Leader Meeting Minutes 2/12/15

North Reading Girl Scouts

Leader Meeting Minutes 2-12-2015

Moose Lodge Hall – New Round Table Format

In attendance: Kristin Puliafico, SUC and 85118; Debbie Nearing, Corresponding Secretary & 73891; Anne Valade, Treasurer; Melissa Audier, Blog Manager & 73894; Barbara Gravel, Registrar & 69184; Kerstin March, SU Cookie Manger; Amy Kelly, 71901 & 73896; Marnie Littleford, 78181; Stephanie Musgrave, 71868; Lisa Alexander, 86279; Lindsay Felix, 76211; Kristen Pemberton, 69171; Bridget Easler, 76212; Mays Hanegraaff 78188; Erin Lanciani, 69176

Leader Meeting called to order: 7:32 p.m.

Kristin Puliafico, NRGS Service Unit Coordinator

Opened the Leader meeting and welcomed everyone, inviting them to Valentine’s Day chocolates she brought to the meeting and GS Valentine’s Day homemade cupcakes and chocolate trefoils made and brought to the meeting by Lindsay Felix and Laura Lambert. 

Pledge of Allegiance

Girl Scout Promise

Business

Anne Valade:

Daisy Birthday Event – March 8^th from 2:30 to 4:00 at Camp Rice Moody, Anne Valade currently has about 16 girls and needs 30 to run the event, although the venue holds a max of 65!  Talk it up with your troop, try texting your moms if you don’t get a response via email!   Contact ASAP at annevalade@comcast.net to give her a head count if you have girls attending.  Deadline to sign up for this event is February 27^th!  Anne will be looking for 6^th grade Girl Scouts and up to help volunteer with this event.  Contact Anne if you are interested in helping out.

v  There will be an email going out soon to all registered Girl Scout families attaching all the flyers for their level. 

v  Anne reminded everyone that NRGS gets no money from Council so Girl Scout Sunday, our annual Fly Up Ceremony, the Memorial Day parade, Leaders Pins, Graduating Senior gifts, etc., all come out of the NRGS Service Unit account.  These events we run are actually fundraisers to keep the town account funded.

World Thinking Day – February 22^nd consider doing an activity with your troop.  There are coloring sheets for the younger girls on the blog explaining the meaning behind the symbol and the flag, as well as links to some great ideas for older girls.  Girls can earn their WAGGGS pin (worn below their Daisy, Brownie or Girl Scout pin) or the new WAGGGS badge which is worn on the front of the girl’s vest or uniform where you would place other earned badges by doing anything small in honor of World Thinking Day.  Lindsay Felix shared a craft she did with her younger Daisies centering around a paper chain the girls created.

Debbie Nearing:

Girl Scout Sunday – March 8^th and March 14^th for the Sabbath.  For any NR Girl Scout who attends a House of Worship on Girl Scout Sunday, March 8th, (Saturday, March 14th for the Sabbath), she will receive a Scout Sunday participation patch.  We are asking each Girl Scout to wear her sash or vest and to bring a non-perishable item to contribute to the food pantry collection.  You can receive Girl Scout Sunday patches at our April Leader meeting if you have any girls who did not receive one at one of the North Reading Houses of Worship on Girl Scout Sunday. If you have any questions about Girl Scout Sunday, please contact Debbie at bcednearing@comcast.net.  No RSVP is necessary to attend!

Gymnastics Event – April 23rd from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at Reading Gymnastics.  This event is open to all ages of NR Girl Scouts, but typically only Daisies, Brownies and Juniors attend.  The cost is $7.00 per girl and will include a participation patch as well as a little goodie bag at checkout!  Each girl must have a signed waiver in order to participate.  Registration waivers with payment are due at the April 9th Leader meeting.  This is a drop off event, but parents are welcome to stay and watch.  If you have any questions about this event, please contact Debbie Nearing at bcednearing@comcast.net. 

Barbara Gravel: 

Fly Up Ceremony – Girl Scouts in Grades 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 are eligible to bridge this year and will be flying up to a new level of scouting!  Barbara Gravel (on behalf of her 8^th grade troop who is running Fly Up this year) briefly discussed Fly Up as a Ceremony for troops who will be advancing to a next level of scouting.  This is an optional event.  Since school will go later into June, we may have an extra week.  Barbara is looking at a date in late May or June but this will be announced along with a venue as soon as she has secured that information. 
A theme has also not been announced as of yet.  Mary Lasdin will be putting together a slide show for the Ceremony and will be requiring photos from each troop.  There are about 80 girls eligible to Fly Up with 33 of them being Daisies.  We will not have any graduating Seniors flying up this year but we will have several Silver Award recipients.  There will be an email coming out soon to those troops eligible to Fly Up.  Please discuss with your girls whether they would like to participate in Fly Up so when we have our March Leader meeting, you will be able to sign up for a task to help with the Ceremony.

Melissa Audier:

Brownie Badge Workshop – February 28 from 1 to 4 at the Library Activity Room – Fun “Making Games” Event for Brownies – Melissa had only received 1 registration form at the meeting.  Her Senior troop did a lot of work to put together this event and they need at least 10 to run the event but would love 20 girls!   Contact Melissa at audier@verizon.net  ASAP if you are interested in attending.  This event is a Service project for Troop 73894, not a fundraiser!

Kerstin March:

Cookies – The town delivery was fantastic! It was the easiest, quickest cookie delivery Kerstin had ever attended in her 10 years of selling GS Cookies!  Thank you all for your efforts in picking up on time, etc.  Kerstin reminded Leaders about the Cookie Swap on Saturday, February 21^st from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the North Andover and Waltham and Middleboro Cupboards.  You cannot create your troop recognitions order until February 27, but they must be done by March 10^th!  Also all girls must be registered and listed in SNAP by February 27th or they will not get any recognitions or credit for cookies they sold!  Contact Kerstin at march.family@verizon.net for any questions. 

Kristin Puliafico:

Maple Sugaring Tour – March 11^th from 1:30 – 2:30 at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Ipswich.  Kristin talked about this event and talked about other events like Camping run by the IRW Sanctuary which may interest your troop.   Leaders were reminded that this event is not for siblings and only North Reading registered Girl Scouts.  This is NOT a drop off event and chaperones, based on your safety-wise, will need to be there for troops attending.  Contact is Kristin at kscott1104@aol.com. 

v  A revised Event calendar was handed out at the Leader meeting and can be found on the blog.

v  March 12^th has been designated Family Night by the NR School Committee, thus our March Leader meeting has been moved to the 5^th.  Enjoy your family time…

v  Our April 9^th Leader meeting will have a speaker from GSEM to talk about Camping.  You should have recently received your GSEM Camping Catalog in the mail! 

Lindsay Felix:

Lindsay handed out a flower to each ST member from Daisy Troop 76211 thanking them for all they do.

Girl Scout Food Pantry Collection – North Reading Girl Scouts is “Painting the Town Green” once again!  Contact for this event is Lindsay Felix at lindsayfelix@verizon.net, and she is seeking troops to help with collecting items from bins at Hornet’s Nest, the Library, St. Theresa’s, Stop & Shop and Celebration Kingdom.  Troops can sign up for a 2 hour slot at Stop and Shop to hand out flyers to patrons as they enter the store.  Flyers are on the blog.  Troops and individual Girl Scouts collecting for the food pantry need to follow the safety rules and be supervised by an adult.  On March 28th, there will be a drop off from 9:00 to 10:30 at the North Reading Town Hall and troops and individual Girl Scouts will be able to drop off items they have collected as well as help sort and stock the shelves!  Please make sure all girls participating in any media/photo/video have checked the waiver on the annual permission form provided by GSEM.  Last year, NRGS had a very successful food drive for the NR Food Pantry, so let’s try and repeat our efforts!  Troops may purchase a food drive badge for their troop, but the Service Unit doesn’t buy them for troops for community service hours. 

Financial Tidbits & Troop Accounts

Anne Valade:

Troop Funds – Girl Scout troops are self-supporting, cookie and fall product profits can pay for:

• Pins, Badges, Fun Patches, Books, Uniforms
• Troop supplies and crafts – get donated supplies from parents too
• First Aid Kit
• Camping Kit
• Registration of girls, Cookie Mom, or Basic Troop Camping Adult, First Aider
• Program Fees, events, field trips – consider splitting fee with parents
• Badges earned individually by girls – have girl present badge to the troop
• Membership star pins
• Service Projects
• Extended trips

v  You should NOT be collecting exorbitant dues  - $5 or $10 – max $20 a year

v  Leaders should not be paying money out of pocket without reimbursement from the troop

v  Dues can be paid up front or in $1 or $2 increments per meeting

v  You should spend the money on the girls in the troop before they leave as they help to earn it

v  Use cookie/fall product profits instead of charging dues unless you are taking an extended trip

v  Since girl registration is now $25, consider troop paying $10 and parent $15

v  Discuss with girl members options with their troop funds to learn progression

v  Money belongs to the troop as a whole and NOT the girls individually

§  If the troop is taking a trip or participating in an event and not all girls want to participate or can attend, their portion stays in the troop funds as future troop funds for the entire troop

v  Money from a disbanded troop goes to GSEM – it does not belong to the girls

v  Disbanding money follows girls continuing on in another troop or as a Juliette

v  A financial report is submitted to NRGS annually by June 15^th with a copy of your bank statement

v  A financial report just shows what funds came in and what funds went out

v  Every troop must have a GSEM bank account – should be in Council’s ID #

§  Every troop account needs 2 signers on the account – you should be checking each other

§  Reading Co-Op and Citizen’s Bank don’t charge monthly fees for GS accounts

Questions and Answers

Q: What are membership star pins?

A:  Membership star pins are pins Leaders purchase at the GS Store with troop funds each year that a girl registers with the troop.  There are discs that go behind each star.  Blue for Daisies, Green for Brownies, Yellow for Juniors, White for Cadettes, Red for Seniors, and Navy for Ambassadors.   These are the only pins besides the WAGGGS pin and the Jr. Girl Scout pin that gets moved to the next level uniform every year.  It is suggested you present these pins at an investiture ceremony held in the fall so that the girls can wear them all year long.  Discs are $1.75 for a package of 24 and membership stars are $1.00 each.

Q:  Can you provide some fun Daisy trips?

A:  Leaders threw out these ideas they have done:  Police and Fire house tours; Reading Cooperative Bank tour; Putnam House; Norcam; Nevins Farm; Cervizzi’s Martial Arts; NR Post Office; Michael’s Crafts; Whole Foods; Panera; Orange Leaf; Camp Lorraine in Andover; Camp Evergreen in Andover; Windsor Place of Wilmington; Longwood; Send Pen Pal Letters; Gaining Ground Farm in Concord – ask Kate Mahoney – this is a Service Project for all ages

Q:  Did we ever consider running a Me and My Guy Dance?

A:  We have run Father Daughter Square Dances in the past, and we had talked about a FROG (father, relative, other gentleman) father daughter dance a couple of years ago, but no one stepped up to run it.  Lisa Alexander is interested in coordinating a 4^th grade and up Me & My Guy Dance in the future. 

Q:  Can siblings attend events?

A:  Siblings can only attend events if the event is a “family” event and not a “troop” event.  This is because Girl Scout registration fees covers girls and adults for any liability that may occur during an event or field trip, etc., while participating as a Girl Scout.  For siblings and unregistered family and friends to participate, we would need to take out extra insurance through GSEM’s insurance carrier.  Girl Scouts have different insurance guidelines than do Boy Scouts.

Q:  Is anyone interested in a town wide bridging event?

A:  Anne Valade is interested in running a town wide bridging event for any level eligible to bridge to a new level of girl scouting.  There are 3 steps for each level that must be completed in order to “earn” the bridging patch (bridge or rainbow) that goes on the front of a girl’s uniform.  You can fly up without completing the bridging but you cannot wear the bridging patch unless you complete the bridging requirements for that new level.

Q:  Can a girl be awarded or recognized for earning her Silver Award if it was a year ago?

A:  Yes!  If a girl earned her Bronze, Silver or Gold Award after the Spring Fly Up ceremony, (Award deadlines are September 30^th) she can still be recognized in a future year at her next level Fly Up Ceremony.  Amy Kelly, Melissa Audier, Ruth Kennedy and Debbie Nearing have Silver Award recipients who need to be recognized at Fly Up!

Q:  Can we do another Bingo Event?

A:  Yes, we just need someone to step up and coordinate and run the event!  It was suggested by Lindsay that maybe at the Bridging Event, you can play Bingo.

Q:  When is the next town wide Encampment?

A:  Typically we only hold Encampments every other year due to the time it takes to put it all together.  We have done Leveled Encampments in the past.  More information will be forthcoming about a next Encampment for NRGS.

Q:  Can Daisies go camping and how many chaperones do you need?

A:  Daisies can go camping but you need a one on one ratio.  We don’t typically allow Daisies to attend overnight at Encampments because we wouldn’t have enough room in the campsites for all the girls participating if we had to include a parent for every Daisy who wanted to stay overnight.

Q:  How many chaperones do you need for troops on field trips and camping?

A:  You need to look at your Leader Essentials on the GSEM website as troop meetings require different ratios for each level.  Chaperones need to be 2 unrelated adults, one of which is a female.  Daisies will need 2 adults for every 6 girls and an extra adult for every 4 girls after that.  Brownies will need 2 adults for every 12 girls and an extra adult for every 6 girls after that.  Juniors will need 2 adults for every 16 girls and an extra adult for every 8 girls after that.  Cadettes will need 2 adults for every 20 girls with an additional adult for every 10 girls after that.  Seniors and Ambassadors are 2 adults for every 24 girls with an additional adults for every 12 girls after that number.

Closing Comments

Thank you to Lindsay Felix for her wonderful cupcakes, Laura Lambert for her delicious homemade chocolate Girl Scout Trefoils on top of the cupcakes, and to Kristin Puliafico for her thoughtful Valentine’s Day chocolates and candy! 

Thank you also to Troop 76211 for recognizing the Service Team with a single red carnation!

Thank you to all the Leaders who came out on this cold, snowy evening!

Meeting adjourned:  9:07 p.m.

Minutes taken and Submitted by Debbie Nearing, Corresponding Secretary

in the absence of Ruth Kennedy, Recording Secretary