Hello Again...

Well, as feared, General Meeting Number 1 is upon us; thus, a copy of the agenda is attached. This is the basic planning meeting for the Projectoree - that is, this is where we figure out exactly what activities we're going to do and divide up all the various tasks between the participating Troops. Before we get to that, however, a few preliminary comments on issues both Projectoree and non-Projectoree related.

1) The New District - The confirmed map for the new Districts was (as promised) unveiled at the last Round Table. As reported in Newsletter # 2, our new District is a curved sausage-shaped stretch of land from South Arlington heading northwest along the Potomac through McLean. The essential outlines are the Arlington County lines, the Potomac River past McLean to Towlston Rd, and the Dulles Toll Road back to Arlington. Falls Church and Alexandria are not included. About 60 Units (Cub Packs, Scout Troops and Explorer Posts) and 2600 total registered youth. Of interest, the three top names proposed for our new District are: (1) Robert E. Lee; (2) Chain Bridge; and (3) Colvin Mill. Robert E. Lee is certainly the most popular, and will probably be selected; however, there is a Robert E. Lee Council to our immediate south (Richmond/Midlothian), which might cause enough administrative headaches that one of the alternative names ends up winning. We'll see. By the way, I haven't heard whether we'll be allowed to vote on the choices - are you surprised? The new Districts formally incorporate in June, 1998; however, we may continue some aspects of Patawomeck for another year - notably the Round Table and Adult Leader Training. George Washington District is considering the same options. Of interest, the organizers of the George Washington Venture Round Table are trying to start up a "Northern Virginia Venture Round Table," including all the new Districts arising from George Washington, Patawomeck, Blue Ridge and Prince William. An interesting concept, and a nice adjunct to the regular Round Tables. I'll try to keep you informed on all these issues as I hear what's going on.... "May you live in interesting times!"

2) Back to the Projectoree - To date, no one has dropped out, although I believe our 2 "maybes" are still tentative. Hopefully, we'll be a little more solid on this after the meeting. Attending Troops include 104, 106, 111, 143, 149, 167, 624, 638, 647 and 648. Our previous high was seven Troops, so this is quite an increase.

Somewhat surprisingly, seven Troops were strongly in favor of the existing Patrol Competitions/Camp Wilson format; only two voted for the alternate Frontier Days/Rendezvous format (and 111 stayed neutral.) Disturbingly, I got the distinct impression that several units would have withdrawn immediately if the Frontier Days/Rendezvous format won, due to safety concerns - this despite the fact that 111 and 149 have combined and held a similar event for each of the last 4 years, with up to 60 Scouts participating, with nary a problem. Well, maybe next year. Anyway, we're "on" for another "classsic" Projectoree in 1998. ...and I have to admit, this will make things a lot easier, especially on me!

3) Meeting # 1 - Attendees - As previously discussed, the Primary Scout and Primary Adult from each Troop must attend this meeting, or send a replacement in their stead. If you send a replacement, it would be extremely helpful if that person had a clue as to what has thus far transpired and also the purpose of this meeting. It will also be quite helpful if everyone comes on time, prepared to vote, and ready to pick up the organizational tasks. And if everyone does, we'll get out long before 9pm, too!

In addition to their "primaries," each Troop is also encouraged to invite their Patrol Leaders or other active senior Scouts, who are welcome to participate; the more Scouts that "buy into" the Projectoree, the better. I STILL have no Scouts on the Steering Committee, and would certainly like to get one or two at this meeting.

4) Meeting # 1 - Communication - It is my intent to begin disseminating information to all interested parties via e-mail, probably starting right after the interested parties via e-mail, probably starting right after the meeting. Thus, I would like the e-mail addresses of all attendees, plus the e-mail addresses of everyone else in your Troop who might be interested (Scoutmasters, ASM's, Committee members, SPL's, ASPL's and Patrol Leaders.) Obviously, it would be extremely helpful if you showed up with this information already written down in a legible format. This is how we will hopefully keep our mailing and xerox costs under control while simultaneously keeping everyone informed - a real paradox in years past.

By the way, all Projectoree newsletters will be posted on my Troop's Website following the December 14th meeting: www.troop111.org. This hasn't happened yet, so please don't be firing off e-mail messages at me until you hear from me first.

5) Meeting # 1 - Patch and T-Shirt Designs - As previously mentioned, if you've had anyone working on a patch or t-shirt design, please bring it to the meeting. To date, we have one very rough sketch for the T-Shirts, and that's it... Any suggestions are welcome!

6) Meeting # 1 - Preliminary Attendance Estimates - I realize that it's nearly impossible to accurately predict attendance at an event which is still four and a half months away, but I need your best "guesstimates" in order to properly order patches, reserve the campsite, create a competition rotation chart, and estimate T-Shirts. These estimates are not binding, but try to be at least "in the ballpark."

- Number of Patrols (minimum size: 6 Scouts; please combine small Patrols!)
- Number of Total Attendees (Scouts and Adults!)
- Number of T-Shirts (that is, will all attendees want a T-Shirt???)
- Number of Available Staff Members - Senior Scouts
- Number of Available Staff Members - Adult Leaders

I will have a "Master Data Sheet" at the meeting, so you can fill in the above values.

Questions, please email me.

Yours in Scouting,

Dr. Bob
Scoutmaster, Troop 111

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12 January 1998