Venturer Advisors’
Forum - Voyageur Council
Notes of
Meeting – October 5, 2010 7:30pm
National
Boardroom - Scout Headquarters
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Opening
Remarks
By: Wally Gale
The VAF email
distribution list is presently being reorganized. Sign-up for the list is voluntary and
anyone who would like to receive these email distributions should contact Wally
at vafchair@rogers.com to be placed on the list. Meeting attendees are included when they
indicate their email address on the circulating attendee list.
Duke
of Edinburgh’s Award
–
special information item By: Karen Gormley
Karen is the Regional
Field Officer for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. With the recent formal agreement between
Scouts Canada and the Duke or Ed’s Award program and with over 100 Ottawa area
Venturers already registered, tonight’s visit was aimed at providing an update
on the new arrangement. This program is an excellent way to promote active
living for youth. While the
requirements of the Award do not suit all young people’s interests, they are
well-aligned with the Scouts Canada program and Venturers should have no
difficulty earning it. The greatest
obstacle for youth seems to be the paperwork - filling in the log book. Under
the new agreement with Scouts Canada, youth connected to a scouting group will
only be charged a $20 registration fee with no annual renewal charge. The annual renewal form is still
required to facilitate tracking participation in the
program.
Of more immediate note are two youth
leadership/learning opportunities, each requiring a relatively
quick response - a weekend conference and an environmental workshop. The
information was forwarded in a VAF email on Sept. 28. The conference in particular is
well-aligned with the outdoors orientation of Venturers and offers the
additional benefit of showcasing Scouts Canada youth in their promotion of the
outdoors.
Karen indicated that
she would be more than happy to come and talk to any Venturer company that asked to explain the program and show
them how do the journal - kgormley@dukeofed.org or 613-232-0925
Ext 231
Past
Activities
Couch
Rally (Sept 11)
By: Raymond
Desjardins
Low
numbers, High fun rating. Gave out
some extra awards this year (best photo) won by 1st
Overall
standings: 3rd place 1st Rockland, 2nd place 8th Orleans, 1st Place
123rd Ottawa.
VenClimb
(Sept 24-26)
By:
Allan Yates & Ray Renton
51
venturers, 10 advisors. Weather was good during the climb even
thought the nights were a little soggy.
Sunday climbing was cancelled due to the poor forecast but half the group
persevered and had a reasonable day.
The bottom line consensus indicated good climbing on both days. While 90% of the climbing routes in
Gatineau Park were recently closed, the NCC continues to allow climbing at the 2
sites suitable for VenClimb and there was no
congestion during this weekend.
Initial misunderstandings about the use of the farm property for camping
were also sorted out during the weekend so the conditions are positive for
carrying out Venclimb at the same site next year. Christiaan
provided the Advisor pre-training day on the previous weekend with 4 or 5 particioants. The training was quite
worthwhile.
Crazy
Canuck Challenge (Oct 2)
By:
Bill Bowman
72
participants, 23 support staff and 10 volunteer helpers - 20 different teams
from 14 Venturer companies participated. This year’s event took place in Gatineau
Park and in the vicinity of Wakefield using a route proposed by Nigel Ward- in
case anyone didn't like it. Winner
is yet to be determined. There were
two canoes that were upset but no injuries although of one of 1st Prescott's
whitewater canoes had substantial damage.
Special thanks to Bill Bowman and Nigel Ward and all of the Rover and
other helpers for all their hard work, including Cyndy
for the Chili dinner and Allan for the Climbing ladder and crate stacking
activities. Please contact Bill or
Nigel with suggestions for potential locations for next year’s event or
alternate activities (eg. for the pre-dinner
period).
Medvent
- Police Venturers Open House(Oct 29)
By: Wally Gale
The
Open House Sept. 29 was well-attended and a good kick-off for the annual
recruitment drive. Youth members and non-members of
Scouting can use this experience to see what is involved as they head down a
path that involves making decisions about post-secondary education. Venturers in particular are encouraged
to join these vocational groups and can remain members of their own Companies as
well, although it is already late to apply for this year The Advisor for MedVent (Medical Venturers) is Brad Smith and for Police
Venturers is Susan Wright (contact - youth intervention diversion section
613-236-1222 ext 5355)
http://ottawamedvent.bpsmicro.com/default.aspx
http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/Community/TeenLounge/youth_ventures.aspx
http://www.ottawapoliceventurers.org/
Update:
- latest information from Police Venturers indicates they have many more
applicants than the 10-12 vacancies available.
Upcoming
Activities
RoVent - Oct.
15-17 By: Rovent Committee – Chris Majka
The
deadline for payment/registration has been extended to this Thursday, October
7th at midnight. Deliver registrations in person to Max's
house at 88 Aero Drive - payment due in full upon delivery (no pay, no play). Registration
is sitting at approximately 300 as of the Oct 5 VAF meeting. Note that driving and pickup/parking
will be restricted and carefully controlled on Sunday when the large number of
dignitaries will be visiting from the World Scout Foundation. They plan to observe the closing
ceremonies (follows the service project this year) so this is a chance to show
off some well-crafted Shakespear-themed
costumes.
Veterans
Candle Light Ceremony – Nov 1
… see the Service Corps report in these notes
Food Drive
Sorting Station – Nov 6.
By: Phil Edens
Venturers and Rovers are sorting food at the
Ottawa Food Bank during this year’s annual food drive. There will be a strict control on the
maximum number of volunteers for each shift to improve the overall efficiency so
everyone needs to register in advance. Youth that show up at the station without
advance registration will be asked to leave if the maximum number is registered,
and past experience indicates the maximum number is normally there. Shift
assignments will be available by the end of the month. Contact Caelan
Robertson (organizer) to register at caelanrobertson@gmail.com. Phil is a
backup contact - edens.family@sympatico.ca & Philip.Edens@ottawa.ca - Tel 613-580-2424 ext 28924 or
613-731-7149
The 123rd Scouting Group is coordinating the overall food drive so questions related to helping out at a food collection station can also be directed to Caelan.
Remembrance
Day – Nov 11 … see the
Service Corps report in these notes
Laserquest (Dec
4-5)
By: Raymond Desjardins
The
Rideau Rover Crew is organizing this annual overnight event, held at LaserQuest on St-Laurent Blvd from 10:30 pm to 6:00 am. Registration is $40 and includes
snacks. The deadline to sign up is
Nov 26 and there is a 72 person maximum - one Advisor per group. There may be a second event if there is
enough interest. Registration is now open.
Translators
Requested
By: Chris Majka
There
is a new Rover initiative to send out welcome packages to new families but the
literature developed is limited to English and French. VAF members are asked to e-mail Chris at
cyc@voyageur.scouts.ca if they can translate into any other
languages – particularly Chinese and Arabic.
Winter
Mountaineering Adventure (4 weekends February) By: Allen Yates
While
this event is scheduled for mid-winter, action is required now to ensure
trans-border documents are in place for each participant and to aim to have
registration submitted by December.
The registration package is available on the VAF website. The main activity is a Saturday snowshoe
hike up a 4000 foot mountain in the Adirondacks of New York State. Accommodation choices are the same as
last year and capacity is 50 per weekend.
There is a need for Hike leaders (14 participants per hiking group). A Scouts Canada Tour Permit is required
to go out of country and that requires submission 4 weeks in advance of
departure. Each travelling group is
responsible for ensuring that the appropriate paperwork is available and in
order when crossing the border.
Registrations will likely be limited after the December VAF
meeting.
Vertical
Rescue
By: Wally Gale
The
possibility of arranging Vertical Rescue training as a complement to
VenClimb/VenClimb2 was discussed last season and pencilled into the preliminary calendar of VAF activities.
There is some limited interest in this but the training is not scheduled and
there is very little time left to run an outdoor course in good outdoor
conditions. Anyone with a strong
interest in seeing this go forward should contact Wally or Stephen Smye.
Reports (as
available/required)
Service Corps
(VRSC) Lost Children
By: Eugene Lavigne
Veterans
Candle Light Ceremony
- Nov 1 - Lansdowne Park. Youth volunteers are asked to meet at
the salon at 6:30 pm in full uniform. Leaders/Advisors/adults could also attend.
The ceremony runs from 7 – 7:30
pm. One youth escorts each Veteran
in a parade to the stage where they place their lit candle. The ceremony is simple, solemn and
reasonably short, and veterans always appreciate the youth help and effort. Food is available to all afterwards and
youth can depart anytime after the ceremony. This event promotes the image of
Scouting as well as Cadets, Guides and others – organisers try to ensure the required number of youth from
other groups if Scouting does not provide sufficient numbers. To ensure sufficient numbers are
available, volunteers are asked to send an e-mail with their numbers to Eugene –
see below.
Remembrance
Day
- Nov 11. There is a need for
Scouting (and Guiding) youth to distribute programs and "sell" (request
donations for) poppies.
Participants should meet Eugene at Sparks and Elgin at 9:30 am, dressed
very warmly for the vagaries of weather and prepared to remain inside the corral
until 12:30 pm. A representative of
each section of Scouting will lay a wreath.
Those
interested in helping with the poppy campaign should contact their local Legion
for placement at a local shopping centre.
Contact
Joint Council
(JC)
By: co-chairs Jake and Bri
The September event at Thunderbird went
well with high 20’s participation.
Go-carting and mini golf were a hit.
For the October activity Joint Council is
meeting at Mackie house (located near Carling Ave / Moodie Dr) on Friday October 29th from 7-9:30 for
a games night. The cost is $2, with
half of the proceeds going to UNICEF.
Uniform or Scouting-appropriate apparel is
required.
The November event will be at Coyote
rock-climbing gym on November 20th (Saturday) from 10:00am to
12:00. The cost will be $18 and the
space will be limited to 30. Sign
up with JC.
Information about
Joint Council events is available on FaceBook.
From Alan: There were
104 youth in attendance at tonight’s meeting (10 youth from one group alone)
with 83% wearing uniform.
Training &
Development
Wood
Badge 1 (at RoVent)
By: John
Stalker
John has asked that
all participants register for the class via the Council office by Friday,
October 10th. Details
are available on the Council training calendar. There are currently 7 registered. There is no cost to those signed up for
RoVent and the training is open to youth as well as
Advisors. Participants will take a
break to observe the RoVent
siege.
Wilderness 1st Aid / 1st Responder training By: Doug Proud
The Wilderness First Aid course is scheduled
for October 22-24 with 9 currently registered. Registrations will be accepted until Oct
20th – Cost is $180.20.
The follow-up courses are also scheduled - Advanced Wilderness First Aid
November 12-14 and Wilderness First Responder (WFR) January 7-9. There is also the possibility of
recertifying the WFR if certification is less than 2 years old and there are
already 6 likely participants (8 minimum required). The WFR certification is
valid for 3 years but after 2 years the full suite of 6 days of training is
required to maintain certification.
Contact Doug for information.
Wood Badge II By: Mark Milan
There will be an all-section WB 2 (including
Company but not Crew) offerred over 3 weekends this
winter/spring. The dates are Feb. 25-27 and March 25-27 at Camp Opemikon (Course #925 – Cost $190). The Outdoor skills component (Course
#926) can be taken separately at a cost of $20 and is scheduled for April 16-17
also at Camp Ope. Alex Gazaleh will be section lead and Mark Milan is the overall
Course leader. Information will be posted soon on the Voyageur Council
website and Alex will bring details to VAF once things are confirmed. For
questions regarding the Company portion of the course contact Alex at scouteralex@gmail.com or for general
information contact Mark Milan at markmilan@rogers.com.
Each section would be training separately but coming together for
meals. A show of hands indicated
about 9 interested in signing up.
Other
Business/Announcements
World Scout Foundation meeting welcome By: John Dougherty
About 110 dignitaries
from around the world are expected to participate in a meeting of the World
Scout Foundation, ending in a trip to Camp Opemikon on
the Sunday of RoVent. At this time all of the volunteer
positions for greeting the dignitaries are filled – thanks for the great
response.
Recognition update By: Stewart Ross
A new level of recognition was introduced a
couple of weeks ago – the bar to the Caribou award. This award is open to those who have
already been awarded the Order of the Caribou and who qualify for another
similar award through leadership of a different event. More details are available in the
September Voyageur Vision newsletter (now available on the Council website in
addition to the standard email distribution).
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, November 2, 2010, 7:30 pm
Addendum:
Voyageur Council
appears to have one of the most successful Venturer
programs in Canada and the VAF plays a vital role. For the benefit of new members in
particular, note that all events coordinated through the VAF are
organized/initiated and run by individual VAF members/Rovers/youth and all members should contribute as
possible. An event may start as
an activity enjoyed by a Venturer company and expand
into something with a larger organizing effort and greater participation. The VAF website includes a mechanism for
members to submit their interest in helping (under “Announcements”) – or members
are encouraged to talk to existing activity coordinators.
Resources such as archery, climbing, snowshoeing and whitewater canoeing equipment are available to members along with SPOT GPS emergency locators. Some are VAF purchases (Council) and others belong to other groups. For info see “Resources” on the VAF website for further information.
VAF Website
Address:
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