Welcome to the Online Clann Tartan Newsletter for July 2009

Congratulations go out to Margaret Kirkpatrick and Heidi Viar, who met the requirements for 2nd level at Muster, and to Laura Swenson, who did so shortly thereafter.

Fun with Horse and Rider at Twig

As we all well know, the reason we train with pikes are to defend against horsemen. One of the mainstays of Twig is A Knight To Remember (aknighttoremember.com), AKA Carlo Tuzzio, and his wonderful steed, Caesar. They have done presentations at Twig before, but this year there was a field set aside for, erm, horseplay, with a jousting lists. It was there that our gallant pikemen met Caesar on the field of battle for the very first time!!!

We had worked out a rough sketch of the drill, including safety drills for our men, earlier--thank you to David Vavreck for taking point on this. We did a preliminary live drill before the show opened on Saturday, and it went very well, so we decided to do it for real at Gaffney's 1:15 drill.

The result was excellent. We had 5 pikemen including your humble servant. We put on every plate of armor we had, and for real. Caesar is a wonderful animal, but he is a horse; we were all aware of the safety issues if he spooked. We formed up in a file and charged for battle. The horseman rode down on us! At the last second he peeled off, firing a pistol. The first rank died gallantly, (thank you again, David!), and we all moved up. The second rank died gallantly--well done, Bruce! Finally we raised up our dead so we could have one more go (the ground was getting too littered with corpses for good footing). Caesar performed splendidly the whole time.

Next year we are definitely doing this again; bigger and better and on the schedule as a separate event. Check the date and mark your calendar; I can think of no better reason to take up arms. (Captain's note: People who wish to be involved in the horse charge absolutely must attend DRILL.)

Yours in service,

Mia McDavid

Gaffneyis Got Talent

We are putting together such a list of in-house talent. If you wish take advantage of this free advertising, please let David know that you want to be on the list, along with what you make or can help others make.

Thanks.

David
baethan1630@yahoo.com or 612-378-1973

Road Trip

One proposal for a future trip was to head south to meet with a group from Texas. Lisa Gillstrom McCanna has the details on the Texas group. This is only one possibility, if you know of other likely events that should be considered, please get the details, including dates and location to staff. staff@clanntartan.org Staff needs to get any proposals so they can decide on feasibility and worth before bringing it to the board. The board then needs to decide on the financial aspect. Please get any ideas to staff as soon as possible, be sure to include as much pertinent information as is available.

Discover the Manual

A lot of valuable information is in the current Clann Tartan Manual.

Wanted!

Deadline for articles to go in August's newsletter will be the 15th of July.

Board Minutes

I. Minutes
Will be approved through e-mail.

II. Reports
A. Vice President
Recruitment info needed at every event. Bruce will make copies and give to Betsy to get to events.
B. Treasurer
Fiscal update. Have not yet received payment for Ramble or MSFHG. The Woodville check arrived tonight. No reply from Liz at RenFest. Some event-related expenses (such as trailer haulage) are still pending.
C. Secretary
Meeting with Hellen next week to discuss deadlines and procedures. Deadline of 15th for external submissions. Goal of publication around the 25th of the month. Roster is still in process.
D. Quartermaster
E-mailed current muster status of active members. Researched by-laws applicable to changes to muster requirements. Knitting - 2nd level - knit 2 rounds in front of a recognized expert. Artillery - 3rd - take part in an artillery drill. As we have badges for 2nd and 4th level, we will add a loop of salmon-colored ribbon to the cockade for 3rd level.
E. Camp Rep
None.
F. Company Rep
None.

III. Guild Reports
A. Music
Going well. Recorder - seven people attending. Glee Club - not much progress yet.
B. Dance
Going well.
C. Fiber
No current meetings due to scheduling conflicts.
D. Sword
Progress has been made on practice sites.
E. Historic Site
Work weekend went well.

IV. Events
A. Camp/Company Drills
Drill at Johndezvous this month. No get-together at Yoder's that day.
B. Twig
We are on the website now.
C. Johndezvous
Laura will be HCF.
D. Tactical
No update.
E. Deer River
No update.
F. Perham
Will be happening.
F. Renaissance Festival
Should be happening. No response from Liz yet.
G. Pioneer Village
Not likely to happen this year.
H. Hudson
No update. Date is confirmed.
I. Aberdeen
We have a signed contract for the event.
J. Big Island
No update.
K. Mankato
No word on yet.

V. Old Business
A. Web site
Should be up within a month. Discussed issues of ownership.
B. Welcome Letter
The board is invited to provide on feedback on the letter Mia found and e-mailed to them.
C. Cookbook
No progress yet. Heidi needs to contact people to get the revision process started.

VI. New Business
None

Board & Staff

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@clanntartan.org

Guilds

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

Music

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@juno.com.

To contact your Music Chair, call David at 612-378-1973 or email to baethan1630@yahoo.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@juno.com.

Gaffneyis Glee Club

Please contact your music chair, me, to express your interest, and to let me know what evenings would work best for you. And if you can host.

I am thinking maybe twice a month, but you can vote on that, too.

I will set it up for the day(s) with the most votes.

And if you have a better name for it than Gaffneyis Glee Club, I am all ears. It does have a nice ring to it, though.

David Vavreck
612-378-1973
baethan1630@yahoo.com

Gaffneyis Recorder Consort

We have seven members already, and are working on a bit more refined style of music than we do in our regular music meetings.

Contact your music chair (David) if you are interested in joining up.

baethan1630@yahoo.com or 612-378-1973

Dance

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.

Questions? call Mary at 651-699-6853 or Julie at 612-825-4519

2nd & 4th Tuesdays
Saint Christopher's Episcopal Church, 2300 N Hamline Ave. in St. Paul.

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

Fiber Guild

Historic Site

Calendar of Events

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 Julie 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 me regarding this matter

Thanks,
Lisa Gillstrom McCanna

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 & Staff Meetings 4736 12th Ave S, Minneapolis	Map to Glenn & Mia's home Hosts for staff meetings 340 Brooks Ave Roseville, MN
Jen McDermott Host for Fiber Guild 1638 Arlington Ave Saint Paul, MN 55106

July 17-19 2009 Dun Gowan Tactical

DIRECTIONS:

From Duluth, Minnesota- Take US Highway 53 northwest out of town - take a right turn on the Ugstad Rd./Lavaque Rd. Bypass, and travel north about ten miles. Take a left turn on the Fish Lake Road, and travel west about 3/4 miles. At this point I am the only house on the right hand (north)side of the road.

From Mineapolis/St.Paul, MN- Travel north on Interstate 35 out of the Cities for about two hours or so. After you pass the Esko/ Thompson exit, but before you get to Duluth, take the Midway Road exit. Turn left on the Midway road, which will head you north. Continue north on the Midway Road for about 12 miles or so; crossing three stoplight intersections, and then you will come to a stop sign. Turn right there onto County Road 9, the Martin Road. Travel east on the Martin road for three miles and take a left turn onto the Lavaque Road. Travel north on the Lavaque Road, for about 7 1/2 miles until you come to the Fish Lake Road. Make a left turn there, and travel west about 3/4 miles. At this point I am the only house on the right hand (north) side of the road.
5261 Fish Lake Road. Large grey garage, small grey house.

Perham Pioneer Festival Perham, MN- August 15 and 16 2009

Col. Gaffneyis Regiment is heading back to the Perham Pioneer Festival, this year on August 15 and 16. The Pioneer Festival is located in Perham, MN, about a three and a half hour drive from the Twin Cities. The site has convenient participant parking just on the other side of the museum buildings and, during the day, access to the canteen/cafe/flush toilets!

They also have a terrific indoor dance in said cafe on Saturday night. Those of us who went last year had a blast; we hope to see you there!

Directions from the Twin Cities:

Take I-94 West to Exit 167B, MN15 N, toward Saint Cloud.

After about 10 miles, merge onto MN10 West. Follow for about 30 miles, and stay with MN 10 W toward Motley for about another 80 miles.

Turn right on CR 80 and follow for 2 miles.

Turn right on N 1st Ave/CR 8.

End at 230 1st Avenue North.