Unto their Majesties Excellencies Baron and Baroness of River Haven, Dimitrii and Josseline and Count Stephen Aldred do TH Lady Adeline de Montfort and Noble Alexandria Biener send warmest greetings.

Greetings All,

We would like to inform you of our intention to nominate for the next Baroness and Baroness of River Haven. We are not a romantic couple but two friends and journeywomen who have a shared common interest in Arts and Sciences and Medieval things in general.

Firstly, we would like to introduce ourselves:

I am Noble Alexandria Biener (Allie Collins – she/they). I have been in the Society for 10 years and during that time have run events and held officer positions within the groups in the North. I have a passion foe Arts and Sciences which is reflected in serving twice as the Arts and Sciences Office for the Barony of St Florian de la Riviere and several Arts and Sciences awards, I have been honoured to be bestowed on by the Crown.

Some of my favourite things about the Society that it is a place where there is something for everyone – personally I like exploring hands on medieval crafts including illumination, book binding and cooking. The recent German themed feast on Saturday night at GNW this year was something I am very proud about and I got to work alongside my Mum, Anna Margot. It gave me great pleasure to hear how well this feast was received by the populace.

I am also very pleased to be Journey Woman to Mistress Katherine Alicia of Salisbury (OL) learning to further improve and hoe my skills in the area of Calligraphy and Illumination.

I am TH Lady Adeline de Montfort (Kirstie Fildes – she/her) and have been in the Society since 1994 with Notre Domicile War being my first even attended by Prince Corin and Princess Ceridwen the Mouse. I did take a big break from the SCA to raise my children as a single mother – SCA events tend to clash with eisteddfods and soccer games sadly but now my girls are all grown up and I can return to the Society.

During this time, I have run several events and held officers in different groups including St Florians de la Riviere (Hospitaller), Mordenvale (co Arts and Sciences officer with Lady Alessandra di Messina), Agaricus (Arts and Sciences Officer), Lochac (Arts and Sciences officer – not a full term as I needed to step down for an urgent mundane matter), Willoughby Vale (Arts and Sciences Officer) and now Chronicler for the beautiful Barony of River Haven. I was also head of the Lochac Cooks Guild for around 18 months – also needing to hand it over doe to the same mundane matter mentioned previously.

I have a passion for the Arts and Sciences as well – a big highlight was recently coming second in the Kingdom Arts and Sciences competition. Calligraphy and Illumination are also my passion ad I currently serve as River Haven’s Scribal Warden, presently I am concentrating on developing more scribes and teaching and aim to have scrolls out by years end. I also am very honoured to be Journey Woman to Mistress Katherine Alicia of Salisbury.

The things that we like about the SCA is the sense of community and that everyone is welcome here and it encourages everyone to try things and explore the elements of medieval history that excites and inspires them the most.

Why we would like to nominate

We would like to build on the excellent work that Dimitrii and Josseline have put in to making the Barony what it is today. We believe that we have a lot to offer the Barony especially around further encouraging the growth of Arts and Sciences but we would also like to see the martial arts grow and develop further. We would like to be a part of this Barony’s history and add our spin on things while continuing to encourage the populace the explore and add their passions and experiences to the Barony as well. We would also love the privilege of rewarding the members of the populace who bring that little extra magic to our Barony and the Society overall with their great acts of service (something that River Haven is renowned for) and the continued excellence of its artisans.

What do we see as the role of the Baron and Baroness of River Haven

We see the role of Baroness & Baroness is to represent the Crown in the Barony and work with the Baron and Baroness of St Florians de la Riviere to support the populace and groups in the North. We believe that we need to lead by example with our works, words and deeds. We would dearly like the opportunity to show the populace what we can do.

We want to continue the great tradition established firmly by Dimitriii and Josseline of welcoming and supporting everyone into the Barony of River Haven. We know we will need to be there for the populace in all things. We also would seek ways of encouraging and putting forward members of the populace who are worthy of recognition so that they may be rewarded as well by the Kingdom.

We will work alongside our Senechal to ensure the Barony continues to run in a smooth manner and meets all mundane and Society regulatory systems to keep everyone safe.

What is our vision for the future direction of River Haven

As stated earlier, we would like to continue and build on the legacy of Dimitrii and Josseline, who we look to as what embodies a Baron and Baroness. We would also acknowledge that there has been lots of great contributions by previous Baron and Baroness’s as well.

We would also like to add our own flavour to River Haven’s continued journey as a Barony. We would like:

• Bring more pageantry to the Barony
• Have ladies in waiting/attendants etc on 6-month rotation so that different members of the populace can experience this part of the SCA and also when the Crown visits, we have attendants readily available who know what the expectations could be when attending the Crown.
• Looking to continue and strengthen community interactions with a focus on demos and displays to encourage member growth. We would like to continue the Abbey display which is an amazing opportunity to interact with the wider community.
• Find ways to encourage heavy fighter practice on a regular basis on Wednesday night.
• Find ways to establish as regular archery practice to encourage those who enjoy archery to share their passion and skills with others.
• Continue to encourage and foster the Arts and Sciences and the noble art of fencing within the Barony.
• We would like to work with Baronial and Lochac herald’s to create and register a populace device for the use of gentles within the Barony of River Haven. The design would go to a vote with the populace asked for their preferred one.
• We would also like to ensure that all Baronial Awards are duly registered.
• We would like to explore ways of continuing to make the Society more accessible to those with disabilities and would ask the populaces input on this.

How will we achieve this

We have spoken with Dimitrii and Josseline and asked if they would be able to guide and advise us should we be successful in becoming the Baroness and Baroness of River Haven.

We are both extremely fortunate that our Laurel Mentor, Mistress Katherine Alicia of Salisbury was a previous Baroness and we could also ask her advice on things.

I, Adeline am also the daughter of a previous Baron and Baroness of River Haven, Master Hrothgar Breaksword Mistress Eleanor of Cathene . I got to see firsthand the responsibilities and expectations of the duty of Baron and Baroness and could also ask their advice where needed.

We are very lucky that there quite a few former Baron and Baronesses and a Vicar who attend the hall regularly that we could lean on for guidance and advice.

We would also be guided by the wisdom of the Crown and Lochac Seneschal.

Lastly, we want to express that the Barony is extremely fortunate to have has such excellent examples of what a Baron and Baroness should be in Dimitrii and Josseline. We want to build on the excellent work they have done.

We hope you look upon our nomination favourably and consider us worthy of standing for the role of Baroness and Baroness of River Haven.

Yours in Service Adeline and Alexandria