March 1, 2004
Present: Phil Reece, Judi Nichols, Dan Murphy, Ed Blondin, Eric Schmidt, Sandy Schwartz, Craig Louthain, MaryAnn Bushaw, Ron Benoy, Andrew Benoy, Dannette Holifield, Steve Horan, Gretchen Horan, and Terry Nichols
Meeting started at 6:30pm
Treasurer’s Report:
Presented by Craig Louthain. See attached report. A projected budget was included that tried to equal income and expenses. Currently, there is $15,720.70 in the troop’s bank accounts. Terry asked if it would be possible to get a net cost for each activity the troop does. Craig said he could probably get it done a month following the activity.Past Events
Summer 2003 - Philmont: Philmont is saying that we owe them for one other camper. Bill is waiting for the other troop to determine what they paid. It will be decided at a separate time.
Russell Woods: Sounded like everyone had fun, except one Scout was sent home due to behavior. The scouts forgot to arrange for groceries, so the advisors (Eric, Phil, and Craig) had the boys bring leftover food from previous campouts. Eric said they had a lot of oatmeal!
Future Events
Swim Night: Marcus will be there tomorrow, and Sandy confirmed it with the school. There will be 10 new Scouts this time. Five from Pack 429, two from Pack 401, and three from Pack 600 graduated last weekend.
2004 District Annual Meeting: The food has been decided upon, and the decorations are being planned. We still need prizes. The theme is All American Heroes. A budget was submitted two weeks ago to Andy and accepted. The food is being delivered, but we will need the Scouts to help. Food is coming from Little Italy. We need a flag ceremony, too. The deadline for sign up is March 19.
There are 4 awards given at this meeting: District Award of Merit, Outstanding Scouter Award, Unit Spirit Award, and the Charter Organization Award. Applications for these must be in by March 12th. Forms should be available for tomorrow and at Arby’s. Turn these into MaryAnn. Phil will pick up a few forms tomorrow and send emails to remind people about them. Please turn them in by March 8th. Phil will talk to a new adult member Julie Sparks to handle this.
Florida Sea Base: It was decided to try for Florida Sea Base in the summer of 2005 and not try for Philmont. Eric indicated that we are signed up for a full crew of 8 people for the SCUBA adventure.
Philmont 2005: We did not call in for this, but a crew can submit to take a Council spot.
White Water Rafting (2004): A few payments have been made. Last payment is due about the beginning of June. The total cost is about $550 per person. There are 8 adults going, and discussion focused on how much each one of them should pay. The Scouts who just became adults will be paying more. (They can drive if they are in a crew and only have crewmembers in their cars.)
Summer Camp 2004 (June 27-July 3): 19 Scouts and 6 adults are confirmed to attend. There are 10 new Scouts who may decide to attend. We do not have enough tents for this many people as of now. We have 10 youth tents, 4 adults tents, and several high adventure tents. We can rent tents from the camp for $20 per tent per week. The troop will pay for these rentals. The next payment date is March 15th. Camperships are available – see Sandy.
OA Elections:
March 23 – Scouts’ election
April Committee Meeting – adult OA election
Terry will compile a list of people available for nomination.
Troop Development Committee:
March 12-14 – Campout at Rock Run Long Rifle Club: The cost for Scouts is $7 for the weekend, but the cost is $4 per person who shoots. Cannot get there prior to 7 pm. A recommendation was made to go out on Saturday morning, rather than Friday night. Saturday: 9am-12 noon is black powder rifles shooting. The afternoon is for playing games, etc. You can have a ground fire.
March 30: Plug N Pellet Range (6pm-7pm; need to bring our own shotguns; 13-25 cents per target). Andrew will take a vote from the Scouts as to where to go after for treats. On 3/2, Scouts voted for Dairy Queen.
April 3 – Hunger Connection: have to be there to help pack food 9am-Noon.
April 13, 20, 23-25: Pioneering project at Anderson Woods. The troop needs wood for projects – poles of about 10’ long and 2" radius. Phil will contact people.
May 1-2: Lake Ripley has been confirmed for New Scout Training.
May 12: going to a dress rehearsal at Belvidere Community Center – 8-10pm.
Miscellaneous Business
March 27: Show & Do 8:30-4:00 Offers Venturing specifics and OA information and lots of other subjects. Merit Badge Counselor orientation is offered. Den Chief training is offered, too.
MaryAnn would still like information as to when people received various awards, training certificates, etc.
Does anyone know where our big coffee pot is? It was at Lake Ripley, per Eric.
May 21-23 Spring Camporee - Cost is $8 per person. It is at Camp Canyon. They are asking that each person bring a can of food for a "pantry."
Possible fund-raisers: Culvers offers payment for helping deliver trays to people’s tables. We would get 10% of their intake for the night. Bergner’s has deals with $5 coupons. Pizza Hut also has an offer for a fundraiser. One group sold top soil and mulch and make $5000 (Texas). Steve will work with Sandy for possible leads.
Troopmaster: There is a charge for software and the package for a database to update the scouting software TroopMaster. There are many free packages to update it from the Web. There was a concern that one place asked for the social security numbers of members, but all agreed to not include this information. Phil estimates that there will be about $150 fee altogether.
BMX Track: Nothing new about an additional fundraiser – staffing food tents.
Phil has talked with Lisa, who works with Jake, and she will talk with Jake as to exactly what they want the troop to do. The clean-up on Sunday is where all the money goes into the scout accounts. The track requested some possible adult help in running concession stands. Any money made will go into the troop account.
Tour Permit: Dan is working on this and will hold it for a week or so in order to get new Scouts onto it.
Discussion re: future costs for campouts. Suggestion that the troop would keep it at $7 unless there are special activities. The troop does subsidize every campout at this time. Unless the troop gets into financial trouble, no changes will be made.
Eric picked up the 2004 Boy Scout Requirements for the troop. The Council requires that the boys use the merit badge pamphlets.
E-mail addresses and cell phone numbers are listed on the bulletin board.
We have enough scarves for this group of new scouts, but then they are gone. We have only 3 hats. The troop discussed a new style and color of hats. Gretchen and Ron will check into their sources. PLC will discuss designs at the next meeting – March 9.
Lanterns: New ones are about $33 apiece. Eric is recommending that we buy 4 new ones. The motion was tabled.
Adjourned at 8:33 pm