Venturer Advisors’ Forum - Voyageur Council

Notes of Meeting – December 1, 2009

National Boardroom - Scout Headquarters

Al McPhee	1^st Greely	Larry Brunet	1^st Nepean
Allan Yates	1^st Merrickville	Mary Hagerman	1^st Osgoode
Anne Burnell	1^st Nepean	Mike Jowett	CC Voyageur
Angus Palmer	1^st Carp	Nick Wise	Rideau Rov/DCC Train
Brett Budge	25^th Nepean	Nigel Ward	1^st Kanata
Cal Clupp	2^nd Gatineau	Patrick Megan	1^st Wakefield
Chris Tyler	1^st Manotick	Perry Schippers	2^nd Gatineau & LCS
Christiaan Burchell	1^st Nepean	Phil Edens	123^rd Ottawa.
Chuck Fraser	1^st Glen Cairn	Ray Renton	1^st Dunrobin
Cyndy Courtland	Carleton Place	Roger Aston	3^rd Ottawa
Dave Skinner	1^st Glen Cairn	Sandra Redshaw	3^rd Kanata
Dean Smith	2^nd Orleans	Scott Stanley	1^st Stittsville
Doug MacKinnon	112^th Nepean	Sharon Lefebvre Ley	7^th Kanata
Doug Proud	1^st Greenwood	Steve Doody	25^th Nepean
Gil Lepine	4^th Orleans	Stephen Smye	1^st Wakefield
Greg Brost	1^st Orleans	Stewart Ross	DCC Recog'n
Greg McGinnis	2^nd Russell	Stu Majka	1^st Chelsea Rovers
Jocelyn Robinson	7^th Kanata/VAF Secr	Tim Redpath	1^st Stittsville
John Dougherty	1^st Rock/DAC Odawa	Wally Gale	14^thGlster/VAFchair
John Stalker	Valley Highlands/AC

Opening Remarks

Wally called the meeting to order and asked for any additional agenda items.

Past Activities

Food drive (Nov 7^th) - Report by Perry Schippers

Went quite well

60500 lbs of food collected and sorted. $11350 donated. Amount of food collected was down but cash donations were up over previous years. The number of volunteers was up as well.

Suggestions: Limit staff to 30 per shift and have an info session before each shift about how to handle the food and related sorting. The 1^st shift in particular might work well with much fewer volunteers.

Upcoming Events

Laser Quest Lockdown (Dec 5-6) - Report by Raymond Desjardins

Registration is full at 74 participants. With the overwhelming interest the Rideau Rovers will consider running this event again soon so everyone can experience it.

Winter Mountaineering Adventure (February – 4 weekends) Report by Allan Yates

155 people signed up – totally full. This is a huge response, up about 50% over last year. While there is only room for 20 in the ACC cabin, Allan will look into a hostel or other basic accommodation in the region as alternative lodgings. He reminded participants that it takes 4 weeks minimum to obtain the tour permit from National.

OPE work weekend (April 23-25^th) – Report sent in by Tim Taylor
This work weekend follows the same format as past years. Contact Tim with the requested registration information (see the VAF site or the attachment in the email for this meeting). The number of participants will again be limited so register early enough to secure a spot. This is a popular event.

RSVP (April 30 – May 2) - Report by Neil Rice

This annual weekend camp is scheduled for the end of April and is open to Senior Scouts, Venturers and Rovers (a good linking event) as well as Pathfinders/Rangers. Cost $15 per person including Advisors or $10 for offer of service (limited requirement). Enrollment opens in January. Among the activities will be High Ropes and Orienteering.

Camp Sheldrake all night dance party (May 15^th) – Report by Wally Gale

Contact 8^th Presquois Venturers on Facebook if interested.

Reports

Service Corps Lost Children Services @ Winterlude – Report by Perry Schippers

The website for the 2010 Winterlude Lost Children Service is up. For further information and to volunteer see Http://sites.google.com/site/lcswinterlude2010/. The email to contact LCS is: lcs.winterlude@gmail.com

Joint Council - Report by Andrew and Jen

- November event: 65 participated in the aerial experience at Lafleche. The activity reservation was put under stress when 10 showed up who were not registered, but the activity was completed largely as planned and was a lot of fun.

- Winter Camp (Feb. 12-14, 2010): This year’s winter camp theme is MONTY PYTHON with the proviso that groups avoid the “Meaning of Life” and “spam” (includes food and activities). Activities will again include hosted breakfasts and a dance Saturday night.

Where: Camp Woolsey (just off Dunrobin Road). There will be a bus going from Scout Headquarters.
Registration money along with numbers and male/female breakdown is required for the January VAF/JC meeting. Registration forms will be emailed to Joint Council members.

- December event: Mini putt at the Putting Edge (indoor mini-putt course that is a glow-in-the-dark activity) It is located near Costco in Nepean.
Date: Saturday December 12
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Price: “Hole in One” $13 or less.

(2 Rounds of Golf, Glow Bracelet, and your choice of a Soft Drink or Bottled Water)

You must notify either the JC Facebook group or the JC exec e-mail by Thursday December 10 with numbers to participate. Thursday is the deadline! Uniform suggested.

- January Event: Tobogganing at Conroy Pit (on Conroy Road) **note change from info provided at VAF meeting – arboretum is no longer the location**

Date: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Cost: 0$

Note: Bring proper clothing for the weather (winter gear – will be outside the full 2 hrs) as well as a toboggan (helmet highly recommended and may be required.

If you have any questions or concerns about events contact the JC PR's via Facebook or via the exec email jc.exec2009@gmail.com

Training and Development

Wilderness 1^st Aid (Nov 14-15) - Report by Patrick Megan

7 youth & 4 adults participated. Registration was small but all went well. Another Wilderness 1^st Aid course may be set up for Gatineau, with Perry’s input. A 1^st Responder course may follow this if there is enough interest.

Advanced Wilderness 1^st Aid Jan 16-17 – Report by Doug Proud

The pre-requisite is Basic Wilderness 1^st aid. Location TBD

Wood Badge 1 course – Report by Nick Wise

A new policy is now in force, allowing youth 14 years and older to obtain their WB1 woggle and be part of the leadership team. A show of hands indicates that there are still 7 Advisors at the VAF meeting who are interested in taking their Wood Badge 1 course. More information will follow about this and WB2.

Other Notes/Announcements

Order of the Caribou Presentation

Stephen Smye was presented with this award for his tireless and much-appreciated efforts in organizing the white water courses- White Water 3 in particular. Chris Majka and John Stalker made the presentation to the applause of those in attendance at the meeting.

VAF archery equipment – Report sent by Tim Harbinson

The VAF attendees unanimously approved the purchase order that Tim put together. It consisted of 6 bows (5 right & 1 left between 28-36 lbs) along with protective equipment and arrows, at a total cost of $1450. There was some discussion about use of this equipment and related safety procedures/protocol.

May Skills Challenge organizing meeting (Dec. 3) – Report sent by Iain Holness

Youth as well as Advisors are solicited to help in organizing and running this leader challenge day scheduled for May. Youth would serve as marshalls and coaches for the series of Wood Badge-type outdoor skills challenges. The initial organizing meeting for volunteers will take place on Thursday Dec. 3.

Voyageur Rover Meeting (Nov 9^th) – Report by Mike Harris

Four crews were present at this 1^st meeting. Communication will be via Facebook – Voyageur Council Rover Forum. A bowling event is planned for December 12 at McArthur Lanes. Contact Mike Harris for more information.

OOS Council Cub Camp (June 4-6) – Report by Jocelyn Robinson

Offers of service are requested for this upcoming Council cub camp. The next planning meeting will be held at Scout HQ in the Buffam Room on Dec 10 at 7:30 pm - all welcome. Please contact Raymond Desjardins or Jocelyn Robinson if interested in this Offer of Service.

OOS Scouting Museum – Report by Jocelyn Robinson

Offers of service are requested for re-organization of the Scouting museum. Help is required to move furniture and display cases, catalogue artifacts, and create a dynamic program lending library. Please contact Jocelyn Robinson if interested. Volunteer hours are very flexible.

VAF Activity coordination/organization – For newer VAF members in particular, Wally noted the requirement for people to help out with organizing and/or running events. The Crazy Canuck Challenge was cited as an example. While there is plenty of lead time, people are asked to consider if they could play a role in this or other activities. The success of the Venturer program and VAF events depends on the efforts of many volunteers.

Presentation on Awards & Recognition by Stewart Ross, DCC Recognition

Stewart described the awards available for use by the Scouting community to recognize efforts/achievements worthy of recognition. He noted some changes, including the fact that scholarships are now available for any post-secondary training and not just 1^st year. Council is offering 2 new courses to help in developing Awards & Recognition proposals. The 1^st is scheduled for Dec 12^th (1-4:30 pm) to help people with tips and suggestions for writing submissions. The 2^nd will be held Jan 9^th 9:30-4pm as a workshop to actually write a submission. The latter is limited to 20 people and will offer the possibility to create and edit a draft submission potentially ready by the end of the day. Award submissions can now be submitted at any time for review.

Stewart also briefly highlighted some information about Scouts Canada’s Annual General Meeting held in November in Regina. Neal and Francesca were there as youth representatives. He noted that the next AGM will be held in Montreal in cooperation with Les Scouts and the World Brotherhood International AGM will be held in Ottawa next October.

Next Meeting: Tuesday Jan 5, 2010 at 7:30 pm – includes a special presentation by Jocelyn Robinson about how to dehydrate food for gourmet cooking at a campsite

The Chair for the Venturer Advisor Forum is Wally Gale at vafchair@rogers.com. Please contact Wally for any notices to distribute or information of potential interest to the Voyageur VAF community.

If you find any omissions or errors, please contact ……

Scouter Jocelyn Remus-Robinson at cascahawk@gmail.com or 613-592-4738

… and visit the VAF website for a goldmine of information, including present, past and future events http://web.ncf.ca/ad554/