Present: Phil Reece, Belinda Cowdrey, Craig Louthain, Ken Hoxie, Terry Nichols, Bob Voll, Greg Poulisse, Eric Schmidt, Lois Blondin, Ed Blondin, Sandy Schwartz, Bill LeFever, MaryAnn Bushaw, Paul McCaffrey |
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Treasurer’s Report: Craig presented the financial report with commentary.
Past Events
First Aid/CPR Certifications (Eric): Whoever needs it should get their name(s) to Eric Schmidt, or nothing will be arranged. Anyone who is going to summer camp should have their certification.
District Nominations due Mar. 13, 2006: Need to elect District Award of Merit, Unit Spirit Award, and Outstanding Scouter Awards. Mark talked about what the requirements were. The District Dinner will be at the Belvidere UAW on April 2nd for the awards ceremony. A secret ballot was done. Phil Reece was elected for Unit Spirit Award. Terry, MaryAnn and Phil will work on the nominations for the remaining awards.(3/21) We nominated three people for the District Award of Merit. According to Andy Murray, only eight people were nominated. We nominated one Outstanding Scouter for the leader category and one for committee category. We will not hear about approvals until late March. Our District is allowed 5 District Awards of Merit (one per 25 units, or fraction thereof; there are 101 units). All nominees are very deserving, so a decision will be difficult. Money for dinner reservations is due by March 24. Andy Murray will wave the late fee up to the Friday before the dinner, when food must be ordered. (4/25) People from our troop received 5 awards. All of them were very deserving. A district person said that the number of nominations was low this year. Troop 411 did a great job putting it together. It did not compete with the Eagle & Youth Recognition Dinner this year; attendance was up 50%. MaryAnn Bushaw and Eric Schmidt both got phone calls about people they nominated, after the people were called.
USS Cobia (April 1-2, 2006): (3/21) Troop is picking-up $30 for adults and $20 for scouts, including food. All attendees must fill-out the supplied, permission forms. There are 58 people attending, 12 of whom are crew members. We will have the ship to ourselves. Each person gets two pieces of pizza when we get there. Information is on the Website. The troop will bring money for breakfast. (4/25) Sleeping quarters were not that great. MaryAnn suggested that we needed more sleep for the drivers. The scouts thought it was a one time deal only. Two of our venture crew members did not like the way staff members were speaking to one of our scouts. Sandy didn’t like the way people were divided. The Crew thought staff was not very nice.
Lincoln Pilgrimage (April 29 - 30, 2006):Terry will look at campsites; will try for Illinek, Panther Creek will be back-up site. Go Saturday morning, come back Sunday late. All camps are first come, first serve basis. We are short of tents; people need to bring their own. (3/21) Terry will make an announcement for the website. The troop is reserved at BSA Camp Illinek on Lake Springfield, south of the city. We may be short on tents and need to bring a few personal tents in addition to troop tents. McCaffrey's will go Friday night. (4/25) Terry needs to know who will be drivers; wants as few as possible. 8 Scout tents are usable, 3 adult tents and 6 dome tents are available. We repaired tents that needed it. Berg can fix the zippers on tents. 22 Scouts and 6 adults are going. Plenty of tents for this campout, which includes those who volunteered to bring their own. Steve is going and most likely is pulling the trailer. Drivers: Paul (3), Steve (6), Ken (7), Ed (7) and Terry (7). Lois will pick-up what is needed for the patrol boxes. We will divide into groups and each adult will need to have a copy of the information that was emailed to participating adults. The museum costs to get in.
Miscellaneous Business
Training:
Wood Badge: Craig completed the academics and is working on his Ticket. Scouting for Food is his major one. Adult training, Fast Start training and Youth Protection are others. Ed is still working on his ticket too -- Finding a Chaplain's Aide has been a problem. (3/21) Sandy has finished her Ticket – Congratulations! (4/25) Our council will not be hosting a Course this year. Anyone interested in training? 4 or 5 here are not trained. Phil has information if anyone is interested in the out-of-council course -- it is being done near Janesville.
Leader Specific (April 26, May 3, 10, 17, plus overnight): Ken’s done. Steve Horan is still working on his. (3/21) Greg Sparks has finished his Leader Specific. New course starting April 26th-- Greg Poulisse needs it. He will take that one. Dannette still needs the campout. When it gets announced, she will try to make it. We need to encourage our new adults to attend; also, some of our experienced scouters. This is part of our Quality Unit recognition.(4/25) Starts tomorrow! Greg was asked if he was still interested and able to do it. He will not be able to do all of them. Lois will be doing it. Campout session will be in the fall.
Fast Start: Do it on-line; or set a date.
Troopmaster: – We can spend the $130 to get new Troopmaster and dot com. Need to get FTP site before purchase. Will use the 90-day trial version... The new version coming-up may allow multiple level passwords. We will not be able to start on it until August. We’re leaving this item for Phil to discuss. He is talking with John Vermie to let us test the web capabilities. Phil will try it out. Phil is still working on it. Still working on it (2/28). Terry is helping evaluate it - (3/21) Not yet
Announcements Needed: Troop Planning, BMX Food tent & Clean-up. Phil does not have BMX clean up announcement, but Terry will get it to him.
Service Project for the Church: They have two projects that could be used for Eagle projects. One is to make a sign for the church. The second is to dig out the playground so it can be made deeper and enlarged. If the playground is not picked up as an Eagle project the troop will look at doing it as a service project in the Spring. One Scout asked about it, but changed his mind. Playground in rear of church needs improvement to meet new DCFS guidelines. Bill Ziemke furnished a sheet with the proposal for the project.(4/25) If no one is doing it as an Eagle project, we need to jump on it for the troop to do. No Eagle scout candidate was interested; therefore, Ed will call Bill about getting this organized.
Swimming:Jefferson is not available; Belvidere High School is using it and there are problems with the custodial pool staff. Marcus Tryggestad is checking Rockford College and Rockford YMCA. Mr. Schmidt will still check with Guilford. We’re waiting for an answer from RESA. Millennium Center is $45 per hour 7:30 to 9:00 on Tuesday. Belvidere YMCA - $2.00 per person on Wednesday, is available as an open swim night. Dolphin Swim Club is Friday only. Marcus and Eric will let Phil know what the results are, so a decision can be made by the end of November and our swim nights chosen. Two choices remain: Millennium Center or Belvidere YMCA. Millennium Center (former YWCA) is Tuesday night, there’s no guest seating and a small locker room. Lois suggested rotating scouts through locker room by patrol. Eric will see if it is still available. The Belvidere YMCA is $2.00 per person on Wednesday but it’s an open swim. Paul says it tends to have problems with maintenance and closes unpredictably. Phil will check with Jim Fry regarding Flinn’s pool. A sub-committee will make a decision next week. Also, Eric is working on Rockford College for next year. Maybe we will do one swim night at Rockford College for this year as a trial. One, maybe two, swim nights there. Terry & Phil are going to go Friday to Rockford College to check it out. Possibly go back to Tuesdays. Flat fee of $20.00. BJ says it is slightly smaller than an Olympic pool. It does have two diving boards. We have to furnish our own lifeguard. They have bleachers. Belinda provided a contract from Jefferson for next year. Eric is working on Rockford College for next year also. Need to check and see if our lifeguard will be available. We will make a decision at next meeting. Had some problems with the swim team getting out of the Belvidere Y pool on time on January 11. Rockford College is still interested in us going there. We will be talking with BJ Robertson (394-3727) to set up a tour. Belinda has a contract form for Jefferson for 2007. As of tonight, we’re still working on Rockford College. They have not returned calls. Belvidere Y is still looking for updated liability insurance from Council; Eric will follow-up. Marcus has confirmed he will be there. According to “Aquatic Safety,” two capable swimmers can be used instead of a lifeguard. (3/21) Courtney Oertell, Events Coordinator, Rockford College, 815-226-4039, coertell@rockford.edu , 7:00 - 8:30 April 4 and May 2. ($12.50 per two lanes per hour -- $56.25 for full pool for 1.5 hours.) Put on to liability insurance and copy to them. We have been offered two Tuesday nights at Rockford College pool. April 4th and May 2nd. Cost will be about $56.25 for each night. After the May event, we will discuss going there in 2007. The troop will go to McDonalds by the Sweden House on State Street after swimming. Terry provided a new flier. Thanks to Phil for all of his negotiations! Warmer than Jefferson. Not as hot in bleacher area. Everyone liked it overall. Parking was a bit of a problem. Parking lot A across the street is available but a little future away. Will make sure other door is unlocked. Comments will be taken after next swim and a decision will be made for next year quickly. Eric suggested that a thank you card should be sent to the Belvidere YMCA, preferably by a scout. Eric will bring a thank you card for the scouts to sign at swimming.
Good Turn for America: (Mary Ann)Need person to list service projects for “Good Turn for America.” We have to tell National what service projects we are doing. We need to have them typed online. Terry will do it for the troop if MaryAnn will furnish her statistics to him.
Religious Retreats: MaryAnn said we need to encourage scouts to go to the religious retreats.
Identification: Dog tags could be made for the scouts at $4 each. It was suggested that we have someone come in and talk about WWII. Sandy will talk to Richard about getting something on the calendar. Ken is a veteran and would be willing to speak to the kids (also, Terry White or Steve Horan).
T-shirts: Class B shirts need to be inventoried and more ordered, if needed. Eric suggested that we put out the extras at the next Family Night. Announcement needs to be made to see who needs new shirts. Registered adults can get a free T-shirt, or buy polo shirt for the price difference. Full price for adults who are not registered, but want one. 6 scarves were made by Marion, and 20 more are in-process.
Insurance: (3/21)Our regular insurance is due to renew July 6th.
Tour Permit: Our Annual Tour Permit (within 100-miles) expires April 13th. Phil will ask Dan Murphy to do it again, as he has the spreadsheet of adults, their vehicles and insurance coverage’s. It is done and you have copies in front of you. Thank you Dan Murphy! Tax letters did not go out this year.
Numerals and Patrol Medallions: (3/21) Terry sent for a quote. From DeKalb: $2.25ea. for 100; $1.55 for 250, and $1.47 for 300+. He had a quote for the extra “35 years” strip. The troop decided not to go with the extra strip. The committee decided to order 250 patches. Patrol patches: there are no stock patches that match our patrols. Welsh Industries in DeKalb would charge $5 a piece or blank patches for $1 each. Greg Sparks will look into it during his next trip to India or Shanghai. Patches came in and Terry said they were bad.
Merit Badge counselor enrollment: (3/21) All who are enrolled should have received a card to re-enroll on-line. There is some difficulty getting on-line. Paul mentioned you are able to add merit badges on the website. If you have questions, or still need to sign-up, call Roger Schuchard.
Merit Badge Counselors: (3/21) The troop needs more physical fitness merit badge counselors. A couple of volunteers spoke up, including Greg Sparks. We can bring up the need for more counselors at Family Night. Another idea is to pick a badge and do it on a weekend every other month. Richard suggested a merit badge campout. (4/25) “Merit badge work every other month.” Do we want to do that or is anyone interested in doing a one-day one. Summer camp provides their own merit badge cards. Woodcarving is a possibility for late summer.
Youth Protection: (3/21) Adults should re-do their Youth Protection training. There will be one at the next Roundtable on April 6th at 6:45 p.m. All adults encouraged to attend . (4/25) Youth Protection is good for 2-years. All need to be updated, except Terry, MaryAnn & Craig, who updated at the 4/6/06 Roundtable. It can be taken online and takes less than an hour. You must call Beth Ann at council office within a week to follow-up and get your certification card.
Lifeguard Training: (3/21) Terry announced various activities including Lifeguard training through the Salvation Army & Red Cross. It starts 4/4/06; $140. Greg Poulisse showed interest. (4/25) He would like to do it next time it comes up.
Future Events
Popcorn (April 1, 2006): Ken is not available until after Christmas. He is Santa Claus at Cherry Vale Mall. Paul has volunteered to collect the order forms and will contact Ken regarding it. Ken should bring leftover popcorn to the Pizza Party on Dec. 20. One sheet was lost, need to work out how to deliver and pay for the popcorn. Ken says still missing about $200.00. All money has been collected now. Spring sales begin April 1. Scouts can make $7-9 per hour on consignment sales. Ken will decide next month if we’ll do consignment, ‘because it is extra work for Ken . (3/21) An announcement will be made next week. Consignment sales will not be done this year. There is a 3-week turn-around on the sales. (4/25) All orders due on the 28th. Orders are coming in slowly and Ken thinks he will get more by the Thursday deadline. If he needs help with pickup, Paul will do it.
OA Election (by May 1, 2006): Youth elections for our troop will be March 21st. Adult election will need to be done at next committee meeting. We discussed the requirements. Ken, Sandy and MaryAnn are eligible. Ed, Lois, Dannette may also be eligible, also Paul. Mark said the Lodge needs adults who are willing to commit, if not, please do not elect them MaryAnn Bushaw and Ken Hoxie agreed to be active, if elected. A secret ballot elected Ken. Congratulations! (3/21) Three scouts were elected by their peers tonight. (4/25) 8 scouts were eligible, but only 3 were elected. Sandy will make sure things are ready for the Call-Out.
Laid-Back Campout (May 12 - 14, 2006): Still looking for site. Sandy suggested White Pines and Terry suggested Anderson Woods as an alternative. Sandy will make reservations. (3/21) A reservation is made at White Pines. (4/25) Richard asked scouts to bring outdoor games.
CVFPD Midwest Regional Extrication Competition (May 20 - 21, 2006): We have been invited to hold the food fund raiser again this year. We made about $1400 last year. We need to keep the refreshments open later this year to accommodate the awards ceremony. (3/21) Phil Reece will put together a sub-committee. Greg, Paul and Ken are willing to help Phil with this. (4/25) Smoothies are lined-up. Craig and Phil will talk about food. About half of the shifts are signed-up for. Phil will put the schedule up on the website. Phil will borrow Ed’s grill.
Wanchanagi District Camp-O-Ree (May 19-21, 2006):No news yet. (3/21) We may be able to do this and the Extrication. The PLC had decided not to go to camp-o-ree, but they will review the decision. It will be at Canyon Camp. The committee needs to know the PLC’s decision by the April committee meeting. (4/25) PLC decided not to go.
Alpine Slide Campout (June 9-11, 2006): (3/21) There is aMississippi cruise for 1/5 hours. It costs $20, but she is hoping for a group rate. Sandy is exploring places to camp near there. If we did the cruise, we may do it in two groups. Question – can the kids do the Alpine Slide more than once? Committee decided to make the reservation. (4/25) Sandy needs to check -- she thinks she made reservations for August. She signed-up for the wrong date. She will fix it. Sandy will bring activities to the PLC to decide which ones to do.
NYLT (Jun 11-17, 2006):Possibly, Ryan and Glenn are going. April 25 is deadline with a $50 deposit. Nick said he had 4-5 scouts interested. Terry said those scouts are not confirmed and need to do so ASAP. (4/25) It has to be paid this week or it is $20 more on May 1. If a scout pays late, he will eat the late fee. (The Troop never pays a Late Fee!) Glenn’s Mom will pay his deposit at the scout office; Zachary Blondin wrote a scout check tonight; and Ryan Lambert promises to pay his deposit Saturday.
BMX Food Tent (Jun. 15–18, 2006): Same people from the extrication event volunteered to help. (4/25) Ken will help out after extrication is filled-up.
BMX Clean-up (Jun. 18, 2006): Need an announcement for this.
Independence Day Parade (July 4, 2006): (3/21) The troop will be at summer camp this week, so we cannot march in the parade this year. (4/25) Bill will let the Village know.
Summer Camp (July 2-8, 2006): Cost is $180 per Scout (early-bird price) and $17 per day for adults, which the troop will pay. The deposit will be $30 for the each scout, with a $25 fee for additional scouts in the same family; due by March 3rd; the balance is due May 5th. There is a $10 late fee if someone signs up after March 3rd. New scouts joining from Webelos dens can sign-up later. We will sign-up two less scouts, to make sure we do not lose the whole deposit for any cancellations. Sandy would like to use the January 17th troop meeting to inform parents about this camp experience. Sandy sent out emails checking to see who would like to go to Ransburg summer camp. 9 Scouts and 4 adults replied that they would like to go. 25 youth signed up, still working on others. Six adults have confirmed; two more are thinking about it. New scouts and parents have not been talked-to. (3/21) There are 30 youth signed-up now, including new scouts. No new news – next payment is April 14th. (4/25) 35 youth are confirmed as going. Sandy read names of adults who were going: a total of 8 for sure and 2 more possible. Medical forms are available those who need them - everyone. An offer was presented to stop and camp at Kingma’s Tree Farm for either on the way to or from camp. A Dairy farm tour is available too. Committee would prefer to stop on the way down. It is less than half way. Phil suggested that the drivers going should make that decision. It was suggested to stop and just visit and not camp -- possibly a lunch break with a tour of the tree farm. Our leaving time will be adjusted and we will take a mid-morning break with only an hour for the stop.
Serverson Dells (July 25): It’s a troop meeting. It’s off Montague Road, west of Rockford. Sandy is getting someone to talk.
Blackhawk Regatta (Saturday July 29):Any interest in doing it through the committee? It is a council event for scouts 14 and older. MaryAnn will put information together for it.
Fiesta Italiana (Aug. 2006): Steve Horan will be doing it – no conflicts this year.
Adjourned 9:35 PM