SOCIETY FOR CREATIVE ANACHRONISM, INC

Board of Directors

David C. Thewlis

Chairman

Laurel Ombudsman

April 16, XVIII, 1984

Unto the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Incorporated.

At the Board of Directors meeting of April 15, it was decided to allow the office of Laurel King of Arms of the College of Arms to pass to Master Baldwin of Erebor. The transition will take place on Sunday, August 26, XIX, 1984, at the College of Arms' Heraldic Symposium.

The decision to move the office of Laurel was not easy. Master Wilhelm has done a spectacular job during his five year tenure, as everyone who has written to myself or the Board of Directors has pointed out. Under his leadership, the backlog was eliminated and has never reappeared, although the number of submissions has increased many-fold. The procedures of the College have been established and refined, and the College of Arms is now a functioning and viable organization. Master Wilhelm deserves the credit for much of this (as, indeed, does the College at large), and his contributions to the Society cannot be sufficiently lauded.

Our decision was based primarily on the fact that the office of Laurel has been in the same area of the Kingdom of the West for some nine years. The Board has been pursuing a policy for some time of distributing the medieval corporate offices as candidates became available and terms of office were up. At this time, another excellent candidate for the office was available and interested, and located in another kingdom. With this in mind, the Board decided that it was time for another area of the Society, and another Laurel, to put their stamp on the office.

Between now and the Symposium, Master Baldwin will be actively commenting in the College of Arms, giving all of you a chance to make or renew his acquaintance, and to learn something of him and how he envisions the course of the College. During this time, he and Master Wilhelm will be working together to enact the changeover, to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.

Master Baldwin brings to the job of Laurel an extensive background in Heraldry, and in the College of Arms. Master Wilhelm's performance in the office will certainly be a "hard act to follow", but the Board is confident that Master Baldwin will do an excellent job and further the aims of the College of. We hope that all of you will welcome Master Baldwin to the Laurel office and work closely with him during the transition and afterwards.

The Board of Directors, and myself, would like to extend our thanks and congratulations to Master Wilhelm, and to the College of Arms, for a difficult, time-consuming, and frequently thankless job, well done.