Voyageur Council Venture Advisor’s Forum

Meeting Minutes for January 3, 2006

Scout’s Headquarters - National Boardroom

Final

Name	Group	Name	Group
Alan Griffin	112^th Nepean	Jim Montgomery	1^st Glen Cairn
Bill Bowman	1^st Nepean	Jim Smith	VRRRT
Bob Dore	1^st Vars - Navan	Joe Boudreau	1^st Greely Venturers
Bob Viney	25^th Nepean	John Stalker	1^st Valley Highlands
Catherine Snedden	7^th Kanata	Laurel Rosene	1^st Glen Cairn
Chelsea Coreoran	1^st Vars - Navan	Lawrence Tyler	1^st Richmond
Cheryl Schramm	7^th Kanata	Malcolm Volmer	29^th Nepean
Christian Burchel1	1^st Nepean	Mike Jowett	27^th, Nepean
Dan Karwowski	1^st Glen Cairn	Phil Edens	VRSC / LCS
Doug MacKinnon	112^th Nepean	Ray Renton	1^st Dunrobin
Doug Proud	1^st Greenwood	Stewart Ross	Nepean Rovers
Jim McQuaid	112^th Nepean	Tim Taylor	123^rd Ottawa

Past Events:

Tim thanked Police Venturers and 7^th Kanata for help in getting the docks out. Phil noted Police Venturers are now part of Service Corps so if they can provide help in a service capacity then let Phil know.

Events to Come:

Training:

Stewart noted on January 28^th a Coaching and Mentoring course is planned with a cost of $15 which will include snacks, lunch and supplies. It will be limited to 20 people. (Nepean Advisors also pay the $15 but get it back.)

There is now the intention to run an All Section Basic course in April from the 21^st to the 23^rd (the weekend before the OPE work weekend). Further plans are underway.

Stewart also noted that disks are still available from the previous course at Rovent for $5.

Central Canada Rover Venturer Round Table. There were flyers on the table at the back and they would love to see as many Rovers and Venturers up there as possible.

The [Adirondack] Winter Mountain Adventure:

Christian noted that the trip registrations are now full for both the first and second trip at 18 people per trip. If you have your money, get it to him now. At the next meeting, Christian will lead a winter clothing and hiking seminar to help people with winter camping in general, this trip in particular. He noted that the trek into the cabin is not long. The hike itself during the Saturday is 6-8 hours or around 6 miles as he budgets 1 mile per hour.

Christian noted to have your paper work requirements and photo id ready to cross the border, i.e. paperwork from the group committees and drivers licenses. Passports are not yet required at the border but that it does makes things easier. If you are not a Canadian Citizen or born in Canada, have all that paperwork ready and bring it with you. He reminds everyone that we need proof of permission to bring minors across the boarder i.e. those parental permission forms. Note on bottom BOTH parents required to sign, and they need to be in 4 weeks ahead of the trip.

Camp Slush:

It’s back in action on March 3^rd to 5^th, the first weekend of March break. Information is available under the announcements section on the VAF website. It’s a winter adventure at Fort Pine in Petawawa sponsored by the 4^th Petawawa Rover Crew. Kids are out in the bush, the camp is located on the firing range at the base. They will be bringing in all necessities from the base. They are having an annual chili cook-off for Saturday dinner, and a dance Saturday night. There are cabins and bunk bed frames. There is a longhouse with hydro and wood stoves but cabins do not have hydro and water so bring enough water for the weekend. Contact is Bob McKenzie if you have any questions at big_huggy_bear@hotmail.com or (613) 687-8217.

Lost Children Services

Sean, Amy and Matt presented information for advisors to take back to their groups. They have the three trailers again on the ice, one at the NAC, one at 5^th Avenue, and the one at Bronson (Dow’s Lake). At this time they still need more youth looking for lost children on the ice. Advisors are welcome too. The dates are Feb February 11th - 12th, and February 18th - 19th (the last 2 weekends of Winterlude). Lost Children Services have a URL and they are taking registrations on the website: www.geocities.com/vrscwinterlude also Amy has an email address: ladylavergne@gmail.com.

Shifts are for a full day or 2 hours, whatever works best, just let them know ahead of time. Shifts start around 10 am and end around 6 pm for all 4 days. They also have a banquet on the evening of Thursday, Feb. 23^rd that is always really fun. Skates on the canal are not required but participants do need physical fitness and permission forms. They also recommend that photo release forms are filled out and brought as this is a media event and pictures will be taken.

PRCs are covered by Scouts Canada standards. NCC has backed off on that requirement for now but we don’t know what the future holds. Legislation is such that they are not required for youth under 18 at this time.

OPE Work Weekend

The flyer is at the back and the details are under the announcements section on the VAF website. It is the same format as for the last 5 years. Just the dates are different, this year it is April 28th – 30th, 2006. Note that Tim had a number of registrations in Nov and Dec but lost his data on his PC so please re-send an email to re-register. Lodgings are your choice, cub cabins, lodges, tenting, etc. First come, first served generally speaking. The list of tasks will be out in late March or early April.

White Water Canoeing

Bill has contacted Valley Ventures for WW1 and Paddler Coop for WW2. They are looking at the dates of May 26^th- 28^th for WW1 and June 2^nd – 4^th for WW2. It will be the same deal as last year, WW1 at Petawawa at Kiska, and WW2 will be at Madawaska at Paddler Coop boathouse at Palmer Rapids.

Pre-training – is usually done on the Sunday of the OPE work weekend. Bill asked everyone how they felt about whether pre-training was still needed. Some had felt the 1^st half day of the session was a repeat of the course and Bill has noticed numbers have been declining over the years. The course is about providing basic canoe skills with some explaining of the maneuvers, demonstrations on the water (2 hr) and a river safety seminar (1hr).

After some discussion it was decided to keep it as there were only a few grumbles that it was a waste of time and many still need that pre-run for the season on the water. This course is mandatory for anyone attending the White Water sessions. Bill may look at making it earlier in the day if he can so it does not run so late.

Tim reiterated the OPE canoes are available. He asked if he brought them to Ottawa, if it would be easier for people to use them. If there is interest then he will talk to Marilyn and then he can bring them up here using the camp truck and keep them here for that 2 week period to make it easier.

Bill noted again, payment for the sessions is made directly to the course provider so make any arrangements for renting canoes or other equipment before you book and pay the course registration as Bill can not get a refund for you.

WW2 booked up really fast so if you are interested, sign-up early. Hopefully next month he will have costs etc.

JC Report:

Last month they went to the Kanata Wave Pool, but only 4 showed up and then they went out to eat. This Saturday they are going tobogganing at Conroy Pits at Huntclub and Conroy. The event is on January 7^th from 2 to 4 pm.

They are also still planning for the Winter Camp on the first weekend in February. Tonight they were looking for forms. They can be dropped off at the office here and Gord Kelly will pick them up. Note this is a NO NUT camp as one member has a severe allergy. The registration is limited to 80 people max but they are looking to accommodate up to 30 people to sleep outside if they are inclined. Camp and transportation details are under the announcements section on the VAF website.

VRRRT report:

They were going to have the RSVP information on the web earlier but now it should be there for this Friday. It can be reached using the Links section in the VAF website. The camp is May 5-7, 2006 at Camp Opemikon. The cost is $16; late registration is still $20. They looked at changing the dates due to conflict with Scout Trees, but will be leaving it as it is as they already planned for the facilities etc. However they will look at that for next year. Will also keep an eye on Nepean Area Camp the following weekend when scheduling.

Other business:

• An update on the Rock Climbing access committee donation: the VAF asked for the condition to have the scouts logo displayed with other donors. Christian noted that they are now instigating a sponsoring program so he will donate against that when it is ready, i.e. he will cut the cheque soon.

• Rovent crests have been ordered but they are still waiting for the crests to arrive.

• There was a concern that members attending Joint Council are not getting emails. A test email will be sent out the evening of Sunday January 8^th. If your Venturers do not receive this email, please respond to Joint_Council@hotmail.com or our Scout PR rep at Alex.Aronec@gmail.com. Note please do not use JointCouncil@hotmail.com as that is not a scout related email, ensure you have the underscore between ‘Joint’ and ‘Council’.

Note that if anyone wants to see what the events are for the VAF, look to the website maintained by Bill Bowman at http://www.ncf.ca/~ad554/