TROOP 433

TROOP COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

Oct. 8, 2007

Note: action items are underlined

Present: Scott Betlach, Kelvin Vartti, Steve Wiberg, Steve Kuhn, Wyeth Lewis, Steve Frost, John Yarusso, Linda Christensen, Lee Hunt, Rich Logan, Fred Koerschner, Steve Lindloff, Paul Hoff

PLC Report:

Isak reported:

10/15 Meeting – Pioneering theme.

Pre-opening – Clove hitch and Half hitch knots -- Lashing

Patrol meetings – Patrol Outing planning

Talk about patrol leader requirements.

Inter-patrol activity -- Knots

Flags -

10/22 Meeting – Pioneering theme.

Pre-opening – Bowline , Square Knot

Elections, patrol and troop.

Recommended Isak / Spencer send out an email with election information about the positions open.

Bridge building / Lashing competition.

Flags

10/29 Meeting – Pioneering theme.

Pre-opening – Square lashing theme.

Build a lashing tower.

Patrol meetings

Flags

Poll Results

What the scouts want:

· 5 – want fun

· 4 – want no movies

· 3 – want organization

· 1 – wants older scouts

· 1 – wants skills taught

· 1 – wants requirements

· 1 – wants merit badges

· 1 – wants the same

· 1 – wants Independent things

Patrol Outings

· 6 – want camping

· 4 – want snowboarding / skiing

· 3 – want bowling

· 3 – want hiking / backpacking

· 1 – wants geocaching.

Minutes:

· Approved

Strengthen the Troop Subcommittee Report

Fred reported that the Subcommittee first picked the following two items to work on from a working list of items.

Have a good community service as a Troop.

Steve Frost will be the point person.

Have a good and strong relationship between the troop and pack.

Steve Kuhn will be the point person.

Wyeth asked if another person should be assigned to be the Webelos II transition coordinator. Steve K. indicated that he will continue to serve in both positions for this year because the transition is pretty well set up for this year.

Fred K. will pick a date for the next Subcommittee meeting near the end of the month.

Other areas talked about are Patrol mentoring to keep the patrols on track, Scout retention, troop history and heritage. Linda volunteered to be the History mentor. Linda will contact past people associated with the troop and look for history information in the troop records.

Patrols:

Should we merge patrols? Some patrols are small or do not have many scouts participating in all of the scout meetings. Steve K. indicated that some patrols are so small that it’s hard for them to work as a patrol. Wyeth mentioned that the ideal patrol size is 8 scouts. It was mentioned that multiple patrols can group together for outings.

Steve W. indicated that there is no requirement for the scouts to attend all of the scout meetings. Steve W. also indicated that in the past we had the scouts check attendance to each scout meeting on a attendance board. This allowed the adults at a BOR to check to see that a scout has good participated in the troop and was thought to be a good idea.

It was agreed that the current plan is to get mentors assigned to the patrol and make suggestions for each patrol.

Community Service:

Steve Frost suggested that the troop should pick a weekend a month to work on community service. Rich suggested that we should work this with the new leadership after the elections. The PLC should decide what the community service projects should be. Wyeth suggested that the service hours be part of the mission of the Troop, similar to our commitment to camping. Rich indicated that the troop cannot force the scouts into doing something more that what is required by the scout book.

Rich indicated that with the new church roof being installed, the church landscaping service project will be delayed until next spring.

Troop / Pack interaction:

6 Webelos II, 5 scouts plus 8 adults attended the fall camporee. The troop came in second place in the troop competition. Lee indicated that the planning meeting with the Webelos before the campout aided in the campout success.

Steve K. suggested that the Scouts should put together a 30 minute slide show that will be available to hand out to the new scouts to show them what our troop activities are like. Steve W. indicated that scouts should also talk to the new scouts about the activities in the slide show.

Porkies Shakedown:

Fred reported that they had a great shakedown at Lake Maria. It’s a great state park and is recommended for weekend or future shakedowns. Scott B. agreed.

Camping:

The troop will be planning on working on some merit badges and rank advancement at the Nov. 9-11 camping weekend. Lee will take a poll to see what merit badges the boys are interested in. Rich indicated that cooking over an open fire and compass skills are always needed.

Lee will also open up an informational signup for people interested in winter camping. Okpik or SnowBase.

Training:

ASM Training, this Saturday, 10/13. We could have a few more ASM’s be trained at St. Joe’s church.

University of Scouting, 10/27. Wyeth would like the adult leaders to look at the classes that would benefit the troop.

Equipment:

Steve F. indicated that we need three new coolers. He checked FleetFarm and their $35 for 70 quarts. Steve W. indicated that we can’t fix the hinges of the coolers anymore. Motion passed to purchase additional coolers.

Steve F. also suggested that we should add removable shelves to the troop trailer to aid for the summer camp with a cost of ~$25. Steve W. indicated that plywood shelves could also work, with hinges and chains. Wyeth asked if adding a false floor to the trailer would be a good idea to store poles. It was agreed that the trailer was already too short to add a false floor. Motion passed to buy shelves.

John Y. indicated that we should use the trailer for storage of bulky items to free up the Ark garage.

Rich L. asked if it was OK to buy rope for the upcoming lashing. Motion passed.

Treasures Report:

$5200 in troop account plus $1400 in scout accounts.

Newsletter:

Kelvin indicated that the Oct. newsletter will be published in the next week or two. Steve W. will get a deep star / life meeting date in November to publish in the newsletter.