Voyageur Council Venturer Advisor’s Forum

Meeting Minutes for April 3, 2007

Scout’s Headquarters - National Boardroom

Final

Name	Group	Name	Group
Alan Clapp	8^th Orleans	Jim Smith	27/29 Nepean V
Alan Griffin	112^th Nepean	Joe Boudreau	1^st Greely
Al McPhee	1^st Metcalfe	John Stalker	Valley Highlands / CP
Bill Bowman	1^st Nepean	John Dougherty	DAC Program Odawa
Bob Dore	Joint Council	Ken Shore	137^th Ottawa Venturers
Catherine Snedden	7^th Kanata	Laurel Rosene	1^st Glen Cairn
Christiaan Burchell	1^st Nepean	Mike Jowett	Nepean Area
Cyndy Courtland	Carleton Place	Neale Peeling	4^th Kanata
David Schaffler	1^st Vars - Navan	Nick Wise	137^th Nepean
David Sissing	4^th Kanata	Ray Renton	1^st Dunrobin
Dean Smith	2^nd Orleans	Stephen Smye	1^st Wakefield
Doug MacKinnon	112^th Nepean	Stewart Ross	Nepean Rover Crew
Eric Hansen	DAC Youth Rep	Tim Harbinson	137^th Ottawa
Gilbert Lepine	4^th Orleans	Tim Taylor	123^rd Ottawa
Jim McQuaid	112^th Nepean	Wally Gale	14^th Gloucester
Jim Peverley	VAF Chair

New VAF Chair: The new VAF chair will be Wally Gale.

Events Past:

Interfaith Service: There was one group of Venturers which went very well. More people are still needed for next year.

Paddle Nights: Stewart reported on a series of successful paddle nights at the Walter Baker Center.

Events to Come:

OPE Work weekend: Tim needs arrival times, accommodation requirements as soon as possible. Only 50% have responded to date and Tim needs it to finalize the equipment required, facilities, food, etc. By mid April, the long email should be out with all the Admin details.

White Water 1, 2, 3: WW1 is already full, although there is a waiting list if anyone else can organize another weekend then there are participants already lined up. The outfitters are renting the canoes and paddles separately, please keep in mind that you will have to rent the number of paddles you require as well. There are now 80 people for WW1 and it will be very crowded. Bill also noted that river left is military property so do not go into those areas although the very edge of the river is safe to use for landing.

Pre-training, a number have signed up but get the forms from Bill if you have not. Lunch is $3.50 per person and let Bill know as Tim needs to know for the camp (it is the same weekend as the OPE work weekend). Lunch money is due at the camp as you go into the lunch. If your group is using OPE canoes, the camp has all the equipment for the pre-training but your youth and leaders do need to bring their own PFDs as they tend to be sized to the smaller crowd.

WW2 is also full as the response has been overwhelming. There is currently 8 signed up for the kayaking option and 57 for the canoeing part. Although the river will be very busy, there is more scope on the river as we go down The event is at Paddler Coop on the Madawaska. Camping is free as part of the service from the outfitter. There are also a number of solo boats for WW2. Bill has not yet heard about who the instructors are.

WW3 has received a number of registrations this evening. Stephen now has 25 participants and is getting close to full with 30 as the nominal maximum. The logistics are the same as for WW1 as they all camp in same place.

RSVP: This is being planned by the Nepean Rover Crew. The Registration information is now up on the Venturers Advisor Forum website. Registration is $20 and is open until April 23^rd and now the team is just waiting for responses. Note this is the perfect linking camp as it is targeted to Senior Scouts, Venturers, and Rovers. The camp is open to the girl guides as well. Activities include archery, canoeing, high ropes climbing, with a formal campfire and a dance on Saturday evening. Groups are to come to the camp self contained.

Crazy Canuk Adventure Challenge: This is a fall day challenge and will be the 5^th time this event has been held. It is slated for September 29^th, the week after Venclimb. It is not a race although the youth often treat it that way anyway. The activities include canoeing, mountain biking, hiking, and rock climbing in any order.

Note: This event was initially proposed by the Rovers and Bill was helping out but now since the Rovers are no longer involved, he really needs additional support in order to carry on. Last year this was especially shown to be required at the Rock Climbing challenge. So Bill is looking for some senior youth commitments to become involved in all aspects from the planning, testing the routes, etc., and to keep it fresh and interesting. The VAF noted that we should approach SSYC to see if there is interest there. (Eric also said to forward to your area youth reps.).

Training:

Stewart noted a few courses coming up as a reminder:

• A Basic course on 20^th to 22^nd of April as per the council web site.
• Basic Canoe on June 9^th and 10^th,
• Boat Rescue on June 23^rd and 24^th.
• Outdoor Skills, part 2 on May 4^th to 6^th.

All the info is on the Voyageur Council website under Training http://www.voyageur.scouts.ca/index1.htm.

Also a Part I will again be offered at Rovent. Bob Dore is the course leader and will be looking for trainers and others to participate.

Venclimb 2: Christiaan is offering a 2 day climbing course at OPE on April 20-22. This course will teach the basics of climbing and provide enough information for the participants to get out and climb on their own. He is offering this to Ventures and Rovers first and then if there is space, open it up to Advisors too. The cost is $40 per person including meals and accommodation but not including transportation. The registration deadline is April 16^th. If anyone needs more info contact Christian at xiaan_b@yahoo.com Note, the course is more hard skills and how to use the equipment., not so much climbing, rappelling, self rescue, belaying, etc. The goal of the course is that they realize they need to pass on the expertise. The pre-req is that the participants must have been to Venclimb, or done some other climbing before. OPE is providing the harnesses and helmets but participants that have their own are encouraged to bring it to be safe. Also the idea is to get these people out before Venclimb in the fall.

Reports:

Joint Council: The April event is a Lock-in at Laser quest, starts at 11 pm to 6 am for a cost of $30.

The May camp is on May 18^th to 21^st, the long weekend in May, at OPE and it is booked already. The theme is Pirates. The bus will be leaving from scout headquarters on Friday for OPE for the JC camp.

Service Corps: – No report this month.

CRRRT: Eric was down there last weekend but no specific news at this time. Many members of CRRRT are going to CJ and have organized some theme evening, such as toga night, monopoly night, etc. for the Venturer sub camps. Also still working on the Rover Manual.

Eric noted the Rideau Crew is still planning for the Couch Rally in the fall. The planned date is the 8^th of September. Information will be going out soon and expects to be to Jim for the weekend after VAF.

New Business:

Rideau Challenge Journey: This will be on May 25, 26,27. It is a bush trail hike for scouts along a 25-30 km stretch of the Rideau Trail, Marlborough Forest, where assistance is needed from Venturers at the checkpoints. Email Rod at the email below if you are interested and he will give your group the hike master instructions. As he noted, if your Venturer youth need time to study this works out well as no one passes a checkpoint until 11 am. He also noted they are getting a strong response from Scouts this year to participate because of CJ as there will be a lot of hiking to do around the events. Registration cutoff is May 5^th, so email Scouter_rod@mac.com if you can help out.

Rumble in the Jungle: Organizers are looking for Venturers and Rovers for offer of service. There are all kinds of different positions available and for those that help out, there will be a $20 charge to cover crests, T-shirts meals etc. This is a Cub event at Apple Hill Scout Reserve on June 8, 9 and 10. They may also require some helpers to come a day early on Thursday evening to help out. Please let Ken Shore know if you can help no later than May 1, 2007.

Rovent: This year the Council hopes to improve on this already successful event. One main objective is to have more input and involvement from the senior section youth. Mike is asking at the VAF for the advisors to encourage their members to take a more active role in planning and implementing this event. They need our assistance in encouraging more participation from the youth to make the necessary changes, meet the objectives and to prevent overtaxing the few who have taken some initiative. The next planning meeting was scheduled for Tuesday the 10^th of April in the same boardroom as the VAF at 7 pm. However if your youth wish to participate, please contact Mike Jowett.

OPE employment opportunities: Tim noted that Marilyn is looking for 18 year old staff members for 3 specific periods this summer. This was covered in an email that Jim sent out to everyone on this address list last night. Contact Jim if you did not receive this and know someone who is interested.

Nortel Tour: Ray Renton is still interested in hearing from you if your Venturers are interested in helping out at the event which is held on Sunday May 6^th.

Next Meeting: May 1^st, 2007. The FIRST Tuesday of the month.

If there are any omissions or corrections in the minutes, please contact Catherine Snedden at csnedden@forethoughtsystems.com

Also view current and previous copies of the minutes and other VAF notices at http://web.ncf.ca/ad554/ or contact Bill Bowman to get information posted to this website.