your Music Chair, call David at 612-353-1237 or email to baethan1630 at yahoo dot com

Thanks, and I look forward to making some noise with y'all!

David

We have a yahoo groups email list for the guild that we use for reminders about the meetings and topical discussions. If you want to be on the email list, request an invitation to join from Bruce at bruceyoder at juno dot com.

The Dance Guild gathers weekly from 7PM-9PM to learn and practice historic Scottish country dances.

1st & 3rd Wednesdays

Dance will meet at Lake Hiawatha Neighborhood Center, 2701 E 44th St Minneapolis.

It is at the corner of 27th Av S and E 44th Street. Both streets are one way. That block of 44th between 28th and 27th Avenues is one way westbound and that block of 27th Av between 44th and 43rd Streets is one way northbound. You must enter turning west onto 44th St from 28th Av and exit from 27th Av onto 43rd St.

2nd & 4th Tuesdays

Saint Christopher's Episcopal Church, 2300 N Hamline Ave. in Roseville.

It is at the northeast corner of Highway 36 and Hamline Avenue (Hamline is between Snelling and Lexington). The church is actually encircled by the highway entrance ramp.

For more information call:

Mary at 651-699-6853 or Julie at 612-825-4519.

It's a great place to meet people!

We have a yahoo groups email list for the guild that we use for reminders about the meetings and topical discussions. If you want to be on the email list, request an invitation to join from Bruce at bruceyoder at juno dot com.

Fiber Guild

Historic Site

How to pack for an event when the trailer is not available

by Sarah Shaftman and Glenn McDavid

(Based on the Staff meeting of September 1, our experiences at Fort William and at Hudson, and the Staff meeting of September 15.

1. Weaponry
   1. at least six kiddie pikes. For events with school days (e.g. Big Island, Mankato), you want as many as you can find
   2. four ten-foot pikes. More if you have enough soldiers.
   3. A partisan or halberd for your officer. If you think you need both you are fortunate. You will have plenty of soldiers and probably enough vehicle capacity that you will not be agonizing over this list
   4. pike rack
   5. one Virginia pike for ensign.
   6. one set armor, for show. Take the full set with back and breastplates and tassets, and a helmet
      
   7. muskets
   8. one mortar
   9. linstock, worm, swab, prick
   10. powder
   11. bandoliers
   12. match
   13. gun box
2. Canvas and Accoutrements
   1. troopers 1, 2, and 3, with poles, enough stakes, and enough rope (or just bring rope bag)
   2. Two extra tent uprights, to rig the middle trooper (3) as a fly. Four, if the fly is to be open on both sides. As it was we had to use two kiddie pikes as substitute uprights.
   3. one more trooper [4] ditto, plus storm ropes and stakes
   4. extra rope for tying ensign pike to upright
3. Metal
   1. one axe
   2. shovel
   3. one stake box
   4. fire tool box. Remove some stuff you do not need from it and add the storm stakes and some tools from other tool box, which we left behind.
   5. stake hammer(s)
   6. A length of 3/8" steel rod and a hacksaw, in case any tent pins needed to be replaced.
4. Wood

   1. Four folding tables. For a larger show with multiple demos, e.g. Big Island, the group could make do with five tables, but six would be better:  four for demos and two for the kitchen (one inside of, one in front of the cook's tent, the latter possibly also doing duty as a demo surface).

   2. Six or seven benches. For a larger show bring as many benches as possible.  The extra benches allow us to invite the public to sit down and play with fiber or board games. 

   3. fire and mortar buckets. Soak them with water in advance. Otherwise you will spent 1/2 day waiting for the wood to get thoroughly wet and expand to seal the buckets.
   4. Stake mallet(s). How many mallets and stake hammers (see above) depends on the number of people setting up camp. You do not want the availability of tools to be a bottleneck.
   5. You will have to get firewood locally.
   
   
5. Kitchen

   For a one day event plan on a cold breakfast. Serve a soup or stew for lunch. Thus you need one pot. For a longer event you will want a griddle and perhaps a second pot. Plan your meals in advance and you can work this out quite precisely.

   1. preparing and serving utensils
   2. trivet
   3. teakettles
   4. potje pot. Perhaps two for a multi-day event.
   5. For multi-day events: a griddle will allow more variety in the meals.
   6. For multi-day events: a tripod with S-hooks and/or grate will also be helpful for more variety in the meals.
   7. two or three wash tubs
   8. kitchen basket
   9. handwashing station
   10. two blue water cubes, to be kept in cook's tent
   11. first aid kit (normally travels with HCF)
   12. canvas buckets, if any of the attendees have them. They are useful, light, and take very little space in transit.
   
   

6. Transport

   A larger station wagon with a roof track is good for the long stuff (ridge poles, Va. pike, 10' pikes). The tables are best carried in a van or SUV.

Calendar of Events

Be sure to contact your staff if you plan on attending a show event. Try to give at least a ten day notice when possible. This allows proper planning for the feeding of our members, and in some cases is required by event organizers to allow entry as a participant.

You can call any of the staff members listed, or send an email to staff at clanntartan.org.

OCTOBER 2011

NOVEMBER 2011

Hello all,

The following is a list of the dates of the events that are currently on the schedule for this year. The staff has met and decided to keep this running list of events in the newsletter to give you a chance to get an idea of what is going on this season as well as keep you updated to changes in the schedule.

The column titled status will include the following information.

Tentative- this means that an event organizer or Clann has expressed a strong enough interest in doing this event that it warrants reserving space on the calendar for the event.

Pending- this is the next stage of an event. This means that the Contracts Administrator has entered serious discussion about Clann doing an event but we are still not committed to the event. You should however if possible think about whether or not you may be able to attend this event.

Scheduled- this level means that the board and staff have approve the event and we are committed to providing manpower to making the event happen. When an event is assigned this level please let the HCF know as soon as possible if you can or can not attend this event.

Canceled- This means that for various reasons an scheduled event has been removed from the current season. We will try and give as much notice as we can prior to canceling an event.

If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact staff regarding this matter

Thanks,
Your Staff

Maps

1st and 3rd Wednesday Dance Lake Hiawatha Neighborhood Center 2701 E 44th St., Minneapolis	Map to St. Paul location St. Christopher's- Dance
Map to Bruce and Julie Yoder's Home Music and Board Meetings 4736 12th Ave S, Minneapolis 55407	Map to Margaret's Home Host for staff meetings 2636 17th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN

Event Maps and Notification

Mankato History Fair, October 6-8

This is a smaller, lower-key event, but always pleasant and charming. The weekdays are school days. It's unstructured, which means groups come when they come and may be together or breaking into smaller groups, with no set amount of time for presentations. Friday night is always a pot luck among all the groups participating.

Saturday is a public day. We are allowed to remain in camp Saturday night and leave Sunday. Clann equipment will be packed after closing Saturday. Mankato is within day-trip range, but vehicles have to removed before opening.

Setup is TBA. In the past couple of years we have been dropping the gear off directly after Big Island and setting up during the day as the evenings are short.

Directions

From the Twin Cities, follow 169 through Mankato.
Left at the Hillcrest Health Care Center ( if you go past the flashing lights at Co Road 68 you've gone too far);
Left onto Shamrock Lane, which is the second left after crossing the Blue Earth River;
follow this to its end (Jack McGowan's on the map)