4th Grand Falls Scouts & Venturers2019 World Jamboree and the 2019 European Adventure!

Nov 10th Business Sponsorship

Please review our policy for business sponsorship BEFORE approaching businesses.  Thanks!

CHURCHES – With our visit to the Vatican, there are several churches in our community that have expressed interest in supporting our trip.  If you are a member of a church, please let me know ASAP so we can include you in our letter to your church.  Doesn’t matter if you only attend once a year, a member is a member.  All funding received from churches will go directly to the Trip General Fund, unless the church specifically requests that the funds be distributed in another way (we always honour our donors’ requests).

LARGE CORPORATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS (any business/organization/fund that requires you to submit an application form) – We require Council approval to apply for funding to ensure that we don’t duplicate efforts already underway by the NL Council.  Generally speaking, any fund that requires an application form won’t allow funding for travel, but these are still great sources for equipment or for funding our program.

PRIVATE OR SMALLER BUSINESSES (businesses that are able to directly approve donations) – 90% of the donation will go towards the trip fundraising account of the youth who arranged the donation, 5% will go to the youth’s section and 5% to Group Committee.  This is of course unless the business specifically requests that the funds be distributed in another way (we always honour our donors’ requests).  All businesses are to be contacted IN-PERSON and in FORMAL uniform if they are reasonably local (ie: Exploits Valley).

TO CLAIM A BUSINESS, log in to the Fundraising System and click on “Business Contacts”

Read more about the great sponsorship opportunities for business!

Nov 9th Our Europe Video

As part of the trip requirements (shared back in February 2018), all participants are required to make a 3-5 minute video about a portion of our adventure.  This is a mandatory exercise, but also a fun one!  The idea here is that the segment will be stitched together with the other segments and in the end we will have a video presentation for our entire trip.  With that in mind, avoid fancy title sequences or intros/outros and keep in mind that your segment will likely be somewhere in the middle.

While music is welcome, please make sure you are only using music on public licence as our intention is to display the video publicly and do not want to violate copyright laws and such.

While you don’t need to show yourself in your video, you do need to be the one doing all the talking.  You can include other images, videos, etc, but all the talking in your video must be you.  You will need to have researched your topic well enough to answer questions about the location, so don’t think of letting your parents do the work for you, lol!

If you do not have access to video editing and/or recording software, let us know and we can set you up.  Just do all the research, collect the pictures, videos, music you want, and we can plan an evening at the church to put it all together.

It is also acceptable to use a “Vlog” format and talk directly to the camera.  Whatever you do, make it fun, interesting and informative.

We would like to have at least a few done by our November Europe meeting, and most should be done by our December meeting.  For those that love deadlines, we’ll say the deadline is mid-January, but you should really get it done well before that point.  I have already seen one of the youth videos made for Kandersteg and it was good fun 🙂

Surprise, surprise, we will be using the videos as a fundraiser as well as to build awareness of our awesome adventure.  We will be showing the full video publicly for donations, and also offering it for sale (for friends, family, etc) on DVD.  Proceeds will be used to support everyone’s trip.

Everyone’s chosen elements are below:

• Rome, Italy – Connor L (don’t spend any time on Vatican City or St. Peter’s Basilica as they are covered by another member)
• Vatican City: Quick Summary – Keiran H (don’t spend any time on St. Peter’s Basilica as it is covered by another member)
• St. Peter’s Basilica & Square – Riley B (the story of Vatican City is covered by another member)
• Switzerland: Quick Summary – Ryan R (skip Swiss history as it’s covered by another member.  Also skip the major cities as they are all covered as well)
• Switzerland: History- Michael M
• Kandersteg: Summary – Lex N  (don’t spend time on activities as they covered by other members)
• Kandersteg: On-Site Activities – Nolan S (the story of Kandersteg itself is covered by another member)
• Kandersteg: Off-Site Activities – Cameron S (the story of Kandersteg itself is covered by another member)
• Bern, Switzerland – Heidi G
• Brig, Switzerland – Nick P
• Geneva, Switzerland – Scouter Mark
• Thun, Switzerland – Gavin B
  Ireland: Quick Summary – Liam R  (history is covered by another member, stick to the present.  Also skip the other Ireland sites covered by other members)
• Ireland: History – Paris J
• Croagh Patrick, Ireland – Brady M
• Dublin, Ireland – Scouter Lawrence (skip attractions covered by other members)
• Newgrange, Ireland – Scouter Erica
• Galway, Ireland – Lily W
• Kerry Cliffs & Area, Ireland – Ben O
• Leap Castle – Ella N
• Belfast, Ireland – Liam G
• Giant’s Causeway – Maiya K
• Budapest, Hungary* & Glascow, Scotland – Brandon P
• Malmo, Sweden* & London, England – Steven D
• Postojna Caves, Slovenia* & Paris, France – Alex P
• Zagreb, Croatia* & Villach, Austria – Josie
• Ypres, Belgium* & Munich, Germany – Scouter Gerry
• Auschwitz, Poland* & Krakow, Poland – Zoey H
• Prague, Czech Republic* & Luxembourg City – Scouter Jason
• Berlin, Germany* & Copenhagen, Denmark – Brady B
• Liechtenstein* & Sargans, Switzerland – Declan M
• Netherlands: Quick Summary – Scouter Robin  (avoid history or the cities covered below by other members)
• Netherlands: History – Rebecca P (don’t spend time on WWII or Canada’s liberation of the Netherlands as it’s covered by other members)
• Netherlands: Canada’s special relationship with the Netherlands – Anthony B 
• Amsterdam, Netherlands – Scouter Dawn
• Den Hague, Netherlands – Noah B
• Rotterdam, Netherlands – Scouter Dave
• Utrecht, Netherlands – Scouter Shannon

Backpackers all have two destinations and are making two videos each.  Total combined time though should still be 5 minutes.  The destination with an * should be your focus, so if you don’t spend equal time on both, make sure the * location gets the most attention.

When you have finished your draft let us know so we can offer some feedback.  The Expedition Leadership Team will approve all the videos in the end.  This isn’t school, so there is no mark, however the requirement is not completed until your video has been approved, so please do your best 🙂

Looking forward to seeing everyone’s video!

Apr 18th Grocery Bagging – April 19th, 2018

Grocery Bagging at Dominion is always one of our best direct-donation fundraising efforts!  Basically the way it works is that our youth provide a “Good Turn” by bagging groceries, putting away carts, cleaning up, picking up litter (when weather allows), etc.  While this is on the go we have donation cans available to allow Dominion’s customers to donate if they so choose.  Most do decide to donate, and donate a fair bit!

Most youth enjoy grocery bagging, but it is hard work.  While grocery bagging we are effectively representing Dominion, so there are some specific rules and requirements that we need to work with.  First off, youth need to big enough to properly get the job done.  The minimum age is technically 12, but we traditionally allow younger youth to bag as well providing they “look old enough”.  Also, youth will need to have a short training session with the Scouter volunteers at the store to ensure they can bag the groceries in a professional manner.  FORMAL uniforms are requird.  Youth with long hair must have it neatly tied back.  Cell phones are not permitted while bagging, nor are headphones.  Youth may have a sealed bottle of water with them, but may not have any other food or drinks while bagging.  Gum is also not permitted.  Conversation on the lines must be kept appropriate and professional.  Most importantly, every single customer must be greeted in a friendly manor, every single donor must be thanked, and all Dominion staff must be treated with respect.  Our relationship with Dominion is very important to the group, so youth that do not behave professionally or simply cannot do the work effectively will need to leave early.  No warnings will be given for youth who break the rules; they will be sent home immediately.  

Seeing as we now have 33 youth and 9 Scouters traveling for 2019 we will need to build a schedule to prevent having too many youth on hand.  We can accommodate a maximum of 14 youth at a time, but only if they are quite busy.

For youth that are too small to grocery bag, we do need at least one youth at our donation table and this is a GREAT job for the smaller youth.  Also we will likely be able to get outside to pick up litter, which is appropriate for all ages.

UNLIKE USUAL we need you to mark exactly what you are going to work at Dominion.  Each half hour slot will only allow 14 youth to select it.  Please show up for exactly what you request.  If you require a supper break, mark yourself not available for that time (regular breaks will be given for everyone working longer than 2hrs, but if you require longer please schedule it off).  Given the short time line, there will be no schedule made other than exactly what you request on the Doodle Poll.  So no good emailing me for extra hours, please use the poll 🙂

YOUTH – Please mark your shift on Doodle => https://doodle.com/poll/rck7pc8su95nn4vv  (Separate link for Scouters below)

GROCERY BAGGING PROCEEDS

• 80% to be split by those who work based on the numbers of hours worked.  Youth who stay four hours will make twice as much as youth who stay two hours.
• 10% will be donated to the President’s Choice Children’s Charity
• 5% to the youths’ section based on the number of hours worked per section.
• 5% to be split between Group Committee and the Camping Equipment fund

FUTURE DATES

Please mark on your calendar that we will also be grocery bagging on June 28th

SCOUTERS

We can accommodate up to five Scouters at a time, and we need a minimum of three.  For now, this is only open to the eight Scouters attending Europe and our WJ Scouter, but if there are still shifts available as of 11pm tonight (Wednesday) we will open it up to non-trip Scouters as well.  Please visit this Doodle link to make your commitment => https://doodle.com/poll/rt283gppma5pbn4x.   For Scouters , we will split up the hours equally based on who is available.  Mark your availability and I’ll have the schedule out by Noon on Thursday.

Mar 29th Calling All Scouters!

Hi Scouters,

Well it is finally time to begin filling up our team of Scouters for the youths’ incredible European Adventure next summer!  Scouters on this trip will be mentoring our Scouts and Venturers in a trip of a lifetime – this will be an amazing trip, and an amazing experience.  If you are selected to help support this trip, the majority of your costs will be covered.  You will be responsible for your own spending money, and depending on the pre-trip, could be responsible for some food or admission costs.  For the most part though, the kids are covering your bill.  Given that the kids are paying for us to go, the onus is really on us to ensure we are spending their hard earned money wisely by using every moment we have on this trip to make it the best possible trip for all the youth attending.

Before you put your name forward for consideration, please make sure you understand the selection process, the trip requirements, the commitment, and your role.  Also, for our youth Scouters, in order to apply as an Expedition Scouter for this trip you will need to be 18 years or older by July 20, 2019.

Selection Process: First step is that we put forward an open invitation for Scouters to apply (this is it, lol!).  At the same time youth attending the trip are voting on the ranking that they would like Scouters to attend.  If a Scouter ranks really high by the youth, but does not put their name forward, we will ask them to apply.  Any Scouter who is eligible for ratio in Scouts AND Venturer Scouts can apply to be an Expedition Scouter for Europe.  That means you must have your Woodbadge I done for both Scouts & Venturer Scouts OR Woodbadge I for the Canadian Path completed BEFORE the interview.  Once we have our candidates we will schedule interviews.  You will be interviewed by the Expedition Leadership Team (7 youth + 2 Scouters) to determine your suitability for the trip.  This process makes selection a LOT more fair as it allows Scouters to really demonstrate everything they can offer to the trip – for our newer Scouters, who may not be well known (and therefore not well ranked), the interview gives them an opportunity to shine.  Candidates will be chosen based on their interview, their ranking in the youth vote, and by peer evaluation.  Keep in mind that it is our youth leaders who are interviewing our adults volunteers – even just being part of this meeting will be awesome as a Scouter – talk about youth leadership at its best 😊 We are probably looking for a total of nine Scouters to attend the trip, but the final number will be determined by the Expedition Leadership Team, and may be adjusted down the road based on registration numbers and pre-trip plans.  Best guess at this point is three for Ireland, four for Switzerland, two for Backpacking – please keep in mind that Scouters will be assigned to a pre-trip based on what will be best for the participants as determined by the Expedition Leadership Team – Scouters will not be choosing their own pre-trips, and might NOT end up on the same pre-trip as their own youth.

Trip Requirements:  Expedition Scouters will be required to meet ALL of the youth trip requirements detailed here => http://gfwscouting.ca/adventure/?p=89  Please keep in mind that all means all, so review the requirements carefully.  The final requirements for Scouters will be set at the first meeting of the Expedition Leadership Team, but I would expect those requirements to includes:

• Attending a mandatory Scouter Development Camp – six months notice to be provided
• Being an EXPERT on the trip itinerary for your assigned pre-trip as well as for the Haarlem Jamborette
• Have a current CPR-C First Aid Certificate (valid at the time of the trip)
• Must have demonstrated their commitment to participate in everything the youth will be expected to participate in
• Must have experience in Troop or Company and have a sincere understanding of the “Scout Method”
• Must be fully screened and registered for ratio in both Scouts and Venturer Scouts at the time of the trip
• Must have completed, or be mostly completed, their Woodbadge II (this is a requirement I will be recommending to the ELT because of the new structure of the WBII program.  It allows Scouters to work away at it on their own pace, and the end result is a fully rounded training experience that will really benefit the trip.)

Please note that the Expedition Leaders may add a few expedition-specific requirements if needed for safety or overall trip experience.

The Commitment: This cannot be understated, this is a HUGE commitment!  At a minimum, you will be looking at taking two and a half weeks off work and away from your family in the best part of the summer of 2019.  Additionally a minimum of three full weekends, two for the youth expeditions and one for the Scouter weekend.  There is also an expectation to be actively involved in the program, which means you will be expected to attend a minimum of 75% of regular meetings, events, and camps in your primary section.  You will be expected to attend as many of the Europe specific meetings as possible, with a personal goal of 100% (not required to attend them all, just a goal).  Most importantly, please keep in mind that if you are selected for the trip, that means that the youth REALLY want you specifically to attend their trip.  They are counting on you to stick with this, and building a trust relationship with you leading up to the trip.  While I understand that a change in life could happen that forces you to resign from the trip –  before you commit, please make sure you cannot foresee any reason that would force you to resign or prevent you from meeting all the trip requirements.  It really puts the trip in jeopardy when we lose a Scouter late in the game.  If you accept, please commit.

Your Role: Your role in Europe, and leading up to Europe, is be there as a Scouter to support the Scout Method.  You will be a mentor and a guide and the youth will lead.  Please note that you will NOT be attending as a parent, you will be attending as a Scouter.  Any slips by you or your youth in this regard can literally ruin the trip for another youth member.  A youth that is feeling homesick might be pushed over the edge if they see you treat your youth like your child, or see your child treat you like a parent.  You must treat every single youth on the trip equally, including your own child.  If you wouldn’t hug another Scout or Venturer Scout, please do not hug your child (in view of other youth or Scouters).  No matter how homesick your youth is, they may NOT sleep in your tent – if they need to sleep with Scouters for the night, they will sleep with other Scouters like any other youth.  If your youth is feeling ill or needs non-emergency help, they are to ALWAYS go to a Scouter other than you.  Obviously in an emergency our “momma-bear” instincts will take precedence and that is understandable, but otherwise, make sure your youth understands they MUST go to another Scouter.   You will not be permitted to be in your youths’ Patrol for camp.  You may end up on your youths’ pre-trip, or you may end up on a different pre-trip – this decision will be based on your personal strengths and experience and will be determined by the Expedition Leadership Team.  This is not a family trip, this is a Scouting expedition and we are lucky enough to be invited along on the kids’ trip on the kids’ dime – please make sure you and your youth completely understand this before you volunteer.

So, if you have read all that, and are still interested in volunteering, please let me know.  We are hoping to complete interviews the first two weeks in April after Easter Break so that all of us have a good long time to convince our employers (and our spouse) for the time off 😉

It’s my job to make sure you understand the role, and the down side of the role, but please also keep in mind that this trip will change you forever.  Being with the youth through their incredible adventure will give you satisfaction like you could never imagine.  While you won’t be there as a parent, you will get to see your youth experience all this first hand, and will have stories to share with each other for the rest of your lives.  I cannot stress enough how much you will appreciate attending.  There is a very, very big up-side to this as well 😊

Yours in Scouting,

Scouter Jason
Expedition Lead Scouter

Feb 14th Selecting Youth Leaders and Scouters

Some pretty major changes in the way we plan to select Youth Leaders and Scouters this year.  If you’re up for a long read, here is the process broken down:

1) Assemble the pre-trip Leadership Team to decide on general trip requirements and to create a “Selection Team”.  The pre-trip Leadership Team has traditionally consisted of the Troop Leadership Team and representatives from other sections sharing our trip.  For Europe ’19 we had a Cub and 2 Vents join the TLT.   They decided the “Selection Team” will be a group of Scouters and youth.  Youth are to be selected based on experience attending major trips and overall leadership experience.  Scouters are to be selected based on trip experience and more importantly, they need to have consistently demonstrated their commitment to youth leadership.  if possible, they want an equal youth:Scouter split, but absolutely there cannot be more Scouters than youth.

2) The Selection Team will meet and discuss what criteria each position would require based on the trip requirements set out by the pre-trip team and also based on the details of the trip.  These criteria would be communicated to all the youth before the voting.

3) All youth attending the trip will vote for the youth they would like to see in a leadership position similar to what we did for CJ’17/Ontario.   NEW is that on the ballot they would also have the option of indicating positions that they would like to apply for.  Also new is that all the Scouters interested in attending the trip will be asked to vote for youth as well.  The Scouters ballots would have their name on it and would only be used to provide the Selection Team with an additional perspective.

4) The Selection Team will tally the votes, and also compile a list of youth that were interested in positions.  If a youth received a lot of votes but did not apply for a position the Selection Team will reach out to them to encourage them to apply.  All youth that apply and generally meet the criteria for the position will be “interviewed” by the team.  Likely more of a roundtable approach than an interview, but it will give them valuable experience to help with real interviews down the road and will also allow youth to really sell their strengths and push for the position they want.  I appreciate that this will take some time, but I think the end result will be well worth it!

5) The final role for the Selection Team would be to decide on the youth leaders for the trip.  This will NOT be based purely on votes, but also on their interview and how well they would fit in as part of the ELT.   They would select one Expedition Leader per pre-trip (if we have more than one pre-trip) and also the Patrol Leaders we need for camp (based on number of youth registered).  Each Expedition Leader would choose an assistant, and this would make the Expedition Leadership team.  The Patrol Leaders would also need to decide amungst themselves who will serve as the Haarlem Jamborette Expedition Leader (or lead Patrol Leader).

6) First job for the ELT will be to select a Scouter to be responsible for the trip (Lead Expedition Scouter).  This would replace our current policy of always having the Section Lead attend.  The Scouter chosen to lead the trip will be responsible for being the primary parent contact, the one to make arrangements, complete paperwork and applications, etc.  While it is likely that at least for now the youth will choose the Section Lead, it won’t always be the case and allows for greater flexibility in years to come as it will encourage other Scouters to offer up trips and adventures.  Once they have a Scouter that will accept the role, the Scouter will pick an assistant so they have someone they know they can rely on and work well with.  The ELT could of course veto the choice for assistant but it would be unlikely.  These two Scouters would be VOTING members of the ELT.  The idea is here that the youth leaders would REALLY feel like the Scouters fully had their back as they would all be on the same level in the same team.  The Scouters would only be two votes while the youth would have 5 or more votes, so no danger to youth led.  Just an increase in adult support.

7) The ELT will meet to finalize the requirements for Scouters to attend the trip, then hold a vote with all the participants.   The Scouters will also vote (like they did for the youth leaders, once again only to provide additional perspective).  In addition, Scouters will be asked to mark their interest in participation.

8) The ELT will tally the votes, and also compile a list of Scouters that are interested in attending.  If a Scouter received a lot of votes but did not apply for a position the ELT would reach out to them to ask them to apply.  All Scouters that apply and generally meet the criteria for the position will be “interviewed” by the ELT.   This allows Scouters that may be newer to the program or have previously been part-time an opportunity to explain to the ELT why they would be a great fit for the trip.  Once again the decision will not be based purely on votes – the goal is to build the best possible team.

9) Once sufficient Scouters have said “yes”, we have our team and can announce it 🙂  Now the REAL work begins, lol!

Sounds complicated I know, but it will allow us to build the best possible team to facilitate our trip of a lifetime!