With the encouragement of Nicole Veltre, several new volunteers were present at the August 7, 2006 BICO Meeting. Thanks go out to all who attended, and to Bob Burchard for hosting the meeting.

Below are the minutes from this meeting. PLEASE be sure to read these minutes, as there were quite a few important matters that were discussed.

NEXT BICO MEETING –

MONDAY EVENING October 2, 2006 at Bob Burchard's home at 7:30 pm. We plan to hold ELECTIONS.

We hope that you can attend.

Sincerely,

Bob Iacovazzi, Vice Chair

OFFICER ELECTIONS: To be held at the October meeting. We are currently in the process of forming an Election Committee, which consists of one person from each team who will handle the nominations from their respective teams. Please read the following excerpt from the BICO Bylaws regarding elections if you are interested in either running for office or voting in the election.

Recruitment and Election

1. Elected Officers

a. Includes: Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer.

b. Terms will be for two years and are renewable.

c. An attempt will be made to hold elections every two years at the last meeting of the calendar year.

d. An Election Committee will present a slate of candidates to be considered for elected positions for that year. An Election Committee is comprised of one representative selected by each team. The slate of elected candidates shall only include those BICO members who have been with BICO for a minimum of six months.

e. All certified leaders and active volunteers will be eligible to vote in elections.

f. The candidate receiving the simple majority of votes (either delivered via e-mail, USPS mail, or in person) will be elected to the position. There must be a quorum of two-thirds of certified leaders and volunteers.

g. The Chair, Vice Chair and Team Leaders must be certified leaders.

h. Training of newly elected officers will take place immediately after the election with their terms beginning at the first meeting of the new calendar year.

FREE TICKETS TO MARYLAND STATE FAIR IN TIMONIUM: Barbara Sweeney from the Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism has generously donated 10 free passes for BICO volunteers to attend the Maryland State Fair on "Governor's Day at the Fair", which is Sunday, August 27th. This is a day when volunteers are welcome at the Fair through free Fair passes and a discounted ride and food package. The web site for the fair is:

http://www.bcpl.net/~mdstfair/generalinfo.htm. If you are interested in any of these free tickets, please contact Liz DeVoss at

edevoss@yahoo.com.

CONGRATULATIONS: Congratulations to Peter Kaplan, former Chair of DC ICO, who has been awarded the Sierra Club's Madelyn Pyeatt Award . This award recognizes Peter's service to ICO and commitment to children and youth in the DC area. It is well-deserved.

SIERRA CLUB CALENDAR SALE: It's time for BICO's annual Sierra Club calendar sale. Costs are $11.95 for wall calendars and $13.95 for weekly calendars. This sale raises money for BICO, since BICO gets 60% of the retail price each calendar sold. If you are interested in selling calendars, please note that there is no penalty if you do not sell the number of calendars that you order. You won't get stuck with them. We simply send unsold calendars back to the Sierra Club. This year, Mary Shields Talalay plans to coordinate the sale. M ary can be contacted via email at mtalalay@gmail.com . Thank you, Mary !

MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL RETREAT and LEADERSHIP TRAINING: From Liz DeVoss...

Our regional training will be held Friday-Sunday, October 20-22 at the Harpers Ferry Hostel, 19123 Sandy Hook Road, Knoxville, Maryland 21758,

http://www.harpersferryhostel.org/

All leaders and volunteers are invited to attend the regional training. The leader training is designed for volunteers who want to become certified leaders and current leaders who want a refresher course. The training will be based on the new national Inner City Outings training materials that were released this year and include topics like volunteer recruitment and retention, and fundraising. The training itself will be a full day on Saturday, October 21st. However, we encourage all participants to stay with us for the entire weekend to learn more about Inner City Outings, network with other leaders, participate in team-building activities, and take new ideas home to their groups.

The Location: The Harpers Ferry Hostel is located right outside of Harpers Ferry, WV, where the C&O Path meets the 2000-mile Appalachian Trail. It is a two-mile walk from the hostel to Harpers Ferry along either of these trails. The Hostel has two bunkrooms, a large kitchen, and a lounge area. There are also restrooms with showers.

Registration: Each participant needs to fill out a registration form, which is attached. There is a $30 fee that will cover lodging, food, and training materials. This $30 fee will be reimbursed to all BICO volunteers who attend this training or give advance cancellation notice before one week prior to the training. The registration deadline is October 1st, but please register early as space is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. There is also camping outside. Other ICO volunteers from other Mid-Atlantic states will also be present.

Gwen Bergen from Baltimore Inner City Outings will be coordinating the training. Please send Liz the name of a representative from your team to help her in planning the training.

Carpooling: We ask that groups arrange carpools to help us save transportation dollars. Carpools will be reimbursed for gas expenses and tolls in full.

Food: Four meals will be included: Saturday breakfast, lunch, dinner and Sunday breakfast. Menu planning will be handled centrally this year and vegetarian diets will be considered when making menu selections. Individuals are encouraged to bring snacks to share with others.

What to Bring: Bed linens or sleeping bag, pillow, blanket, towel, appropriate "October in Maryland" clothing and personal items.

Liz will send an e-mail after October 1st that will include an agenda and directions to the Harpers Ferry Hostel.

If you have any questions about the retreat, please e-mail Liz at

edevoss@yahoo.com.

We hope to see you all in October!

BACKGROUND CHECKS: We were reminded by Bob Iacovazzi, BICO Vice Chair, that volunteers need to submit to a background check after two outings. This is a requirement for anyone who is working with youth in any volunteer capacity and is for the safety of the youth. Team Leaders are encouraged to have their team volunteers complete the necessary paperwork if any volunteer has completed at least two outings. Volunteers need to complete and sign the entire document entitled "BICO Leader Application" on BICO's web site at:

http://ico.sierraclub.org/baltimore/resources.html . All paperwork can be sent to Dave Barry, BICO's Leader Certification and Insurance Coordinator. For Dave's address, please e-mail him at

manhat@verizon.net .

IRVINE NATURE CENTER PROGRAMS: Just a reminder that there are various environmental programs held at the Irvine Nature Center, including its "Geology Rocks" program. Programs are listed on their web site at: http://explorenature.org/

FAREWELL:

From Beth Ruekburg...

"Good morning. While I've technically been on hiatus, the reality is that I've come to realize that my time with BICO has come to an end. Perhaps I tried to do too much for the first five years and became burned out. Perhaps it's that once I took some time away, I filled it with other things. I'm now committed to building a Habitat for Humanity house and as always, my job consumes my time. I know that BICO is in excellent hands and it seems to be thriving. It feels great knowing that something that Bob and I built has continued to be successful and growing. Even more, it's wonderful to know that inner city youth are being served and given opportunities that otherwise they might not have. I hope that the junior leader program will come to life in a way that gives the kids a chance to move into leadership as well. I wish you all the best with the continued growth and success of BICO. Beth"

BICO bids farewell to Beth, Co-Founder of BICO. Beth, thank you and best wishes in your continued commitments to our community.

THANK YOU: From Alan Newman...

"I want to thank everyone for their generous donation to the gift card at REI. It is the perfect gift. I hope to hit the trails this summer, starting with Glacier National Park. Thanks again for the thoughtful gift. Best wishes, Alan"

BICO bids farewell to Alan, who has moved out of town. Alan, thank you for serving as BICO's Co-Gearmaster and volunteering time to the FYC and DHH teams. Best wishes to you in your new hometown.

BICO BALANCE: According to Jeannie Iacovazzi, BICO Treasurer, we have approximately $16,000.