Rideau Area Group Forum

Rideau Area Group Forum January 16, 2014 Dunn’s Restaurant, Bank Street In attendance: Ken Shore, Area Group Commissioner Grace Jones, Area Registrar Sara Walker, Area Secretary Kelly Banks, ASM Iain Holness, SVC Team, Training Randy Miller, DAC Recognition Bill Baggs, DAC Troop Group Commissioners: Heather Shore (1st Osgoode), Julia Mandeville (137th Ottawa), Wendy Branson (North Gower), Kevin Lawless (28th Ottawa), Francois Marier (101st Ottawa), Marek Wakulczyk (1st Greely), Greg McGinnis (2nd Russell), Jim Murphy (137th Ottawa) Presentations: Rideau Area is leading Council for recognition. People are receiving Medal of Good Service based on the Thank You button. As of next week Ken will be collecting 8 Bar of Good Service for other recipients. Approval of Agenda: All approved none opposed. Approval of Previous Minutes Approved by Greg McGinnis, 2nd by Heather Shore and motion passed. ASM Report (Kelly) • The lower membership fee $90 will be in effect as of February 1st. Kids are allowed 2 free meetings before paying the lower fee. • Be sure not to enter any new membership into the system until February 1st to be counted towards the lower fee. • Membership is down 10% this period last year as some groups lost members. • The incentive program is still in effect and details were sent to Group Commissioners. • Scout Guide Week: Mayoral names were submitted to National to be named Honorary Scout Canada member including Jim Watson. Kelly is unsure if he was informed of this honor and is hoping to hold a presentation on February 22nd at City Hall. Details to follow. • Outdoor Adventure Show, March 14-16, 2014 being held at the Ernst Young Centre. Scouts Canada will have a booth. Please forward names of public speakers, presentation ideas, photos, and videos in hopes of making a slideshow and providing an interactive display to Kelly. • Earlier this year, Beaver Safety pamphlets were distributed and most groups have presented it to the youth and parents during a meeting this year. AYC Report • Devon and Aidan sent their regrets. • Heather Sutcliffe (28th Ottawa) is the new AYC and will try to attend future Group Committed and Forum meetings. • Aidan is hoping to hold a spring activity event for Venturers and Senior Scouts. Old Business: Registration (Grace) • Thank you to all for working with prospective members. Some have just been entered in the system, reminder to enter packages into MyScouts and don't hold onto them. • Leaders can try out the program for 2 weeks and have completed forms on hand and ensure they are forward to Grace. • Ratio is being looked at for some groups in MyScouts.ca • Be sure to double check registrants in the system after a January 9th rollover occurred to remove 'not active' participants from the system. Rideau Area is 100% compliant with fully trained leaders. • Lynn is away from the Voyageur Council office. For leaders wishing to obtain any more copies of 'New Leader Welcome Kit' should email Kelly who will notify the VC office to transfer them from the warehouse to the office for pick-up. Finances (Ken) • The deadline has been changed to January 31st to ensure all outstanding Group finances are due to Ken. If not, Ken will contact them for pick-up to be completed by others no exceptions. • Otherwise, Ken to complete their services and have someone else administers the Group's finances in the future. • Finances should include a copy of an equipment inventory. Section Visits (Ken) • Group Commissioners should be visiting sections running program and review forms for medical issues, health concerns and diet are being followed by leaders for all participants. • Area team to continue their site visits by showing up without advance notice. Return all completed forms to Ken following their visit for review. Section Report • Randy noted, the Silver Acorn Award should be presented to those with many years of service and can be handled by using the Thank You button, but requires a long write-up on the recipient. Garth should be informed not to action the item past Council level. • Jim noted a great success with the Scout popcorn campaign and most groups did very well. He still needs to bug a few Groups for outstanding Apple Day fees. • He will confirm who is organizing this year's Scout Trees through Voyageur Council. All GC should forward their attendance numbers in order to ensure we receive adequate amounts of trees for distribution. We should have the same planting sites as last year yet they are decided by the City of Ottawa. Troop Report (Bill) • Troops are trying to organize a Klondike Derby for either February 1 or 15th. • Bridge Building Competition to be held at Rideau Park United Church on February 26th and is being organized by David Ross, 28th Ottawa. • Bill has been out to visit 1st Greely and 2nd Russell in the past few weeks. Pack Report (Heather) • Kub Kar Rally to be held on February 22nd. Polar Day is January 18th at the Greely Legion. • Area Spring Camp is May 31st and Fly Day is in June. Colony Report (Francois) • Winter Beaveree is January 26 at Greely Legion and is looking for volunteers to run stations; registration is due Friday, January 17th to Nathalie Archambault. • Council Beaveree is May 31-June 2 at Lombardy Fairgrounds and listed on Council website. Training (Iain) • Provided envelopes to Group Commissioners with woggles and pins for participants that complete Woodbadge I for each section earned since August 2013. • A parent recently raised a concern regarding E-Learning that leader had no practical experience in the field. A suggestion has been noted from Council that new learners be assigned a mentor to ensure they are competent in their section post training to ensure they are knowledgeable. • This would see a return to the pre-2010 Woodbadge learning with mentorship program and following the VRAD checklist. • Currently this initiative is being carried out in the Rideau Area and will be promoted to Council and National levels. New Business Scouter Summit • Monday, January 20th at St. Timothy’s Presbyterian Church located at 2400 Alta Vista Drive from 7:00- 9:30 pm. • Rod Wilson will have a presentation on World Jamboree 2015. • Ken will have a slideshow presentation regarding the Revitalization Program and mentoring. Section Preparedness • Ensure that food brought to section activities and camps comply with noted allergies for all participants as per their forms. • There has been some discussion at Council as to some leeway provided on transportation rules which will be sent to Group Commissioners upon their release from Council. • Reminder that all sections should review cold weather policies, winter first aid and dressing appropriately for all outdoor activities. Program Revitalization (Ken) • Groups to participate in a pilot project to try out the new program. Provide group and sections names to Ken if you wish to learn new program. Ken will have a slideshow presentation at the Scouter's Summit. • Everyone will need to complete in person training not e-learning for the new program Each Council have Ambassadors to train Area mentors to ensure a percentage in each Area. Those groups taking part in the pilot project will be ahead of schedule of the September 2014 start. Groups are preferred to section participation to see the actual flow through. Succession Plan for Co-AYC • Suggest names of any Venturer and Rover youth to Ken and Iain who are part of the selection committee to choose Devon's successor. Training (Iain) • A playbook is being put together for Group Commissioners along with an upcoming Group commissioner webinar training course. Upcoming Events • The Chief Scout Award Ceremony is taking place on June 4th at the Cedarview Alliance Church in Nepean. There will be no formal lunch but finger food offered. • Submission forms are due May 1st to Ken for review. • Lost Children Services request sent to any seeking volunteer service hours to help during Winterlude 2014. • The Ontario Fire Marshal have had regulations in place for the past 5 years regarding sleepovers in churches, legions, museums and other public facilities. Sites have a letter of accreditation on file in order to host our event. A 15 page manual will be sent to all Group Commissioners.Need to ensure sites are contacted well in advance. Groups are to ask if the location has been approved for overnight sleeping, if so, there is a letter that must come to the group before using the facilities. If they are not approved, would they be willing to do so. There is a publication that has been release from the Ontario Fire Marshall that lays out the procedures to complete for the facility to meet regulations. (See attached for publication) Succession Plan for AC • JIm Peverley has asked Ken to stay on as Area Commissioner until June 2015 and he accepted. the offer. When a new person is chosen they will shadow Ken before being appointed. Roundtable • Randy noted the Award Committee would like to recognize groups that have been around over 50 years with a charter. • Greg thanked Wendy, Bill, Ken and others for online training to ensure leaders return and no loss of youth to his group. • Iain put a playbook in place for a Service Team Workshop yet need experienced and qualified leaders with WB1 or WBII. • Grace was inquiring on behalf of John Gould if there was an Area Interview Team or responsible group that could help with interviewing new volunteers. He is looking for professionals or names of interested people. • Natalie still has the RAAD crest to be distributed to Yvonne. Participation Awards still in works and will be distributed later this year. • Marek send out kudos for the online learning system otherwise 1st Greely would not have enough leaders and they are keen on the program. • Kevin reported the 28th Ottawa recently received a $14,000 Trillium Grant and are getting ready go buy camping equipment and canoes. • Francois reported the 101st just had their All-Section Winter Camp at Opemikon. They have a large pack and require more leaders. Recently received Trillium Grant for $8900 to purchase camping equipment and training for youth. Hope to send 10 Venturers to Adventure 2014. • Kevin suggested a bus rental to help merge all area youth wishing to attend the event to cut down travel costs. • Greg inquired if groups have added insurance to cover equipment storage costs especially those with canoes or new equipment purchases.

Next Meeting Thursday, March 6, 2014, Dunn’s Restaurant, 2679 Bank Street