2003-2004

Year in Review

for

Senior Girl Scout Troop 4715

 

Court of Awards
Sunday, May 23, 2004

 

 

June 2003  Right at the end of May, Chandler, Anne, Evelyn, Jenny, Diana & Elizabeth met with the principal of Coralwood Elementary School to talk about possible Gold Award projects that could help out at Coralwood.  The reality of actually finishing Gold Awards was beginning to get real.   On the first of June Evie spearheaded a Henderson Park Clean-Up that was not too well attended, but which certainly collected lots of trash.  She published her thoughts on park clean-ups as a page on our website.

 

September 2003     We took kind of a slow start this year and didn’t really get going until after Labor Day.  We started planning our October camping trip to Camp Meriwether, and Karen and Stephanie made it to a Gold Award workshop.  Brownie and Junior Weekends at Camp Timber Ridge provided opportunities for Leadership Hours, and Gold Award projects got started by Anne, Chandler, and Evie.  Evie was slowed down by being in two plays at Lakeside, but she persevered.

 

October 2003          We made our first foray to beautiful Camp Meriwether, and Rossie decided right then and there that she wants to work there in the summer.  Karen, Callie, and others  made our troop really popular with the leaders around us by playing with their girls.  When Seniors pay attention to younger Girl Scouts, they receive major hero worship!  In addition to the climbing wall and archery, we found out about Pat’s secret life as a flower lady and learned to make pine cone wreathes.  This is hard-core crafts!  Spiderwoman Diana still rules for speed up the wall, but some of our long-legged girls like Chandler and Stephanie were pretty fast, too.

 

Later in the month Christina and Karen’s dad made it possible for some of us to attend a ham radio broadcast at SciTrek.  Not everyone who wanted to come could make the date, but as older Girl Scouts we have to live with difficult scheduling.  We spent some time at our meeting re-acquainting ourselves with Juliette Low, our amazing founder, and the World Friendship Fund.

 

November 2003    Our plans for The Big Trip were being finalized.  We started talking about planning the Service Unit Bridging in May, and we made plans for our service project in December.  Anne and Chandler’s paperwork was approved and they started to plan and shop for materials for the projects.

 

December 2003      Once again we staffed the Empty Stocking Fund distribution center downtown.  It was really fun, and afterwards we found a fine little gourmet pizza parlor nearby.  Secret Santas were once again a hit, and we even did our Court of Awards.  Over the holidays Anne and Chandler got serious making the lesson plan boxes that Coralwood asked for.  Chandler made hand-painted backdrops and puppets among other things for story boxes.  Anne made science boxes with materials for lessons on everything from life cycles to flower parts to horses and dogs.

 

January 2004                  Cookie time again.  We also made sure that everyone going on the London trip has a passport.  We started to collect the money and pay the travel agent and Pax Lodge.  Whew!  This was really real.  Marie and Pat attended the DCNR Leaders Retreat at Camp Meriwether and learned all kinds of good stuff, especially how to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs.  Troop pysanki workshops ensued at once.   They also learned the third verse of Girl Scouts Together.  We were doomed.

 

February 2004     Our February meeting was a training session with our favorite Council person Terry Otto.  We had to get ready to produce a Service Unit Bridging Ceremony on Mother’s Day.  In the course of doing all this, we planned and held a ceremony at which Tabby, Evie, Jenny, Diana, Anne, Christina, and Steph received the Presidential Student Service Award.  As a result of our training, Katie and Christina attended the Service Unit meeting to inform leaders of other troops what we were planning to do.  Anne and Chandler made the scholarship deadline for their projects.

 

March 2004        Cookie Booths again!  Oh, how we love them, but we got all our cookies sold.  We welcomed Brittany and Maria as new members, and immediately took them camping.  We initiated them at Camp Meriwether, and Pat gave a book report, and we practiced negotiation by trading our trained equestrian staff for staff to run the archery and ropes activities we wanted to do.  In true Girl Scout manner we created a win-win situation.  At our meeting we started on some of the real work for the Bridging Ceremony.  Is this what Adult Girl Scouts is all about?  Evie finished her paperwork and her project, paleontology for Coralwood, was approved.  Elizabeth and Rossie’s Gold Award project proposal for turning the cross country track at Lakeside into a nature trail was approved.

 

April 2004  We worked like crazy on all this bridging stuff.  We had to walk through the whole thing; plan every detail and who would do what and everything!  We decided not to do our camping trip we had hoped to take in May because of AP exams and an ultra-crowded schedule, but Jenny can come to London after all!

 

May 2004   All of a sudden the end of the year is here.  We held the Three Leaves Bridging Ceremony in 45 minutes flat, then we couldn’t get anyone to go home from the ensuing luau.  Our five seniors bridged to Adult Girl Scouts.  Anne and Chandler were pinned with their Gold Award pins.  The next weekend they got to pin their parents at the Council Gold Award Ceremony.  The next weekend was graduation.  Katie’s going to Centre College in Kentucky, Evie to Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, Christina to Grinnell College in Iowa, Chandler to UGA in Athens, and Anne to Berry College in Rome.  They have no escape.  We’re registering them as troop adults.  They can come camping with us whenever we go.  Pat thinks we ought to camp on Cumberland Island next year, but first, Pax Lodge in London! 

 

Court of Awards Bulletin

Our own Beth Unger received the Service Unit’s Lighthouse Award, which is only given to one person each year.  We can’t imagine anyone more deserving!