Voyageur Council Venturer Advisors’ Forum

Meeting Minutes for November 2, 2010

Scout Headquarters - National Boardroom

 

 

 

Name

Group

Name

Group

Alex Gazaleh

Opemikon

Luc Henrie

1st Rockland

Allan Yates

1st Merrickville

Mary Hagerman

1st Osgoode

Andrew Grant

DCYC/Rideau Rovers

Mike Jowett

Voyageur Council

Barbara Hohenstein

4th Orleans

Nick Wise

Rideau Area Rovers

Bob Sylvester

112th Nepean

Nigel Ward

1st Kanata

Brett Budge

25th Nepean

Pat Megan

1st Wakefield

Bruce Morton

14th Gloucester

Peter Wittwer

23rd Nepean

Bryan Cruikshank

3rd Orleans

Phil Edens

123rd Ottawa

Cal Clupp

2nd Gatineau

Ray Renton

1st Dunrobin

Chris Prevost

112th Nepean

Raymond Desjardins

DCYC/Rideau Rovers

Chuck Fraser

1st Glen Cairn

Rod Wilson

1st Manotick

Craig Gray

27th Nepean

Sharon Lefebvre

7th Kanata

Cyndy Courtland

Carleton Place

Simon Thompson

1st Carp

Dave Skinner

1st Glen Cairn

Stephen Smye

1st Wakefield

Doug MacKinnon

112th Nepean

Steve Doody

25th Nepean

Doug Proud

1st Greenwood

Stewart Ross

DCC Recognition

Eric Schmitt

8th Orleans

Stuart Smith

17th Southminster

Ernie Koshman

Nepean Rovers

Tanya-Rea Smith

3rd Orleans

Eugene Lavigne

Service Corps

Terry Rimmington

1st Rockland

John Howitt

1st Glen Cairn

Thomas Miller

2nd Orleans

John Stalker

Valley Highlands

Tiina Kurvits

17th Southminster

Larry Brunet

1st Nepean

Thomas Wittwer

23rd Nepean

Larry House

1st Manotick

Wally Gale

14th

 

 

 

 

 

Opening Comments

 

Thank-you letter from Marilyn Johnson, (Council Property Manager) to the VAF was read, thanking the VAF for outstanding support to Camp Opemikon: eg. outfitting of  whitewater canoes and 10,000 hours of service donated by advisors and youth over the 1st 10 years of spring & fall work weekends.

 

The VAF also showed a round of thanks to Bob for his record last month in getting the meeting notes out within 24 hours of the meeting.

 

Presentation

 

Batiscan River Whitewater Expedition - Presentation by Allan Yates

1st Merrickville Venturers had a great adventure in their July trip down this challenging stretch of whitewater.  The water was exceptionally low, exposing many rocks and forcing some lining of canoes. A river run kayak and playboat provided additional testing of skills.  Almost ran out of food - lots of canoes pinned.  Details are available via the VAF website on the Merrickville site.

 

Special Note

 

Congratulations to Alan Griffin for receiving an award from the Governor General at the National Awards Ceremony held in the Senate Chamber.

 

Past Events

 

RoVent: Oct 15-17   (Doug Mackinnon)

325 Youth (incl OOS) & 94 Advisors participated – amazingly good weather

The OPE crew set a record for most meals served in one day at OPE

no injuries during games - 2 medical emergencies during dinner - not food related.

financially sound - not too happy with the traffic blockage during the dignitary visit

National office was very impressed with RoVent and OPE for the World Brotherhood visit & tours/hospitality – spoke well for Canada/Scouting.  Delegates were very generous.

Next year the RoVent planning committee will start in February (likely 2nd Tuesday) and will be looking for lots of new faces

 

 

Upcoming Events:

 

 

Food Drive Sorting Station - Nov 6 (Phil Edens)

Plans are well in hand – 4 shifts have been assigned - Should there be any groups that still want to participate there may be space at some of the stores but the sorting station is full.

 

 

LaserQuest Lockdown - Dec 4-5 (Raymond Desjardins)

Full and reserving spots for the next one (March) but are already half full (49/72) for the next one.  No specific date set at this time.  The cost will be the same ($40).

Will send out lists of who is in and who is on the waiting list

Special note - NOV2 - Raymond Admits he screwed up.

 

 

Winter Mountain Adventure in the Adirondacks:  4 weekends in February – Allan Yates

Hiking up mountains on snowshoes in the Adirondacks.  Registration is open now and payment is due by the December VAF meeting. Plenty of space is available. Indicate all possible choices of weekends on the registration form so all can be accommodated within the available space for each weekend.  Registrants will be informed about the date of their assigned weekend in mid-December.  A tour permit is required to camp in the States – apply for it as soon as possible.

A number of tips were suggested from VAF attendees who had participated in this weekend in the past:

-         Try a day [snowshoe] hike in the Gatineau in advance as a dry run

-         Wear uniform for the border

-         Heated Alpine Club cabin is uninsulated so can be very cool – pump is working

-         Plan for any weather and dress in layers – For driving note that cars following one another in the fog on unknown roads that have many twists and turns can easily miss a turn and get lost – also note that the road into the Alpine Club cabin is the last to be plowed so be prepared for potential stranding (bring extra medication)

-         Bring 24/7 emergency contact info for parents to cover the possibility of  a personal or widespread emergency

-         Walkie talkies may work well between groups on different mountains while cell phones may not work

 

Council Beaveree - May14 - (Andrew Grant)

Smiths Falls Lombardy Fair Grounds  - a one-day event

Looking for Venturer Offers of Service to help run games and help out with other tasks

Will send information

 

Reports

 

Service Corps/ Lost Children    (Eugene Lavigne)

-         Candle light vigil - Nov1    

5 groups came in (40-50 youth)  Nothing but praise from the veterans and veterans affairs.  Active participation and noticeable initiative by Scouting youth in particular to help out reflected well for Scouting in general.  Coverage on the Citizen front page as well in the Globe and CTV news.

 

-         Rememberance Day - Nov 11

9:30-11:30 at Sparks and Elgin - sell poppies and hand out programs  -  once you are in you likely wont be able to get out so be prepared and dress warmly.  Al Griffin and a few youth will place a wreath.

 

Joint Council (JC)         (Jake and Brina)

-         October Games Night  Oct 29 - Raised $40 for Unicef. Watched Rocky Horror Picture show

-         November Coyote Rock Gym  Nov 20 10-noon,  $18-36 spots  -  will update website  -  Please come if you say you will.

-         December - Dance/Gift Exchange - Mount Calvary Lutheran Church – more details to follow

-         Winter Camp Feb 11-13 at Woolsey

106 youth in the room - 82% in uniform –JC website is now up:            www.wix.com/jcexec/home

 

Training and Development

 

WoodBadge1 (RoVent weekend)                     (John Stalker)

9 people signed up and 17 showed up - youth were well represented in the training team and it was well received

 

WB2  Feb 25-27,  Mar 25-27,  April 16-17                (Mark Milan)

Alex Gazaleh reported that registration is up on the Council site.  $190 for the first two weekends - the outdoor skills is self-contained with any cost to be sorted out.

 

Wilderness 1st Aid - Oct 22-24         (Doug Proud)

19 people on the course 60% were youth. 

 

Advanced Wilderness 1st Aid  -  Nov 12-14

Spots still available

 

Wilderness 1st Responder - Jan 7-9

Advanced Wilderness 1st Aid is the prerequisite for this but must be taken recently (last year’s course would be acceptable albeit pushing the limits).  Re-certification will be offered in the early spring.

 

Wally opened up a discussion on possibly subsidizing some of the costs for Wilderness 1st Responder from the VAF budget – and/or for other types of advanced training courses.  The rationale is to raise the bar for safety and due diligence as Venturers become increasingly involved in high-adventure activities and to further encourage/establish Venturers as a breeding ground for outdoor skills.  There was a general show of support for this approach but also some objections and no time for further discussion.

 

Other Business / Announcements

 

Sens Game night Scotiabank place Dec 10      (Krystina Fletcher)

Encouraged to involve as many people as possible - Beaver/Cub sleep-over for 300

Sens Vs Devils  -  deadline is Dec 1 (but it is 1st come 1st serve - sign up early)

300 level tickets $30

7-10pm game

additional $10 for sleep-over (includes 3 videos: Miracle(?), Wallee and Cars), can bring sealed snack for sleepover only … but these are details for the Beaver/Cub overnight

Krystina will provide further info by email and can be contacted at

tina.x.fletcher@hotmail.com

 

Scouters Conference    (Nick Wise)

At the Smith Falls Collegiate HS

Saturday April 9

More details to follow

 

National Venturer Event 2012 - input request      (John Dougherty)

Venturers are asked to provide input to the survey emailed recently concerning activities of interest to Venturers.  CJ13 will not include Venturer activities but a Venturer-only Jamboree may be organized for 2012 if there is interest.

 

VAF Chairperson position - is open as Wally is stepping down.  John Stalker is heading the nomination committee.  Contact j_stalker@sympatico.com with nominations or to be included in the nominating committee.

 

Archery Equipment - John Stalker is now in possession of the VAF archery equipment.  Contact him to borrow it.

 

Trainers needed - Cindy Courtland noted the need for a few trainers for Nov 20th WB1 in Valley Highlands area for Cubs. Please contact her if you are interested.

 

 

Next Meeting:  December 7th, 2010.  The FIRST Tuesday of the month.

 

VAF Website Address:

http://web.ncf.ca/ad554/

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