Troop 45 Troop Committee Meeting 28 Apr 08 The Hanover Boy Scout Troop 45 monthly troop committee meeting was held Monday, 28 April 2008 at the Black Community Center. In attendance were Yorke Brown (chairman), Tim Smith (Scoutmaster), Roger Thompson (Adv), Nick Collins (IR), Caroline Tischbein, Ned Dwyer, and George Desaulniers. Yorke called the meeting to order at 7:06. The minutes of the meeting of 24 Mar were approved as distributed. STANDING COMMITTEE AND OFFICER REPORTS Treasurer (Norma Young, by email): Current cash on hand $2,986.03 including $367.00 of popcorn credits to individual Scouts, plus $63.03 on account at the Scout Shop. Nick has completed the cleanup of the popcorn sale. The proceeds have been credited to the Scouts who made the sale. They may draw on these accounts up to 1 Jan 09 using the vouchers that Tim has to distribute. The accounts on the Banff Film Festival are closed, as are the past two campouts. Advancement (Roger Thompson): Billy Kerin's records have been updated and are in order. DWC is still checking with the Transatlantic Council on Kevin Dwyer's records. Roger is continuing to pursue this issue. Yorke discussed with Shawn Elder (DE) the mysterious blue cards that he received at Roundtable, and was told that returning blue cards was normal procedure. **Action RBT: Follow up again on the request for DWC to verify Kevin Dwyer's records. Scoutmaster (Tim Smith): The big event of the month was Crossover, which was held 4 Apr at Trumbull Hall. Ten new Scouts crossed over and are currently active with the troop. In addition we gained a walk-on. The Tenderfoot Training Program is in progress with the aim of getting the eleven new Scouts to Tenderfoot by June Parents Night. Preliminary planning for the summer Long Trek have begun. There are tentative proposals for hiking, canoeing, or a combination. There has also been some discussion of an early summer trip and a late summer trip to meet the needs of different groups of Scouts. Upcoming events include Greenup Day, a hike of Mt. Cardigan, Tenderfoot Skills Camp, and Muster Day. Chairman (Yorke Brown): There was nothing of note to report from Roundtable. Kevin O'Leary has summer camp preparations well in hand. Nick urged that we make sure that all adults who might possibly attend camp even for a short time be listed on the alternate adults list so as to streamline getting them admitted to camp if they do visit. **Action YJB: Alert Kevin O'Leary to the need to register alternate adults. There was a brief discussion of when to start at Storrs Pond. Tim wants to start as soon as practical. **Action TPS: Contact Matt Marshall and determine the earliest date we could start. OLD BUSINESS o Popcorn. Popcorn is complete. Scouts who sold have a total or $367 on account with the troop treasury. This item is closed. o ECoH for Hidde deMuinck. All agreed that the event came off very well. George suggested that the format and content should be the baseline for future courts of honor. This item is closed. o Crossover. Tim reported a very successful event in which we crossed over 10 new Scouts. Yorke reported that he had received most of the application forms but still had a few to track down. Thanks to Frank Roberts for distributing applications on Crossover Info Sheets to the new parents. This item is closed. o Parents Meeting: Yorke held the parents meeting as planned on 9 Apr. The meeting went well, but was quite poorly attended, despite all our efforts to communicate to parents the importance of attending. Thanks to Caroline for mailing postcard announcements to all parents in the troop. Since few parents attended the meeting, Yorke is still trying to distribute Parent Information Sheets. Caroline offered to distribute to parents she knew and came into contact with regularly. **Action CT: Distribute Parent Info Sheets to parents she sees. **Action YJB: Get copies of PI Sheets to Caroline. NEW BUSINESS o Communications. We continued our discussion of methods of improving communications with parents. Yorke remarked that the parents who attended the parents meeting unanimously preferred email. He also noted that several people had urged using a standardized header on email announcements. Yorke has assembled nearly complete and verified email lists and will post them on the rosters page of the troop web site. **Action YJB: Post email lists on roster page. o Parents Night. There is some question as to whether the current 18 Jun date for Parents Night will conflict with end-of-school activities. After some discussion we agreed to the following plan: **Action CT: Check with school and get the facts. Report to Yorke. **Action YJB, TPS: Make a rescheduling decision as appropriate. **Action YJB: Make an email announcement. **Action CT: Make phone calls reminding parents of the importance of the event and urging them to attend. o Crossover Bridge and Klondike Sled. Nick reported that the crossover bridge had been damaged at last year's event, but that he had repaired it and placed it in storage with the Lion's Club. He has also repaired the Klondike sled and placed it in storage with the Lion's Club. Both he and Byron Young have access to this storage when we need this equipment. o Nick reported that he has received complaints from the Community Center about noise in the hallways during troop meetings. Tim said that he was aware of the problem and was taking steps to improve general behavior and keep Scouts out of the hallways during meetings. He agreed that we should establish formal rules of comportment for use of the hallways during meetings. **Action TPS: Establish rules for use of the hallways during meetings. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:02. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, 26 May at 7:00 pm. ACTION REVIEW Completed Items **Action YJB: Prepare a Troop Resource Survey. **Action TPS: Urge Mike Campbell to hold crossover at a time when it will be well attended even if that date is later than 9Apr. **Action CT: Mail a reminder about the parents meeting on 9 Apr. **Action TPS: Call new parents to remind them of the parents meeting. **Action RBT: Call the council and determine the status of transfer documentation and advancement records. Find out what needs to be done. Outstanding Items **Action YJB: Find a secretary for the committee. New Items **Action RBT: Follow up again on the request for DWC to verify Kevin Dwyer's records. **Action YJB: Alert Kevin O'Leary to the need to register alternate adults. **Action TPS: Contact Matt Marshall and determine the earliest date we could start. **Action CT: Distribute Parent Info Sheets to parents she sees. **Action YJB: Get copies of PI Sheets to Caroline. **Action YJB: Post email lists on roster page. **Action CT: Check with school and get the facts relevant to scheduling Parents Night. Report to Yorke. **Action YJB, TPS: Make a rescheduling decision for Parents Night as appropriate. **Action YJB: Make an email announcement of Parents Night. **Action CT: Make phone calls reminding parents of the importance of Parents Night and urging them to attend. **Action TPS: Establish rules for use of the hallways during meetings.