Name

Group

Name

Group

Al McPhee

1^st Metcalf

Jim Murphy

Rideau Rovers

Alan Clapp

8^th Orleans

Jim Smith

27^th Nepean

Alan Griffin

112^th Nepean

John Dougherty

Odawa Area

Alex Aronec

Carleton Area Rovers

John Stalker

Valley Highlands / CP

Andy Walsh

25^th Nepean

Malcolm Volmer

27^th Nepean

Bill Bowman

1^st Nepean

Mark Houldsworth

Police Venturers

Bob Dore

Joint Council

Matthew Janssen

Carleton Area Rovers

Bruce Morton

14^th Gloucester

Mike Jowett

Nepean Area

Catherine Snedden

Carleton Area Rovers

Sandra Redshaw

1^st Glen Cairn

Chris Tyler

1^st Manotick

Sharon Ley

7^th Kanata

Christiaan Burchell

1^st Nepean

Stephen Smye

1^st Wakefield

Cyndy Courtland

Carleton Place

Stewart Ross

Nepean Area Sr Sect. Serv.

Dean Smith

2^nd Orleans

T.C. Harbinson

137^th Ottawa

Doug MacKinnon

112^th Nepean

Terence Graham

1^st Manotick

Doug Proud

1^st Greenwood

Thérèse Desjardins

137^th Ottawa

Gord Colquhoun

1st Dunrobin

Tim Redpath

1^st Stittsville

Jan Stodola

7^th Kanata

Wally Gale

14^th Gloucester

Jim McQuaid

112^th Nepean

Wayne Clarke

1^st Orleans

Opening Business:

Minutes are passed.

Past Events:

No activities for this past month were reported on since the last meeting.

Upcoming Activities:

Winter Adventure (Christiaan Burchell):  Christiaan is still targeting the weekends of February 8,9,10, and 22, 23, 24 in 2008.  The cost is $25 per person however if snowshoes are needed, it is an extra $15 so the total cost is $40 for those that need them. 

Registration took place after the VAF meeting with Christiaan looking for names, numbers and money.  There will be a limit of 7 participants per company to spread the opportunities around as there is an overall limit of 20 people per weekend in the hut and 14 people per hike.  Cheques need to be made out to Nepean Rover Crew.  Christiaan noted that participants do not need a passport (although that is the best piece of ID) but do need a gov’t issue photo ID.  For those under age 16 a birth certificate will do fine, however if you are over 16, you need birth certificate and a photo ID.

A third weekend will be added as Doug Proud has offered to arrange for a trip on the middle weekend on Feb on 16-17.  However groups must bring their own hiking and outdoors expertise with them for the trip as Doug will be acting only as a coordinator to administer the arrangements for the trip (Doug is a member of the Alpine club so he can book their sites).

There is also still an option for companies themselves to arrange for their own trips.  If they want tips and hints, approach Christiaan for more information on organizing trips.

On a side note, there is still a subsidy provided by council for all the weekends noted (although its not a big one, e.g. around $8 per person).  Groups don’t see it directly as it is folded already into part of the registration cost.

Reports:

JC Report: (Bob Dore and JC reps) The December event is on December 16^th and is a Skating outing at Bell Arena from 2:30 to 4 pm.  The cost is $2 per person.  Bell Arena is located behind Bell High School across from the Bruce Pit, off of Cassidy Rd.

Winter camp is scheduled for the second weekend in February on the 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th at Camp Woolsey (the Guiding camp on the Ottawa River at the end of Dunrobin Road).  Costs have not been confirmed as yet.  The organizers are aware this conflicts with one of the trips to the Adirondacks but were limited by the availability of Camp Woolsey.

VRRRT: It was noted that the Rovers had decided to not hold another meeting until after exams, so it will be sometime in early January. At that point they intend to hold elections.  VRRRT will try to send a rep to CCRRT and to VAF to report both ways.  If Raymond has anything to send out via email he will be asked to forward any information to Wally.

SSYC Report (Alex Aronec):  The next Senior Section Youth Council meeting is tomorrow night at 7:30 pm at Scouts HQ.  The anticipated speaker from MEC will have to be deferred due to logistics issues but refreshments will be offered.  The committee is soliciting interested senior section youth volunteers for tomorrow or advisors who do not have a youth able to attend but want to provide feedback into OPE.  The agenda for tomorrow night will be:

§         Reviewing programs and infrastructure at OPE.  If any advisor or youth want a particular program or equipment available when they go up in the off season, e.g. high ropes, or training sessions, then let this committee know.

§         Start planning for Rovent and put together information packages for groups who may be interested in running the event next year.

To a question asked about SSYC vs VRRRT: SSYC is sponsored by the Voyageur Council and VRRRT will not be a council sponsored committee but will be turning into a “Joint Council” for Rovers.  It will be another forum for Rovers to come together and plan events.  Also noted was that SSYC is not involved in CCRRT.

Lost Children:  No report for this meeting.

Other Business for the evening:

Training Cycles: (Stephen Smye) Stephen was looking for feedback as per a previous VAF meeting to alternating the type of training for various years, e.g. year 1: first aid (wilderness oriented); year 2: vertical rescue (climbing oriented); and year 3: water rescue (River Rescue course).  Feedback from the VAF was that companies are interested in the three cycles so this is what the plan will be for the training offered by VAF organizers.  This will give the Venturers a variety of opportunities over their program years.  However it was asked if the River Rescue could be re-offered this once as there is still demand that was not satisfied this year.  

Stephen will provide updates in future meetings.

Wilderness First Aid: (Doug Proud)  The dates are scheduled for January 13 for the standard Wilderness 1^st Aid (with the standard first aid included in the course) e.g. what to do if you don’t have access to medical facilities;  and for February 2-3 for the advanced Wilderness 1^st Aid (full certified course for advanced certification).   These courses will be run back to back to take advantage of the full course offering.  Minimum is 8 to hold the course.  This training can be put towards a Wilderness 1^st Responder certification.  Doug is still confirming locations but needs to know confirmations by the end of December for the first session.  Scout leaders are also welcome. The cost is$175 for the first course and $165 for the second one.  To register, contact Doug Proud at dlproud@bigfoot.com, home 613-741-5730, cell 613-863-5370.

White Water Road access: (Bill Bowman) Update from last meeting:  Bill talked to other people and groups who used the Madawaska commercially and some were aware, some were not and there were some that did not see the need for so much additional support to the government effort.  Bill’s recommendation is that we hold off for now and see what develops.

White Water: (Jim Smith) For the last weekend in May on the 24^th/24^th there will be a session for White Water 1 and 3.  On the next weekend, May 31^st and June 1, there will be a session for White Water 1 and 2.  Exact fees have yet to be determined.

Note, Jim had talked to Jill about the possibility of running a small WWI through Paddlers Coop and she had no problem with that on the WW 2 weekend.  So although the primary WW 1 will be on the first weekend, there will be a small session again on the second weekend to accommodate those who can’t make the first weekend (max number would be say 20).

Jim did note that they do need to know numbers early to take advantage of  a Communities In Action grant that council has (in addition to subsidy from VAF) to help reimburse program costs.  So he asked at the next few meetings with your youth, please get a feel for the level of interest from youth who wish to take White Water 1, 2 and 3.  Jim is also hoping to run a kayaking program on the WW 2 weekend (with only WW 1, not WW2 being a prerequisite).  He also needs to know how many youth are interested in taking up the kayaking session option.  Updates will be provided at future meetings.

Training, Senior Section Basic:  (Bob Dore) Bob does not have the CDs as yet from the Senior Section Basic at Rovent so they are still in progress.

Keskinada Loppet (Wally Gale) This event is now called the Gatineau Loppet.  It is still on for February however there will be limited involvement opportunities if it is run as it was last year.  See Wally if your company is interested in supporting this event and he will coordinate with the Gatineau Loppet committee.  Wally will bring updates to a future meeting.

Training Opportunity (Alex Aronec): The Carleton Area Rover Crew is running a skills weekend at OPE aimed at senior scouts on the April 18^th weekend in the spring of 2008.  The sessions will focus preparing scouts for Venturer activities and topics will include canoe repair, tent and stove repair, teaching light weight cooking, canoeing and how to plan extended trips (e.g. hiking from Ottawa to Kingston, or for a canoe trip in Algonquin).  They are aiming for approximately 30-40 3^rd year scouts who are ready to become Venturers.  Leaders not required if the scouts have parental permission to camp on their own.  If there is room, Venturers will be invited.  Carleton will also talk to other rover crews to see if anyone else is interested in helping out.

Venclimb:  Badges that Jim dropped of with Wally from the last Venclimb session were handed out to the specific groups that attended.

Speaker for the evening:

Mark Houldsworth did a presentation on the Police Venturers.  Some quick highlights are as follows:  The company started in 1984 and now have about 30 youth with 6 regular advisors including 3 police advisors.  The youth do most of the work.  They do not run a cadet program per se, the youth are there to explore career opportunities.  Some do go into various police forces or work with police departments and some career decisions are even indirectly related to policing such as social work.  This program does require a specific commitment, i.e. meet once per week but the youth can belong to a regular Venturer company as well.  Mark presented a slide deck that outlined the program, activities, membership, etc. More information can be found on the web site at http://www.ottawapolice.ca/, under Youth and Parent Programs / Youth Zone … or more directly:  http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/outreach/youth_parent_programs/youth_ventures.cfm

Next Meeting:  January  8^th, 2007.  The Second Tuesday of this month only.

For the next meeting, Stephen will approach Bob Abrames (Voyageur and professional speaker) to see if he is available for the January meeting.

The Chair for the Venturer Advisor Forum is Wally Gale at vafchair@rogers.com.  Please contact Wally for any notices to distribute or ideas on future topics.

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.