Prepared by
Pon Phongsavath
Minutes
Parents / Committee Meeting
Occoneechee Council Troop 314
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The followings are in attendance: Chuck Behm, Sheri Colquitt, Paul Casadonte, Mike LeBlanc, Robin Thomas, Whitney Touch, Rachelle Stratcher, Chris Poole, Kaye Poole, and
Pon Phongsavath.
Treasurer:
We are expecting a possible significant donation from the SAS Institute by this Fall. There was a surplus from last year Church Fall Festival income when our Troop sponsored the arcade games. The church could have mistakenly given us back their change money. Therefore, we are donating that $200 back to St. Raphael church.
There are CPR and subscription dues. $300 Eagle Ceremony expenses is estimated on 2 or 3 Eagle candidates. Cookies are preferred over cake for refreshment during the Court of Honor. Chris Poole has bought a 20x18 tarp shelter for use during camp outs. Gas expense is about $100 per camping trip for the van. Patches and Awards costs are going up. Currently we have about $1500 surplus on our budget.
The Committee voted to subsidize each scout $20 for one of the camping trips that are scheduled for the months of July through October. The schedules and costs for the 4 trips are as follows:
July 14-16 Whitewater Rafting $49
August 11-13 Elizabeth City $ 0
Sept 15-17 Busch Gardens $37
October 13015 Virginia Creeper $23
Sheri was to send Paul an electronic file of these schedules and costs to be posted on the Troop’s webpage.
There were considerations of subsidizing adult leaders’ cost for one the trips, but our budget could not afford.
Hats for the Troop are being designed and planned. The cost per hat for scouts to purchase is about $5-$8. Chris was to check with the BSA store price per hat, then he’d compare the price with a custom-made price. We planned to order 30-50 hats. Scouts will have a choice of wearing a Troop designed hat or BSA shop hat. Either one will do as a part of scouts uniform when participating with scouts outings such as camping trips. No other kind of hats will be allowed.
Camping Coordinator:
The Troop has been using the Blue Blaze Bike Company for the Virginia Creeper trail Camping trip. However, Sheri is looking for a different company for a better price or may be newer bikes.
She needs to know who is going to the Whitewater Rafting trip in July by the troop meeting date, June 12th so that we could meet the reservations deadline. 6 scouts will be assigned with a guide per raft. Scouts will have the first choice on the raft. Leaders will have 2nd choice, and others such as friends or family members will have the 3rd choice. We will request an experience guide in every raft. Kaye was to check with the Council if they have a legal liability insurance. The rafting day will begin at 10 am with 30 minutes instructions. The duration of rafting is about 2 hours and a half. The Troop will plan to leave from the church earlier than the usual camping trip departure time (6:30pm). Those that do not want to go rafting could stay at the base camp. If younger siblings attend this camp out they are to be attended to by a parent at all times.
Busch Gardens Trip will require a short ferry ride as part of the road trip to the scouts reservation.
It was suggested that scouts be allowed to bring cell phones and to have a buddy system on the Busch Gardens and Virginia Creeper trips.
Fund Raising:
Mike suggested looking for a different supplier for the Christmas Trees. We will stay with one type of trees and Frazier Fir is the one. We will know more about Mike’s tree suppliers search results by next meeting. The current supplier, Curtis, is reliable; however, we are looking to see if there is a better deal out there.
Other potential fundraiser is the Spaghetti Dinner for the Annual Astronomers’ Star Party held at Camp Reeves. The scouts could cook a spaghetti dinner and sell tickets for it to staff members and participants of the event. Kaye was to check with the Council if they have given the service opportunity to another troop. It could be a day trip or a one night camping trip for the scouts to fulfill the service. Each scout who participated could earn money towards their camping trips the same way they did with the annual Christmas Trees Sale. Scouts could also use the money earned to buy their troop hat. The Astronomers’ Star Party is held the weekend after the Virginia Creeper Trip.
Kaye will order $1000 worth of Harris Teeter Grocery/Gift cards. Unlike other type of Groceries cards, these require shipping fees. The Troop will gain a 6% return from the cards. The Committee has decided that 5% will go into our budget and 1% will apply to shipping cost. Anything left over from the 1% shipping cost will overflow to the budget.
Additional fundraiser is a car wash since the city has lifted the water restriction. Rachelle was to check with Sam’s Club on Millbrook Road or South Saunders Street to see if they will sponsor our car wash event. Troop may have a car wash scheduled this summer by the month of August. We will have a date in 2 weeks.
Equipment:
The quarter master will be checked with regarding supplies. Shelves are in need to be built to organize supply room in the Cub Scout storage area. Chris bought new water and food storage coolers and a repair kit for the blue jugs. The coolers are to be taken to the meeting before each camping trip for the scout meal planner to use it for food bought for the camping trip.
Scoutmaster Message:
Chris expressed his appreciation to the parents/committee for their involvement and support. He added that the parents are the behind-the-scene people and was satisfied with everyone’s involvement as leaders and meeting attendees. He would like to have our troop increase involvement with the pack. He has some comments regarding the CPR and First Aid Training courses. There is a $7 fee for the Red Cross CPR card. The course will be held on a Saturday and will last about 8 hours. There is no fee for the course and Materials. The CPR card lasts for 1 year. The First Aid card lasts for 3 years.
Chris also suggested shorter camping trips such as to the Falls Lake area or the Fayetteville area for cost savings since everything is going up (e.g. Gas price). He also suggested purchasing Lemonade or Kool-Aid mix for the Summer Camp trip to make 5 gallons of drink per day for the boys. Scouts are working on petition for soft drinks during camping trips. The petition will be brought to the Committee for review. There has yet to be a camping trip where soft drinks were not brought by at least one patrol. Some parents continue to purchase soft drinks for camp outs.
In the case when scouts are working on a merit badge, they should work with other leaders instead of their parent. A scout should bring up his interest to the scoutmaster or his assistant who will advise a path with whom that scout should begin his merit badge work. Chris stated that a parent should work on a group, not as a parent-child relation in order to achieve a merit badge. This policy will exclude the Family Life Merit Badge, which involves chores or personal fitness.
Kaye added that the Council has tighten up on rules on Eagle required Merit Badges. They would like to assure that Merit Badge Counselors are registered. Kaye also would like the handbook sheets to be turned in to her with parents and scouts signature. She still hasn’t gotten all of them in. While our Troop Handbook is not perfect, she asked that we markup the mistakes or discrepancies of rules through out the book so that we could go back and fix them. Kaye was to check on rules if boys who advanced in rank could go ahead and get the awards and be recognized at the next scheduled court of honor. Currently we have 2 court of honors per year. A suggestion was made if we could have 3 courts of honors per year in order to recognize the boys who advanced in rank in a timely manner. Chris would like to have one after the summer camp when they receive most of their badges. The next court of honor is scheduled for August 28th.
Troop Committee meeting is to be held every quarter – 3 months, on Thursday night. This meeting was met at 6:30pm and adjourned at 8:20pm.