ALABAMA RENAISSANCE FAIRE

Minutes of Meeting, 3-16-06

Those present:  Darlene Freemon, Aubrey Gaskins, Carol Burhans, William Freeman, Lee Freeman, Perri Scott-Hawthorne, Don Green, Mandi Green, John Holcomb, Donna Miles, Bonnie McIntyre, Becky Love-Bassham, John Iaria, Her Majesty Queen Freya, Mary Nicely, Jan Roblin, Harold Crittenden, Autumn Harris, Billy Warren, Salana Letsinger, Brittany Letsinger, Spencer Letsinger

1. Billy Warren welcomed back Jan Roblin as a member of the Roundtable and welcomed Harold Crittenden as a new member.
   
    
2. Billy Warren thanked these Roundtable members for making the trip to the Alabama Public Library Service meeting in Montgomery on Tuesday, February 28:  Darlene Freemon, Don Green, Mandi Green, Her Majesty Queen Freya, Jim Lake, Taz Scott, Keith Hawthorne, Perri Scott-Hawthorne, Becky Love-Bassham, John Holcomb, and William Freeman.  They reported a successful trip, with many contacts made in behalf of the Alabama Renaissance Faire.
   
    
3. Billy Warren reported that he is now receiving requests from public librarians asking for members of the Roundtable to visit their library in conjunction with the summer reading program.  The vast majority of the Roundtable members present at today’s meeting indicated their willingness to go to the libraries.  Billy will e-mail the librarians in Alabaster and Pelham to accept their invitations.  He will tell them that our group will require that its expenses be paid but that there will not be an actual fee per se.  The dates for those visits are July 18 and 19.  Billy thanked everyone for the overwhelming response to this project.
   
    
4. Aubrey Gaskins reported that Stephano’s has moved from Court Street in Florence to the Town Plaza Shopping Center in Sheffield.  He distributed copies of the menu to everyone present.
   
    
5. Darlene Freemon announced that she plans to lead a tour group to Italy in late April, 2007.  The tour, coordinated through CHA, is a 10-day trip called “Gems of Italy.”  The base cost of $2,400 per person must be paid by late-December, 2005, or early January, 2006.  If 35 people sign up, there is a considerable discount.  Darlene distributed printed information about the trip and encouraged everyone to consider it.
   
    
6. Mary Nicely announced an art show, “Artistic Renderings of Youth,” which is on display at Kennedy-Douglass Art Center through April 12.  It is an excellent show, featuring works of students in grades 7-12 from schools throughout the Quad-Cities.  Admission is free.
   
    
7. Following a discussion about the annual Renaissance Faire in Ardmore on April 22-23, it was decided that the Roundtable will not operate a booth; instead, everyone is encouraged to attend in full costume as a show of support.  Those who go will take flyers of our Faire to distribute.
   
    
8. Now that Roundtable members will be going to library events and doing other things throughout the year, it was agreed that we should create a calendar showing every event between now and December 31, 2006, in order to keep everyone informed and to make sure that nothing is overlooked.
   
    
9. Billy Warren stated that the list of ideas generated in the brainstorming session at the Roundtable’s February meeting will be discussed, a few at a time, at each meeting this year.  For starters, he asked everyone to think about these in preparation for a discussion at our April meeting:
   1. The creation of a memory quilt (and, perhaps, to incorporate pieces of Renaissance Faire tee shirts into it) to celebrate our 20^th anniversary;
   2. The scheduling of an informal Renaissance Faire-related event in Wilson Park each month as a way of advertising the Feast and the Faire; and
   3. The incorporation of the Roundtable into the First Friday events in downtown Florence.
      
       
10. In a drawing, Lee Freeman won a DVD of the Harry Potter movie, “Goblet of Fire.”  William Freeman won an audio CD of the Full Moon Ensemble.
    
     
11. Billy Warren announced that the guidelines for the annual poster contest will be updated soon and e-mailed to all members of the Roundtable and to anyone else who would like them.  They will also appear on our website.
    
     
12. Don Green circulated three metal squares with decorative designs cut into them.  He stated, and all agreed, that these squares could serve as the bases for rubbings at this year’s Faire.
    
     
13. Donna Miles reported that Jason Behel has expressed willingness to assist with the rubbings at this year’s Faire.
    
     
14. Bonnie McIntyre stated that her niece who lives in Memphis is interested in doing face painting at our Faire this year.
    
     
15. Jan Roblin announced that her novel, Planet of Dreams, is now at the publisher’s.  It centers on the spiritual trek of the inner child.  She stated that it contains 18 paintings which include Roundtable members.