Pumpkin Carvers Needed for the 19th Annual Haunted Playground!

We were asked to spread the word for the 2013 Haunted Playground...

"Pumpkin Carvers Needed!

It's that time of year again, when a chill in the air means Fall is coming and also time for pumpkin carving for the Haunted Playground. We need Pumpkin Carver Volunteers for the 18th Annual Haunted Playground to be held on Oct. 19th from 5:30 - 9pm! Let me know if you are interested and what your name, address, and how many pumpkins you want to carve and I’ll drop off the pumpkins a week before the event. If you have any brownies, scouts, pixies, or hobgoblin troops that wish to carve, please let me know how many will be carving and if you need them by any special date. I’ll give you some additional information as I get the responses.
There will be awards given out for for best carvings for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place (really nice trophies!). The event will be judged right before the haunted playground gets started by Pumpkin Pete himself!  Then on Sunday, you can pick up your pumpkin anytime before Noon and proudly display it in front of your haunt...I mean home.

Scariest Regards,

Pumpkin Pete!"

Pumpkin Pete can be contacted atpeterbrayton@verizon.net

Please remember that if your Girl Scout is helping for a service project she cannot enter the contest.

Haunted Halloween Party!

Sunday, October 20th from 3-5 
at the Moose Lodge

$10 per person 
 This is a drop off event.
Find the flyer and form due by October 16 here.

 

 

NRGS Flashlight Corn Maze Event

Come Join The Fun!! 

For Girls in Grade 6-12

Saturday, October 5th (raindate Oct. 26th) from 6-8:30

At Marini Farm

$10/person

Sign up by Monday, September 30th at the latest!

See flyer with full details here.


 

 

Leader Meeting Minutes 9/18/13

Start time:  7:40pm

Present:  Deb Nearing, Anne Valade, Amy Kelly, Stephanie Musgrove, Kristin

Puliafico, Kate Mahoney, Mary Lasdin, Sandy Griffin, Dawn Gonthier, Kristin

Lamont, Kerstin March, Barbara Duff, Ruth Kennedy, Barbara Gravel, Lynne

Alley

Service Unit Changes: Amy Kelly stepped down as NR Service Unit leader,

thanking everyone for their help during her tenure.  Kristin Puliafico is

the new NR Service Unit leader effective at the October, 2013 meeting. 

Thank you, Amy!  And thank you, Kristin!  Amy was presented with a

lovely plant as a token of thanks from NRGS.

Other changes to the service unit team:  Barbara Gravel will be the

new registrar. Anne Valade will be the interim treasurer.  Melissa

Audier is the new blog editor.  Ruth Kennedy is the recording secretary. 

 Kerstin March and Ruth Kennedy will facilitate the Fall Product Sale.

New Girl Scout Registration:  Thursday, September 26 from 6-7:30pm

at Town Hall.  Facilitated by Anne Valade.  This event is for NEW GIRL

SCOUTS only.

REGISTRATION REMINDERS:

All RETURNING Girl Scouts must be registered by Sept. 30th. 

Registration is available on line.  There are no paper forms to

 re-register your girls.

All Girl Scouts need an ANNUAL GIRL PERMISSION form on

file with troop leaders.  This form is available on line at http://www.girlscoutseasternmass.org/forms.html?cat=6718

All Troops need two adults in the directory as troop leaders. 

There is a new 2013 version of Volunteer Essentials in the "forms"

section of GSEM's website.

All adults must be CORI'd.  Deb Nearing and Kerstin March can process

CORI forms, which must be done in person.  Please bring a valid photo ID. 

They will be available during the registration event.  If you can not attend,

please contact Deb Nearing directly to arrange a time.  CORI's are valid for

3 years.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Flashlight CORN MAZE!  For grades 6 and up at Marini Farm, Ipswich. 

Saturday, October 5 starting at 6pm.  $10/girl includes a fun patch.  Troop

leaders must return the permission form and payment to Deb Nearing by

Sept. 30.   This event was a big hit when last held in 2011.  Please remind

girls to dress appropriately and to wear shoes that can get potentially get

wet and muddy!

http://www.marinicornmaze.com/

Halloween Dance at the Moose (or place TBA)

This annual event is being planned.  Stay tuned for details!

North Reading Girl Scouts Supports Christian Community Service

Watch for the annual "household and toiletry products" baskets

that NRGS donate to families in need in December.

Girl Scout Letterboxing:  A fun, free activity in North Reading's Ives

Forest.  This Silver Award project was organized by Carly Sponzo. 

It is a fun scavenger hunt with trivia on the history of North Reading

Girl Scouts.  To learn more about letter boxing, visit: 

http://www.atlasquest.com/

FALL PRODUCT AND MAGAZINE SALE:

-Catalogs and Forms are now available.  Contact Ruth Kennedy or

Kerstin March if you did not pick up at the Leaders' Meeting.

-Sale begins Sept. 27 and Ends Oct. 27. 

-Earn quick money for your troop! 

-IMPORTANT!  Make sure girls collect money when a customer

places an order.  This is different from cookie sales, so they may

not remember to do that.

-If they choose, girls at the junior level and up may "opt out" of

sale prizes.  ALL GIRLS in a troop must agree to opt out and sign

a form (available on the website) which must be faxed to GSEM

in WALTHAM no later than Oct. 4.  By opting out, the troop will

earn 17% of sales vs. 15%. 

-Magazine sales can be done on line and customers will receive

their magazines faster.

-Girls can request customers donate a can of honey roasted

peanuts to the North Reading Food Pantry as part of the

"Community Caring Program" listed on the order form. 

NRGS has promised 80 cans of honey roasted peanuts to the

NR Food Pantry to be included in donated food baskets for local

families, received on the eve of Thanksgiving. If every girl sold

just ONE CAN, we would make that goal. Thank you for helping

reach it!

-Other important details are on the envelope for troop leaders. 

-Please consider participating as the NR Service Unit earns 1%

from all sales made, and uses that money to pay for Fly Up's and

other North Reading activities.

Meeting adjourn:  8:45

Close

Fun new GSEM service event!

Help First Responders by Making a Teddy Bear Full
Here are the event details:

Date/Time:	Saturday, September 21, 2013, 1 PM to 3 PM
Location:	Lasell College close to rt128/95 & Mass Pike
Address:	1844 Commonwealth Avenue • Newton, MA 02466
Notes:	This is a Girl Scout Gold Award nonprofit workshop hosted by Kayla Torres of Troop 73000. Teddy bears will be donated to local police departments to be distributed to children in need.  As first responders, police officers are often the first faces that traumatized children see and therefore teddy bears provide first responders with a tool that can offer emotional comfort and physical healing on scene. Email to register  Kayla33@earthlink.net to register Workshop fee includes: $20  o  2 Teddy Bears (one to keep and one to donate*) o  Teddy Bear T-shirt o   Birth Certificate o  Wishing Star o  Teddy Bear Donation Fun Patch o  2 Teddy Bear Ear Bows o  Green Cinch Bag o Snack

Coming soon

Daisy Discovery Day

We are planning for a fun-filled activity for Daises and time for their parents to learn more about Girl Scouting.  This will take place the second week in October, with more information to come.

 

New Registration Event

At this time, we have many troops who have yet to re-register online for the 2013-2014 year.  The last day Leaders can re-register their troop members is September 30.  After this date, parents will have to set up an account and re-register their daughter in your troop.  

There will be a Registration Event for NEW Girl Scouts in grades K-12 on Thursday, September 26 from 6 to 7:30 at the Town Hall Gym.

Because GSEM wants to make Girl Scouting accessible and inclusive of all girls, Council does offer financial aid for any girl who is in need.  Please direct them to the GSEM website at www.hergirlscouts.org for information about financial aid.

WELCOME BACK!!

We'd like to welcome back all our Girl Scouts, Leaders and Parents to a new year of scouting!  And a big welcome to our new service unit members - Kristen Puliafico as Coordinator, Barbara Gravel as Registrar, Ruth Kennedy as Recording Secretary, and Melissa Audier as Blog Manager.  And, of course, a HUGE thank you to our outgoing service unit members - Amy Kelly, Alycia McGoldrick and Anne Valade.

Another change this year is that our leader meetings will now be held on the third Wednesday of each month.  The first meeting will be on September 18, 7:30, at the Town Hall.  We hope you can join us there!

Ice Cream Social for Girls Interested in Joining Girl Council

Girl Council is open to girls in grade 7-12.  More information on the Girl Council can be found here.
For questions, please contact Anne Valade 9'78-664-3650
or annevaladeGcomcast . net

Join us:
Friday, September 6th
7:00 - 8:00
Mrs. Valade's house - 24 Abbott Rd.
Parents are welcome to stay to get more info on the Girl Council.

Fall Product Sale September 27- October 27

It's easy to earn start-up money for your troop early in the year by participating in the Fall Sale!  Troops earn 15% of every dollar of nuts and candy and magazines girls sell, plus girls receive individual incentives..  Our Service Unit also gets a percentage of all troop sales!  Our Fall Product Sale Managers, Kerstin March and Ruth Kennedy, will be at the September Leader meeting to talk about the new fall products and to hand out order forms and kits if you are interested in selling this fall.  They will hopefully have cans of the nuts/candy on hand for everyone to sample at the meeting.  The fall sale runs from September 27 through October 27 this year.     

 Check out the GSEM website here to register for the September training and online training which starts next week!
***NEW RULE - troops are now required to participate in the fall product sale in order for council to approve additional fundraising activities***

GSEM Great Escape Event October 4-6

This will be the 31st year for the Great Escape Weekend.  It began as a thank-you retreat for Girl Scout volunteers and has evolved into a weekend full of opportunities -to renew old friendships, make new friends, relax or enjoy a workshop, eat well, and have a lovely autumn weekend in New Hampshire.  October 4 - 6 at Camp Wabasso in Bradford/Sutton, NH - All Girl Scout adults and graduating seniors are welcome!  Find more info. here.

Camp Skills Training

Get ready for our All-Town Encampment Spring 2014!
Click on the link below to register for training to get certified in either troop camping skills in a tent or in a lodge!  Training starts in September.  From experience, these training workshops fill up quickly so register early to get the best date and closest location.
Camp Skills Training

Back to Troop Sale at the Girl Scout Shops September 10 - October 12

Get all your back to troop needs during the GSEM sale

NEW Hours at the Girl Scout Shops

Starting September 10

Waltham Shop

265 Beaver Street, Waltham, MA

866-268-8653 

Fall Hours

Tuesday 10 AM - 4 PM

Wednesday 10 AM - 6 PM

Thursday 10 AM - 4 PM

Friday  10 AM - 4 PM

Saturday  9 AM - 5 PM 

Middleboro Shop

111 E. Grove Street, Middleboro, MA

774-766-6913 

Fall Hours

Tuesday 10 AM - 4 PM

Wednesday 12 - 6 PM

Thursday 10 AM - 4 PM

Friday 10 AM - 4 PM  

North Andover Shop

1740 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA

978-689-8881 

Fall Hours

Tuesday 10 AM - 4 PM   

Wednesday 12 - 6 PM

Thursday 10 AM - 4 PM 

Friday 10 AM - 4 PM  

 

Papa Gino's SHARE Fundraiser - June 6th!

Don't forget to give yourself a break from fixing dinner this Thursday June 6th - and help with our SHARE fundraiser at the same time!

Visit the North Reading Papa Gino's from 4-8pm and eat in or take out - BUT DON'T FORGET TO BRING THE ATTACHED FLYER!! (not valid on delivery)

The flyer can be found here.

Older Girl Fly Up Invite - June 20th

Fly up for Brownies and up will be on June 20th from 7-8:30 pm at Union Congregational Church.
This year's theme is Totally 80s - and girls are encouraged to dress in their favorite 80s inspired clothing!

The invitation for the fly up can be found here.

Discount Tickets to A Christmas Story at the Citi Center/Wang

Yes - it is early to be thinging about Christmas...but this looks like a good deal!

The Citi Center for Performing Arts/Wang Theater is offering discounted tickets to Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass for select performances next year.

These could be for families or for a troop outing!

For more information:
http://www.citicenter.org/site/files/GROUPS/CHRISTMASSTORY/scouts_index.html

Leader's Meeting Minutes - 5/21/13

Attendees: SU Coordinator Amy Kelly [73897, 71901], SU Corresponding Secretary Debbie Nearing [73891], SU Recording Secretary: Alycia McGoldrick [73904], SU Cookie Chair : Kerstin March [71898], SU Treasurer: Julia Slavin [71872], Kristin Puliafico [85118], Kate Mahoney [71868], Lisa Coroa-Bockley [85121], Ruth Kennedy [73899], Kristin Lamont [85193, 71880], Patti Harrington [85122, 71876], April {}, Melissa Audier [73894]

Items requiring attention are marked in red
ASAP!! Items requiring IMMEDIATE attention are preceded by "ASAP!" and marked in red

Intro/Announcements
Meeting was called to order at 7:35.  The Pledge of Allegiance and the Girl Scout Promise were recited.

Rosa Maldonado is our new council rep (replacing Sue Asselin).  Her email is rmaldonado@girlscoutseasternmass.org

This is Amy's last meeting as Service Unit Coordinator.  She thanked everyone for supporting her and for making Scouts in North Reading great for the girls.

General Information
The Survey Monkey results showed a couple of important items: Tuesday night tends to be a bad night for everyone (listen up, next year's Coordinator...whoever you are) - and the Monday email and the blog are important sources of information to people.

Open Positions on the Service Team:
Service Unit Coordinator
Registrar - the biggest part of this job is placing girls into troops in the fall.  The rest of the year is pretty quiet. 
Fall Product Coordinator (Ruth is considering this)
Recording Secretary (Ruth stepped up for this!)

Service Team met and created a suggested calendar outline for next year:
Sept: Daisy Discovery Day (registration event)
Oct: Halloween Party (Kristen Lamont's troop will run)
Oct: Trick or Treating at Wingate (Kate Mahoney will get information)
Nov: Veteran's Day
Nov: Father/Daughter Event (bring back Square Dancing?)
Dec: Caroling at Wingate (see Kate above)
Jan: 
Feb: World Thinking Day
March: Roller Skating
March: Food Pantry Month

The Service Team agreed that there needs to be an all-age Encampment next spring.  This should take place at Camp Cedar Hill.  Cedar Hill provides plenty of cabins, a large indoor facility if it rains, and access to the store for the younger girls.

If you are on Facebook and want to follow along with the Leaders and/or join the discussion - ask Amy Kelly to invite you to the group!

Registration Update
Early Bird Registration is still open until the 28th of June.  $25 for girls, $15 for adults.  Remember that to register girls for fall programs, they must be registered scouts!

Planning on holding a Daisy Discovery Day in the fall.  This was our most successful registration event.  Parents bring their daughters and drop them off with older scouts who play games, sing songs, do a craft, etc...all while their moms fill out paperwork and get their questions answered.  We got some leaders out of the last one we did!  Girl Council will help run this.

Town Events

S.H.A.R.E. Fundraiser - Papa Gino's Night - Thursday 6/6, 4-8 pm
Take out or eat in (no delivery).  Anne will be getting the S.H.A.R.E. envelopes to leaders with the Flyers
You must have the flyer for us to receive credit!

End of the Year Leader Meeting/Social Hour - 6/18, 7 pm
There will be an informal End of the Year Leader Meeting/Social Hour at Amy Kelly's on June 18th.  Treasury reports will be accepted at this event.

Fly Up for Daisies - 6/5, 6:30-7:30 pm, Aldersgate Methodist Church
Girl Council is running this

Fly Up for Brownies and Up - 6/20, 7 pm, Union Congregational

Cookie Update
Cookie incentives are in.  
Jillian Wallace was our top seller with 600 boxes.
Sales were down over last year (19.5k vs. 20k boxes) but so is enrollment (268 vs. 312)

Next Leaders Meeting is 6/18, 7 p.m. at Amy Kelly's

Program Aide course for 6-8th grade girls, 6/5/13

"Winchester Cadette troop 77025 is sponsoring a council-run Program Aide course on Wednesday June 5th from 6:30-9 PM.


We have a cap of 30 girls, but would welcome 6-8th grade girls from surrounding towns to join us.  Cost is $9 per girl.  







To reserve a spot, please email troop77025@gmail.com.


Program Aide description from council:

Are you interested in working with your younger Girl Scout sisters? A Program Aide uses her leadership skills to share her interests and experiences with younger girls in a troop, group, camp setting and even council EVENTS! Come join us as we provide you with the tools you need to be an effective Program Aide.

Note: Cadettes will get specific information on the new Cadette Program Aide Award and the additional aspects they'll need to complete back in their own community to fulfill that Award."

Memorial Day Parade Info 2013

Attached please find info for the 2013 Memorial Day parade

Brownie & Junior Cooking Badge Workshops - 5/18/13

The Winchester & Stoneham Seniors are offering two cooking badge workshops on Saturday, May 18.  Both are open to any registered Girl Scout and we would like to see a high attendance, so please pass this on to any appropriate girls in your town.

Brownie Snacks badge: 10.00 AM - noon; $10 includes food & badge
Junior Simple Meals badge: 1.30 - 4.30 PM; $10 includes food & badge

To register, please fill out the appropriate form and return it by Friday, May 10th.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.

Brownie: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_rP2zhfKvWdOG5JUGJZa0RoN0k/edit?usp=sharing
Junior: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_rP2zhfKvWdcEUxSDZFSklYSHM/edit?usp=sharing