Minutes for the November 7, 1999, Meeting

In Attendance: Emily B, Amanda J., Ben T, Jen T, Tyler
G, Alison C, Mr. O, and Mrs. T.  Parents meeting was
attended by: Mrs. B, Mrs. J, Mrs. C, Mrs. G, and Mr.
T.

An opening ceremony was held.

Mrs. T welcomed Amanda to Venturing and introduced Mr. O as an
Associate Advisor.

The goals of Venturing were reviewed and the Advancement available through
Venturing was explained.  Mrs. T explained that there would be no
pressure for members to advance, especially since most members are already
girl scouts and boy scouts and working on awards in those 2 groups.  It was
explained that there will be some cross over between all 3 programs goals
that are worth reviewing.

The organization of a Venture Crew was reviewed, explaining the youth
leadership positions, adult advisors, and the adult committee.  We read the
job requirements for the youth committee and took nominations for elections.
Mrs. T suggested that no one who was not present, be nominated for a
position as we would not know if they were truly interested in a position.

The election results:

Ben T, President
Amanda J, VP Administration
Alison C, VP Program
Emily B, Secretary
Jennifer T, Treasurer

Congratulations to all.  At this point the new president tried to take over
the meeting with his own personal agenda, but given that there were still
several items on Mrs. T's agenda, we continued on with hers.

Ben did suggest that we obtain email addresses from everyone who had one.
Mrs. T had a sign up sheet to send around for this purpose. (note, I'd
like to get parents' email addresses as well)

We talked about training, Venture Crew Officer's training and Venture Crew
Leadership training.  Dates should be set for both.  The officer's training
should be held as soon as possible, but the Leadership training would be
good for a school vacation.

We then moved on to Activities.  Mrs. T explained that our goal was to
eventually run independent of the troop.  To do that we need to plan
activities of our own.  It was explained that as part of their leadership
development, the Venture Crew Members are expected to plan the trips along
with an adult consultant.  The members who were present threw out several
ideas and then voted on them.  Some were hiking in the White Mts., white water
rafting, canoeing, Omni Theater/Museum trip.  Each member present picked at
least 1 activity to plan and the parents who were present were asked to team
up with the Crew members to help them plan the activity.

(note to those who were not in attendance - we will be looking for other
members to pickup some of the activities to plan from those members who have
more than 1)

Each member received a copy of the Activity Planning Sheet, these should be
completed as you research the activities you are planning.  Each of you
should also list a time of year your activity would be run, to help the
Officers in planning the calendar.

Unauthorized and Prohibited Activities in Accordance with BSA policy -
Bungee Jumping, Ultra light flying, "War Games" (otherwise known as Paint
Ball (sorry Tyler)), Jet Skis, Parachuting.  The list goes on, but these
relate to some of the suggestions that were made last night.  They also
state that any device towed behind a boat is prohibited, however they do run
a water skiing merit badge, so I will need a clarification on the tube.

Emily will type up the list of the activities that received 6 and 5 votes
for distribution.

Mrs. J asked, and we had discussed as a group, how often we thought we
would meet.  Mrs. T explained that from what she sees other Venture
Crew's doing, it would appear that once a month would be enough.  One Sunday
a month could be picked for an officer's meeting and then the second half of
the meeting would be the Crew Planning meeting for up coming trips.  Mrs.
T had thought we could cover the need to meet with Boy Scout and Girl
Scout meetings, however as our number grows and we register more members who
aren't affiliated with either group, we need to find a forum where they can
get together.

Mrs. T could work the availability of the church hall for these meetings.
 

It was also asked if we intended to do activities the whole year, and the
response was yes, we would try to do something every month and at least 1
activity during the summer.  That will be dependent on the Officers and the
calendar they develop.

The group looked at slides from their Cope Weekend.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35PM

written by Mrs. T