Name

Group

Name

Group

Al McPhee

1^st Metcalf

Jim Montgomery

1^st Glen Cairn

Alan Clapp

8^th Orleans

Jim Smith

27^th Nepean

Andy Walsh

25^th Nepean

John Dougherty

Odawa Area

Barbra Bowman

1^st Nepean

John Stalker

Valley Highlands / CP

Bill Bowman

1^st Nepean

Malcolm Volmer

27^th Nepean

Craig Defries

8^th Orleans

Matthew Janssen

Carleton Area Rovers

Cyndy Courtland

Carleton Place

Mike Jowett

Nepean Area

Dan Karwowski

1^st Glen Cairn

Perry Schippers

Lost Childrens Services, 2^nd Gatineau

Daniel Schaffler

1^st Vars - Navan

Ray Renton

1^st Dunrobin

Dean Smith

2^nd Orleans

Sharon Ley

7^th Kanata

Doug MacKinnon

112^th Nepean

Stephen Smye

1^st Wakefield

Doug Proud

1^st Greenwood

Stewart Ross

Nepean Area Sr Sect. Serv.

Gilbert Lepine

4^th Orleans

Tim Harbinson

137^th Ottawa

Greg McGinnis

2^nd Russell

Thérèse Desjardins

137^th Ottawa

Jan Stodola

7^th Kanata

Wally Gale

14^th Gloucester

Jim McQuaid

112^th Nepean

Wayne Clarke

1^st  

Presentation 7:05-8:30pm

Stephen Smye introduced a guest speaker, Bob Abrames. Bob shared his informative and entertaining experiences as a member of a team of 9 voyageurs, travelling from Montreal to Winnipeg, May to September, 2005. This trip was filmed and is generally shown twice per year as Destination nord-ouest on TVA and TFO. When not serving as a motivational speaker somewhere in the world, Bob has taken to leading voyageur trips, and he is looking for people interested in joining him on a complete expedition or even for a week or two - see abrames.com.

VAF Meeting 8:40-9:30pm

Upcoming Activities:

1. Winter Adventure weekends of February 8-10, and 22-24

To confirm availability of spots, contact Christiaan Burchell:  cjburchill@yahoo.com

#613-274-3900

NOTE: for the first trip, forms for international travel must be in to Scout Headquarters by this Friday, January 11.

2. Gatineau Loppet (formerly Keskinada) February 15-17

Wally Gale reported that he has about 25 Venturer/Rover volunteers, so the activity is covered. It is a winter camping weekend combined with responsibility for 3 food stations for this sole Canadian entry in the world cross-country ski loppet. After confirmation of numbers, there is a possibility of room for a few volunteers, so let him know if your group is interested.

Reports:

Joint Council Activities

1. Movie night at AMC Kanata, Friday, January 18, 7pm

Andrew reported that the group will meet at AMC Kanata 24, 801 Kanata Ave., Unit A1, at Terry Fox and Campeau, 7pm, January 18, until the movie is over.

2. JC Winter Camp, Friday, February 8-Sunday, February 10

Jamie and Natalie reported that Winter Camp is scheduled for the second weekend in February at Camp Woolsey (the Guiding camp on the Ottawa River at the end of Dunrobin Road).  Cost is $45. Deadline for receiving payment has been extended to Friday, January 18. Drop payments off at a JC member’s house or bring it to the Movie night.

Lost Children - Winterlude

If your group would like to volunteer for the Lost Children service the second and third weekends in February, contact Perry Schippers at LCS.exec@gmail.com

Senior Section Youth Committee (SSYC)

Matthew Janssen reported the next meeting has been moved to Monday, January 21, 7:30 pm, at Scout Headquarters. Venturers and Rovers interested in joining this senior section should attend.

Other Business for the evening:

Wilderness First Aid

Doug Proud reported he requires final numbers for Standard First Aid this weekend and Advanced  First Aid weekend of February 16. The cost is$175 for the first course and $165 for the second one. Courses are almost full. To register, contact Doug Proud at dlproud@bigfoot.com, home 613-741-5730, cell 613-863-5370.

Annual General Meeting

Mike Jowett explained the nomination procedure for candidates from Voyageur Council to attend the Annual General Meeting as voting members.  Three individuals from Voyageur Council will be selected and their travel expenses will be covered. In Ontario, each of the 20 councils will have three votes = 60 voting members. A nomination requires the support of five Scouters. Deadline for nominations is this Thursday. Online voting for nominated candidates will take place by the end of January. The VAF supports the nomination of Wally Gale – to be discussed with him after the meeting.

Whitewater Training

Jim Smith reported the details of the white water training courses.  The fees are to be considered ballpark estimates for now:

Jim will provide details and a handout at the February meeting.

Rock Climbing Equipment

Jim Montgomery reported that the last two VenClimbs had a surplus, totalling $623. He investigated purchasing climbing equipment – MEC cost for 6 sets = $1104. Jim will email the details. Voyageur Council could partially support this purchase through the equipment subsidy. The group briefly considered the safety issues associated with storing and sharing equipment as well as the need for a storage location and lending process. The group decided to consider this further at the February meeting.

The Spot – for serious trekking

Wayne Clarke referred to an article in January’s Monitor magazine outlining the features of a simple GPS/satellite communication tool for $169, plus an annual licensing fee of $100. It looks like a leap forward to improve safety particularly for wilderness trips.  Details at www.findmespot.com

Next Meeting:  Tuesday February 5, 2008

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 at wbowman@ncf.ca to get information posted to this website.