North Reading GS Leader Meeting 10/10/17 minutes

North Reading Girl Scouts

Leader Meeting Minutes

October 10, 2017

Present: Kim Lambert (Council Volunteer Support Specialist), Debbie Nearing, SU Coordinator (73891), Anne Valade, SU Fall Products Coordinator, Jo Gibson Hood School Coordinator and SU Cookie Coordinator (62548 and 69175), Joanna Maguire (78188), Kerri Antonuccio, SU Membership Promoter (62803), Alison Nimer (82416), Katelyn Stevens (82416), Karianne Bekier (62803/82418), Linda Marino (62804), Amy Salomon (69175), Mays Hanegraff (78188), Amber O’Driscoll, Batch School Coordinator (76211), Julie Galvin (62802), Jenn Vant (85337/76212), Jessica Barabani (62803), Denise Kung, Recording Secretary (62798)

Meeting Started at 7:40 pm

Pledge to the Flag and Promise

The Service Unit Team members introduced themselves

·        Debbie Nearing – Service Unit Coordinator and Corresponding Secretary

·        Amy Kelly – Treasurer

·        Joanne Gibson – Town Cookie Coordinator, Hood School Coordinator

·        Anne Valade – Fall Sale Coordinator

·        Kerri Antonuccio – Service Unit Membership Promoter

·        Amber O’Driscoll – Batch School Coordinator

·        Melissa Audier – NRGS Blog Manager

·       Denise Kung – Recording Secretary

Tips and Reminders:

Debbie asked leaders to update the troop roster (which reflects number of girls registered and troop meeting date & location). The service unit tracks this information for all NR troops and you will all receive a directory by November 1^st to be used to meet with other troops or plan events together.  Directory should only be used however for NRGS purposes.

Girls must be registered for fall sale and cookie incentives, for insurance coverage, etc. Girl members who are 18 years old cannot serve as a volunteer. 

October 1^st is the beginning of the new membership year. There is financial aid for families (check the box when you apply online to request it).

Parents who are involved with the girls in any capacity must be registered and CORI’d (cookie sales, Museum of Science overnight, help with transportation, etc.). It takes 2-3 weeks for the background check to get done. Adult membership is $25.

Fall Sale product packets were available for troops that didn’t get them yet.

How the fall sale works: you can go door to door or sell online (people who order on the website pay shipping).

What is sold: candy, nuts, magazines, community share nut tins (donated to food pantry), and organic seed planters.

Orders will be delivered by Nov 17^th. Once sorted, Anne will notify you to pick up both products and incentives. Anne still needs email contact info for all troop fall sale coordinators.

Cookie sales will be starting up soon. We will know more about the cookie varieties, when the sale starts, and the new system being used for cookies (not SNAP) at the November meeting after Jo goes through the training.

We are hosting a Daisy Discovery Event on Sat, Oct 14^th at Town Hall 3-4pm. This event introduces any girls interested in scouting to GS, not just Daisies. Jo is running the event as a mock meeting. Please stop by if you get a chance to help out and lend your support. There will be crafts.

Upcoming Events:

Jo collected registration forms/money for Halloween Party. After the party, there will be a walkover to the Royal Meadowview Nursing Home by walking behind the Moose. We will do a costume parade and hand out crafts to the members of the nursing home. Girls should dress in costume. New Daisy Moms can stay with their daughter.

Caroling Event update (Amy Salomon). Amy is looking into venues where we can sing and mingle with members of our community.

The Ultimate Guide is a great resource for parents and girls. It lists family and girl activities, group discounts. If there are events you want to do as a troop, this can help you with goal setting for cookies and fall sale.

Required trainings for leaders – Troop Pathway Orientation (can be done online through LEAD Online website) and Leader Essentials, (in person), check online at GSEM or the Ultimate Guide for locations and dates.

First Aid and CPR training is optional for a Leader, but very useful. The Ultimate Guide will list any special required trainings for activities.

Required permission forms for events can be found on the GSEMA website under Safety Checkpoints. Make sure any field trip is on the approved GSEM list for an insurance binder. See GSEM’s Safety Activity Checkpoints for details on the activities that are considered “high risk” and therefore require a Girl Scout Activity Form.

Debbie reviewed girl-to-adult ratios for each age level. This information is also on the GSEMA website.

Troop Meeting venues:

Camp Rice Moody has a beautiful new outdoor pavilion and picnic tables, plus an indoor facility, for you to host troop events. It’s near the YMCA in Reading.

Another venue is Peter Sanborn Place behind the Mandarin in Reading. It’s for the elderly/disabled and they would like to invite girl scouts to host events or meetings to be held in their community center. They have a beautiful room with hard wood floors. Kim Manzelli is the contact.

Anne mentioned the Masons building as another possibility.

Meeting House on the Common, local Churches and the Library Activity Room are others.

There are meeting in home applications on the GSEM website which must be completed annually if you meet in your home.

Spending troop funds each year, what to charge for dues:

Cookie and fall sales are great ways to earn money for your troop, and a great way to have your girls go through the process of setting goals, choosing what they want to do with their money, selling and then spending their money. Many troops can pay for extra field trips and special events this way, and keep dues nominal. You can always start by asking for a certain amount up front to help cover your meeting costs, before the sales begin. Then if you need to, you can ask for a supplemental amount later in the year. Make sure you ask the girls to choose what activities they want to do (you can select a small subset to offer younger girls). This helps to make it girl-led.

Troop money should be spent from year to year on girls in the existing troop for field trips, badges, pins, uniforms, and registration fees.  As the girls get older, they can save up for larger trips but not at the Daisy/Brownie levels. This is so that girls who earned the money or whose parents paid dues in the troop have an opportunity to spend the money if they should leave the troop down the road.

Uniforms: sashes or vests are optional. Parents can choose one or the other based on their own financial situation. Vests are more expensive.  A Girl Scout uniform is actually just the 2 pins, GS pin (Daisy, Brownie or GS) and WAGGGs.

At the November meeting, we will have a rededication ceremony for leaders and to hear more about cookies.

Meeting Adjourned: 8:50 p.m.

Minutes taken by Denise Kung,

Edited by Debbie Nearing