Venture2000

The next radio licensing opportunity (and the last one before the end-of-February advancement deadline) is February 23rd. We will arrange a chaperone and car pool for those of you wanting to take advantage of this opportunity. Please let me know if you are interested in this:
EXAM SESSION
Sponsor: Benton County ARC Date: Feb 23 2012 Time: 5:30 PM (Walk-ins allowed) Contact: Albert S. Hammond (319) 446-7570 Email: k0hwe@netins.net VEC: ARRL/VEC Location: Vinton-Shellsburg High School 210 W 21st St Vinton IA 52349-2605

Crew Members: Participants in the Wilderness First Aid event this weekend may meet at the Kennedy High School parking lot for carpooling to Camp Wakonda. The group will depart Friday at 5 PM sharp. You must be there for departure at that time, or you will need to drive out by yourself or make other arrangements. Please complete the attached permission form and bring it with you. DB

WFA 2012 Permission_Slip.doc

Reminder: Please remember that our February meeting schedule has been changed from the usual 1st and 3rd Sunday. We are meeting this Sunday, February 12th at 6 PM at the Ikes. DB

The Crew calendar in February presents some challenges:
1. On this coming Sunday, we are scheduled to present air rifle shooting to the Webelos from 2 PM until 5 PM. The Super Bowl starts at 6:30 PM, with hype well before then. In the past, our members have preferred not to meet on Super Bowl Sunday.
2. On February 12th, we are scheduled to present air rifle to the Webelos from 2 PM until 5 PM. Ethan Williams has scheduled his Eagle Court of Honor that day at a time TBA.
3. On Sunday, February 19th, we will be returning from a full weekend of Wilderness Medicine. Most of our members will need time for schoolwork on Sunday afternoon/evening.
4. I expect several members need to present advancement requirements before the February 29th cut-off in order to be eligible for 2012 activities.
After consulting the Crew’s officers and Advisors, we have decided to move to a 12th/26th schedule for February. That means there will NOT be a meeting this Sunday. There WILL be a meeting at 6 PM on Sunday, February 12th. Got it? DB

I am pleased to announce that the second annual Hunters Education Field Day will be held on March 17th at Camp Wakonda. All registered youth members of the Hawkeye Area Council who will be 12 years of age on the day of the class are encouraged to register.
Prior to the class, students must have completed one of two on-line curriculums offered at either Hunter-Ed.com or HunterExam.com. In each case, students may work at their own pace, then take the on-line test and print a voucher evidencing their successful completion. The voucher costs approximately $25. There is no additional charge for the Field Day activities at the Camp.
On the day of the class, students should plan on arriving at the Camp Wakonda Dining Hall for an 8:30 AM start. The class will end at approximately noon. Students will receive their certificates after successfully completing the class exercises and final exam.
After completion of the class, Scouts will have an opportunity for rifle shooting practice at the Blankenship Shooting Pavilion in the afternoon. Rifles and ammunition will be provided free of charge, but participants must provide their own lunch.
Participants must bring their Social Security numbers in order to receive their course completion certificates (this is a State of Iowa requirement).
Registration for this event may be made at the following link: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2876845723

Crew Members & Parents: Our Wilderness First Aid event is quickly approaching on the weekend of February 17-19. This opportunity, which occurs once each year, is your chance to pump up your first aid skills to the level required of members participating in our high adventure activities. This is a serious training exercise, with many opportunities for hands-on skills practice.
If you haven’t previously participated in this event, you should be registering. This event fulfills many requirements in Venturing advancement and will teach you life-saving skills. Prior participants have actually credited this class for teaching them skills that they used to save their own life. This is one of the core specialties in our Crew. Completion of this class will make you eligible to participate in events where the Crew is providing supporting medical services.
First time registrants pay $65 for the weekend. This includes the text and class materials, first aid supplies, food and lodging in the Allsop Outdoor Education Center. Participants who have previously attended pay $35 for food and lodging.
Register at the following address: http://wfa2012.eventbrite.com

Crew members and parents:
We use a phone service to contact our members for reminders or to convey late-breaking news regarding meetings. This service, known as “One Call” allows us to make approximately 90 calls simultaneously. The service also allows us to text to you, but this requires that you specifically allow this text to come to your phone. This is a Federal regulation to prevent general text solicitations to be made on your mobile phone.
Please take a minute to authorize this texting. It will be a great help to us and will get you instant information on the rare occasions that we will use it to convey Crew information to you. All you need to do is the following:
From your mobile phone, send the word “alert” to the number 22300.

Mr. B tried to impersonate President Kennedy last night and challenged us last night to our version of “landing on the moon”. I volunteered to lead this project and am following up to see who wants to be a part of the effort to make an internet link to the middle of nowhere. However, for now we need to get it up and running and a good practice run would be from here to Scout camp. I need anybody who wants to be a part of this to send me an email at masonman@imonmail.com. There will be lots of parts to this project ………some will require more of a time commitment than others and some might be difficult, but then again that is why we do it.
Thanks
Mason McCune

Reminder: There is NO Crew meeting this weekend, even though it’s the third Sunday of the month. This is because some of the Crew members and leaders are off to Lake Mille Lacs for our first-ever ice fishing extravaganza. While we’re there, we’ll be reviewing various wilderness water purification techniques. I thought I’d share the following tidbit with you from Dr. Tilton, who has a large influence on much of the wilderness medicine curriculum that we use:
How long should water boil in order to guarantee freedom from pathogens? At 14,000 feet, water boils at 85.6 degrees Celsius. Your water will be safe to drink at 14,000 as long as the water reaches a rolling boil. It does not have to boil for a certain amount of time. In fact, water boils at 19,000 feet at 80.9 degrees Celsius, and the same rule applies there. Your water needs only roll in a boil to be safe to drink.
Finally, some of you may enjoy viewing the video at the link below……it’s a little peak at what we’ll be doing this weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4NbAZyBdI&feature=related

Choose one of three pistol shooting sessions on this coming Friday, January 13th. During each session, several shooters will be “zeroing” in our new pistols. For these sessions, only .22 caliber pistols and revolvers will be used. Participants must be currently registered members of the Crew who have successfully completed a basic firearms course. http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2754056457
Join members of the radio club W0VCK on March 31st as we look inside various electrical devices to see how they work. Plan on tearing open TVs, computers, printers, cash registers and more. Participants will have the opportunity to have fun with a component scavenger hunt and extract parts to make new devices. Learn from club members how to become a radio operator. http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2754210919