VENTURING IS ON THE MOVE!

Sam Houston Area Council has had a Venturing Officer's Association in name for several years. In February, 2004 the Venturing Officers' Association (VOA) elected temporary officers. In May they and additional officers were elected to a term ending September 2005. These officers are:
* Michael Welch, President (Crew 573/Ship 573/Ship 1996)
* Brett Dix, Vice President Administration (Crew 288)
* Kate Sposato, Vice President Program (Crew 1000)
* Krystal Fochtman, Secretary (Crew 1377)
* Daniel O'Toole, Vice President Division 1 (Crew 204)
* Jeff Wisdom, Vice President Division 2 (Ship 1996, Crew 1996)
* Adam Bordelon, Vice President Division 3 (Crew
* Michelle Riley, Sea Scout Boatswain (Ship 24, Ship 9)
Your officers met for several long meetings to do two tasks
* Make a set of VOA Bylaws
* Plan some Venturing events
The Venturing program events on the council calendar are planned and executed by the VOA cabinet, with the help of committees of Venturers who want to make a specific event happen. The Venturing committee helps by providing advisors and assisting in recruiting consultants. The VOA cabinet is responsible to the Venturing membership to identify and select the events the membership wants to attend.

Bylaws: (click here for full bylaws)
The key points of your bylaws are:
Officers: President, Vice President Administration, Vice President Program, Secretary, Vice President Division 1, Vice President Division 2, Vice President Division 3, Vice President Urban Scouting, Council Boatswain. These are known as the Cabinet.
Elections: Elections for 2005-2006 will be held Sunday, May 1st, 2005. Any Venturer is eligible to run for office. If you want to run for any of the above offices, contact Mr. Don Dunbar, ddunbar@houston.rr.com. You must complete a form, get your Advisor's signature, and return it to Mr. Dunbar not later than April 17th.
These are rolling elections. You may run for President. If not elected, you may run for Vice President Administration, then VP Program, then Secretary, then Vice President for your division. Only the youth in a given division may elect the VP for that division. Only Sea Scouts vote for the Council Boatswain.
Who votes? Every crew and ship in SHAC is allowed to send one voting youth representative. Each crew selects their representative in any way they wish, and it need not be the same person every time. All the crew representatives meeting together are called the Venturing General Assembly (VGA). If your district has a Venturing president, that person may vote too. Your council officers may vote.
New officers will be trained each summer, and installed in August or September, to serve one year. Bylaws are posted on the council web site, click here. If you want to influence how Venturing succeeds in Sam Houston Council, we encourage you to come to the Venturing General Assemblies and to run for one or more of the council officer positions. Contact Mr. Don Dunbar, ddunbar@houston.rr.com, who will send you the information you need.

PROGRAM
We are planning a year-around program. Bring your ideas to the next VGA, where we will have more details on these proposed activities. If you have some better ideas, bring them, and be prepared to sell them to your fellow Venturers. See the Venturing calendar for current activities.

ADMINISTRATION
Administration allows you to take a more active role in how Venturing is conducted in SHAC. Several areas are available for those who are interested. If you want to be on any of these committees, contact ddunbar@houston.rr.com to have your interest forwarded.
Corps of Discovery is a Venturing honor society, open to all Venturers. We are investigating whether we should start a Corps of Discovery in SHAC. Members are elected by their crews. Members will have an opportunity to provide broader service to Venturing in SHAC.
District Organizing Committee will be formed to help those districts that have not yet formed a district VOA.
Advancement and Recognition Committee will be formed to promote the various Venturing awards (Venturing Leadership Award, Silver Award, Quartermaster Award, Ranger Award, Quest Award, Gold Award, Bronze Awards).
Training/Powder Horn. Some of your fellow Venturers will have been youth staff and guest speakers at the council's Wood Badge and Powder Horn courses held the past two years. Some of your fellows are also serving as faculty members on the adult leader Venturing Specific courses, as well as the primary training staff for Venturing Leadership Skills Courses.

VOA Adult Advisors:
* Advisor: Don Dunbar, ddunbar@houston.rr.com
* Assoc Adv:
* Assoc Adv: George Crowl, gcrowl@houston.rr.com
* ACC Venturing: Bari Saunders, barisaunders@houston.rr.com