Welcome to the Online Clann Tartan Newsletter for April 2008

A change this year is that the Tartan Day dinner isn't an expensive per-plate gathering, but rather will commence at Kieran's Pub at 330 2nd Av. S in downtown Minneapolis where Kieran will have a special Scottish menu and we're on our own dime for food and drinks. At 7:30 there will be concert by Rising Gael in the Titanic Lounge, otherwise known as Kieran's backroom. Admission to that is $10.

The Tartan Day web site is at http://www.tartandaymn.org/

Charles City Military History Days! Charles City Iowa, Friday, April 25 to Saturday April 26, with setup April 24, Thursday

That said, the event itself is very enjoyable. There is a very low-key school day on Friday—if you've never interpreted for school groups before, this is a good event to start at. The event as a whole is fairly low key, as the weather has usually prevented very heavy flow of public. We participate in a mock battle on Saturday with all of the other military groups. Most periods of Western military history are represented, starting with the Vikings and going through World War Two and sometimes Vietnam.

Parking is available on site, and drive-ons are okay up to an hour before public hours start. The ground is fairly hilly and uneven, so bring lots of padding if you plan on sleeping on the ground and be careful of your bumper when driving on. There are no showers available at this event, and the bathroom facilities and water are located downhill of where Clann is camped. Other than the check-in tent and perhaps a tank or two, Clann's encampment will be the closest camp to the parking lot.

Where's the SNIM???

For a number of reasons, some of our subscribers fell by the wayside and many who did click here to reconfirm still have not received the SNIM either because their ISP has dumped it into their SPAM/JUNK folders or are blocking delivery for reasons that seem valid to them. If you are one of those wishing to subscribe to the SNIM, thought you did, but are not receiving it, there are things you can do.

First, check your SPAM/JUNK file. If it's there, release it, and you are set to go. The SNIM is generated through snim@tartandaymn.org . If you don't find it there, you can contact your ISP customer service to find out what the problem is – hopefully they will be willing to fix it. Or – for those of you who have been with us for a long time, the forums are back – you can go to www.tartandaymn.org/forums/ and find the current issue posted there, in addition to other postings of interest to the Scottish community of Minnesota and the borders of Wisconsin.

The mission of the SNIM is first and foremost to provide as complete a list of everything that is going on in our community with all our organizations, and to bring you "all the news that's fit to print." Questions, please contact Editor Barbara Humphrey at babsfayth@aol.com.

Come lose yourself in the beauty of the northern MN landscape where time stands still, and participate in a building workshop at Dun Gowan, the Clann Tartan Historic Site.

This weekend-long event is designed for the person with little or no building experience who wants to learn the construction techniques for a 17th century structure. It is also an effort to benefit Clann Tartan's own Historic Site where we hold our annual Tactical weekend, and, in fact, have permission to hold gatherings a-plenty, if we should wish. Together, the participants will learn the use of various period tools in addition to getting hands-on experience focused on the preparation & hewing of the logs needed for this year's project - a Crafter's Cottage. Attending members will be involved in the construction of this 12' x 16' cottage with an added sleeping loft.

Future project ideas include an eventual full village including a tavern, kirk, & various workshop and period livestock facilities. Previous years' events have seen the construction of the blockhouse with mulit-layered defensive structures including palisade, ditch and rampart, redoubt, fascine & a small bridge over the "river". Deep in the forest of trees, Don has also recreated a birch wigwam with ancillary structures for the illustration of Native American life as it was centuries ago & for the reenactment of New World scenarios.

Dun Gowan is located in the magical wooded wilderness 26 miles NW of Duluth, MN. Its owner, Clann member Don Chesney, has dedicated Dun Gowan to educational reenactment of all types from the 17th through 19th centuries. The site is named for the talented blacksmith, and owner, who lives and works onsite, or possibly for the wild daisies that once grew amongst the grasses there. It is equipped with perma-potties, a hot shower & a separate modern kitchen facility. Volunteer cooks are thus provided with the convenience of a gas stove, running water in the sink, refrigerator, and cutting board with counter top for food prep should they not want to cook over a period outdoor fire.

Clann Tartan is a family. Relish with me the opportunity to enjoy the company of the people who made joining Clann, in the first place, something we wanted to do.

Event Details:

Location: 5261 Fish Lake Rd Duluth, MN

Dates: This year's Dun Gowan Weekends currently include May 9, 10, 11 & June 27, 28, & 29, July 11, 12, & 13 with Tactical starting on the morning of July 18 and going through the 20th.

Length in Days: Friday evening through Sunday

Lodging: Bring your tents. If you don't have one, there are many who have room to share. Send out an email with your needs to coordinate.

Tuition: Donation of food or $12 per person to cover meals cooked by volunteer staff Materials Fee: Included

Level: Beginner

Age: Any - with necessary permission forms filled out & signed by parents/guardians of minors & an adult present who takes responsibility for that minor.

Necessary items to bring: If anyone has any axes, or a chainsaw, please bring them. These would be very much appreciated!

Registration Contact Info: call Laura Swenson at 715-684-4221 or register via email at mommyco1630@yahoo.com

FOR SALE

Camp Drill Schedule

GAFFNEY'S SUTLER SEEKS WARES

You can either bring your goods to Heidi at events, or entrust them to her beforehand. We ask that items be small and not terribly fragile if Heidi is to transport them.

Thank you for your support of Clann Tartan.

Board Minutes

Clann Board and Members Meeting, Feb. 2, 2008

Board Members Present: Mary McKinley, Bruce Yoder, Glenn McDavid, 
Marty Byers, Diana Steben, Sean McCanna

Staff Present: Mia McDavid, Lisa Gillstrom McCanna, Maeve Kane, 
Eric Ferguson, Heidi Viar, Laurie Ford, Betsy Bolton, Julie Yoder,
Laura Swenson, John Debnam

Other members Present: Hellen Ferguson, David Vavreck, Mark Hansen,
Herb Lindorff, Mary Dean, Bob O'Rourke, Jen McDermott, Sarah 
Shaftman

The minutes of the January meeting were accepted as corrected.

REPORTS
=======
QUARTERMASTER:  
We will get a priming flask made.

The broken musket is at O'Duggan's.  We may not get it back in
time for Tartan Day.

Herb will repair the scouring stick that has lost its metal tip.

Pike heads:  Arms and Armor quote was $100/head and 6-8 weeks
delivery.  We are looking at other sources which may be cheaper.

The trailer needs an inspection before Charles City.  Sean and Marty
will arrange for this.

VICE PRESIDENT:
All is well.  The recruiting box is at the Yoders'.  Will be preparing
new flyers for Albert Lea and Ramble.

CAMP REP:  Nothing to report.
COMPANY REP:  Nothing to report.

MUSIC GUILD:  Meeting 4th Mondays at Yoders'.  Going well.

DANCE GUILD:
The Lake Hiawatha site is back.  We are getting a good turnout, but
more people would be even better.  They need not be Clann members.

FIBER GUILD:  Mia is working on various projects.  There is a possibility
on an unpaid gig at the State Fair.

HISTORIC SITE:  Don would like more people more often, especially with
tools, either traditional or modern.  Possible weekend dates are
May 10 and June 28.  There also may be mid-week time.  Laura will 
write all this up for the Newsletter.

SWORD GUILD:  Nothing to report.

GARDEN GUILD:  Meeting planned.

UPCOMING EVENTS
===============
Albert Lea History Festival:  We have a group rate at the Holiday
Inn Express.

Ramble:  Need people for set up.  Need to make sure all personal
belongings are accounted for.

Fargo:  March 15.  Contacted by e-mail.

Tartan Day:  April 5.  The Fergusons will bring their muskets.

Charles City:  Two day event scheduled.

Woodville:  May 2-3.  Set up Thursday night.  Open to the public 
on Saturday.  Negotiating amount of payment, but there will be
something.  We also have an offer of sponsorship from a local
firm.  Lisa asked if that was OK.  YES!  We should arrange
to acknowledge sponsorship on the recruiting flyers.

Amana RenFest.  Not happening--same weekend as Woodville.

Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games:  May 17.  We will be paid.

Muster:  Scheduled for May 31-June 1

Pioneer Village:  Tentatively scheduled for MidSummer Weekend.

Siouxland RenFest:  June 7-8.  A possibility.  Management sounds
good.  We need to be sure we get serious interest from the
membership before we pursue this.  Last time there were last
minute cancellations and only two members showed.  Marty (one of
them) said we should only do it again if 10 members sign up in
advance.

Des Moines:  Nothing up on their web site yet.  We will contact
them to see if they want us back.

Winona:  They want us back, but cannot pay the full fee.  It is 
the full event, with school days Tues.-Fri.  Can we reduce our
costs?  We need to figure out what our asking prices is.  Staff 
will work out a proposal and get it to the Board.  Luke needs an
answer by May.

There may be a Chippewa Falls event in 2009.  

There is a group in Texas that would like to do something with
us.  Maybe we can find a location somewhere in between.  There is
also a group in Sacramento if anybody want to travel even farther.

CONTRACTS:  All leads are welcome.  Lisa needs the contact 
information for Deer River and Perham.  Maeve will get it to her.

TREASURER:
Current bank balance is about $7000.  We are running about a $1500
surplus this fiscal year, thanks to new events and the Winona 2006
payment finally coming in.

BUDGET FOR NEW YEAR:
We want to look at possible changes in our insurance.  We must have
liability, but do we need property insurance?  What about increasing
our deductible.  We may not be able to change anything, because we
are at the low end already for our kind of coverage, but we will
check.

The Company budget as presented did not include anything for new
pikes, since no pricing information was available.  We agreed
to amend the budget to add $350 for these.

What about a Capital campaign?  We would need some idea to make it
workable.

DUES:
Bruce reviewed the possibilities that had been presented.  Our dues
have been static for some years.  However, the dues are not expected
to balance the budget.

After considerable discussion it was voted to raise the annual 
household dues to $20, beginning with the new fiscal year (April 1,
2008).  Student dues will remain at $10 per year.

There was some discussion about offering scholarships for members
who otherwise could not afford to join.  This sounds like a good
idea, but also a nightmare to administer.  Tabled.  

We already have provision for one person to buy a membership for
another.

Somebody also suggested that mentors should be available for new
members.  This was referred to Staff.  

ELECTION RESULTS:
Julie Yoder was elected President.

Bruce Yoder was re-elected as Treasurer.

Betsy Bolton was elected Camp Rep.

OTHER BUSINESS:
Maeve announced that she is looking for a Lieutenant, since she will
not be able to serve as Captain in the late 2008 events.

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:
Marty L. Byers
orthodoxdruid@gmail.com
651-483-1173

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@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

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!

Garden Guild

Other Guilds

Fiber Guild Meetings

Clann Tartan has our own historic site near Duluth MN. Dun Gowan is an ongoing project, which is the site of Gaffneyis Annual Tactical in July. We are finishing the fort and beginning the construction of a village this year. Contact David Vavreck at 612-378-1973 or baethan1630@yahoo.com for further information, or to volunteer to help.

Drill

Calendar of Events

Event Schedule for the 2008 Season:

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

Map to 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 /Quarterly/Annual Meetings Corcoran Neighborhood Center, 3334 20th Av South, Minneapolis, MN	Map to Marty & Judy Byers home 2821 Churchill, Roseville MN
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 and Fiber Guild 340 Brooks Ave Roseville, MN

Apr 25-26 2008 Charles City Military History Days-Setup Thursday April 24th

I-35 South to US 18 E/IA 27 S via Exit 190 toward Mason City/Charles City
Exit CR B35 via Exit 212 toward Charles City.
Left on CR B35
Stay straight to go onto US 218 BR.
Turn Right to stay on US 218 BR.
Left onto IA 14/Main Street. Follow Main Street.
Turn a slight left onto CR T64.
Address of the event is 1505 N Grand Ave, Charles City.

Mark your calendars! Saturday, May 17, Clann will be participating in the Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games. Here's the website: http://www.mnscottishfair.org/.
We can camp Friday and Saturday nights, although the fair is at the Dakota County fairgrounds in Farmington, only about a half-hour drive from the center of the cities, so it's also very easy to day-trip. There are flush toilets and showers on the grounds and lots of free parking. This was a really great event last year, and this year promises to be even better!