Fall Service Project – Reading Service Unit

On November 5th from 1-3 pm at Camp Rice Moody, the Reading Service Unit will be falling for service as they have done for the last 4 years.  They invite all Forever Girl Scouts, current Girl Scouts and friends to attend.  Check out the flyer here for more information and contact Michelle Kramer directly with any questions at girlscoutalumnae@gmail.com.

Veterans Day Event, Saturday, Nov. 11th, at 11 am on the NR Town Common

Girls should wear their vest/sash and stand together as a group for the Veteran's Day Ceremony.  Girls do not need to attend as a troop!  We are asking the person in charge of Veteran’s Affairs for Veteran’s Day services whether the Girl Scouts can help and we will keep you informed.

Girl Scouting Empowerment Party – FREE Event

Attached is a flyer that Ambassador Troop 73899 put together for the Empowerment Party they are hosting for Daisies and Brownies on Sunday, November 5th from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in the Library Activity Room.  If your girls are really interested in attending, they need to contact Zoe ASAP at zkennedy@gmail.com. There is only a limited number who can attend and time is of the essence. 

Trick or Treating at Care One in Wilmington TIME SENSITIVE

Kimberly Pierce who is the Activity Director at Care One in Wilmington reached out to us today to see if there are any troops who would be available to trick or treat at their facility on October 30th.  Please contact Kim at  KPierce@care-one.com ASAP if your girls are able to participate. We don’t have a time, you will have to coordinate that with Kim.  This is a great fun way to expose the girls to other communities if they have not already done so.  Although this isn’t a true service project because the girls are getting candy, they will be brightening up someone’s day!  If you could please let Debbie know at bcednearing@comcast.net if you are attending so we know, we would appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

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

Daisy Discovery Day 10/14

Girl Scout Registration

     North Reading Girl Scouts is hosting a Daisy Discovery Event on Saturday, October 14th from 3pm-4pm at the Town Hall Gym.  This event is for girls in kindergarten who are new to scouting.  Girls will participate in activities they may experience at a troop meeting, while adults have the opportunity to ask questions about the program and receive instructions to complete the online registration.  If you have already registered, your daughter, you are encouraged to attend the event and bring a friend!  Whether you’re a girl looking for fun and friendship, or an adult looking for a way to make a real difference in a girl's life, Girl Scouts is for you!

     Beyond troop membership, Girl Scouting offers hundreds of programs to satisfy a range of girls’ interests, including outdoor adventure programs, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), community service, art, music and more. Scouting provides girls with opportunities for fun and friendship while fostering the development of leadership skills and self-esteem. 

     Registration for girls in grades 1-12 is also going on at this time.  Families are invited to learn more about North Reading Girl Scouts and how to register girls and adults by visiting www.northreadinggirlscouts.blogspot.com. You can also follow directions found here.  You can email specific questions to girlscouts306@gmail.com.  

NASA wants you to help test new space science badges!

Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador troops! How would you like to:

• Learn about space science and engage in scientific inquiry!
• Receive a NASA badge test pilot patch----- designed solely for participating troops!
• Be a part of history, as you help develop a new badge!

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has teamed up with SETI Institute, ARIES Scientific, University of Arizona, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific to create a new series of space science badges in collaboration with NASA! Daisy, Brownie, and Junior troops from Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts (GSEMA) have had great success participating in the pilot program. Now, GSUSA would like the assistance of six Cadette, six Senior, and six Ambassador troops from GSEMA to provide feedback on the new badge activities.

If selected, your troop will be expected to complete all the badge activities and participate in the evaluation of these materials within an allotted time frame. Click here to apply before October 6!  https://girlscoutsusa.ca1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_br75hcEegug60zb&Q_JFE=0  Troops will be notified of their selection by November 1st!

NYC & Rockettes Trip

NYC & Rockettes Trip

Find a flyer here for the Nash-a-way Service Unit's NYC & Rockettes’ trip.  This has a short deadline so please read and forward it to your parents right away. Open to all Girl Scouts. Two registered adults per troop.  Please send only one troop check. Ticket payment due ASAP to Gloria Ackroyd, Nash-a-way Service Unit, 257 Hoyts Wharf Rd. Groton 01450. Email is gmackroyd@verizon.net.  

Looking for Meeting Space for Your Troop?

Peter Sanborn Place is a 73 unit low income housing for elderly and disabled, located behind the Mandarin Restaurant in Reading. They have recently closed their adult day health program that was utilizing our community room. Many of the residents here have mentioned the use of the community room, and that they used to have Girl Scout Troops use the space for meetings. The residents miss seeing the Girl Scout troops here. They would be happy to coordinate use of the community room for troop meetings.  Contact Kim Manzelli at kmanzelli@peabodyproperties.com or Marcy Brown at mbrown@peabodyproperties.com. 

You can also contact Diane Huxley at gsema.org to utilize the Pavillion or the Lodge at Camp Rice Moody in Reading.  

Leader Meeting Minutes 9/12/17

North Reading Girl Scouts
Leader Meeting Minutes 9/12/17
Meeting started at 7:42 p.m.
In attendance: Debbie Nearing, North Reading’s SU Coordinator and Corresponding Secretary, and Leader of troop 73891; Anne Valade, Fall Product Coordinator, Jo Gibson, Hood School Coordinator, Cookie Manager, and Leader of Troop 69175 and 62548; Amy Kelly, SU Treasurer, and Leader of Troops 71901 and 62804; Denise Kung, Recording Secretary, Little School Coordinator, and Leader of Troop 62798; Amy Salomon 69175, Kristin Pemberton 69171, Vicki Labriola 69176, Cindy DeWolfe 85336, Karianne Bekier 62803, Kerri Antonuccio 62803, Lisa Coroa-Bockley 85121, Ruth Kennedy 73899 and Special Guest, the SU Coordinator from Reading Girl Scouts, Amy Ward.
Fall Sale - Anne Valade is the Fall Sale Products Coordinator. She had packets for everyone and handed them out. We sampled this year’s product offerings. New this year: organic vegetable seed planters, pickle flavored peanuts, salt and pepper cashews, new commemorative camping tin. Sale starts October 2nd. Will be delivered before Thanksgiving.
You can opt out of incentives (Cadettes and up) by a certain date (see packets). If you do, you earn 17-18% vs 15% profit for your troop on your sales.
Once the orders arrive, they are sorted by Anne and delivered to individual troops before Thanksgiving. Perfect for hostess gifts, gifts to teachers, bus drivers, coaches, etc. There are also community caring tins for those that want to donate $5 cans of peanuts to the food pantry.
How the sale works: Kids can set up accounts online to send emails to relatives and friends. Relatives CAN order online, but they have to pay the shipping (high). Kids earn patches for different activities such as online sales, community caring tins, etc. In addition, they can sell magazine subscriptions.
Why participation is important: in order to do any other kind of fundraising, you NEED to participate in both the fall sale and cookie sale. The town also gets incentives: $10 for each troop that participates with 100% of girls.
Bank account: you need to have a troop bank account set up for the fall sale monies
** Please send your troop’s fall sale coordinator email address, name and phone number to Anne Valade. She will start sending out information. **
Go to www.gsema.org and look under the Cookie tab for more information on the fall sale.
Ruth Kennedy spoke about the Girl Power party Sun Nov 5th from 1:30-3 in the Library Activity Room. Ruth’s senior high school troop is graduating this year. They really enjoyed the girl scout experience and would like to throw a party for younger girls at the Daisy/Brownie level. They are looking for Cadettes to help run craft stations. There will be dancing and yoga.
Early Bird registration patches were handed out to troop leaders.
Potential corn maze event for older girls (Marini Farm, Mann Orchards, or Connors Farm). You can also plan it as a troop activity. One leader mentioned there’s a Groupon for Connors Farm. Note: no hay rides are allowed for Girl Scouts (liability issue). Don’t forget to check that there is an insurance binder with GSEM with the organization where you attend with the girls.
Haunted Halloween party Sun Oct 22 2-4pm at the Moose, organized by Jo Gibson.
Deadline to sign up: Oct 10th. Jo is looking for volunteers to come early for setup and to supervise activities during the event. An idea was proposed where maybe we can walk through the back of the Moose after the party and cross over to the nursing home to do a costume parade. Do we need another permission form or waiver on the flyer to do this, Debbie asked? Debbie researching with GSEM.
Caroling event: Amy Salomon volunteered to organize a caroling event at a local nursing home or elder care facility, rather than caroling on the common. This will give the girls a chance to do community service and perform for an audience.
Encampment update: the event was a big success. We are looking for future encampment directors and volunteers to train for future events. Debbie is still looking for story trains (the rainy-day activity in the encampment packet).
Girls Scouts has created new badges at every level, including a Camping badge at each level. There is a webinar on Tuesday Nov 7th on the new camping badge (see the Ultimate Activity Guide and register on e-Biz to get the link).
Troops can combine and go on overnights together and share the responsibility to get First Aid and Lodge Camping trained. Look up the volunteer-to-girl ratios online for your level.
Debbie is looking for some older girl volunteers this Saturday to help run a table at the Apple Festival.
The Service Unit is looking for a recruitment specialist. There will be a Reading-North Reading recruitment event this Saturday to introduce new girls to scouting. There was information in the Monday email about the event.
If you are looking for new members, you will want to list your troop in the Opportunity Catalog so girls can find you.
Flying Stables in Chelmsford was wonderful for one of the Brownie troops. They had liability insurance (necessary for field trip). The girls visited the horses and each girl got to ride a horse and brush it. $25/girl.
Thank you to Kerri Antonuccio for stepping up as Service Unit Membership Promoter, Denise Kung for stepping up as Recording Secretary (taking minutes at each Leader meeting), Assistant Fall Product Coordinator to work with Anne to take over next year, and also the Little School Coordinator and Amber O’Driscoll for stepping up as Batch School Coordinator!
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Minutes taken by Denise Kung and edited by Debbie Nearing

Interested in Joining Girl Scouts?

The North Reading Girl Scouts have put together a flyer with information about how to join Girl Scouts.  Please check it out here.

Haunted Halloween Party!

The North Reading Girl Scouts is hosting a Haunted Halloween Party on October 22 at the Moose Lodge from 2pm to 4pm.  Please also note that the girls will participating in a Halloween parade at the Sunbridge, Meadowview, Nursing Home in NR as part of a community service.  They will walk in costume from the Moose Lodge next door to the Nursing Home for the last 45 minutes and then back to the Moose to be picked up.  This is considered a neighborhood walk and thus is included as part of the annual permission form which every girl MUST sign prior to the start of each new membership year or October 1.

Click here for the girl annual permission form: http://www.gsema.org/content/dam/girlscouts-girlscoutseasternmass/documents/Annual-Girl-Permission.pdf

This event is for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors.  Please see the flyer here for the full details and permission form.  All forms are due back to your troop's leaders by October 10th.  Please make checks out to "NRGS", the cost is $10/child.  Any questions please contact Joanne Gibson at joanneg@gmail.com.

Grand Opening Mann Orchard RIverside Farm

Mann Orchard recently bought a new farm in Methuen called Mann Orchard Riverside Farm. They are going to have a corn maze, hayrides, a petting zoo and a midway.  Their grand opening is September 9th from 10-6. You can find their website here.

New Service Unit 2017-2018

The Service Unit is always listed on the side page of the blog but since we have some openings we wanted to advertise for anyone who has an interest in helping out.  Below is the list of Service Unit members. If you are interested in a position, please contact Debbie Nearing.  The OPEN positions can be shared by more than one volunteer.  The Service Team meets once a month and we try to attend the monthly Leader meetings.  All Volunteers must be registered and complete a CORI/SORI.

S.U. COORDINATOR:  Debbie Nearing   bcednearing@comcast.net

                                                                                     

S.U. TREASURER:   Amy Kelly   kellys@majekelly.com

S.U. MEMBERSHIP PROMOTOR:  OPEN

S.U. SECRETARIES:         

            CORRESPONDING:   Debbie Nearing   bcednearing@comcast.net

            RECORDING:   OPEN – alternating volunteers can take monthly minutes at meetings

SCHOOL COORDINATORS:                                           

            Batch Elementary School   OPEN – volunteer to be contact person for the Batch School

            Hood Elementary School    Joanne Gibson   joanneg@gmail.com

            Little Elementary School    OPEN

NRGS BLOG MANAGER:  Melissa Audier   audier@verizon.net

S.U. COOKIE MANAGER:  Joanne Gibson   joanneg@gmail.com

S.U. FALL PRODUCT PROGRAM MENTOR: Anne Valade avalade@baystatedisposal.com

S.U. TROOP PATHWAY ORIENTATION PROVIDER:  OPEN - training new volunteers

S.U. EVENT COORDINATOR:   OPEN

S.U. ADULT RECOGNITIONS ORGANIZER:  Debbie Nearing   bcednearing@comcast.net

S.U. ENCAMPMENT DIRECTORS:  Debbie Nearing, Kerstin March, Anne Valade  

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR:  OPEN – volunteer to send articles to the Transcript, etc.

FOUNDER AWARD COMMITTEE:  Debbie Nearing, Sue Kirby, Kim Lambert-Serna,

       Helen Munroe, Alycia McGoldrick

S.U. CORI COORDINATORS:  Debbie Nearing, Joanne Gibson

Encampment Updates

Letter from Debbie Nearing, encampment director:

As an overnight camper, you should have received the following forms in your troop packet for Encampment:

Medical/permission form for NRGS on yellow paper  here – one for each girl in your troop

Standard camping equipment list on blue paper here

Individual packing list for overnight campers on pink paper here

Need to Know form on lilac paper here  – this form has been revised since the packet was released

Encampment attendance sheet on ivory paper here

Camp Runels map on white paper here

Please email the attached Individual Packing List, Need to Know form, and Camp Runels map to each of your parents who have a girl attending Encampment ASAP so they can start putting together camp items for their daughter.  If you have other adults attending as first aiders or who will be staying overnight as adults in charge, please send them this email.

You will need to give each girl/parent the yellow medical/permission form to complete (you should have one for each girl signed up to attend). The parent or you should make a copy and keep the copy and the yellow form will need to be passed in at check-in the day of the Encampment.  You may need to have a meeting before Encampment to hand these out.

You will also need to complete the ivory form as the troop Leader. 

Give the ivory attendance form to one of the parents if you are not attending as it must be turned in at check-in so please do not complete it until the day before.  The attendance (ivory form) sheet should list EVERYONE who will be attending for any length of time.  If you find that a girl is coming late or leaving early, I still need them on the form and also let me know that with a notation next to to their name.  All parents and Leaders should also be on the attendance sheet if they are attending and/or staying for more than drop off.  This is so in case of an emergency, we know who is at camp at all times.  I will also need to make sure if a parent is attending that they are Coried and Cori’s now take at least 3 weeks to get authorized by GSEM.  Keep this in mind.

The blue standard troop camping sheet is the packing list basically for your troop.  This is just an idea of what to bring.  You may bring more or less.  It is acceptable to forego the “Girl Scout Way” and use paper but you must carry it out of your site and dispose of it properly.

You should also have a first aid kit with your troop gear.  Please make sure that the first aid kit has some of the items like tylenol, tums, benadryl which are included on the yellow medical/permission form.  We may have a Camp Nurse this year on site but for the day on Saturday only, so you need to rely on your First Aider if staying overnight.  We will have plenty of First Aiders on hand should you need help with any emergency at camp. 

I’m attaching a blank CORI request form here.  If you have any parents coming for the day or overnight or they are staying for more than drop off, I need them to complete a CORI and come to me in person with a copy of their driver’s license to get it authorized so I can send it off to GSEM before Encampment.  They can also bring it to the GSEM office on 143 Abbott Street in Andover for faster processing.  The process takes a few weeks so please let me know ASAP.  Also, if you are expiring before the end of the year, please complete a new CORI/SORI.

Remember that as a troop you will need to help the girls make at least 10 swaps for the GS swapping event if they want to participate in the in the SWAPs exchange.  It’s a lot of fun.  You can get ideas from Pinterest, www.makingfriends.com or www.swaps4less.com.  You should try to get together with the girls over the summer or you can make them Friday night if you are staying over at camp. 

Girls will also need some sort of bandana or hat.  They don’t have to match in color but should be similar in design or some way to show that they are together as a troop so you can identify them easier in a crowd of girls.

If you have any questions about any of these forms, please email me.  If you are available and want to attend our Encampment Committee meeting, our first meeting will be Tuesday, July 11th at 7:30 p.m.  The location is to be announced as we are still waiting to hear from the Library.  If you are interested, please email me back at bcednearing@comcast.net.

Thank you so much.

Debbie Nearing, Encampment Director

North Reading Girl Scout Service Unit