Bylaws
~ Written notice to the Stewards is necessary. Stewards (and Friends)
agreements are about to expire in November, but perhaps we can
extend through February (for those who have fulfilled the once
per year attendance requirement) to correspond with proposed annual
February renewal. If Bylaws adopted, there would be an annual meeting
in February. E! and Miracle to send postcards (as written notification)
notifying Stews and Friends that Bylaws are going to be considered
for adoption at November Community Circle. Decided on meeting in
Minneapolis due to gas crunch (which affects two Duluthian faes
out of 12 Stews).
Woodcutters
~ Friday 7 thru Monday 10 October (scheduled around Columbus Day
holiday). In attendance that we know ~ Kiva, Mecca, Snake, Cicada
(maybe). Generator, 1-2 chainsaws, hydraulic wood splitter, with
folks who know how to use them. Budgeting $50 for chainsaw gas
and incidental Woodcutters expenditures. Encourage folks to go.
Focus on woodcutting. Move minimal amounts to Cabin, leaving the
majority in the Cookhouse. Kitchen & shower tanks have already
been drained and disconnected. New windows need to be shuttered so
they don't break. Ensure pans are hung so don't catch water / snow.
Slope down to bogwalk has been smoothed by Eureka and Tallgrasss ~
more could be done. Stove in cabin suspected to be hooked up and
functional ~ chimney up and wood side is functional ~ don't know if
gas side is set up.
Quilt
Gift ~ Stella and White Ash (and others?) thought up a plan to
gather pictures from all the folks that have won Betsy's quilts.
5-6 total. Need card to go with it. Would be nice to send a card
to Hawthorne's mom for this year's quilt.
Annual
Meeting ~ This will be part of the new Bylaws, and we felt it would
be fine to begin planning the one for February 2006. Sunday 12
February (waxing towards full moon). 11am-4pm. Plan on lunch with
performances.
Community
Gifts for Gulf-Displaced Faeries ~ there are 16 we know of at SMS.
They are looking for $75 / month per person. They will need winter
clothing (Boston and Philly are already providing that). Money
is always nice, easy to send, and timely for SMS. Checks could
be made out to Short Mountain Sanctuary (tax-deductible) noting
NOLA faeries, and sent to Miracle. We would like encourage the
community to match $600 (one month's worth).
Building
Project Communications ~ Several dynamics at the August Gathering
pointed to some larger community issues. The self-titled "guerilla
faerie action" of the kitchen redesign, running of the
generator without a sound guard and without community consent during
Gathering, and what were seen as other non-cooperative and belligerent
behaviors from other faeries caused substantial friction and concern.
As a community, and especially in recent years, it could be posited
that we've experienced some relatively good flow of communication,
consensus, and getting projects done. Some examples of this are
pantry, shower, generator for Raw Foods, and this year's fish fry.
Typically, one or more people have an idea ~ they run it by several
more ~ it's brought to a Community Circle for discussion and approval
of funds (if necessary) ~ it gets announced community-wide for input
~ and then it happens. Why then were there faes who aren't resonating
with this demonstrated process? We at this Circle could only
hypothesize, and many were left feeling disrespected, unsafe,
attacked, dishonored, bulldozed over… We noticed too that once again,
even though this community has a conflict resolution mechanism in
place, it was not called upon by any individual, subgroup or the
entire community. Stopping Gath for resolution has potential to
be powerful and healing for the Community (we saw that with the Rue
incident). At the Gath, Scooter mentioned he would like to
participate in a Heart Circle around what happened. We at this Circle
felt it would be extremely useful to see this Heart Circle through,
with a special invitation to hear the side of those with whom there was
conflict.
We declared
Friday 14 October to be faerie night at Miracle's play "Mornings At Seven" at the People's Center (Cedar / Riv). We will
look into getting a group discount.