Troop 9
Committee Meeting
Minutes
Tuesday, December 14, 2004

In attendance:  Dave Filpus, Tom Hock, Luke Cathell, Wendy Painter, Lisa Ripperton, Dave Scocca, Wayne Vanderburg, Rose Wignall.

We started with introductions and a welcome to Rose Wignall.

Prior month minutes: The November 2004 minutes were approved. All prior minutes are posted on the web site. If you have any changes, please let Dave Filpus know as we do want these notes to be as accurate as possible. If you e-mail directly to the web site, Dave Filpus will receive the corrections.

A new recording secretary is still needed.  Dave Scocca is taking the minutes this month.

Treasurer's Report:  We have a current balance of $5293.29.  This does not include expected popcorn money of $466.  Dues have been collected from all but two Scouts.

Schedule and trips: We returned successfully from Mount Rogers; the weather was good, but cold.  Next trip is Saturday-Monday the 15-17 of January to Grandfather Mountain.  There will be a 1.5 mile in and out backpacking trip, and day hikes will be done in between.  This is a repeat of the trip that got snowed out last year.  For Vertical Edge in February we need at least 25 people to be cost-effective.  Tom Hock will email to check with other troops.

The caving trip for Scouts 14 and older will be in February; Wayne agreed to work on planning this.

Uniforms:  Gale Risk has volunteered to be the uniform coordinator.

Advancement:  work on Communications and Personal Management is basically finished.  After the holidays work will start on Pioneering MB, as well as on Tenderfoot through First Class advancement needs.  There was a suggestion that Nathan Ripperton might be able to organize some orienteering activity during the holidays at the Risks'.

Recruiting:  We will have an open house for second-year Webelos during the troop meeting on Tuesday, February 8th.  Wayne Vanderburg will take flyers to Roundtable.  Dave Scocca will put announcements into Crossings about the open house.  Note that Scout Sunday is February 6th.

Old Business:  Popcorn funds.  Thanks to Wayne for supporting the popcorn sale.  The profit will go towards James' Scout camp fees.  In the future we will discuss the allocation of funds raised in advance of the popcorn sale; in the interim the issue will be tabled.

New Business:  Reimbursement for gasoline expenses on troop trips.  Dave Filpus suggested some program of reimbursement for longer trips, since the same people often drive and the price of gas has gone up.  We discussed various ways of funding this expense and of reimbursing.  The decision was to provide $0.10/mile reimbursement to drivers on trips longer than 100 miles (one-way).

We decided that for this year the reimbursement can be made out of the troop's general treasury, and for next year we will consider ways to incorporate the additional cost into the troop budget.

There will be a Court of Honor on February 1, and Boards of Review towards the end of January.

Please join us at the next Committee Meeting scheduled for January 11, 2005.