Voyageur Council Venturer Advisor’s Forum

Meeting Minutes for September 4, 2007

Scout’s Headquarters - National Boardroom

Final

Name	Group	Name	Group
Alan Clapp	8^th Orleans	Jim McQuaid	112^th Nepean
Alan Griffin	112^th Nepean	Jim Montgomery	1^st Glen Cairn
Allan Yates	1^st Merrickville	Joe Boudreau	1^st Greely
Andy Walsh	25^th Nepean	John Dougherty	Odawa Area
Bill Bowman	1^st Nepean	John Stalker	Valley Highlands / CP
Bob Dore	Joint Council	Nick Wise	72^nd Ottawa
Bruce Morton	14^th Gloucester	Malcolm Volmer	29^th Nepean
Catherine Snedden	7^th Kanata	Mike Jowett	Nepean Area
Chris Little	14^th Gloucester	Nancy Knox	1^st Greely
Chris Tyler	1^st Manotick	Phil Edens	VRSC
Christiaan Burchell	1^st Nepean	Sean Freill	Nepean Rover Crew
Cyndy Courtland	Carleton Place	Sharon Ley	7^th Kanata
Dan Karwowski	1^st Glen Cairn	Stephen Smye	1^st Wakefield
Daniel Schaffler	1^st Vars - Navan	Stewart Ross	Nepean Area Sr Sect. Serv.
Dwain Leblanc	25^th Nepean	Terence Graham	1^st Manotick
Doug MacKinnon	112^th Nepean	Terry Rimmington	1^st Rockland
Doug Proud	1^st Greenwood	Thérèse Desjardins	137^th Ottawa
Eric Hansen	CCRRT	Tim Harbinson	137^th Ottawa
Gil Lepine	4^th Orleans	Tim Taylor	123^rd Ottawa
Gord Colquhoun	1^st Dunrobin	Wally Gale	14^th Gloucester
Greg McGinnis	2^nd Russell	Wayne Clarke	1^st Orleans
Jan Stodola	7^th Kanata

Opening Business:

New year, new chair: Wally Gale takes over as the chair of the Venturer Advisor Forum. Our first order of business was to introduce everyone around the table.

General Administration notes: Minutes will be provided on the web prior to the meeting for anyone to review, ideally within a week after the VAF meeting. Copies will be brought to the next few meeting but then the copies on the web will be the only reference to save on paper.

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.

Past Events:

Canadian Jamboree 2007: Several contributors around the table noted that the Venturers “kicked butt” for the assembly and did really well at the camp. Overall it was well worth while with excellent weather. The site for the Venturers was quite rough, and required a lot of preparation as it took groups at least a day to dig out roots and rocks and level the site; although with the hot weather, the site under the trees was well appreciated. The groups were packed off the site in 9 hours, leaving a very clean site which was much appreciated. Participants noted the amazing positive attitude and feelings that were there. Everyone pulled their weight to get ready and had a fun time.

(Eric) Leave your name and email address if you want the DVD disk set with photos and videos of the camp. The photos take up to 4 gig, with 2 gig for the videos. The second DVD is a promotional one that groups can use in their registration. Contact Eric Hansen for copies.

Future Events:

OPE Mini Work Weekend (Tim): This will take place on the same weekend as the Couch Rally, i.e. September 15. This clean up is for Venturers and Rovers to help in putting the seasonal items away, clearing up the last of summer residue before the fall season, e.g. taking out the waterfront, boats, etc. Let Tim know if your group is interested at 819-561-1613. He needs to know by Tues September 11th. The schedule is for an informal arrival on Friday evening; work on Saturday and on Sunday free use of the facilities before heading home. Meals and accommodation are provided free of charge.

Couch Rally (Eric): The event date is September 15-16. There will be another package out tomorrow within the Voyageur Vision but it will be the same as what is on the website. Now those staying overnight will be staying at Mackie House. The cost for the event is $20,00. It covers the transportation on the bus that leaves Scout HQ at 9 am (returning at 3pm), a bag lunch, the Bar-B-Q, crest, certificates and awards. Staying at Mackie House is no charge. Those attending the event this year are to park at HQ and use the bus to stop the glut of parking required downtown. There will be a truck for the couches. Friday night there will be a movie playing, Saturday after the rally everyone is to come back to Scout HQ for the Bar-B-Q, then when it is over there will be some free time. The City is ok with this event as long as we are not disturbing the peace. The Ride down the canal is no problems as long as there is no pushing the public out of the way.

On Sunday there will be service projects, e.g. the car show at Hazeldean Mall is looking to have members help out with the car show. There will be up to 500 cars showing up that day. There is also help required for craft day at CHEO, e.g. one of youth can get dressed up as the CHEO Bear so kids can get pictures taken with the Bear.

If your group is interested in attending, let Eric know so he can arrange for sufficient bus and couch transportation. Eric did note that no one from Voyageur Council is yet signed up, although several groups outside the council have.

Venclimb (Jim and Christiaan): Registration begins tonight at 7:30 pm. Jim does not know the maximum people allowed as yet. The cost is $15 which includes camping, kybos, instruction, and badge. The event is to be held on September 21 to 23^rd. Friday night is for set up, and Saturday and Sunday for instruction and climbing. Information is on the web but packages were also available at the back of the room.

The Advisor training day is Sunday Sept 16^th (the day after the Couch Rally) and is open to all advisors going to Venclimb and any youth that are competent enough to help out at the event. Christiaan is asking that if anyone took Venclimb II last year, he would appreciate any help those trained youth or leaders can provide. The training day starts Sunday at 8:30 at Scouts HQ. Contact Christiaan in advance if you are coming or if there are any more questions.

Crazy Canuck (Bill): This will be held the Saturday following Venclimb. Bill stresses it is NOT a race but an opportunity to experience the four main events: hiking, canoeing, rappelling and mountain biking. It is designed for the average Venturer to accommodate all youth. The cost is $15 for youth, and $8 for support personnel (to cover dinners). If your group wishes to camp before or after, the cost is $3 per person per night. Your group can rent a canoe for use at the event for $5. The event lasts all day on Saturday, rain or shine, and yes, you can drive up in the morning as does not start until 10 am. After the event, there is a dinner to celebrate the achievements. (Tim noted) if your group decides to rent canoes (pdf, throwbags included) OPE is short on adult size PFDs so please bring your own or a selection in adult sizes. The deadline for registration is the Sunday of Venclimb, i.e. September 23^rd. The team sizes should be 3-6 youth, with a maximum of 3 to a canoe. It is a team event, so your youth teams have to stick together, they can’t individually rush off and do their own thing. There were handouts at the back but it is all on the website as well.

RoVent (Mike): Plans are well afoot, crests are ordered, and OPE is confirmed for the booking. Registration is limited to 250 with the deadline for registration being Oct 10^th. Pre-registration ends September 24^th if you want a better rate. It is the same basic menu: roast beef with pies etc. All information is covered on the website. Rovent and the Couch Rally are also on Facebook. (Tim noted) There is no vehicular access to the Scout or Brownsea fields due to an erosion problem. Marilyn asked that vehicles come in and unload as fast as they can from the gates at the roads for the fields and then move out quickly. This is to keep the lanes clear as per local fire regulations so we don’t get caught as we have before. Also the 7 tent platforms in scout field are no longer; they now have a hard roof and walls and are not available unless rented on an individual basis. The rental fee is proposed to be same as for the cub cabins, e.g. $30 for each for the weekend. There is to be no cooking in them at all (also noted in the Rovent package that went out). (Eric noted) The opening is now Friday night.

River Rescue (Stephen): Jill confirmed they will hold the event on October 13-14. There is no price set yet but the date is confirmed. It will be on the Petawawa River where the White Water I and III events are held. Camping is to be determined. Stephen still hopes to try to get something coordinated for next summer. This event is planned to teach a form of river rescue, e.g. how to deal with an accident, boat, person, and how to get the person or equipment out of the river. It is handy knowledge to have for your own tripping. There is no paddling involved just swimming and river work (ropes and pulleys). PFDs, helmets, and wet suits are required.

Food Drive (Phil): This year will be the 18^th annual Food Drive held on November 3^rd. They will have Venturers and Rovers working at the sorting stations with Senior Cubs and scouts at Loeb stores. Food and money is handed off to Purolator to bring to the food bank for sorting and storing. At this time not all area coordinators are confirmed so in the meantime respond to Phil directly on interest in participating in the sorting stations. Note that the sorting station is limited to how many we it can physically handle at one time, so to accommodate all the volunteers, they can break the work into two or three shifts if necessary.

Reports:

JC Report: This year Andrew Ralph is the Venturer PR and Natalie Butler is the Guiding PR. The September event is at the Kanata Wave Pool, at 70 Aird Place in Kanata. The cost is $5 per person and the event is on Sunday September 23, from 1 to 4 pm. Note this is a non group specific activity so any youth can come individually.

Bob Dore noted he needs a sub that day so let him know by end of the meeting or contact him later. The requirement is to be the adult advisor for the Venturers.

SSYC Report (Phil G.): This is our youth advisory committee. The weekly meetings will move to Wednesday nights or another night to be determined when school shakes out for the members. They will start up in October. They will use msn emails to circulate information to all ventures who presented their emails. They are also to be sending out information through VAF as well. Phil brought up that nominations are open for the Medal of the Maple (distributed to youth service in scouting). It is a national award, so we can give out as many as we like. For more information on how to sign up, look to the honours and award page on the Council web site. Also in the Voyageur youth fund, there are four memorial scholarships in the name of Phil Mondor for anyone going into first year post secondary education (i.e. target the grade 12 youth).

CCRRT (Eric): Members will be here on the couch rally weekend. They will have a meeting just before the Bar-B-Q on Saturday after the Rally. Youth are welcome if they want to see what the meeting is like. The next meeting is in Central Ontario. It is a good learning experience for a youth in scouting. They get to meet all kinds of people and learn all kinds of things with meetings in several locations during the year. They also want to make it a tradition to get together in the summer in the CJ time slot. Note that Eric is stepping down on Nov 1^st and elections will be called tomorrow (the day after the VAF).

Training: (Stewart, deferred to Bob) There is a Senior Section Basic at Rovent that will be tailored around the Rovent timetable to allow the leaders to enjoy some of the activities. The sessions will be primarily on Saturday and follow up early Sunday morning. They are not offering the core basic and outdoor skills portion so leaders don’t lose out on the Rovent experience. If there are any questions, Bob can be reached via the information on the training web page with his email address and phone. The cost is tentatively $15, subject to change (reduction). Deadline for registration is October 10^th, the same as for Rovent. Even if you are not bringing any youth, you should also register for Rovent as they are looking after the residential portion of the camp.

Voyageur Council Leader Conference (Stewart): This is scheduled for October 26-27, 2007. The organizers were looking for topics, and Stewart recommended that we do some thinking around a Venturer and Rover orientation so leaders of other younger sections know what we do. If you have a topic of interest, contact Sherri Geekie.

Mentoring and Coaching (Stewart): This is to remind people who have taken Senior Section Part I and Part II, to get that final checklist in so you can be presented with your award. If you have having difficulty finding a mentor and coach, then talk to DAC or other council members to help with locating one.

Future Presentations (Wally): We have had some presentations that worked well at this forum, so Wally is looking for any suggestions for speakers or topics and if there is anyone who wants to talk about their group trips to help others learn from their experience. Contact Wally with your ideas.

Presentation for the evening:

The meeting continued with the Venclimb Ground School lead by Christiaan Burchell.

Next Meeting: October 2^nd, 2007. The FIRST Tuesday of the month.

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.