Committee Meeting Notes for October 18, 2001

This meeting was held in Room 50 at Maple East at 7:00 PM, and ended at around 8:15 PM. In attendance were:

• Darlene Carroll
• Marie Klinkman
• Kevin Lanighan
• Marian Morales
• Linda Pinski
• Bill Sullivan
• Jean-Claude Thill
• Mike Townsend
• Dave Yearke

The following items were discussed:

• Dave started the meeting with a reminder about the Popcorn fundraiser. The Den leaders have been asked to collect the forms for their Dens and deliver them to 136 MacArthur on October 27 (28th at the latest), and also to find out who didn't sell, so that we don't go looking for forms from them.
• Those who went on the U.S.S. Little Rock sleepover seemed to have a good time.
• We had a lot of interest in leader positions, as evidenced by the number of people who signed up. We now need to follow up and get them involved.
• The Summer Camping committee has the sign-up form from the Council, and will be picking a Pack resident camp session soon.
• The Advancement committee is doing a great job. Marian asked about the Instant Recognition beads, and it was generally agreed that they are a good thing.
• So far, we have 18 new members of our Pack, and 13 who have left, which makes our current count 51 Scouts. We may have more, as there are some forms that were mailed out and which haven't been returned.
• All web pages have been updated recently.
• According to our Treasurer, we're in pretty good shape. We talked about creating a budget for next year, so that we can better predict how the money will be spent.
• We talked about getting ideas for more events. It is hoped that we could have one Pack activity per month, preferably on a weekend. If we had an Activity chairperson, it would help a lot. We also talked about the Pack paying for Scouts at such events, where possible. It was also suggested that the PTA might be able to sponsor some events, or help in other ways. We also discussed going to a Sabres game, and Darlene had done some research into dates and prices; it's rather costly, but will continue to pursue the idea, especially if we know someone who has a suite.
• Kevin talked about upcoming Pack meetings:
  • He will arrange for the East Amherst Fire Department to give a fire safety presentation at the October meeting;
  • He is investigating having a lady who does leather crafts with the Scouts come to the November meeting; and
  • We will probably do the ZooMobile for the December meeting.
• Someone suggested that Nature Mary might be a great guest for a future Pack meeting.
• Den 4 will do the flag ceremony at the October Pack meeting, and Den 3 at the November one.
• Kevin has been doing a lot of work to organize the Dens. He proposed that maybe the Tiger dens could attend an older Scout Den meeting, to see what happens as they advance in rank.
• A spirited discussion about the Pinewood Derby ensued:
  • The cars will be given to the Den leaders at the October Pack meeting.
  • Dr. Gibbs had offered to create a Principal's Trophy; now that he's gone, we're wondering if Mr. Gaughan will be willing to continue with that idea.
  • Bill talked about how other Packs run one race for the entire Pack, instead of individual races for each rank. It was agreed that this is a good idea, which will make the process go faster.
  • This year, we will have tropies for first place only, for each rank, and medals for all participants. We will have 3 trophies for best car, chosen from the entire Pack.
  • We will be running Country Parkway's Derby on January 24th. We do not yet have a date for St. Mary's Derby.
• Darlene is already looking into places for the Blue & Gold Breakfast, with Sean Patrick's being a leading contender. She is also investigating ideas for entertainment.
• We talked about the Fame park cleanup idea that Mr. Gaughan proposed. Each Den will take a month, with Den 14 doing November.
• We talked briefly about having set Pack meeting agendas for the year, and about the Spring Outward Bound, but tabled those discussions as it was getting late.