2003ReunionInfo

Please submit your CANVAS SIZE ONLY (without the guy rope allowance) when registering.

A 3 foot space will be left between tents to allow for the guy ropes and tie-downs.

It is imperative that you advise if you have a cook trailer that must be accomodated on the field other than inside your marquee. Note trailers that are not "kitchens" can not be accomodated on the field.

To comply with the regulations set out by the Ontario Building Code the Gilwell Committee Control requires PROOF of Compliance with the Canadian Test S109 by way of a Fire Certificate issued for your tent and the appropriate tag affixed to the tent PLUS Engineer's drawings for all tent structures larger than 60 sq. mtrs. (645 sq. ft.) that have sidewalls.

This applies to ALL marquee tents, including Rentals so please ensure that your rental company is aware of this requirement. The above MUST be submitted by Control with the Building Permit application to the Town of Milton so your timely registration would be appreciated. Click HERE for excerpt of Building Code that applies to tents

Due to space limitations on the fields, it is imperative that you do not utilize a marquee larger than is necessary to accomodate your people. Our major problem to overcome this year is finding space to accomodate ALL the marquees. All tents less than 645 sq. ft. in area must be placed a minimum of 3 mtrs. (9 ft. 10 in.) from any other structure, tent or tree line in order to be exempted from the building code requirement for the framing structure and anchorage system drawings (3.13.1.7). IF your group uses one of these smaller tents and you have these drawings or they are available to you (ie. if it is a Rental and they have the drawings), please submit them with your Registration. These smaller tents that are accompanied by structural drawings can then be grouped together into blocks, thereby saving some space.

Your co-operation is needed to make this whole proceedure as painless as possible.

Please register by July 1st, or if you find that is not possible, please submit your canvas size by that date (and if you have a kitchen trailer to be accomodated outside of your marquee) so Control can start working on the layout. It is a challenge to fit all the tents on to the fields and having a late registration means re-doing the layout over again, so let's all pull together to make this work.

Blue Springs Camp is doing their part .. Whiskin field will be widened to give us more room

Control is doing theirs ... Don is sharpening his pencil(s)

Please do yours by ensuring your canvas size is submitted in a timely manner.

("The road to Ebor may be paved with tents", but Control will make them all fit.)

(F.Y.I. Contingents contemplating the purchase of a new marquee larger than 645 sq. ft. in area, please be advised that there is impending Ontario legislation (Bill 124) which deserves consideration. In the near future it may become necessary to limit marquee sizes to stay under the 645 sq. ft. area at Reunion, thereby compelling Contingents with larger numbers either splitting into 2 Contingents or using 2 tents.)

A Communique was issued mid-April addressing the various concerns aired at the 2002 Contingent reps meeting and late April the Spring Edition of Log-N-Beads was sent out. A further Communique was sent out June 2003.

The Reunion Committee Secretary needs 2 working E-mail addresses for each Contingent .. please ensure that these have been submitted. Not only does that cut down the costs of passing on information to the Contingents, it also enables this to be done much quicker. The Reunion Committee does not have an "Official" website, and although this page (site) contains the information, it is not "Official" ... So please make sure your Contingent Rep has submitted the E-addresses - they can be for ANY member of your Contingent that will agree to pass the information sent to him/her along to the Contingent Rep and membership.

Bob still needs E-addresses for Blue Mountain, Loyalist, NCR, Northwest Bluewater, Orillia, Sarnia, Scarborough South, Trentco and Willow Valley... so if you belong to any of these contingents, think about volunteering your E-address as a contact.

HELP .... I am trying to collect enough old computers and peripherals so Blue Springs Scout Reserve can have a "computerized" station for Environmental studies and etc. If you have any old computers, printers, monitors, scanners, cameras, etc. or any software that you are no longer using or that will not work with your "new" computer, please let me know and I will take them off your hands. That way they won't be decorating your basements as dust collecters or filling up our "dumps". These will be put together in sets and used as teaching tools at Blue Springs. Those not adequate for that purpose will be loaded with suitable games and "rented out" as a rainy day or evening activity, and in that way produce the revenue needed to maintain all the computers and purchase additional software. I am looking for anything from a 486 and up, (Pentium, Pentium 2 etc.) and, since the "new" software will not run on the older computers, I am also looking for any "old" software, especially games and "educational" programs, but will accept ALL software, inlcuding sound, printer or scanner software, drivers and etc.

If you, (or your workplace) have any such items to donate, please E-mail me at brigitte.barrie@rogers.com to make arrangements to get them to me.

If all else fails, perhaps you can bring the stuff with you to Reunion.. I am sure I can find storage for it there for the weekend... but let me know beforehand so I can come prepared.

Please use "Blue Springs Computers" in the subject line so your E-mail does not get trashed with all the Junk mail I get. ... Thanks!

LATE BREAKING NEWS ..... Information was just released that an agreement was reached with the Deputy National Commissioner, the Chief Commissioner and the Chair of the Board of Scouts Canada that will allow Gilwellians NOT currently members of Scouts Canada or Boy Scouts of America who wish to attend the Reunion to have the option of paying a $ 15.00 insurance fee to Scouts Canada in lieu of joining the organization or affiliates. This fee would be in addition to their Contingent's Registration fee.

A complete list of all Gilwellians wishing to avail themselves of this option must be sent to Marg Routledge - Scouts Canada, on or before August 15, along with their insurance fees. Address details were sent out with the latest Communique June 13, 2003, so check with your Contingent Rep for more details.

This year Scouts Canada has requested a full and complete list of ALL registrants sent to them for verification to ensure that EVERYONE attending is qualified to attend a "Scouting Event". Scouts Canada will also forward the names of American Scouters to BSA and etc. for the same scrutiny.

Since this list must also be submitted by Registration on Aug. 15 and again Aug. 31, getting your Contingent registrations in on time (July 1st) or as early as possible would be most helpfull to the Committee.

At present I (personally) am unsure of where we stand with "walk-in" registrations, so perhaps those of you that have been in the habit of registering as a "walk-in" on the day of, would be well advised to register earlier, either with a contingent or on your own. Pam Parker (Haldimand Contingent) is in charge of Registration. If you don't know how to get in touch with them, you can E-mail me and I will forward your correspondance to the Registrar. ... I get so much "junk e-mail" that I delete most of it without opening it so please put "Gilwell Registration" in the subject line so I don't toss out your E-mail as "junk-Mail" ... Thanks!

The latest word from Scouts Canada is that all those attending Reunion will be checked against the "List of people asked to leave Scouting" held by Scouts Canada and a similar check will be done with BSA for any American Scouters.... so the proceedure for the 2003 Reunion is as follows:

1. Each Contingent registrar will submit to Marg Routledge by August 15th the names, and addresses plus $ 15.00 (insurance premium) for ALL those who are not presently registered with Scouts Canada or Boy Scouts of America. These names must also be included on the Registration submitted to the Committee and their Reunion Registration fees paid to the Committee the same as before.

(NOTE - To clarify ... being a member of a BP Guild does NOT cover a person with Scouts Canada insurance unless they have also joined Scouts Canada ...therefore the $ 15.00 insurance premium MUST be submitted for those people.)

In addition, the Gilwell Reunion Committee Registrar will submit a list of ALL those registered to attend the Reunion to Scouts Canada on August 15th and an update Aug. 31st.

Scouts Canada will verify these to be in "good standing" and in turn submit the names of the American Gilwellians to B.S.A. for the same check.

Walk-ins AT Reunion will be checked against the "List" (possibly by Scouts Canada staff??).

Please register with a Contingent if at all possible and please register as EARLY as possible.

That will make the whole process easier all the way around and for all concerned.

That is where it stands at present.

Any changes will be posted here as soon as I get the information.

One last thing, please consider running a candidate for Committee ... it is your chance for some real input into the Reunion organization as we bring it into the 21st. century. New people bring "fresh" ideas and it would really be great to see actual Elections again instead of Candidates getting in by acclamation. The Committee has worked hard to simplify the various "large" jobs to make them less time consuming so Contingents will not be intimidated by the jobs to be done, ... and remember, being on Committee is having a "Job with a room", and it comes with a Great HAT!

A Committee member's term is 3 years which requires attending 3 meetings during the year (Dec., Feb. and May), held either in Toronto or at Blue Springs, and three short meetings at the Reunion itself. Your Contingent's obligation is doing one of the several jobs that must be done but you are at liberty to request help with your Contingent's job from other Contingents if you wish. The various jobs are outlined in their binders so it is not like starting with no guidelines. It no longer takes a large Contingent to run a candidate ... my own Contingent (Nottawasaga) has about 30 people attending Reunion on average and to date we have done all jobs except Parking.

I personally am enjoying my term (and my room at Reunion) and can hardly wait to see what this years HAT Fashion will bring. I do hope more of you will throw your hats into the ring.

NEWSFLASH!!! A decision has just been made that any buildings NOT being used by the Reunion Committee may be rented by a Contingent attending the Reunion as sleeping quarters (for as many persons as the building has bunks/rating for only). These would be the Adirondacks, Pavillions, and buildings in Ebor. All rental arrangements must be made through the office at Blue Springs Scout Reserve (tel. 519 - 853-2209 ) since this has nothing to do with the Reunion Committee.

These will be let out on a first-come-first-served basis for this year, because of the late date and starting with the 2004 Reunion, will be subject to a lottery or somesuch means of equalizing people's chances.... ie. you enter your name at the previous year's reunion for the building of your choice and each "new Tenant" will be drawn for from those names. This will give the camp some much needed revenue and also give a few "lucky" Gilwellians an opportunity to have indoor accomodations.

At the very bottom of this page is the Final Field Layout map for 2003.

A check of our fields (marquees and layout) was made by the Milton Planning Office Inspection people during Reunion and everything was found to be in order and compliance.

This page was last updated Sept. 10, 2003

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Final Layout Map for 2003 Reunion .