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 8th 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 27th! Anne will be
looking for 6th grade Girl Scouts and up to help volunteer with this
event. Contact Anne if you are
interested in helping out.
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There will be an email going out soon to all
registered Girl Scout families attaching all the flyers for their level.
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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 22nd 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 8th and March 14th
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 8th
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.
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 21st
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 10th! 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 11th 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.
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A revised Event calendar was handed
out at the Leader meeting and can be found on the blog.
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March 12th has been
designated Family Night by the NR School Committee, thus our March Leader
meeting has been moved to the 5th.
Enjoy your family time…
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Our April 9th 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
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You should NOT be collecting exorbitant
dues - $5 or $10 – max $20 a year
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Leaders should not be paying money
out of pocket without reimbursement from the troop
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Dues can be paid up front or in $1 or $2
increments per meeting
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You should spend the money on the girls in the
troop before they leave as they help to earn it
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Use cookie/fall product profits instead of
charging dues unless you are taking an extended trip
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Since girl registration is now $25, consider
troop paying $10 and parent $15
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Discuss with girl members options with their
troop funds to learn progression
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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
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Money from a disbanded troop goes to GSEM – it
does not belong to the girls
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Disbanding money follows girls continuing on
in another troop or as a Juliette
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A financial report is submitted to
NRGS annually by June 15th with a copy of your bank statement
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A financial report just shows what funds came
in and what funds went out
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Every troop must have a GSEM bank
account – should be in Council’s ID #
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Every troop account needs 2 signers
on the account – you should be checking each other
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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 4th
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 30th) 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
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