Venturer Advisors’ Forum - Voyageur Council
Notes of Meeting – January 5, 2010
National Boardroom - Scout
Headquarters
Adrian Hill |
|
Greg McGinnis |
2nd Russell |
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Al McPhee |
1st Greely |
Ian Marsh |
3rd
|
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Andrew Grant |
Rideau Rover Crew |
John Dougherty |
1st Rock/DAC Odawa |
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Angus Palmer |
1st Carp |
John Stalker |
Valley Highlands/AC |
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Ashley Schippers |
2nd
|
Larry Brunet |
1st
|
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Bill Bowman |
1st
|
Mary Hagerman |
1st Osgoode |
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Bob Sylvester |
7th Kanata |
Mike Harris |
Rideau Rover Crew |
| ||||
Brett Budge |
25th
|
Mike Jowett |
CC Voyageur |
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Brian McAuley |
7th
|
Neal Rice |
Nepean Area CYC |
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Bruce Murton |
14th
|
Nigel Ward |
1st
|
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Cal Clupp |
2nd
|
Patrick Megan |
1st
|
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Chris Tyler |
1st Manotick |
Perry Schippers |
2nd Gatineau & LCS |
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Christiaan Burchell |
1st
|
Phil Edens |
123rd
|
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Christopher Provost |
112th
|
Ray MacKenzie |
7th
|
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Chuck Fraser |
1st Glen Cairn |
Ray Renton |
1st Dunrobin |
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Cyndy Courtland |
|
Roger Aston |
3rd
|
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Darrel Bond |
3rd
|
Scott Burry |
1st
|
| ||||
Don Stalker |
Nepean Rover Crew |
Sharon Lefebvre Ley |
7th
|
| ||||
Dean Smith |
2nd
|
Stephen Smye |
1st
|
| ||||
Doug MacKinnon |
112th
|
Simon Tompson |
1st Carp |
| ||||
Doug Proud |
1st
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Tamara Wilson |
Nepean Rover Crew |
| ||||
Earnest Koshman |
|
Tim Redpath |
1st Stittsville |
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Wally Gale |
14th Glster/VAFchair |
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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/