Name

Group

Name

Group

Alex Gazaleh

1^st Greenville / Opemikon RC

John Dougherty

DCC Program

Allan Yates

1^st Merrikvale

John Stalker

AC Valley Highlands CP

Alvin Cluff-Clyburne

2^nd Russell

Larry House

1^st Manotick

Al McPhee

1^st Greely

Marc Couturier

123^rd Nepean

Bill Bowman

1^st Nepean

Mary Hagerman

1^st Osgoode

Bob Sylvester

112^th Nepean

Mike Jowett

Council Commissioner

Brett Budge

25^th Nepean

Neil Rice

Nepean Rover Crew

Bruce Morton

14^th Gloucester

Nick Wise

Rideau Rover Crew

Chris Prevost

112^th Nepean

Nigel Ward

1^st Kanata

Christiaan Burchell

1^st Nepean

Perry Schippers

Heritage Area Rover Crew

Chuck Fraser

1^st Glen Cairn

Phil Edens

123^rd Ottawa

Cyndy Courtland

Carleton Place

Ray Renton

1^st Dunrobin

Dave Skninner

1st Glen Cairn

Sandra Redshaw

3^rd Kanata

David Brown

1^st Orleans

Scott Stanley

1^st Stittsville

Don Stalker

Nepean Rover Crew

Sharon Lefebvre

7^th Kanata

Doug MacKinnon

112^th Nepean

Steve Doody

25^th Nepean

Doug Proud

1^st Greenwood

Terry Rimmington

1^st Rockland

Ernie Koshman

Nepean Rover Crew

Thomas Miller

2^nd Orleans

Guy Morgan

1^st Kemptville

Opening Comments – John Stalker:

John Called the meeting to order.

Past Activities:

Winter Mountaineering Adventure – all 4 Feb weekends   -  Allan Yates

201 Registered -179 actually attended (156 last year) - sorting through the last of the finances - will issue the refund cheques shortly.  There are now lots of snowshoes available, by all means request them.  There were good reports from the hostels and they extended an invitation to come back next year.  There was a little confusion about the responsibilities of the trip leaders, a suggestion was made to notify everyone about their responsibilities at the start of the trip.

Gatineau Loppet Feb 18-20 – Wally Gale (submitted)

This international cross-country ski race/event took place in Gatineau Park - 3 Venturer companies (36^th Otttawa, 2^nd Orleans & 14^th Gloucester) were responsible for 3 interior food stations (not accessible by road) for the 800 skiers registered for the 51 km event. The activity also served as a winter camping weekend near Huron warming hut with time for cross country skiing, snowshoeing or other activities.  Thanks to the new Odawa Rover Crew for their onsite coordination.  Voyageur Scouting has taken care of these interior food stations for the last couple of decades.

Ski Marathon Feb 11-13  - Terry Rimmington 

45th Anniversary of the CSM (formed initially as an event to celebrate Canada ’s Centennial in 1967). Skiers ski up to 160 km over 2 days from Lachute to Buckingham in Quebec . Originally, the event ran from Montreal to Ottawa over 4 days. Total number of skiers: 1760 (down from last year’s total of 2100). Gold camp consisted of 304 skiers (up from 254 last year). Gold camp is where skiers ski the full distance, carry all their supplies including camping gear and food, and sleep outdoors. CSM requires 400+ volunteers to make this happen.

Responsibilities: 1ST Rockland and 1ST Cumberland are responsible for the Gold Camp and have been doing this for the past 21 years. Provide support to the skiers, basic first aid, fire picket all night, and cleanup on Sunday morning. Other scouting groups (4th Orleans ) are responsible for running other checkpoints.

No major casualties except for 1 broken leg, a number with mild hypothermia/exhaustion, pulled muscles, and a lost tent.

The CSM is always in need of volunteers. This year we were short 13 snow mobile drivers and expect to have the same need again next year. For those that are interested, please see the CSM web site http://www.csm-mcs.com/ or contact Terry Rimmington at t.rimmington@sympatico.ca

Upcoming Events:

LaserQuest2 March 5-6 – Rideau Area Rover Crew

Please be there by 10pm.  Bring physical fitness forms in an envelope that will be kept in a known location and returned at the end. The event is full.

OPE Work Weekend April 29-May 1

The big push this year is to upgrade the other end of the cub field to clean up the mud. Contact Tim Taylor with questions or to let him know your numbers.  Check the VAF website for details.

Apple Hill Work Weekend  -  May 7-8 – John Dougherty

3 Venturer companies interested so far.  There is lots to be done.  Contact John Dougherty DCC-program@voyageur.scouts.ca if interested.  Saturday lunch and dinner are provided.  No cabins so if you want to stay over it must be self contained.  There is some trail cleaning and trail marking to be done.  There are structures that need to be built and maintained.

RSVP – May 6-8  – Neil Rice

Camp is about archery, low ropes, linking camp for senior Scouts, Venturers, Rovers - $20 includes camping and activities- OOS $15 and includes food.  Deadline is April 22^nd

Registration forms available on VAF website.

White Water Weekends – Bill Bowman

Smattering of  registrations – plus a number of requests from outside Voyageur.  Registrations for outside groups will be accepted starting next month.  If you are new to this activity, WW1 is designed for beginners.  It can be used as a linking event with senior scouts.  Prerequisite for WW1 is the pre-training at OPE (May 1) – lunch available at Ope for $3.50 if not registered for the Ope Work Weekend.   WW2 would be a good idea if you were planning on taking a White Water tour as this will teach the skills necessary to make it a success.

Registration is available online for the following WhiteWater courses

            WhiteWater1 Canoe  -  May 27-29  On the Petawawa River

            WhiteWater3 Canoe  -  May 27-29  On the Petawawa River

            WhiteWater2 Canoe  -  Jun 3-5  On the Madawaska River

            WhiteWater1 Kayak  -  Jun 3-5  On the Madawaska River

            WhiteWater2 Kayak  -  Jun 3-5  On the Madawaska River

            Mini WhiteWater1 Canoe  -  Jun 3-5  On the Madawaska River

            (Follow the links for course specific information)

In addition we are asking for a coordinator for each of the 6 courses (must be an attendee at the course).  We also need a volunteer for the White Water2 shuttle.

The 7 Whitewater canoes at OPE are confirmed available but you must provide transportation - $40 per canoe, first come first served.

Prerequisites:  pre-training course for WW1 (mandatory to take WW1) - May1; WW2 needs WW1; Kayak1 needs WW1, Kayak2 needs Kayak1, WW3 needs WW2)

Reports:

Joint Council  -  Jake and Brina

Winter camp was a lot of fun at Maki house.  It was a great time

March event is a downtown area scavenger hunt March 26^th at 1pm - should take about 2 hours - bring a digital camera to obtain proof of the found item. Meet at the MacKenzie King bridge.

May camp – if individuals want to attend but their company is not able to attend contact the JC and we will attempt to form a one weekend company to accommodate.

JC is now meeting in the Cafeteria as the Buffam room upstairs is too small for the number of attendees.

Tonight’s meeting: 83 youth in attendance 69% in uniform

Training and Development:

Woodbadge2 Feb 25-27, Mar 25-27  -  Alex Gazaleh

The first weekend for Woodbadge2 is complete – it was wild (many of the attendees are present at VAF).  - Any demand for a WB1 senior sections? 

WB2 Outdoor skills April 16-17

requirements for the outdoor skills class will be assessed in the first two weekends.  If someone already has a troop WB2 then they are likely not going to have to take this one.

Note that WB1 Senior Sections will be available online starting in the fall.

Wilderness 1st responder Recertification March 5-6 – Doug Proud

Cost is $160+HST-  Location is the YMCA camp in Dunrobin – start 8 am

-         11 signed up  – self contained for lunch

SYRP – Senior Youth Recruitment Presentations – Chris Majka

Goal is to teach youth to make presentations to large groups.  Combines FOCUS and Toastmasters.  Free - April 2^nd 1-5pm  - Registration deadline is March 21^st.

For further details follow the link

http://www.scouts.ca/dnn/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=%2fYZGtSxanJ0%3d&tabid=1885

Other Business:

RoVent 2011 Committee – 2^nd Tuesday of every month – Doug MacKinnon

Planning meeting is Tuesday Mar 8 at 7:30 pm.  Come out to help plan this event.  The committee will decide the theme for this year’s event.  A recommendation was put forward to include a JOTA event at RoVent this year. 

Venturer Company membership exclusion  -  Mike Jowett

The committee has wrapped this up and sent the proposal out for comment.  There have been some replies and feedback.  As far as we know Voyageur Council is the only one to have submitted a paper on this topic.  Hopefully our recommendations will be accepted by the national networks or at very least generate good discussion on this topic.

Scouting discount evening - MEC is holding a Scouting discount event – Mar 31 Thursday  - 6:30-8:30pm – 10% off all except boats & bicycles

Amory Award – John Dougherty

First Kanata was given an honorable mention.  Though they did not place, they showed great determination in their trek.

Next Meeting: Tuesday Apr 5, 2011 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/