Troop 1 Parents Meeting

Monday November 24, 2003

 

PRESENT:  Anne Cook, Jamie Cook, Craig Drewelow, Mary Euritt, Dana Jenson, Chris Klaren, Steve Murphy, Lisa Musgrave

 

OLD BUSINESS:

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

 

2) Treasurer's report – Dana assured us the troop is solvent.

 

3) Review activities for last month:

3.a) Rank Advancements – No rank advancements last month, however a number of merit badges were earned and awarded.

 

3.b) Merit Badge College, Nov 1 – Another great merit badge college at Hawkeye Community College, organized this year by Troop 1’s very own Craig Drewelow.  347 scouts attended Merit Badge College and they worked on 550 merit badges.  19 Troop 1 scouts registered, with 16 of them actually participating (3 no-shows).  Of the 16 scouts attending, 25 merit badges were attempted with 23 of them earned that Saturday, with the 2 incompletes only needing a small amount of work to complete.  The troop had a completion rate of 92% that compared very favorably with the overall 72% completion rate for the college.  Great job scouts, and thank you Craig!

 

3.c) Ingawanis Work Weekend Campout Nov 15-16.  The scouts helped erect barbed-wire fence around the camp and cleared brush along the fence line for 4 hours.  Afterwards it was time for electronic games and videos for the rest of the day.  Steve Murphy coordinated the wild game feast that featured swan, grouse, duck, deer, pork, and turkey.  5 of the Pack 25 Webelos II’s enjoyed the day with the troop to give them a glimpse of the scout experience.

 

3.d) Ad Altare Dei awards presentation Nov 16.  Six (6) Troop 1 scouts received the Catholic religious award at 11:00 AM mass on Nov 16.  All of the scouts in archdiocese that received this award in the last year are invited to attend a recognition from the Archbishop at St. Raphael’s Cathedral in Dubuque on Jan 25.  Steve met with Mrs. Oppold to discuss requirements for the Pope Pious XII award for which several of the scouts have expressed interest.  Steve also volunteered to work with the non-Catholic scouts in the troop that have interest in pursuing their religious awards.

 

4) Review scheduled activities for current month:

4.a) Set up church basement for Santa’s Workshop, Nov 30 6:15 PM.  Scouts need to show up before the scout meeting to help out (service hours are always available!).

 

4.b) Planet X, Dec 6 – Information will be available after the Nov 30 troop meeting.

 

4.c) Troop Christmas Party – Dec 21 was selected for the Christmas party and Secret Santa gift exchange.

 

4.d) Set up chairs for Christmas masses Dec 21 and take them down Dec 26.  Scouts need to show up at 6:00 PM in the church basement before the Christmas party to help take down tables and set up chairs.  The time for the Dec 26 tear down will be established later.

 

5) Popcorn sales update – The troop sold $831 of popcorn at St. Ed’s after each weekend mass about 6 weeks ago.  70% of those profits will split among the participating scouts.  The Take Order popcorn forms must be returned no later than Sunday Nov 30, our next scout meeting.  Popcorn will be available for scouts to pick up from the Klaren house at 441 Derbyshire Rd on Sat Dec 6 after 11:00 AM.  Scouts will then deliver the popcorn, collect the payment, and then return the popcorn money to Chris Klaren no later than Dec 21 at the troop Christmas party.

 

6) Wreath sales update – The Christmas wreaths have arrived.  Contact Lisa Musgrave at 233-2793 to make arrangements to pick up.  Wreath money is to be returned to Lisa no later than Dec 21 at the troop Christmas party.

 

7) January Campout/Activity – There are currently no activities scheduled for January.  The group discussed a cabin campout and inviting Webelos to help them complete their camping requirement for Arrow of Light.  This will be brought up during a December meeting to see what the scouts want to do.

 

8) Philmont 2004 Troop 1 registrations update – Adults currently registered for Philmont:  Al, Jamie, Steve, and Chris.  Scouts:  Kevin, Alex, Brian, Lucas, Bobby Pedersen, Josh Musgrave.  We have two more youth positions that need to be filled, as they will cost the troop $475 each if not filled.  If no other Troop 1 scouts take these openings by January 1, we will offer them to scouts outside the troop.  As these scouts will not be accompanied by an adult from their troop, they and their parents will need to sign a behavioral agreement similar to the one for Boundary Waters.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

1) Troop policy for scouts with drivers licenses – As a number of our older scouts either have, or are close to obtaining, their drivers license, a question was asked in the last 6 weeks what the policy is for scouts driving to scout events.  The group discussed the BSA policy that recommends that all drivers must be 18, with the exception of 16 year old drives being allowed to drive if they have 6 months experience, no records of accidents or moving violations, and parental permission granted to the leader, driver, and riders.  In addition the leader in charge must be at least 21 years of age.  The group discussed issues with the stipulations for 16 year-olds and felt it was in the best interest of the scouts and the troop to encourage everyone to ride with the adult drivers as we have done in the past.  The only exception that will be allowed is if under-18 scouts need to arrive late or leave early from an activity.  In this case, only the scout and his family members would be allowed in the car driven by the under 18 scout to or from the scout activity.  Please contact a troop committee member if there are any questions.

 

2) Flapjacker pancake breakfast ticket sales.  The group discussed possible ways of increasing ticket sales, including selling tickets after church, selling at HyVee, and selling at WalMart.  Craig will check with HyVee to see if a Saturday is available in February, and Chris or Sharon will check with WalMart for a February date and also to determine if they will still match the scout sales.

 

3) TroopMaster troop management software – Craig and Chris recently purchased and donated a copy of this troop management software to Troop 1 to better track troop activities and rank advancements.  Afterwards to facilitate information management among troop leaders, an add-on package called DotNet was purchased to provide secure on-line access and update capabilities.  Craig & Chris split the $75 cost for TroopMaster, and we are asking for donations from parents to cover the DotNet cost of $70.  Please see Craig or Chris if you are willing to help defray the cost of DotNet.

 

ADJOURNMENT:  There was no further new business and the meeting was adjourned.

 

NEXT PARENTS MEETING:

Monday, January 5, 2004, 7:00 PM, St. Ed’s cafeteria

 

TABLED FOR FUTURE MEETINGS:

* Troop trailer insurance (Al, indefinite)

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