Issue #36 – November 2019
A Note from the Founder – California Chaos Continues
by Kerry Cordy
I feel like the last year has been nothing but me apologizing for communication delays first due to moving our offices, then multiple devastating wildfires, then my mother’s death, then more fire evacuations and now the new PG&E power outages. Fortunately our offices are located in Redding, CA which gets its power from REU instead of PG&E so we do have power at the office and for the most part our business should not be affected.
Unfortunately I live outside city limits though in Bella Vista which is on PG&E power. I am used to being able to work from home during evenings and weekends to ensure that questions get answered and website problems solved in a quick and efficient manner. Thanks to the new PG&E power shut downs, that will no longer be possible all the time as these outages are estimated to happen a minimum of 10-12 times a year for 2-7 days each and I have no computer access at home during those times. At the time I am writing this, I have been out of power for the last 5 days (with 1-2 more to go before power is restored) and as I only have very sketchy cell service at home, there is limited things I can do via my phone. So yet again, I am in the position of apologizing for any delays in communication. I am usually in the office M-F from roughly 9-5, but any communication outside those hours may now be delayed depending on future outages. I am so sorry for any hassle this may cause my members.
Please make sure that you have joined the Quest Clubs Forum Facebook group as this is a great place to ask questions if you cannot reach me directly during off hours. Many of my veteran leaders know as much about the program as I do and can usually help with just about anything except membership issues if I cannot be reached. While I will still have my phone, I live in the country and cell service is intermittent at best so while I will try to stay up to date on emails and Facebook messages on evenings and weekends, there may be delays if I can’t get enough service to check them.
I am so thankful that the Quest community is such a supportive grassroots group. I could not have gotten through the last couple of years without the help of MULTIPLE leaders and parents across the country pitching in. I love that everyone views Quest as a family even though we are quite spread out. The support and love you share with myself and each other is an immense blessing.
New Badges Posted!
Endangered Species, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
Remembering 9/11
Frontiersmen Quest troop #531 and Frontier Girls troop #531 joined Frontier Girls troop #101 on 9/11 to pass out candles and to escort special guests for the laying of the roses at the 911 ceremony at the Shasta Lake fire department
Annual Badge Sale
Don’t forget our annual badge sale that takes place January 1-31 every year. All badges will be $.99 for the month so plan accordingly. Please remember that the sale mean we get VERY busy and most badges will take about 2 weeks to make and ship out.
Flat Santi!
by Oletha Jimenez
For the Flat Stanley badge, one of the requirements is to send the paper doll to another club and ask them to send it back with a picture of him at one of their meetings! This is flat Santi. My son’s flat person. We have been sending his photo around to people via FB messenger and they print him out and cut him out and take pics with him. (Some didn’t cut him out ?) Eliminating the mail travel time! New age style and a fun way to watch your flat person travel!
All resource materials that used to be on the old website such as crafts, games, songs, meeting plans, etc. are being moved to the Curiosity Untamed site at curiosityuntamed.net. If you are looking for something specific and it is not on the Curiosity Untamed site yet, just email me at kerry@frontiergirls.com and I will send it to you as soon as possible.
Changes to Refund Policy
As of October 11, Paypal now follows industry standards and no longer refunds our fees paid on a transaction if we refund all or a portion of it. Therefore beginning October 11, any memberships that are not cancelled in a timely manner and need to be refunded will only be refunded the amount we originally received from Paypal which was the payment minus the fees. For Individual memberships $27.76 will be refunded and for family memberships only $56.02 will be refunded. Please make sure all parents know that they must turn off the auto renew feature via their Paypal account when they leave the program or email us and request that we do so for them to avoid having to process a refund. Canceling the auto renew is as easy as logging into the website and going to the Account page. Then click on Subscriptions and simply stop the subscription. We have looked into using other payment gateways, but at this time Paypal is still the least expensive and they are one of the last payment Gateways to switch to the policy of not refunding fees.