Committee Chair Report

Scout Sunday is tomorrow. Scouts are to arrive in full Class A at 10:45 on Sunday at SLRBC.

Website / Newsletter

Mr. Warrick reported that the Troop website is running smoothly again. Last weekend it was down for most of the day (on Saturday) with the internet virus running around the globe. Last month, pictures were added from the All Coppell Campout, Bryce Looney’s Eagle Project and the Court of Honor. Mr. Warrick also added a site map that should help visitors find key pages. The quick links can be found at the bottom of the respective web page.
To the SPL I would like to reacquaint him to a section on the web just for patrols. It is called Scout Central. There he can post important information. So far only one patrol has utilized this tool.
In the future Mr. Warrick is working on cascading style sheets, re-proportioning pictures for better uniformity and a subtle adjustment to the home page for better viewer appeal.
The website hosting charges for the year of 2003 and the domain renewal for two years were paid by Mr. Warrick. He will be reimbursed by the Troop.

Scoutmaster Report

· Mr. Wilt provided all input to the Scoutmaster Report. SPL Elections will be conducted on Tuesday evening, 04-Feb-2003. Have two (2) good candidates.

· Other Scouts can sign up for other leadership positions on Tuesday evening. It is imperative for SPL and Patrol Leaders to be present at the camp outs and summer camp. They should consider this fact when they are putting in their names for the leadership positions. There will be two new Scout Leader positions offered (Troop Guides). They will become the leaders of the new scouts coming into the Troop.

· There will be no Librarian position offered because there is very little for the librarian to do.

· The time for the leadership position begins on 01-March-2003. This is a preparation month for taking over on March 1^st. Leadership training may be set up for 23-Feb-2003 for the new leaders.

· There will be a reorganization of the Patrols. There are rules for the creation of the Patrols. The rules are as follows:

1. Staff Patrol consists of SPL, ASPL’s, and JASM.

2. Two Troop Guides will be in and lead the New Scout Patrol.

3. All other Scouts must be in one of the other defined Patrols.

4. If you are 14+ and Life or Eagle, you do not have to be in the Venture Patrol.

5. Patrol Names may be anything that BSA already has a Patrol Patch for.

6. Scouts will always camp and cook as patrols on campouts. Troop Guides with the new Scouts.

7. All Scout activities will be by Patrol.

8. We need a minimum of six (6) active Scouts (60% participation plus on campouts and meetings) in each Patrol.

9. If sufficient desire exists, we can create another (5^th) patrol.

10. Inactive Scouts will be placed in the Inactive Patrol. Inactive is defined as less than 20% participation in both camping and meetings.

11. Advancement holds the official statistics on participation.

Outdoor Activities

· Mrs. Schreibfeder reported Feb 8^th is Group Dynamix. 8:00 p.m. on the 8^th to 8:00 a.m. on the 9^th of February. Will meet at the SLRBC. Fee is $29.00 per Scout and it must be paid by this Tuesday, 04-Feb-2003. Check must be made payable to the Troop. Scouts are allowed to bring in drinks and food. The Scouts can order pizza if they want. There are two permission slips that must be completed. The yellow one is our Troop form and the white one is for Group Dynamix. Scouts must have Class A uniforms to travel to and from the Group Dynamix facility and then they can change into Class B T-Shirt and jeans and tennis shoes to facilitate the activities they will participate in. Tour Leader is Chris Wilt. Assistant will be recruited on Tuesday evening.

· March’s campout theme is “Survival” and will be moved from 29-March to 30-March. Dr. Trotter’s land is where we’ll have the survivor campout (Rush Creek Ranch). There will be a service project to do as well as survival camp out. We’ll be cutting down trees and will finish up whatever was done by the Troop that started the service project. We’ll determine what needs to be done. Anything that is cut must be cut flush with the ground. New Scouts will do tent camping and not the Survival campout.

· April 11-13^th is Jim Bob’s land in Cisco.

· May’s campout will be canoeing. Weekend of 16^th through the 18^th. Rochelle’s is where we can rent canoes. They shuttle people 20-miles up river on the Brazos River. Camp anywhere you want on Saturday night and then canoe back on Sunday. Cost is around $25.00 per scout with two per canoe. Go out Friday night and camp, break camp early Saturday morning. Will match an older (Venture crew type scout) with newer Scouts. All down stream so they have to direct the canoe and not paddle a great deal. A motion was made to reserve 20 canoes at a deposit cost of $400 (Mrs. Davis) and was seconded by Mr. Rabbitt. Motion carried with no dissenters.

Transportation Report

· Mr. Rabbitt said we’re doing OK for drivers for next weekend’s camp out.

Scouting for Food

· Mr. Doug Powers is coordinating this for Troop 840 this year. Bag delivery starts at 9:00 a.m. today. Food pickup will start next Saturday from the SLRBC at 9:00 a.m.

Buck Auction

· Dr. Lacey announced that the annual Troop 840 Buck Auction will be held on Monday, 12-May-2003.

Treasurer’s Report

· Mr. Langworthy made adjustments to the budget for the year. It appears the Troop is still solvent and will continue operations as normal. Annual fees to Scouts will be increased to $30 per Scout family versus $25 per Scout family.

Equipment Report

· Mr. Kim reported that storage paid for the rest of the year. Equipment replacement sheet is on clipboard that will be put into trailer. This process will be started in March. Mr. Kim will check the clipboard sheet after each camp out.

· We need to identify who last had the equipment when poles are missing, etc.

· Chris Ghaly said that there is another Pack that wants to utilize some of our storage area. Pack 850 will pay $300 to store their Pinewood Derby track in our storage area. Mr. Dillon or Mr. Kim will arrange to get a key for the Pack’s representative to access the track when necessary.

OA Report

· Mr. Wilt provided that OA elections were held last week. More Scouts were elected than last year (only one last year) but no count given. OA requirements were provided. The Scouts that met all of the requirements for eligibility for OA with the exception of active participation were excluded from the nomination sheet.

Advancements

Ms. Cauley said that we have seven Scouts going to Oak Leaf. She needs to have physicals for the Scouts that will be going.
Mrs. Ghaly has joined Advancements.
Adult Leader training is coming up on the 22^nd of February. Please give Mr. Wilt your name if you plan to attend.

Membership

Mrs. Lacey said there will be a lot of paperwork this year. Everything should be returned by Spring Break. It all has to be in by the end of March.
We need to make sure we have planned events for the meetings this Spring because we’ll have Webelos joining us from week to week.

Senior Patrol Leader

Not present and no representative here for this meeting.

High Adventure / Venture

· May have reported this activity after I left to drive Scouts for Scouting for Food. Please provide an update to me so I can include this in the minutes if appropriate.

Additional Announcements

· Dr. Lacey said Camp Bartle meeting will be held on Tuesday evening. The Parents will meet before the Scouts join the meeting at 8:30 p.m. The Scouts will be gone from June 18^th through the 28^th. One half of the money is due by 21-Feb-2003.

Attendees

Committee Chair Report

Membership