Venturer Advisors’
Forum - Voyageur Council
Notes of
Meeting – December 7, 2010 7:30 pm
National
Boardroom - Scout Headquarters
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Opening
Remarks
Alfred Mahon is here
from the Scout Shop for an equipment presentation. A couple of items on the agenda may
generate some discussion so all reports need to be reasonably brief.
Past
Activities
Food Drive Nov 6 – Phil Edens
New record set - 81,500 lbs of food and over $10,000. All items were sorted and cash counted before leaving.
Badges for Groups who left early are available from Phil.
Comments (positive/negative) are solicited to improve the event - to Phil Philip.Edens@ottawa.ca
Kanata had a good day but results were down – only 1600 lbs
LaserQuest Dec 4-5 - Mike Harris
Full house 68 participants plus crew. Next date still to be booked with LaserQuest.
Medical forms will be required in future. Place in sealed envelope for return at the end of the event.
Use facebook e-mail since Raymond’s is not working. Questions and waiting list entries can be sent to Mike Harris at mikeoharris@gmail.com
Upcoming Events
Adirondack Adventure 4 weekends in February – Allan Yates
Still accepting registrations - 100 plus so far [update: approx. 170 anticipated] – max 50 per weekend.
Sorting dates this week. Apply for your tour permit as soon as date confirmed. Accommodation reservations in excess of that booked to date will be released at the end this week.
Registrations will be accepted until the event if space available.
Reports
Service
Corps – info from Eugene Lavigne
Remembrance Day went well. Good weather. Great turnout. Al Griffin with youth who placed wreath.
Joint Council - Jake & Brina
- November event at Coyote Rock Gym was fun. 15 attendees.
- December event will be at Merivale Bowling Ctr 1916 Merivale Rd. Dec 18 at 2 pm. $6 a game plus $2.50 for shoes. Please check in through the Facebook page. December dance is postponed due to lack of location. Hopefully January.
- Winter Camp aiming for Feb 11-13. Still looking for a location as Camp Woolsey not available. Suggestions welcome – even a community centre with a field. Contact Alan Clapp at clapp4times@rogers.com
- JC meeting turnout was 86 – 76 in uniform including virtually all of the Guiding side. Scouting side is faced with a challenge.
Training
- WB II - all sections except Rovers, Feb 25-27, Mar 25-27 & Apr 16-17, Voyageur Council.
- WBII (Nick Wise) also scheduled for Camp Tamaracouta, Rover & Venturer level, Aug 7-12, 2011. Check training page at http://www.qc.scouts.ca/
- Wilderness First Responder (Doug Proud), Jan 7-9 at Camp Opemikon. $395.50 pp for course, meals, accom and tax. There will be a subsidy from VAF of $500 largely aimed at covering camp/meal charges that will reduce the cost. So far 10 expressions of interest, 1 commitment. Prerequisite is Advanced Wilderness 1st Aid taken within the past year. Register ASAP to ensure this is a go and deadline is the 1st week of January for providing catering numbers to Ope.
WFR recertification course – looking at possibility of 2 days in March.
- WBI Senior Sections (Nick Wise) will be available online in September.
- Tax Question from previous meeting (Nick). Can a donation to a course that you are on be counted as a charitable donation? No, you cannot receive a direct benefit from a charitable donation you make.
Other
Business
- Scouters Conference (Nick Wise). April 9, Smith Falls Collegiate. Still looking for a few session leaders for “Motivating your Venture Company” and “Preparing for the Venturer Challenge of a Lifetime”. Suggestions for others sessions also welcome. Nick will send out a draft ScoutCom outline.
- Duke of Edinburgh Award. Wally has been attending meetings with Karen with a view to expanding the Award program including to youth not previously considered. Scouters in a position of setting youth hiring criteria are asked to consider including the Duke of Ed Award as a ‘considered qualification’. Camp Opemikon will be doing so.
- VAF Chair nominations. John Stalker is looking for members to help find a new chair. Doug Proud volunteered. Members are asked to consider taking on this role. Wally noted that the time commitment for the Chair position is open to initiative but the basic requirements are to prepare the meeting agenda, chair the meeting, review the minutes and facilitate communications (distribute information, answer queries such as for contact info).
- Senators Night for Scouting (John Dougherty) at ScotiaBank Place this Friday December 9. Tickets still available. More than 800 tickets bought and the Beaver/Cub sleepover is full at 275
- Natonal AGM – items direcltly pertinent to the VAF (Mike Jowett):
· World Rover Moot 2013, Low, QC (Mike Jowett). Expecting 4000 overseas visitors. Hosted by Les Scouts. John Stalker has put his name forward to represent Scouts on the bilingual planning committee.
·
Canadian Venturer Jamboree July, 2012 (Mike J). Haliburton Scout Reserve. 5 day adventure race format (climb,
canoe, bike, …) with a day at startup and a day for take-down at end. Voyageur should have a large
representation.
·
National position paper on
Venture Company membership/exclusion.
Mike Jowett presented information based on a case in Toronto regarding
the exclusion of a youth from a Company.
More explicit guidelines and best practices for the formation and
acceptance of members into a Company are needed. A Council/VAF committee is required for
our input to the National discussion paper and decision. Voyageur Council has
one of the largest Advisors’ forums in Canada so this is an opportunity to
contribute to a policy that will directly impact us. Volunteers for the committee are
solicited - contact Mike Jowett ASAP since we only have until the end of January
2011. Ideas should be vetted at a VAF meeting.
-
Recognition – various notes
(Stewart Ross).
· Rod Wilson received his 30 yr pin. Eugene Lavigne his 25 year pin. Congratulations.
· First Bar to the Order of the Caribou presented to Dave Parker of Loyalist Area.
· If Caribou recipients are not getting their crests, check the MMS so that their award shows as “1049” not “1051”. Extra crests available at $1 from Stew Ross.
· There have been lots of activities since June 2010, so WHERE ARE THE NOMINATIONS? Please send in nominations to your DAC of Recognition. If you want to present for Scout/Guide Week, do it now.
Special
Presentation – Coleman Camp stoves and Repair
Tips
Alfred Mahon
brought some light-weight camp stoves and mess kits to the VAF to show off some
of the new items available at the Scout Shop. He also provided some excellent tips on
how to pre-empt problems with the standard Coleman stoves and what to do when
repairs are required. The Scout
Shop is the only official Coleman repair depot in this region. Alfred is the Retail Operations
Manager/Buyer for Scout Shops in Canada.
Next meeting Tuesday,
January 4, 2011. Nigel Ward
presentation on 1st Kanata bike trip across PEI.
VAF Website
Address:
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