Minutes

Pack 130 Committee Meeting

09 October 2013

Minutes

Present: John Moore (Chair), Ellen Egan, Kira Kruglikova, Jackie Lucey, Bernie Sheenan, Theresa Turco, Colin Turner

  1. The meeting opened with discussion of organizing Kandersteg and the issue of whether to increase prices from last year or not to reflect the new Kandersteg city tourist tax on accommodation. Colin Turner’s den, Webelos Den 14, is taking the lead on organizing the event. John outlined some of the concerns associated with arrangements, including the different types of accommodation and that certain parents were very focused on having family-style rooms, which are more expensive and add to the administrative work in assigning rooms. John will reactivate the Google registration form. Colin will look at the available information and make a decision about the Kandersteg price and whether to allow specific room requests or not. One possibility discussed was having a separate, higher price for specific room request, which is consistent with the Kandersteg pricing structure.
  1. The Committee reviewed the different charities proposed by various members of the pack (Operation Smile–doctors who correct cleft palates; Ethiopian Enterprises – sustainable development in Ethiopia; La Fondation Théodora – clowns to help children in hospitals and with disabilities; Room to Read – supporting literacy and gender equality in education; Chance to Dream – child-run charity for sports for children in the developing world; Global Hope Network International – sustainable development in rural villages). The Chair explained that, as a rule, the Pack does not sponsor charities that have the direct involvement of pack parents. Consequently, Chance to Dream was taken out of consideration. The Committee felt that the charity should be something that the boys could readily understand and related to and, as a result, decided to take Ethiopian Enterprises and Global Hope Network Initiative out of consideration. After further discussion about the three remaining, a vote was taken and Room to Read was selected by the majority.
  1. Once Room to Read was identified, there was some discussion about whether to have the dens do some sort of book/reading-related activity, which possibly could be presented or exhibited at pack meetings.
  1. The Committee discussed alternatives for a December pack event, given that there are no home games for Servette Hockey on Friday or Saturday in the first half of December. After consideration of various possibilities, there was a general feeling that December was too busy with events, in particular the Escalade run and the Escalade living history weekend. February is also problematic, given that different timings of the half-term holiday.
  1. One of the Tiger den parents, Dr. Malmberg, has a relationship with Servette Hockey and mentioned that the team is considering an outdoor event in mid-January at La Praille. Colin and Bernie agreed to look into this possibility further. If this event takes place, it would be in lieu of the March 1st Hockey Night and the Tiger den would organize it, switching events with the Wolves, who would then organize the Bike Rally in May.
  1. The December 13th pack meeting will include the Bobcat ceremony. This meeting will also include a presentation from a naturalist, whom Theresa has recruited. There was some discussion about making sure the presentation wasn’t too long and was pitched at the right level to be interesting and relevant to the Cubs.
  1. Theresa is organizing a roster for dens to do the flag ceremony at pack meetings and events and will circulate that when complete. There will be another roster for doing den exhibits/pre-meeting activities (Webelos II, December; Webelos I February; Bears, March; Wolves, April; and Tigers, May). Given that many of the activities that dens complete as part of their achievements include showing/presenting something, it shouldn’t be too hard for dens to find something to do.
  1. For Webelos I, the oval badge will be handed out at the January 17th pack meeting and the Compass emblem at the June 20th meeting.
  1. Training – it was announced that youth protection training must be kept up-to-date and all adult volunteers must complete it. Adults who have completed it in the last two years do not need to do so again this year. Information about the training is on the website.
  1. Preparations for the Pinewood Derby need to be scheduled, specifically a meeting among the parents who will be setting up and running the race. The meeting will be held on Sunday morning, November 3rd at John’s house. Ellen reported that Jack Daniels in her den agreed to take the lead on the Pinewood Derby and it was agreed that it would be useful if Colin Forsyth could be present to brief everyone.
  1. John briefed the Committee that Ecolint Le Chat might start charging the pack for use of the facilities, noting the amounts involved would be approximately $40/hour with possible charges for BBQ and/or other equipment.
  1. The dates for the next Committee Meetings were set at November 6th and December 4th. It was agreed to set the dates for the rest of the year at the December meeting.
  1. John announced that he’d been updating Scout Track and encouraged the dens to use it to keep track of the Cubs’ progress towards achievements, etc.
  1. The Committee reminded that the theme for the Blue and Gold banquet was “Around the World”, which would be announced at the December pack meeting, so as to give dens time to get their skits prepared, especially if they might want to buy costumes and props while on holidays.
  1. There was some discussion about whether the pack should have some sort of social media presence, possibly to facilitate updating people on event information. The members considered that the website and e-mail are presently sufficient for this purpose and the effort involved in social media (e.g. content management, access control, etc.) was too large compared with any potential benefits.
  1. The meeting closed with discussion of the website and whether it would be a good idea to have photos on the website. It was agreed that any photos showing identifiable faces would require permission of all shown in the photo before posting. One den is, however, sharing photos through a website and hasn’t had any concerns. In another den, some of the parents are absolutely adamant that their children should not have any web presence whatsoever. Given that wide range of views, it was decided to ask dens to provide photos to post that didn’t show any faces, but would still demonstrate the range of activities in the pack.