Leader Meeting Minutes 9/13/16

In Attendance: Joanna Maguire 78188, Michelle Gerokalis 62796, Denise Kung 62798, Kristen Pemberton 69171, Joanne Gibson 69175, Mary Hatton 78181, Kristin Puliafico ST, Kate Mahoney 71861, Amy Kelly 73897, 62804,71901, Karianne Bekier 62803, Ruth Kennedy 73899, Cindy DeWolfe 85336, Anne Valade ST, Debbie Nearing 73891, Kim Lambert Serna, Volunteer Support Specialist from Council

The meeting was held at the Library Activity Room on 9/13/16 and started at 7:30pm with the Pledge of Allegiance and the GS Promise.

Anne welcomed everyone.

Amy explained leaders have until 9/30 to register their girls online, after that parents will need to register the girls themselves. There will be a troop formation meeting on 9/20 at the LAR from 6-8:30pm. This is for new Scouts. Amy has early bird patches if any leaders need them. Patches were given out to those troops who were at the meeting.

To open your troop to new girls go to the opportunity catalog "open your troop" and then parents can find what troops are available for their daughter to join. The minimum number for a troop is 5. GSEM would like to see at least 12.

Anne: Introduced Kim Lambert Serna from council who is our Volunteer Support Specialist.

Anne talked about upcoming events:

September: registration event on 9/20, the first half hour is to learn what Girl Scouts is about then the troop formation. Please send anyone who might be interested to attend the event.

Annual Halloween party is Oct. 22, 1-3 at the Moose. This is a drop off event for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors. Jo Gibson is running the event and is looking for adult volunteers. The flyer was sent in last week’s Monday email and is on the blog.  The deadline for signing up for the party is Oct. 10. The next Leader meeting is Oct. 11 so any forms can be brought to that meeting.

Spooky Tales along Dark Trails event, this is for grades 6 and up. Girls create a spooky story and walk around the center story telling. Refreshments at the Congo church to follow. The flyer will be attached to the Monday email. This is a free event. Bring a flashlight.

Apple Festival is on 9/17. Melissa Audier and her girls will be running games and face painting.

Fall Product kick off is 9/23. Council has changed the training. They now have an open house where you can pick up materials and sample products. If you are a registered troop, council will send you a package with a kit for every registered girl in your troop. Anne is the fall product mentor, please see Anne with any questions.

If you plan to raise funds for your troop such as having a yard sale or event, the troop needs to participate in BOTH the fall product and cookie sale.

The Girl Scouts store has moved to Camp Maude Eaton and is no longer on route 114.

Caroling on the Common event is on Dec. 11, 1-3. Lisa Alexander will be running this event. This is open to all NRGS registered girls and there is no charge for this event. This event is always well attended.

Debbie: Encampment? Should we skip a year or do another this spring? If we go ahead, we would need to know by November so we can apply for the date we would like at the campsite we need. Once decided we will establish an encampment committee and open it to older girls to give their ideas too.

Amy: Possible Bingo Candy event in November? Amy will keep us posted on this event.

Anne: Does anyone have any questions about uniforms? Do you know how to change the uniform when moving to the next level? Amy has lots of colored discs if anyone needs them. Blue= Daisies, Green=Brownies, Yellow=Juniors, White=Cadettes. Stars move to the next uniform. You can also buy a numeral pin starting with year 5 instead of wearing the membership stars.

Anne: Should we break into groups by age level or have a question/answer session?

Debbie: mentioned Meals on Wheels. This is at the Senior Center at the building on the common. Meals are given to elderly who can't leave their homes. Girl Scouts have made tray decorations to cheer them up. Anything from a card or small craft item, but not food items. Usually they need 20-30 but you can make how many you want to help brighten someone's day! 

Leader question: Should we plan something to attract girls to the Veteran's Day event? Any ideas?

Kristin: There are Girl Scout handbooks for all levels in the children's room in the library. These do not get checked out but you may see them there for reference.

Anne: On our blog, there is a whole section of service project ideas and lists of fun activities. The Ultimate Guide is out! Trainings are listed in the guide too and it’s also online if you didn’t get one mailed to you.

Kim from council said our NRGS Service Unit is a wealth of info. with lots of useful and correct information and she’s always impressed!

Don't forget to fill out the yearly annual permission form and the volunteer agreement. This can be done online.

Debbie will be sending an email for volunteers who need to be cori'd or you will have received it from GSEM already. Anyone with access to the girls as well as funds or girl information will need to be registered and cori'd.

Customer care # 844-306-4736. You can call this number with any GS questions you have.

Meeting Day for leader meetings? Which day of the week does everyone prefer?  We will keep Tuesdays for now and after December switch to either Monday or Thursday.

Anne passed the torch to Debbie who will be the sole Service Unit Coordinator in the new membership year starting on Oct. 1.

Lisa Alexander will take over as the corresponding secretary, and continues as treasurer and event coordinator but we are seeking volunteers who may be interested as the recording secretary as well as a treasurer to alleviate some of the positions from Lisa. 

Amy Kelly will remain as registrar but her new title is Service Unit Membership Promoter (SUMP)

Jo Gibson is Hood School coordinator,

Kristin Puliafico- Little School coordinator.

We are looking for a Batch school coordinator.

We are looking for someone to record the minutes during the leader meetings until we find a recording secretary. This position could be shared. Kate Mahoney volunteered to take the minutes at the next leader meeting on Oct. 11.

Next meetings (tentatively): Oct. 11, Nov. 9, Dec. 13, Jan. 12, Feb. 9, March 9, April 13, May 11, June 15.

Meeting ended 8:45pm