Leader Meeting Minutes, 9/15/2015

Meeting on September 15, 2015 at the Library Activity Room.

Volunteers in attendance: Debbie Nearing (73891), Anne Valade, Kristin Puliafico (85118), Lisa Alexander (86279), Amy Kelly, (73897 & 71901) Jenn Casoli Vant, (85337) Kate Mahoney (71868), Sarah Stetson (76213), Marcy Nelson (76213), Joanne Gibson (69175), Mary Hatton (78181), Barbara Gravel (69184), Cindy DeWolfe, (85336) Bridget Easler (76212), Dorothy Lehane (76211), Kristen Pemberton (69171), Joanna Maguire(78188), Ruth Kennedy (73899), Kerstin March.

 The meeting started at 7:45pm with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Girl Scout Pledge.

 Anne Valade: Thanked everyone for coming and announced the new Service Team volunteers. Anne and Debbie Nearing will jointly share the position of acting Service Unit Coordinator. Amy Kelly is the new registrar with a registration team of school coordinators: Jo Gibson (Hood), Ruth Kennedy (Batch), Kristin Puliafico (Little).

 Registration:  The registration event planned for 9/16 was mentioned that it was being held at the LAR 6-8pm. You may also register online. Troop registration deadline is 9/30. After the 30^th, parents will need to register girls themselves. If you are looking to transfer girls to another troop, please go through the registration team. We try to accommodate all girls. Amy's goal is to place every girl.

If you have any questions or concerns, please keep the registration team in the loop.

 The Ultimate Guide from GSEM will be in your mailbox in a few days!  This guide will have all the fun activities for your troop and families that will be run by Council.

 Also, the Service Team directory went out in an email two weeks ago. This tells people about the positions for the current year with emails if you need to reach out to anyone. The troop directory will be sent out in a Monday email after the changes are made.

Amy and the registration team: If you registered before June 30, 2015, please see Amy to pick up your early bird patches.

Jo Gibson: Jo has a 2nd year Daisy troop from the Batch and Hood combined. Jo is the school coordinator for the Hood School. Talk to Jo if you have any questions about registering girls from the Hood.

 Ruth Kennedy: Ruth is the interim Batch School Coordinator. If anyone has a daughter at the Batch and would like to take on Ruth's position, please talk to Anne or Debbie.

 Kristin Puliafico: Kristin is the Little School Coordinator. She is also Cori authorized along with Debbie Nearing and Kerstin March. Debbie will be sending a list of people whose Cori's have expired.

Fall Products and Cookies:  Ruth and Kerstin: The Fall Product kits are ready! Volunteer agreement forms need to be filled out to receive your online password for Fall Products. We tasted the samples that Ruth and Kerstin brought. There are some new items this year and items only available online. The products are magazines, nuts & candy. Please collect the money when you sell the item, troops need to pay for entire order upfront. Ruth loves the fall sale, they make great gifts for teachers, babysitters, CCD volunteers, coaches, and your bus driver! The items will arrive November 20, right in time for Thanksgiving. The prizes for the girls are super cute. Girls can opt out of prizes and receive 17% on sales instead of 15%. All information is on the Leader Facebook page. Create a giraffe patch online incentive. All selling instructions are on the Fall Product envelope.  Sale date is September 25 to October 26.

 Ruth would like all troops to please spread the word for selling the honey roasted peanuts to be donated to the North Reading Food Pantry. North Reading Girl Scouts will be donating cans of peanuts for Thanksgiving day baskets to local families. The donated cans of peanuts are $5 a can and we would like to sell 100 cans. Ruth posted a video of how the toffee is made on the Leader Facebook page. The sale runs 9/25-10/26. Please talk to Ruth or Kerstin with any questions. GSEM will email you a password. If your troop wants to run a money raising event, the troop needs to sell Fall Products and Cookies. Magazines and items can also be ordered online and they will ship within 48 hours. Very easy!

 Kerstin March: Cookies went up to $5 a box for the upcoming cookie season. Kerstin is interested in mentoring someone to take over the cookie position. The job is done mostly online and could be split between two people, one to manage booths and one for online duties. The position is from November to mid March. A very manageable job!

 Banking and Events: Lisa Alexander is our new Treasurer and Event Coordinator. Lisa was talking about Citizens Bank and how the Girl Scouts are grandfathered in for no fees. Call Tony at Citizens Bank if you are getting a monthly maintenance fee. Also, there is a fee for paper statements. Lisa suggests trying online banking, it is free and easy and you can save $2 a month. Girl Scouts are tax exempt. You can take the tax exempt certificate in a store and not have to pay sales tax. This will be included to the Monday email.  Please see Lisa for banking questions.

 The NRGS Halloween Party is at the Moose on Oct. 25th 1-3 pm.  Would any older girls like to help? This is a drop off event, no siblings allowed and only for registered Girl Scouts. Lisa, Joanne Gibson, and Karen Buscemi are on the committee, talk to Lisa if you would like to join the Halloween party committee.  The flyer is on the blog at www.northreadinggirlscouts.blogspot.com. 

Star Gazing is on 10/19 at 7 pm. This is for juniors and up and put on by the North Shore Astronomy Club at Merrimack College as a workshop. The cost is $3 per girl. Please write one check to NRGS. The limit is 20 girls, so sign up ASAP if you are interested. The cloud date is 10/26 if the weather is not ideal. Contact is Ruth Kennedy and the flyer is attached to the blog and Monday email.

 Encampment:  Debbie Nearing: Encampment: Possibly in the spring. Leaders will need to be "camp certified" Grab a date for training on the GSEM website because they book up fast. More information on encampment will be known in January. NRGS generally give lodges to younger troops. Daisies may come and enjoy the day. They do not sleep overnight. For ratio and safety wise you will need one trained CPR/FIRST AID and one Camp Certified to attend. You could also go with another troop to meet requirements. All activities are planned for the entire day. A date of Father's Day weekend may be considered. More to come in January.

 Parking Lot:  Anne Valade:  The purpose of the parking lot is to put your thoughts and questions down on a piece of paper and place it on the parking lot. All questions will be answered at the end of the meeting.  There is also a small green bag for questions, comments and concerns if you have any.

Service Team Openings:  Debbie Nearing: Service Team opening-- Media Manager: The Media Manager is the contact for the Transcript, the Patch, NRGS Facebook page and NRGS Facebook Leader page. Responsibilities are placing photos in the Transcript and making sure the proper information gets to the right person. We would like to utilize Norcam as well.

 SHARE Coordinator: Support the mission of Girl Scouts and please contribute. This position would run an event to raise money for SHARE. SHARE gets one big push in April. 

 Blog:  Melissa Audier – was not able to attend the meeting but is still the blog manager and all information to be posted to the blog should be sent to her directly with a copy to Debbie.

 Thank you to Barbara Gravel for her many years of service on the Service Team. The Service Team gave Barbara a nice plant as a thank you gift.

If anyone needs to be Cori'd please come to registration 9/16 or contact Debbie Nearing, Kristin Puliafico or Kerstin March or come to a Leader meeting.

New leaders will need training as well as current leaders who will need to train for the next level. Please go online and sign the volunteer agreement for the current year.

 The meeting adjourned at 8:57pm.

 Kristin Puliafico, Recording Secretary :-D

Still Time to Register!!

Come visit our Girl Scout table at the Apple Festival this Saturday, 10-3, or find the registration form here. and the website to make the payment here.  Any questions, contact Amy Kelly, registrar, at kellys@majekelly.com

A Night Among the Stars, an astronomy event October 19

This is a North Reading Girl Scout run event for Junior level girls and up.  It takes place at Mendel Observatory, Merrimack College, North Andover on Monday, October 19th at 7pm. (“cloud” date Monday, Oct. 26th, 7pm).  This event is limited to 20 girls and costs $3.  Please see flyer here. Flyer is due back by to your troop leader by October 10.  Ruth Kennedy is in charge of this event and can be reached at RuthEKennedy@gmail.com with any questions.

Casting Call! A new training class for Seniors and Ambassadors

Find information about signing up for this class here.  It takes place on September 18 from 6:30-9:30pm.  

Basic Troop Camping Skills Training NOW ONLINE at GSEM!!!!

Basic Troop Camping Skills Trainings are now listed online for you to sign up.  Go here

to find the troop camping skills tent trainings for a $25 fee.  

They are:  

Waltham, April 16-17, 2016 and October 17-18, 2015

Andover, September 19-20, 2015 and April 30-May 1, 2016 

Plymouth, May 10-11, 2016 and October 10-11, 2015

Nantucket September 26, 2015

Brewster September 19-20, 2015.  

 THESE DATES WILL FILL UP VERY QUICKLY!   

YOU WILL NEED THIS TRAINING TO STAY OVERNIGHT AT THE NRGS ENCAMPMENT IN 2016.

 

 

 

North Reading Girl Scout's Haunted Halloween Party!

Come enjoy a fun-filled Halloween party on October 25th from 1pm-3pm.  This event is open to Daisy, Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts only.  This is a drop off event.  Please see flyer here.  
Lisa Alexander is running this event and can be contacted at krisandlisa@hotmail.com.

Fall Product Sale

The Fall Product Sale will take place from September 25 to October 27.  Please email Kerstin March march.family@verizon.net to let her know if your troop is interested in participating in the sale.  Let her know how many troop members you have and she will bring that amount of packets to the first leader meeting on September 15th.

Great Escape - Adult Camp - September 25-27, 2015

Any present or former Girl Scout adults (and if you are reading this, that means you!) are invited to Adult Day at Camp:  Great Escape, September 25-27, 2015
http://gsgreatescaper.blogspot.com/2015/08/adult-day-at-camp-october-31-2015.html

Wilderness First Aid -- January 9 & 10, 2016

Accidents happen. People get hurt, sick, or lost. The temperature drops, the wind picks up, and it starts to rain. Would you know what to do? Many backcountry emergencies are preventable, and even when bad things happen, sometimes the wrong care can make things worse. By learning a few basic skills, you can make the difference between a good outcome and a bad one-and maybe even save a life.  The Wilderness First Aid (WFA) is the perfect course for the outdoor enthusiast or trip leader who wants a basic level of first aid training for short trips with family, friends, and outdoor groups.  

Girls who participated in the Winchester 2014 class found that WFA certification helped their applications to be employed by both Girl Scout and other summer camps.  Both Seniors and Ambassadors who participate will receive the appropriate First Aid Badge as well as certification.

WFA is now the Girl Scout safety requirement for troops traveling more than 30 minutes away from emergency medical care (e.g. hiking & backing trips, canoe overnights).

This two day class will be taught January 9th and 10th (Saturday and Sunday) at Rice Moody (Reading) and is open to girls ages 14+ and all registered Girl Scout adult volunteers.  The course will be $120 for both girls and adults ($145 non-registered).  An option to become CPR certified will be offered for an additional $35.  Course cost includes breakfast, lunch and dinner both Saturday and Sunday as well as the option to stay overnight at Rice Moody.

For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/1JK8YJM 

Registration Event!

North Reading Girl Scout registration is on Wednesday, September 16th at the Flint Memorial Library in the Library Activity Room from 6-8pm. This is for all girls kindergarten and up! We also need some volunteers for new troops! Come see what scouting is all about.

Rodger & Hammerstein's Cinderella at the Boston Opera House

Another great Girl Scout Membership Benefit:
Broadway in Boston presents Rodger & Hammerstein's Cinderella at the Boston Opera House, September 29th to Oct 11th. See flyer here for more details about the Girl Scout special offer. 

Silver Award Recipients

Recently 14 North Reading Girl Scouts, (members from four different Senior level troops) were recognized and awarded for their hard work and diligence over the past two years in earning the prestigious Girl Scout Silver Award. The Silver Award is the highest award a Cadette Girl Scout can earn and puts these girls among an exceptional group of girls who have used their knowledge and leadership skills to make a difference in the world.

These girls were asked to: Identify an issue they care about; Build a team to work with or do it on their own; Explore a community that they are part of - that could be school, church, town or another focus area; Make a decision about how they want to help that community; and Develop a take action project around that idea. They must put that plan into motion with the expectation of putting at least 50 hours into the process. When they have completed their project, they then reflect on their accomplishment, share their story with others, and celebrate their achievement.

The girls were awarded at the NRGS Annual Fly Up and Bridging Ceremony held at the International Family Church on Concord Street in North Reading.

Anna Buscemi and Emily Nearing worked together as a team and created a recipe website, http://nrfprecipebook.weebly.com/about.html, including many of the food items they found on the shelves of the food pantry as well as using fresh produce harvested from the vegetable gardens located at the Town Hall. The vegetable beds, installed a few years ago by another Girl Scout for her Gold Award project to benefit the food pantry families, are now maintained by the North Reading Girl Scouts. In addition, the girls put together a hard copy of the recipe book for those families without access to a computer, as well as recipe cards to put on the shelf with those food products that are not as popular to families. North Shore Printing generously copied and donated 25 spiral bound copies of the cookbook and recipe cards for the girls to give to the NR food pantry.

Claire Bailey coordinated an afternoon of music at the North Reading Senior Center, in which the young vocalists and pianists shared their talents with older residents. The performance was also filmed and put on DVD so future visitors to the Senior Center could enjoy the performance.

Jessica Kelly held a book drive and book collection. She then sorted through the books and used the donated books to rebuild the library at the main building for the residents of the Peabody Court Housing Authority in North Reading.

Julia Kushakji focused her project on the importance of Reading, English and Literacy. She did research on the topic and then completed two main activities to promote her project. Julia created a website surrounding the topic and then built a bookshelf which she donated to the Hood Elementary School.

Brooke Sponzo spread awareness about Barn Owls, a threatened species in Massachusetts. She created a poster display and researched and built an owl box. The box and poster were on display at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, and then Brooke had the box installed at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Martha's Vineyard.

Carly Sponzo set up a “Letterbox” in the Ive’s Forest here in North Reading. She prepared parts of the trail, hid the boxes containing hand carved stamps of a Boy Scout symbol, a Girl Scout symbol, and a North Reading Hornet symbol. Her Letterbox series information is "live" on Atlasquest.com, and Carly has taken some of our North Reading Girl Scout troops on hikes to find them!

Gillian Audier, Emily Humphreys and Nicole Shedd as a group raised funds through various bake sales. They used the funds they raised to purchase and plant two trees and various shrubs for a beautification project at the Hood Elementary School.

Joanna Keaton raised funds through bake sales to purchase craft stamps and cardstock. She then made greeting cards to be handed out at Elder Services and also donated the materials necessary to make their own cards.

Zoe Kennedy, Allyson Kirby and Olivia Esposito worked together on their Silver Award, learning about the importance of honey bees in a healthy ecosystem. Their research focused on the increasing problem of "colony collapse disorder", an event that threatens our native honey bees, which are the pollinators of most of our grown food supply. Without honey bees to pollinate, crops can fail on a large scale. The girls planted "pollination stations" which contained native wild flowers, at three locations around North Reading. These stations provide food for the honey bees. Additionally, they presented information to encourage homeowners to set aside areas of their yards as honey bee safe zones, free from harmful yard pesticides. They handed out wildflower seeds at North Reading's Apple Festival in September which folks could plant this spring. The girls received donations from local businesses including Wal-Mart, Boston Flower Market, Moynihan’s, and Reading Lumber.

GSEM Sponsored Family Fun Days at Camp

 The GSEM outdoor program department has put together several great family events for the summer:  one- or two-night overnights and day programs at our properties.  The overnights are at Camp Menotomy in NH - on Lake Winnipesaukee (awesome!) - and at Cedar Hill in Waltham.
Camp staff have also planned Family Fun Days (the day program) at several of our camps and include opportunities to try archery, boating, swimming and high ropes.  Yes - high ropes!
You can find information and registration here:  
http://www.girlscoutseasternmass.org/programs/family-camp.html

Boston Symphony Orchestra Family Concerts

Troop Field Trip Idea:  Boston Symphony Orchestra holds a number of Family Concerts annually.  Sat. Nov. 14 at Noon, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra presents Peter and the Wolf.  Boston Symphony Hall.  $20/Adult, Children 18 and under are FREE.  The season includes two other family concerts:  Sat. March 5, 2016 at Noon, and Sat. April 30, 2016 at Noon.  More information at:  http://www.bso.org/brands/bso/education-community/children-families/family-concerts.aspx

Leader Meeting June 11

Attendance:  Ruth Kennedy (73899), Debbie Nearing (73891), Kristin Puliafico (89118), Anne Valade (SU), Joanne Gibson (69179), Bridget Easler (76212), Barbara Gravel (69184), Lisa Alexander (86279), Melissa Audier (73894). Kerstin March (SU),. Jennifer Casol-Vant (85337)

Leader Social at Lisa Alexander's home.  THANK YOU, Lisa!  (Check your Monday Email for Lisa's address)  Monday, June 29 at 7:30pm.  The Service Team will provide refreshments to THANK you all for a great year of Girl Scouting!

Financial Reports are Due!  Anne Valade is collecting them.  This is a requirement.  Please contact Anne if you have not already turned in your form.  You can also scan your report to submit it to GSEM.  Visit this site:  http://www.girlscoutseasternmass.org/forms.html?cat=6718

Planning for next year.  There are many "town wide" events sponsored by the NR Service Team that are possible.  Troops are encouraged to sign up to organize an event.  Town Wide Halloween Party, Caroling on the Common, Me and My Guy Dance, etc., are all events that a committee to organize and hold them.

The NR Service Team is in early stages of planning a town wide encampment.  If you are interested in being involved in planning this activity, please let Anne Valade know. 

The NR Service Team is having some changes.  Kristin Puliafico is stepping down as Chair and will assume the job of Recording Secretary.  Ruth Kennedy is stepping down as Recording Secretary and will take the job as Batchelder School Coordinator.  Joanne Gibson will be the Hood School Coordinator.  Lisa Alexander has taken on the role as Treasurer and Event Coordinator.  Anne Valade will be the acting Service Unit coordinator.  Barbara Gravel will remain as the Registrar.  She is looking for a leader/adult to mentor for this position in the future.  Melissa Audier will remain as Blog Manager.  Debbie Nearing will remain the Corresponding Secretary.  Kerstin March is stepping down as Cookie Coordinator.  She needs someone to mentor.  And Ruth Kennedy and Kerstin March will both coordinate Fall Product Sale.

Positions that need to be filled are:  Little School Coordinator, Media Coordinator

The Service Team presented Kerstin with a gift for her years of service to North Reading Girl Scouts.  THANK YOU, Kerstin!

The Town Hall Garden Beds are planted and need to be watered.  The vegetables benefit the North Reading Food Pantry.  Please sign up to water for a week.  This is a great reason to get your girls together during the summer.  Watering jugs will be provided. 

It is time to RE-REGISTER your girls!  Register now and get the EARLY BIRD patch.  Registration is quick and easy using the GSEM website.  Patches will be handed out in the fall.

Fly-Up is Wednesday, June 17 at 6:30pm, at International Family Church on Concord Street, North Reading. 

Fall Stargazing Event - Monday, Oct. 19 at Mendel Observatory, Merrimack College.  Exact time and cost to be determined.  Junior level girl scouts.  Limited space.  If there is enough interest, a 2nd date will be added.  More details in September.

Troop Field Trip Idea:  Boston Symphony Orchestra holds a number of Family Concerts annually.  Sat. Nov. 14 at Noon, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra presents Peter and the Wolf.  Boston Symphony Hall.  $20/Adult, Children 18 and under are FREE.  More information at:  http://www.bso.org/brands/bso/education-community/children-families/family-concerts.aspx

Service Project - Watering the Town Hall Gardens

Please sign up for a week using this link:  http://vols.pt/FB6jNd

Share this link with your troop families as this does not have to be a troop service project!  Contact Ruth Kennedy at ruthekennedy@gmail.com with any questions!  Older girls

can get community service hours this summer by signing up!

Scouting Day at Canobie Lake Park!

Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Brownies... attention all Scouts! Canobie Lake Park Scouts Day is scheduled for SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2015 where Scouts can Buy 1 Get 1 FREE when in uniform! Visit www.canobie.com/specials.php for complete details