Troop 1 Parents Meeting

Tuesday March 4, 2003

 

PRESENT:  Ken Boss, Anne Cook, Jamie Cook, Al Degenhardt, Dana Jenson, Greg Kent, Phil Kent, Chris Klaren

                

OLD BUSINESS:

1) Review/approve previous meeting minutes – the minutes were approved

 

2) Treasure's report – The troop general fund is approximately $740, with another $1000 in the scouts’ troop accounts.  Many people have paid the $20 troop dues for 2003 (thank you), please get with Dana as soon as practical to make payment if you have not already done so.

 

3) Review activities for last month:

3.a) Rank advancements – Josh Musgrave earned his Life rank in February, and Kris boss earned his Bronze Eagle Palm.  Congratulations!

 

3.b) Webelos graduation to Troop 1 – Zach Benson from Pack 370 in Cedar Falls and Nolan Graham from Pack 29 at Edison in Waterloo graduated from Webelos II and joined Troop 1 during the last month.  Congratulations scouts!  We look forward to watching you grow in scouting.

 

3.c) Klondike Derby – Due to uncertainty with snow cover, the troop had a late start on planning to attend the council Klondike Derby at WSR on Feb 8 and did not attend.  Instead the troop planned and conducted their own Klondike Derby at St. Ed’s on Sunday, March 2nd.  Various stations were set up to test scouting skills with competitions between the patrols.  It was a very successful and fun scout-led event.

 

3.d) Ice Skating Outing Feb 22 – The scouts combined an afternoon of ice skating at Young Arena with a pizza party later in the afternoon.  The day was highlighted with the troop attending Zach Benson’s Crossing Over into Boy Scouts later that evening.

 

3.e) Flapjackers Pancake Breakfast, Mar 1 – The event was a success with greater attendance than the previous year.  Al commented that he appreciated the 4 scouts working the full event so that the other scouts were able to attend the Clear Lake Merit Badge College the same day.  Troop ticket sales were only about 1/3 of the previous year’s.  This is a great opportunity for the scouts to bolster their troop account, as profit on the tickets is often as much as $1.75 for the $2.00 ticket price.  The troop committee needs to come up with a strategy next year to improve ticket sales.

 

3.f) Clear Lake Merit Badge College, Mar 1 – Dana reported that 7 scouts attended the merit badge college and 7 Eagle-required merit badges were earned.  Good job guys!

 

4) Review scheduled activities for current month:

4.a) Ad Altare Dei Catholic Religious Medal, March 8 – 8 scouts have registered to attend a retreat at St. Patrick’s in Cedar Falls to work on the Catholic religious award.  Follow-up activities will be led by a troop parent in the following weeks or months.  The scouts of other faiths in the troop are encouraged to pursue their church’s scouting religious awards if they choose to do so.

 

4.b) WSR Campout, March 28-30 – The campout will include Junior Leader training for scouts in the leadership positions and give the younger scouts an opportunity to work on their rank advancement skills.  More details will be developed in the coming weeks.

 

5) 2003 Summer Camp Registration and Planning – 15 scouts and 9 adults have verbally agreed to attend, indicating activities and merit badges they wish to pursue, however, no deposits have yet been received.  A $40 deposit is needed by March 23 for each scout and adult that plans to attend.  Cost is $170 - $200 per scout depending on the activities and merit badges selected.  Adults are $99 each.  Troop 144 will be attending camp with Troop 1, and they are expecting 4 scouts and 5 adults to attend.  A $10 per scout (and I believe adult, but am not sure) discount will be applied if summer camp fees are paid in full by March 23.  Get with Dana today to make your deposit so you don’t miss out!  The scouts’ troop accounts can be applied to any part of the camp fees or deposit.

 

6) Troop budget fundraiser – Al reported that the scouts came up with ideas for a chili cookoff/supper, a pancake breakfast, “brats in the park”, and washing and waxing airplanes.  The troop committee suggested cleaning up the UNI dome after an event, a good way to earn money relatively quickly.  The group prioritized the ideas as: 1) cleaning the Dome and 2) pancake breakfast.  Al will take the ideas back to the troop for their input.  Ken will also look for potential opportunities to clean planes as the weather gets better.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

1) Troop 1 merit badge counselor update – a list of registered merit badges counselors somehow does not have all of the Troop 1 counselors that previously registered.  New applications will be submitted this week to update the Council records.

 

2) Backbone Campout (Mother’s Day weekend) May 9-11 – After a brief discussion, the campout was moved to the May 2-4 weekend.

 

3) Troop scout leadership – The group had a discussion on recent communications breakdowns through the scouts’ leadership hierarchy that resulted in confusion on several events during the past few months.  Conversations on leadership expectations and responsibilities have been held with the scouts.  The Junior Leader training at the WSR campout in March should provide reinforcement and helpful techniques to nurture their leadership skills.

 

NEXT PARENTS MEETING:

Monday, April 7, 7:00 PM, St. Ed’s cafeteria

 

TABLED FOR FUTURE MEETINGS:

1) Troop trailer insurance (Al, indefinite)

2) Aug 7-18, 2004 Philmont High Adventure, (when appropriate)

3) Jul 25-Aug 3, 2005 National Jamboree (when appropriate)

4) Outdoor Activities Chairman update (Chris)

5) Philmont 2004 Registration (Al, May)

6) Flapjacker pancake breakfast ticket sales – how do we improve? (Jan04)