Category: Roundtable Agendas

December 2017 Roundtable

We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday December 12h 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

Combined opening will be an updated on Scoutbook.

The topic of our Boy Scout leader breakout session will include an interest topic discussion on Camping Trip Activities and the program feature of the month: COPE.

http://www.campmattatuck.org/cope.html
https://campworkcoeman.org/boy-scouts/program-areas/
http://www.gotowebster.org/uploads/4/4/8/9/44890675/jnw_2017_part2.pdf

November 2017 Roundtable

We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday November 14th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

The topic of our Boy Scout leader breakout session will include an announcement about OA elections and feedback from troop leaders on participation in OA, followed by a panel discussion on “Helping Scouts succeed in leadership positions.” The panel discussion will be moderated, with audience input on this topic. Please bring your ideas and questions!

October 2017 Roundtable

We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday October 10th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

A combined big rock discussion with all leaders will focus on Webelos-to-Scout transition. Here is a summary of resources on this topic.

The boy scout leader breakout session will follow, covering the Winter Camping program feature.

***Update***
Here are Dan’s slides and the double bagging insulation calculation spreadsheet. Thanks to Dan, Robert, and Noah for leading an excellent discussion!
Download Slides
Download Spreadsheet

September 2017 Roundtable

We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday September 12th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

A combined big rock discussion with all leaders will focus on unit commissioners, information regarding an increase in the national registration fee, and updated youth protection training (YPT) policies for leader registration.

During our Boy Scout leader breakout session, we will focus our discussion on the Orienteering program feature. Here are some links to local orienteering resources and courses:

https://www.wcocorienteering.org/

Five Ponds Trails and Orienteering Course

http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/rdewitt/wcoc/permanent%20courses.html

 

May 2017 Roundtable

We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday May 9th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

During our Boy Scout leader breakout session, we will focus our discussion on:

  1. Troop Program Resources available online
  2. Patrol Method
  3. If time permits – brief idea sharing on Swimming and Rifle Shooting program features

April 2017 Roundtable

Just one month ago, a blizzard wiped out our March Roundtable meeting. This next week, we’re looking at 80F! We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday April 11th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

The program feature to discuss this month is Cycling. We are fortunate to have a local cycling enthusiast who will visit our Roundtable meeting to share with us some of his experience and knowledge. Below is a detailed outline (more than we’ll be able to cover on Tuesday) of topics related to cycling. We’ll focus on:

  1. Brief introduction on the types of bike touring.
  2. Resources and how to go about planning a tour–including safety.
  3. Some bike tour experiences.

Here are some informational handouts to go along with the outline below.

Bike Touring Presentation outline

Types of bike touring
  • Self supported (solo vs. group)
  • Credit card touring
  • Sagged tours
  • Fully supported tours
  • Self-guided tours
  • Bike packing for off road tours
  • S24O’s (Sub 24-hour Overnights)
Types of bikes for touring
  • Metal (steel, titanium, aluminum) best if carrying gear.
  • Carbon fiber only OK if gear being sagged
  • Touring specific bikes. Lots of choices out there now
  • Longer frame, bigger tires, braze-ons for racks and fenders.
  • Trek 520, Surly Long Haul Trucker, etc.
Panniers for carrying gear
  • Front and rear panniers
  • Racks
  • Bike packing without racks
  • Weight distribution
Packing lists
  • Varies depending on tour type and possible weather conditions
  • Sample packing lists provided in handout
  • Shipping resupply packages ahead.
  • Cooking gear?
Safety on the road
Types of accommodations
  • Campgrounds. Always room for a cyclist (mostly true)
  • Hiker/Biker sites at campgrounds
  • WarmShowers.  Website and smartphone app.
  • Hotels, motels, AirBnB, etc.
  • Churches
  • Commando camping.  Not recommended.
Touring routes and maps
  • For USA, Adventure Cycling maps are best
  • Show sample map
  • GPS waypoint routes available too
  • For Europe, Euro Velo routes – EuroVelo.com
  • Bike tour company itineraries for ideas and routes
  • Ride with GPS
  • Google maps bicycle mode
  • Design your own route requires lots of research ahead of time
  • State highway or bicycle maps (supplemental). AAA or state DOT
  • Route Verte for Quebec province – www.routeverte.com/e/
  • Erie Canal – eriecanalway.org
  • East Coast Greenway – greenway.org
Transporting your bike
  • Loop tour reduce bike transport needs
  • Amtrak roll-on bike service
  • Pacific Coast
  • Washington D. C. – Chicago
  • Washington D. C. – St. Albans, Vermont
  • Metro North roll-on bike service
  • Roll-on bike service in Europe
  • One way car/van rental (airport to airport rentals cheaper for one way)
  • Shipping bike options
  • Hard bike case
  • Soft case bike cases
  • Disposable Airline and Amtrak bike boxes (just remove pedals and turn handlebar)
  • Have bike shop pack and ship bike (better at end of tour than for start of tour)
Websites for touring companies
High tech devices – optional
  • GPS
  • Smart phone
  • Power for above
  • Batteries
  • Outlets at destinations and stopping points along the way
  • Dynamo hub and USB port on bike
  • Solar charger
Journals, blogs and photo sharing
  • CrazyGuyOnABike website
  • TrackMyTour app (iPhone only)
Adventure Cycling website
  • Touring info
  • Online forums
  • Cyclosource online store
  • Bike tours.  Sagged, self supported, van supported, Inn to Inn. 1 week to 3 months.
National Bike Travel Weekend – June 3-5

https://www.adventurecycling.org/about-us/40th-anniversary/national-bike-travel-weekend-june-3-5-2016/

Bike Your Park Day – September 24

https://www.adventurecycling.org/about-us/40th-anniversary/bike-your-park-day/

February 2017 Roundtable

Happy Valentine’s Day! Will extra roses and professions of love make up for participating in this month’s roundtable? We hope so! We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday February 14th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

Agenda:

January 2017 Roundtable

Happy New Year! We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday January 10th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.

Agenda

An example of power point slides for ILST, courtesy of Rob Hazzard: Download here

September 2016 Roundtable

Welcome to the 2016-17 Roundtable program year. We will meet on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 – 7:30pm- 8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow the meeting) at East Granby Congregational Church, East Granby, CT 06026

Agenda

  • Joint opening with presentation on 2017 scout fee increase by Steven Smith, Scout Executive
  • Boy Scout Leader Breakout Session
    • National Jamboree presentation by Bill Arnone
    • Scoutcast – an introduction
    • Monthly program feature is Spectator Sports
      • Note: we will probably not have much time to cover the monthly program feature.