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Troop 1 Parents Meeting Monday November 4, 2002 PRESENT: Ken Boss, OLD BUSINESS: 1) Review/approve previous
meeting minutes – the minutes were approved. 2) Treasure's report –
Currently there is about $900 in the troop treasury, of which approximately
$200 is in troop accounts for 5 scouts. 3) Review activities for
last month: 3.a) Rank advancements – 8
rank advancements during the month:
Kris Boss passed his Eagle Board of Review (big congratulations to
Kris for achieving this great honor), 2 scouts advanced to the Life rank, and
5 to First Class. Way to go scouts! 3.b) Order of the Arrow
Fall Fellowship, Oct 18-19. Bobby Pedersen
earned his Ordeal membership with the Order of the Arrow. Brian Klaren served as an elangomat (guide)
during the weekend. 3.c) Scouting for Food,
Oct 19. 8 scouts working out of 3 cars
gathered a pickup load of food from the immediate area as part of the
national Scouting Good Turn. 3.d) Rifle Shooting merit
badge shooting qualification, Oct 26.
Ken received only 2 calls 2 days before the weekend. If the weather is favorable, the boys may
qualify during the upcoming Ingawanis campout weekend. 3.e) St. Ed’s Fall
Festival Oct 26-27. The parking duty
went well, as many of the scouts have done this several times and have
confidence directing the traffic. The
water balloon launcher was a big hit, running out of balloons after 500 had
been launched. If this event is held
again, it would benefit from more people to help run it. 3.f) 4) Review scheduled
activities for current month: 4.a) Philmont 2004
registration call-in, Nov 9. The
registration call-in is 10 AM – 1 PM CST.
4 troop adults will meet at Earth Tech to use the phones with redial
to continuously dial in until a connection is made. The trip will begin sometime from June 8 to
August 9, 2004 and last for 12 days.
Crew size can range from 7-12 people, with 4 adults maximum and 8
scouts maximum. Estimated cost is $475
for registration plus round trip transportation to the ranch in 4.b) Ingawanis
Electronics/Work Weekend Campout, Nov 16-17.
Maple Lodge is reserved for the weekend. On Saturday. the scouts will either do
cleanup outside or if the weather does not cooperate, they will make screens
inside. We plan to leave St. Ed’s at
7:30 AM, returning late morning/early afternoon on Sunday. The camping fee will be about $10 for
scouts and adults. 5) Wreath sales
update. Lisa reported that all of the
forms have been turned in. Wreaths are
expected for pickup on Tuesday or Wednesday, Nov 26-27. While the orders have not yet been totaled,
it is believed that last year’s sales were exceeded by a fair margin. Note that extra orders can still be placed,
with a slightly later delivery. 6) Popcorn sales
update. NEW BUSINESS: 1) 2003 summer camp
planning. We would like an adult to
get involved to start building interest with the scouts in the troop. The campsites are along the water and each
has a canoe and boat available for use.
High adventure programs are offered, as is COPE. Lacking volunteers, we’ll put this on
autopilot for now. 2) Eagle Court of Honor,
Dec 8. The 3 new Eagle Scouts, Kris
Boss, Brian Klaren, and Kevin Murphy, will receive their awards at an Eagle
Court of Honor Dec 8 at St. Ed’s. It
is expected that many, if not all, of the Troop 1 scouts will participate in
the ceremony, and a rehearsal will be held the day before, Saturday, Dec 7,
10 AM to 1 PM. Because of the
importance of this event, it is vital that all Troop 1 scouts make every
effort to attend both the rehearsal on Saturday and the ceremony on Sunday,
as 3 of their own are being honored for their achievements. 3) Troop budget. An annual budget plan will be put together
for the Jan02-Dec02 timeframe during the Christmas break at Steve’s house by
interested committee members. 4) Troop campout meals
& menus. The group discussed the
menus that the scouts create for their campouts. Left to their own devices, it isn’t hard to
believe that some breakfasts consist of Mountain Dew and powdered
donuts. Perhaps expecting hot
breakfasts from First Class scouts isn’t out of line. There was some discussion whether all
scouts should eat the same food instead of breaking up into patrols with
different menus. However, one of the
chief methods in scouting is the patrol method. Al commented that it takes about 3 years to
firmly establish patrol methods after starting them, and we are only about 6
months into the process. The troop
committee can take whatever measures it deems necessary to provide guides for
menus, banning pop at campouts, limiting cracker barrel (treats) to
appropriate times, or anything else in the interest of the troop, keeping in
mind that campouts need to be fun to maintain interest. Everyone is encouraged to think about this
during the next month and bring some ideas back to the next meeting. 5) Advancement
Chairman. Discussions during the past month
with Al, parents, and scouts have resulted in a slight realignment of
advancement responsibilities.
Previously, Al kept all the records for each scout’s rank advancement
on his advancement tracking software.
To help those scouts with an interest in pursuing the Star, Life, and
Eagle ranks, Steve will serve as advancement chairman for the ranks above
First class. Al will continue to track
and be the primary motivator for the Tenderfoot through first class ranks. It should be emphasized while scouts will
be encouraged to advance as they meet the various requirements, it is not the
troop’s intent to pressure scouts to advance beyond their interests. The important thing is that they
participate, learn, and have fun. 6) Outdoor Activities
Chairman. The troop could benefit from
the establishment of an Outdoor Activities Chairman. Currently Al performs these duties which
consist of: securing permission to use camping sites; transportation
coordinator; ensure a monthly outdoor program; promote the National Camping
Award; promote, through family meetings, attendance at troop campouts,
camporees, and Boy Scout Resident Camp to reach the goal of an outing per
month; secure tour permits; report to the troop committee at each meeting. The job description will be emailed to the
Troop 1 parents, seeking volunteers for this and other unfilled committee
positions. 7) Annual planning
calendar. An annual troop planning
calendar has been on the web site for several months: /Misc/AnnualPlanningCalendar It’s intent is to raise
awareness of recurring activities throughout the year. Please let Chris know if there are any
additions or other changes that need to be made. 8) National Jamboree,
Summer 2005. The Council is now taking
names of scouts and adults that would like to attend. Scouts and adults can only attend through
groups assembled by the council, individual troops may not attend. Contact the council if your scout has any
interest in attending. More
information should be available at upcoming scout meetings. NEXT PARENTS MEETING: Monday, December 2, 7:00
PM, St. Ed’s cafeteria TABLED FOR FUTURE
MEETINGS: 1) Troop trailer insurance
(Al, indefinite) 2) 2005 National Jamboree
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