Voyageur Council Venturer Advisor’s Forum

Meeting Minutes for March 6, 2007

Scout’s Headquarters - National Boardroom

Final

 

 

Name

Group

Name

Group

Alan Clapp

8th Orleans

John Dougherty

DAC Program Odawa

Alan Griffin

112th Nepean

John Stalker

1st Valley Highlands

Alex Gazaleh

Opemikon

Laurel Rosene

1st Glen Cairn

Bill Bowman

1st Nepean

Malcolm Volmer

29th Nepean

Bob Dore

Joint Council

Neale Peeling

4th Kanata

Brien Taylor

1st Greenwood

Nick Wise

137th Nepean

Catherine Snedden

7th Kanata

Rod Wilson

National Service Team

Christiaan Burchell

1st Nepean

Randy Miller

2nd Russell

Cyndy Courtland

Carleton Place

Ray Renton

1st Dunrobin

Daniel Schaffler

1st Vars - Navan

Russ Jones

36th Ottawa

Dean Smith

2nd Orleans

Sean Freill

Nepean Rover Crew

Doug Proud

1st Greenwood

Stephen Smye

1st Wakefield

Gilbert Lepine

4th Orleans

Stewart Ross

Nepean Rover Crew

Greg McGinnis

2nd Russell

Tim Redpath

1st Stittsville

Jim McQuaid

112th Nepean

Tim Taylor

123rd Ottawa

Jim Peverley

VAF Chair

Wally Gale

14th Gloucester

John Andrews

1st Glen Cairn

 

 

 

Opening Presentation:  Ottawa River Keeper

 

Delphine Hasle, the Director of Outreach for the Ottawa River Keeper spoke and provided a presentation on the purpose and activities of the Ottawa River Keeper.  They are 2 people and an army of volunteers to protect and enhance the whole watershed of the Ottawa River.  They are members of the Waterkeeper Alliance as well.  The website for further information is at www.ottawariverkeeper.ca.  Also, a copy of the presentation will be attached to the website with these minutes for your reference.

 

Key items that Delphine wanted to bring to our attention that we might be interested in and wish to help out with:

 

For more detail on these events and a for a list of many many more events, please go the website as noted above: www.ottawariverkeeper.ca.

 

Events Past:

 

Keskinada Loppet: Russ Jones spoke as a participant in the Loppet.  He definitely appreciated the feed stations from Frank and Wally and all the work that was put in to put those stations for the skiers.  He also said the youth that participated also enjoyed it and working with the teams.  Wally noted that this year the weather was good and the setup and provision of the stations was quite successful.  Due to the lack of snow, there were some last minute route changes, and they created two new stations but it was a good weekend and everyone camped out.

 

Winter Mountaineering Adventure:  Russ Jones’ group also participated in this event and noted it was fantastic.  He passed along his thanks for the effort and time put into organization and leading the event by Christiaan.  The wind was wild this year and kids had some videos of them standing up against the wind.  Both trips ran this year with one hiking up Hurricane and Algonquin and the other hiking up Cascade and Algonquin.  The youth enjoyed it and some had a little climb on Sunday as well.  Christiaan thanked both Dax Renton and Adam Taylor for helping to lead the hikes.

 

 

Events to Come:

 

Camp Slush: Bill has it posted on website under Announcements for those who are interested in joining.

 

OPE Work Weekend:  Tim Taylor spoke and numbers are still problem this year.  He got approval to bump up the participation to 135 but he still has 182 people who want to come.  Tim has therefore asked the following:

 

Tim noted that the limit on the numbers is a dollar decision for the camp.  The weekend’s cost is the loss of revenue as they can’t book the camp to anyone else, and for the cost of feeding the youth who are there.  Note, it was proposed that a poll be taken of the VAF to see if there is any support for say a $10 fee to cover the cost of food.

·        The vote was an overwhelming ‘Yes’ that groups would pay to go or at least prepare their own fast food.

 

White Water 1:  Bill noted that the pre –training will still be held on the Sunday of the OPE Work Weekend at 10:30 AM.  Bill passed out a sheet to collect approximate numbers and if your group is interested in the pre training.  For groups in the pre-training, lunch is $3.50 per person.  He has received interest from around six companies so far for each course so they are filling up.  Bill also reiterated that the White Water I level is a good linking tool with your group’s senior scouts.

 

White Water 2: Bill has 2 people so far but there was a lot more interest expressed at the VAF so these numbers will start to come in now too.

 

RSVP:  They are working on the crest.  For the youth doing service at this event, they will also get a Necker in red with the RSVP crest on back.  Other information is on the website.

 

Interfaith Service:  The service is this Sunday.  Alan asked Advisors to help ensure at least some youth come out.  Last year Alan had to get any youth coming in the door to be flag bearers.  He asked that your youth be there at 2:30 or 3 pm on Sunday.  The Service is about 1 hour and after that there is a reception in the basement with something to eat.  This is a complete Interfaith Service, not just a Protestant service.

 

 

Reports:

 

JC Report:

 

Service Corps:  No reports tonight.

 

VRRRT and CRRRT: No reports tonight.

 

Training:  Stewart noted that on the website there is senior section specific training in April.  At this time there are no basic canoe or boat rescue courses as there has been no discussion on scheduling of those courses.  Typically they tend to be around the second weekend and the fourth weekend in June, and the last weekend in August.  If you are interested, let your training coordinator or Stewart Ross know.

 

Stewart also asked if the training during the Rovent program was a good idea.  The agreement at VAF is that it was and is a very good idea.  Leaders get out with kids and get some training in as well which minimizes another weekend away from their families.

 

 

New Business:

 

First meeting of the Senior Sections Youth Committee (SSYC):  At the start of the meeting, Alex Gazaleh announced they had just completed the first meeting of SSYC.  They talked about the executive positions they need to fill, Rovent, the Couch Rally and other events.  The meetings will be on the 1st Tuesday of every month (same as VAF) but at 6:30 to 7:30 PM.  They would like to get more Venturers involved in planning events.  More information can be found on the Youth Forum link on the Voyageur Council website (last option in the left menu bar).

 

Nortel Tour: The Nortel Tour is the first Sunday in May (6th) in the morning.  Ray Renton noted that his group helps out on the Nortel Tour to man one station and provide Lost Childrens type services around the Nortel Carling Campus.  Ray also said they are asking for volunteers to be in pairs along the route.  A lunch and T-Shirt is provided if you participate.  If your group is interested, contact Ray Renton at 1st Dunrobin and he will pass it on to the crew at Nortel that he is dealing with.

 

 

Next Meeting:  April 3rd, 2007.  The FIRST Tuesday of the month.  Objective is to finalize OPE Work Weekend, and White Water sessions one, two and three.

 

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 to get information posted to this website.