Ore-Ida Council Venturing Committee Minutes
June 26, 2008
Attendees
Lane Vinson, Jason Miller, Gary Miller, Steve Messinger, Dotty Jones, Mike Ryan, Ryan Lancaster, Laura
Morris
Opening:
Steve Messinger began the meeting by sharing handouts with those present including the agenda, minutes
from the May 2008 meeting, and printouts of the Hill Creek Challenge logo and web site. Gary Miller
introduced himself as a new attendee. The agenda was reviewed for any suggestions or changes and the
minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
Announcements included the cancellation of Ranger Qwest due to lack of participation and the availability
of the Hill Creek Challenge web site. It was also noted that the YMCA is running a ropes course similar to
a COPE course at a facility near Mountain Cove School. Costs are $50 and $35 per hour for the high and
low courses respectively.
Business Items:
Kodiak Trek
There was a discussion of the Kodiak Trek. A tentative schedule has been constructed by Bev Barrett. The
schedule will be distributed to participants when it is ready. Bev is also collecting materials for the
participants use on course. It was mentioned that there is an equipment list in the SRHAB leader’s guide
that should be used by Kodiak participants. Those who need a dry bag to protect gear during rafting can
find them at various outlets, such as REI, Sierra Outpost in Meridian and Idaho River Sports.
Venturing Training Day
Ryan Lancaster discussed the trek that he will be attending in July in Montana and went on to detail the
Venturing Training Day that is planned for October 18th in the Nampa area. To focus attention on fullfeatured Venturing training, the fall training sessions in each district will not include Venturing training.
Instead, Venturing leaders will be encouraged to attend the training day in Nampa.
Ryan is trying to recruit a team of 8 people to conduct the Venturing training as well as recruit leaders to
attend the training. He requests that any suggestions for trainers be forwarded to him.
Inclusion of a VLSC course in the Venturing Training Day was also discussed. It was suggested that the
VLSC could be done as an overnight event the night before the training day, and the adult leaders would
then already be on site for the training the next day. It was also suggested that family activities could be
arranged during the day to provide a full-featured family event.
Powderhorn
There was a short discussion of the potential Ore-Ida Council Powderhorn course. The soonest that we
could realistically host a course would be in 2010, and feedback from other courses indicates that summer is
the more practical time for a course. Concern was expressed about possibly conflicting with the 2010
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National Jamboree or the Wood Badge course preparations. Gary Miller expressed the opinion that
relatively few leaders participate in either of these events, so it may not be worth worrying about the
conflict.
Hill Creek Challenge
Jason Miller and Lane Vinson reviewed the status and plans for the Hill Creek Venturing Challenge. They
plan for a Crew President’s meeting August 15-16 at the site to plan the stations. Presidents should bring
their own food and plan to camp overnight. There will be a setup weekend for adult leaders September 5-6
to prepare all the stations. The Hill Creek web site includes a method for participants to indicate what
supplies then can bring. It was mentioned that Anthony will be in charge of Miniature Orienteering.
There was a discussion about promotion and attendance at the Challenge. Lane stated that he would be
pleased with almost any number of attendees, and did not expect more than 40 to 50 participants. To
engage interest and support in LDS-sponsored Venturing Crews, it was recommended that calling the Stake
Presidents would be best, while mailing to community crews may be sufficient. Lane would like a
registration deadline of September 5th or 6th, and the mailing address to send registration forms and money is
66 Hill Creek Rd, Horseshoe Bend. Checks should be made payable to Hill Creek Challenge. Forms that
are mailed should be postmarked by September 3rd.
Reports:
Ryan reported that only 4 or 5 gold-border shoulder patches are left, but there are still about 250 of the
green-border patches left. It’s time to start pushing the sales again, before Venturing’s 10th Anniversary is
over! Profits so far from the shoulder patches are in the hundreds of dollars.
Dotty reported that the Teen Leaders Council meeting for June was cancelled because it conflicted with
Ranger Qwest, and was not held even though Ranger Qwest was cancelled. She said that the July TLC
meeting would also probably be cancelled because it is very close to the end of the Florida Seabase trip that
she and other TLC members are attending. She indicated that the decline in Teen Leaders Council
membership is a concern, since the current officers are almost the only members that have attended
meetings for many months. Lane suggested that the Hill Creek Venturing Challenge might present a good
opportunity to promote the TLC. A booth to present information and encourage participation could be set
up as part of the Hill Creek course.
The next meeting will be August 28, 2008, starting at 7 p.m. at the council office.
Laura Morris
Council Venturing Committee
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