North Reading Girl
Scouts
Leader Meeting
Minutes 9-9-19
Library Activity
Room at 7:30 p.m.
In
attendance: Debbie Nearing, SU Coordinator (outgoing); Jo Gibson, SU Coordinator
and Troops 62548 & 69175; Rebecca Lowe, SU Coordinator and Troop 62550; Amy Kelly, Treasurer and
Troops 71901 & 62804; Lisa Ayer, Blog Manager & Troop 62798; Denise Kung, Fall Product
Manager and Troop 62798; Amber O’Driscoll, SU Membership Promotor and Troops 76211 & 67419; Kristen Pemberton, SU New Leader
Mentor and Troop 69171; Karianne Bekier, Media Coordinator and Troops 62803 & 82418; Stephanie Musgrave, Troop 71868; Kathleen Roy, Troop 70416; Marissa Rumasiglia, Troop 70416; Anne
Valade, Troop 71901; Cindy DeWolfe, Troop 85336; and Casey Taylor, Troop 70415
Meeting called to order: 7:38 pm
Pledge of Allegiance Led by Junior Girl Scouts, Julia
Pemberton and Elizabeth Ayer
Girl Scout Promise Led by Junior Girl Scouts, Julia
Pemberton and Elizabeth Ayer
Debbie
Nearing, Outgoing NRGS Service Unit Coordinator
- Opened the
meeting and welcomed all new and current Leaders to our September Leader
meeting.
- All Service
Team members in attendance introduced themselves and explained their
positions. Debbie welcomed all new volunteers to their new positions.
- Debbie talked
about this being her last Leader meeting she was running as SU Coordinator
and that she would be stepping down from NRGS as a Service Team member but
would be staying on as the Chair for the Founder Award Scholarship and for
the Volunteers and Recognitions to award volunteers in North Reading.
- Open positions
were discussed as we are in need of a Corresponding Secretary to send out
Monday emails, update and maintain distribution lists, book venues,
etc. We are also in need of a
Recording Secretary to take minutes at the Leader and Service Team
meetings. This person can do both
jobs or the jobs can be split.
General Information
- Leader meeting
dates for 2019-2020 will be forthcoming under the new SU Coordinators,
tentatively Monday, October 7th at 7:30 p.m. was booked for the
October Leader meeting.
- Leaders passed
in registration forms and money for the Archery/Canoeing event which Jo
said was just about full.
- Early bird
patches were available for each troop who had girls register before June
30 for the new membership year. If you didn’t pick them up, they will be
at the October meeting or you can make arrangements with Amber O’Driscoll
to get them.
- Cori
representatives were on hand to authorize updated Cori’s to bring to GSEM
and volunteers and Leaders were reminded to check their Cori status for
all members especially Leaders since they will be locked out of their GS
account if their Cori expires
- Leaders were
reminded to take new level training through Lead Online if they never took
it or if they just flew up to a new level of scouting. This is not only for the benefit of the
troop, but also without the proper training, the troop may not receive all
the incentives and benefits and awards for the troop and Leaders they may
be worthy of receiving.
- Rebecca Lowe
talked about the Volunteer Conference on November 17th being
held in Burlington this year and the benefits to signing up and
attending. Sign up at www.gsema.org. New Leaders and existing Leaders can all
benefit and can also meet new volunteers from other Service Units to share
information. Debbie and Anne Valade
will be sitting in at tables for “what to do after your troop graduates”
and “awards and recognitions”.
- Lisa Ayer and
Denise Kung attended the Sun Day Event from Council on August 25th
and shared a little of what they heard about from GSEM, but the 2 pages of
valuable information will be posted to the NRGS blog to save time at the
meeting.
- If troops have
money in their account, you don’t need to charge dues, but a good rule is
$1 or $2 per girl per meeting.
Consider taking installments if you are charging large amounts like
$40 when starting your new troop.
- North Reading
does have financial aid for any girl who cannot afford a uniform, or an
event and the troop doesn’t have funds for her, no questions asked. Talk to Amy Kelly or a SU Coordinator in
confidence.
- GSEM will also
pay for registration fees for girls who are struggling to stay in Girl
Scouting.
- If your troop
has the funds, consider paying registration fees for the fall product or
cookie coordinators for your troop.
- Try not to buy
too much for a new troop starting up using your out of pocket money. If you do spend money out of pocket,
remember to reimburse yourself with receipts you hand in to your
treasurer. It will add up if you don’t reimburse yourself.
- If you want to
keep your troop open to more than 12 girls, make sure you check that
option with GSEMA when you sign up your troop or they could close your
troop at 12 girl members.
- All volunteers
helping with the troop NEED to be registered Girl Scouts and
Coried/Soried. If a Daisy adult is
coming with a daughter to an event, the adult does not need to be
registered since she is not working with the other girls.
Registration and Membership
- There will be a
GS informational table at the Apple Festival on Saturday, September 14th.
Troop 71901 members will be there
on hand to do face painting and offer help to serve pie and ice cream to
families. Anyone who can attend the
sit at the table for a few hours, let Amy or Debbie know. Amber is not available as the SUMP.
Debbie offered to stay at the table until 12 noon with Amy’s girls.
- We are looking
for Leaders for the Batch School Kindergarten troop. Contact Amber
O’Driscoll if you are interested.
- Remember that
girls need to be re-registered by 10/1/19 to participate in the new year
activities, events and troop meetings.
- Amy Kelly also
reminded Leaders that although the new membership year starts on 10/1,
girls and adults can join and sign up anytime during the year.
- Girls not
reregistered by 10/1 may not participate in troop meetings.
- If a troop is
not attending an event, remember girls can still participate and sign up
individually to any event.
- New troop
leaders can reach out to Kristen Pemberton as the new Leader mentor for
NRGS. She should be able to help
you with questions you may have pertaining to your new troop.
Upcoming Events and Future Events
- Archery/Canoe/Smores
Event
is October 6th.
- Jo Gibson
talked about having 4 groups of 16 girls and that the event is pretty
full.
- Some people
paid through Venmo but didn’t send in forms and other people sent in
forms without payment. There was
discussion about how many of these girls were considered registered.
- By the end of
the night, Jo declared that the event was indeed full, and no more
registrations could be taken.
- Halloween Party
Event
is booked at the Moose for Sunday, October 20th from 2 to 4
p.m. Jo booked the hall from 1 to 5 for set up and breakdown.
- We are looking
for volunteers to help run some of the stations and also looking for new
ideas at this event. Several
Leaders said they would help out and some said they had older girls who
could run some events as well.
Ideally, Cadette level and up would be great to help.
- The flyer will
be forthcoming in the next few days and posted to Facebook, the Blog and
attached to the Monday email.
- Debbie offered
to update last year’s flyer with the new information.
- It was
mentioned that there would not be a parade this year to the Nursing Home
because of a change in the facility with memory impaired patients. Last
year, there was hardly any interaction with the patients and the girls.
- Jo asked for
anyone to donate used Halloween decorations as well to decorate the hall
- New Daisies
can have a parent attend with her at this event.
- The Caroling
Event
is usually in December.
- Kristen
Pemberton was asked to run this event again, but she declined stating
that she got negative feedback from last year when it was held at CareOne
in Wilmington because it wasn’t kept in town.
- Leaders all
thought it was a great event last year and didn’t add any negatives to
the conversation and the event was well attended.
- We are looking
for someone to run the event
- Amy Salomon
also declined to help run the event this year due to family conflicts,
but she did say she had things in her shed that were used last year that
she can let someone use.
Fall Product Sale
- The fall
product sale this year runs from September 16 to October 23.
- Denise brought
several samples of candy and nuts to the meeting for all to try
- Fall product
kits were available at the meeting for each troop interested in selling
- The food
pantry will be receiving fruit slices this year instead of nuts
- Troops earn
15% of every dollar sold and older opt out troops get 20%
- Troops MUST
participate in BOTH the fall product sale and cookie sale in order to
raise money through fundraising and a troop cannot fundraise during the
date of each other sale
- Each troop
must have a fall products coordinator to handle the sale and this person must
be registered as a Girl Scout and also be Coried and must complete the
volunteer paperwork and return it to Denise Kung.
- Troops must
have a bank account open before they can sell fall products. Go on to www.gsema.org and request a
bank account. GSEM will send you
the necessary paperwork you need to take to the bank. GSEM would like troops to use Citizens
Bank because they have negotiations set up with the bank whereas troops
won’t be charged service charge fees.
If you use another bank, as Reading Cooperative was suggested at
the meeting by Rebecca Lowe, you must be sure you are not paying monthly
service charge fees. That would
deplete Girl Scout accounts.
- Denise set up
a Team App for the Fall Products that troops can download to get
information for the fall products sale.
- Denise will
send everyone an email to get you started on September 16th through
Unify once you sign up with her.
- Girls must be
registered by October 21 to participate and receive recognitions
- Troops must
also have each girl complete the annual permission form for 2020 found on
the www.gsema.org website to be
able to sell fall products and cookies
- Troops should
receive a large white envelope, In a Nutshell Guide, and a money receipt
booklet.
- Girls should
receive an order card, a money envelope and a sheet of business cards.
- Girls can sell
online again, and customers will get a discount in shipping fees
- Customers may
also be able to order online and have only certain products delivered by
girls which are available on the cards only. Other items will need to be
shipped if not on the card.
- Orders must be
input by October 23rd into the system. Don’t wait until the last day because
the system gets slow. Online has 5
days longer until October 28.
- By October 28th,
the money must be deposited into your bank. GSEM will remove the money for the fall
products you ordered, and your troop profit will stay in the account.
- Fall product
selling is a great way to earn money early for your troop account.
- Girls will get
patches for each thing they participate in from the sale and each patch
will interlock to create a larger cool patch.
End of Meeting
Debbie ended the meeting by thanking everyone for volunteering
as Girl Scout Leaders and to remember that the girls are watching over them as
their role model and that they can help the girls succeed. Whether it’s a badge, activity, craft, or
something else that seems insignificant, in the end the girls will know that
through Girl Scouts and through you, they accomplished something grand and the
joyful look in their eyes will be all the thanks you need!
She thanked all the service team members for their love and
support over the years and for supporting her as SU Coordinator. Debbie said it was a privilege to share so
many good moments over the years with so many wonderful, amazing women. For
Debbie, being involved in Girl Scouting wasn’t about getting a reward, it was
about helping girls grow into strong female leaders and giving them the tools,
they need to succeed in life. It was a very rewarding experience in Debbie’s
life for the past 16 years, and she wished Jo and Rebecca best wishes in their
new role as Service Unit Coordinators.
Debbie left Jo and Rebecca with a Survival Kit to remind them of the ups
and downs of their position but to have faith that they could handle whatever
is thrown at them. Included in that kit
among other things was a pack of gum to remind them to “stick together” as
Coordinators!
She left them with:
·
Mounds candy for the mounds of information you will
be learning
·
Nuts to be a little nutty sometimes and have a good
laugh
·
A Puzzle piece because without you, things wouldn’t
be complete
·
A Band-aid for healing hurt feelings, your or
someone else’s
·
Marbles to replace those we lose from time to time
·
A Rubber Band as a reminder to stay flexible
·
String to tie things together when everything falls
apart
·
An Eraser to remind you that everyone makes
mistakes and that’s okay!
·
Sweet and Sour candy to help you appreciate the
difference in others
·
Hugs and Kisses to remind you that someone cares
for you
·
A Paper Clip to help you keep it all together and a
·
Candle to remind you to share your light with
others.
The Service Team members thanked Debbie for her service over the
years and gave her a lifetime scarf and slide as a token of their appreciation. Debbie said she will truly miss being part of
NRGS Service team, but you will see her around…
Debbie retired her American handheld flag and passed it on to Jo
and Rebecca for future meetings!
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm
Minutes
taken and Submitted by Debbie Nearing, SU Coordinator
in the
absence of a Recording Secretary
