Venturer Advisors’ Forum - Voyageur Council

Notes of Meeting – January 5, 2010

National Boardroom - Scout Headquarters

 

Adrian Hill

Nepean Rover Crew

Greg McGinnis

2nd Russell

 

Al McPhee

1st Greely

Ian Marsh

3rd Ottawa

 

Andrew Grant

Rideau Rover Crew

John Dougherty

1st Rock/DAC Odawa

 

Angus Palmer

1st Carp

John Stalker

Valley Highlands/AC

 

Ashley Schippers

2nd Gatineau

Larry Brunet

1st Nepean

 

Bill Bowman

1st Nepean

Mary Hagerman

1st Osgoode

 

Bob Sylvester

7th Kanata

Mike Harris

Rideau Rover Crew

 

Brett Budge

25th Nepean

Mike Jowett

CC Voyageur

 

Brian McAuley

7th Prescott

Neal Rice

Nepean Area CYC

 

Bruce Murton

14th Gloucester

Nigel Ward

1st Kanata

 

Cal Clupp

2nd Gatineau

Patrick Megan

1st Wakefield

 

Chris Tyler

1st Manotick

Perry Schippers

2nd Gatineau & LCS

 

Christiaan Burchell

1st Nepean

Phil Edens

123rd Ottawa.

 

Christopher Provost

112th Nepean

Ray MacKenzie

7th Prescott

 

Chuck Fraser

1st Glen Cairn

Ray Renton

1st Dunrobin

 

Cyndy Courtland

Carleton Place

Roger Aston

3rd Ottawa

 

Darrel Bond

3rd Kanata

Scott Burry

1st Kanata

 

Don Stalker

Nepean Rover Crew

Sharon Lefebvre Ley

7th Kanata

 

Dean Smith

2nd Orleans

Stephen  Smye

1st Wakefield

 

Doug MacKinnon

112th Nepean

Simon Tompson

1st Carp

 

Doug Proud

1st Greenwood

Tamara Wilson

Nepean Rover Crew

 

Earnest Koshman

Nepean Rover Crew

Tim Redpath

1st Stittsville

 

 

 

Wally Gale

14th Glster/VAFchair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opening Remarks

 

Wally called the meeting to order and asked for any additional agenda items.  Jocelyn sent her regrets that she was too sick to attend the meeting and offerred to provide her presentation on gourmet cooking-on-the-trail at a later meeting.  Bob Sylvester took the minutes.

 

 

Past Activities

 

Laser Quest Lockdown (Dec 5-6) - Report by Mike Harris

Registration was full at 74 participants. The event involved minimal sleep and maximum fun! There were a few advisors there and we appreciated them giving up their night to us.  With the overwhelming interest the Rideau Rovers are going to run another Laser Quest Lockdown session March 6 (10:30pm to 6:00am Mar 7).  The cost again will be $40.00.  To make it fair for everyone, registration (accompanied by payment) will take place in 3 stages:

1 – For those who are on the waiting list for the last LQ night but didn’t get in, sign-up by Feb 2 (Next VAF / JC meeting)

2 – For those who did not go last time and were not on the waiting list, registration will be open Feb 2 – Feb 15

3 – For everyone including those who did go to the last LQ but want to go again, registration will be open Feb 16-Mar 2.

As before, the attendance of Advisors is requested but not mandatory.

With this level of interest, there is a possibility running 2 LaserQuest events in future years.

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

**Winter Mountaineering Adventure (February – 4 weekends) - Report by Wally on behalf of Allan Yates

178 people signed up – full beyond expectations.  This is a huge response, accommodated by Allan’s efforts to arrange for a hostel and other basic indoors accommodation in the region since the Alpine Club cabin is at capacity. All of the hike leaders are in place, and a special thanks to 1st Greely for supplying some of the snowshoes.

Wally reminded participants that it takes 4 weeks minimum to obtain the Tour

Permit from National.

 

OPE work weekend (April 23-25th) – Report by Wally on behalf of Tim Taylor
Approximately 80 registered so far out of 175 or more spots available.  This work weekend follows the same format as past years. Contact Tim with the requested registration information (see the VAF site).  This is a popular event – best to plan ahead and register early.

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

This annual weekend camp is open to Senior Scouts, Venturers and Rovers (a good linking event) as well as Pathfinders/Rangers.  Cost is $15 per person including Advisors or $10 for offer of service (limited requirement).  Enrollment is now open – limited to 120 youth.  Among the activities will be High Ropes, Orienteering and Archery (with the possibility of using the new VAF bows). 

 

Raising the Scout Flag at City hall (Feb 20) – Report by Mike Jowett

City Hall has agreed to raise the scout flag for BP week.  The flag-raising will take place Feb 20 around 11:50am.  There is also a discussion with the city about camping in Festival Plaza that week but nothing has been agreed upon as yet.  More details to follow.

 

Rovent Planning Committee meeting (Feb 9) – Report by Doug MacKinnon

The Rovent 2010 planning committee will start meeting the second Tuesday of the month beginning February 9, 7:30-10:00 in the Buffam Room at Scout HQ.  Youth and advisors are welcome.  Rovent will be held Oct 15-17, 2010 at Camp Opemikon.

 

International Brotherhood of Scouting Conference (Oct15-17 2010) – Report by Mike Jowett

A conference for the International Brotherhood of Scouting will be held in Ottawa Oct 15-17, 2010.  The weekend may include a bus tour to Camp Opemikon to witness one of our camps (RoVent weekend).  There is also a suggestion that scouters help transport attendees from the airport to their hotels – yet to be decided.  More details to follow.

 

 

Reports

 

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

The shifts for Feb 6-7 and 13-14 Winterlude weekends are 10am-2pm and 1:30pm-6pm.  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

- December event: 15-20 participated in the Mini-putt outing.  Fun was had by all

- 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.

The location is Camp Woolsey (just off Dunrobin Road) and bus transport will again be available from Scout Headquarters.
Registration money along with numbers and male/female breakdown is required ASAP, with deadline the February VAF / JC meeting.  Registration forms are available on the VAF site or on the JC Facebook group.

- January Event: Tobogganing at Conroy Pit (on Conroy Road)

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 but not mandatory).

 

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.  Note that 72 attended the JC meeting tonight, with 75% in uniform.

 

 

Training and Development

 

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

The pre-requisite is Basic Wilderness 1st Aid, with location TBD.  There are only 4 registered as of this VAF meeting.  With the low numbers, a decision as to whether or not to run the course will be made Wednesday, January 13.

 

Wood Badge 1 course – Report by John Stalker

There will be a Senior Sections Woodbadge 1 course offered in the spring, likely at the end of March over a Friday night/Saturday timeframe. The online Module 1 will be a pre-requisite. John Stalker will be the course leader.

 

Awards & Recognition Workshop (Jan. 9) – Report by Wally on behalf of Stewart Ross

Voyageur Council is offerring a workshop on Saturday (9:30-4:00) to guide registrants through the steps involved in drafting a submission for an award.  Participants can register through the Voyageur Office and should be prepared with information useful for drafting an actual award during the session.

 

 

Other Notes/Announcements

 

VAF Archery Equipment – Report by Wally on behalf of Tim Harbinson

The archery equipment has been ordered.  There was unanimous interest from VAF attendees to have a 30 minute training session at a future VAF meeting (April?).  Tim has offerred to check with Kathleen Millar to see about arranging this demonstration of safety & care of the equipment and a practical session.

 

OOS Council Cub Camp (June 4-6) – Report by Bob Sylvester on behalf of 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 Jan 31 at 7 pm - all welcome.  Please contact Raymond Desjardins or Jocelyn Robinson if interested.  Ventures/Rovers help is particularly welcome.

 

VAF Activity coordination/organization – Report by Bill Bowman

Bill noted the requirement for volunteers to help with activities organized annually.  He announced that the Whitewater Pre-training event now has 2 key positions filled:  Tom Miller will make the safety /orientation presentation and Adam Taylor will organize the on-the-water training session. On-the-water trainers are required.  Bill will not available for this event this year.

A number of additional volunteers are required to help with the other Whitewater weekends as well as for the other activities held throughout the year.  A show of hands indicated most in attendance would be willing to help out.  In response to a suggestion, Bill agreed to draft a list of positions/requirements so that VAF members can sign-up to volunteer.

As a related comment, Bill noted that payment for the Whitewater weekends will now be handled by the Voyageur office (credit cards accepted) and a Google-based registration system will be established for online sign-up.

 

Meeting rooms – Report by Mike Jowett

The National office sent a formal letter to Voyageur Council notifying them that there have been a number of cases where a room was left with an unacceptable mess and damage occurred that was not reported.  If these incidents continue there may be a charge or damage deposit for the use of these rooms. Mike does not believe that this is a result of VAF meetings but we should all be aware that we should all leave the place “better than we found it”.

 

Discussion – No one left behind

 

A recent incident in Mississauga was discussed where a boy was not accepted into a venturer company and the parents were outraged.  Sometimes there are good reasons for not accepting a potential member into a Venturer company and Venturer companies have the right to accept or deny members. However problems can arise if this is not handled appropriately and with care.  There was substantial discussion among VAF members, with a number indicating experience with this type of issue and at least one indicating that this is an upcoming challenge.  Options, stategies and basic protocol for dealing with this situation were addressed.

 

**Winter Mountaineering Adventure Hike Leaders’ Meeting – Christiaan Burchell lead this session after the VAF meeting, to provide information and advice to hike leaders and to take related questions.

Next Meeting: Tuesday Feb 2, 2010 at 7:30 pm

 

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/