Camp Tecumseh September 20-21!

Woohoo! Camp Tecumseh! 

We'll be heading back to our favorite stomping grounds in Brookston, Indiana the weekend of Sept. 20-21!

The girls worked hard selling cookies this year and now comes the payoff! :-)

Tecumseh's cost per camper is $67 (that's per girl and per camper), but we will use troop funds to cover $40 per girl.

 So, for people in our troop, the price will be $67 for you (the adult) and $27 for your Junior Girl Scout! A pretty good deal!

Horseback riding is $9. Candlemaking $7. Riflery tickets: $1 each.

We will spend Saturday night in the cabins, this time as part of "Lake Village." We'll have access to all the fun of Camp T., the slides, hiking trails, campfire, s'mores, etc! Our visit will include three meals in the lodge: Lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. 

I've invited all the FHH Girl Scout troops and I've heard from many who are excited for us to go back to camp as a group.

I'll keep you posted as I get more details.

The New Green Vest -- Where Things Go

I thought it would help everyone to see a photo of where things are supposed to go on the girls' new Junior vest. You can click directly on the picture above to make it easier to read.

When you go to the Girl Scout store to purchase the vest, you also may want to get the American flag patch, the council identification set, the troop numbers (10265), the Girl Scout Membership pin for Juniors and older, and the Junior insignia tab (the green ribbon-type thing that pins onto the vest and holds the World Trefoil Pin, which they should still have from their Brownie vest and can transfer over to the new vest on the tab, and the Girl Scout Membership Pin, which you would need to buy at the Girl Scout store).

So if you want to get it all here's your shopping list:

Green Vest (they told me "go big" so I got Julianna an x-tra large at the store, figuring room to grow)
American flag patch
Council Identification set
Troop Numbers (10265 -- they are sold individually)
Girl Scout Membership Pin (there are two different versions of this and either is fine)
Junior Insignia Tab

Merrillville Shop

8699 Broadway Merrillville, IN 46410 Phone: 219-472-1943 merrillvilleshop@gsgcnwi.org

Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Other things that your girls should already have and can transfer over to the new vest are their membership stars and the colored discs under them. They should have one membership star for every year they've been in Girl Scouts.

New things they received at the bridging ceremony that should be put on the new vest are: the rainbow badge (it looks longer and thinner than the rainbow in the picture but it goes in the same spot as the rainbow in the picture -- Girl Scouts has just updated the bridging badge) and their Brownie wings. See the picture above as to where they go.

Good News: Most of it is "iron on!" ;-)

That should be it. Any cookie badges they received from selling cookies can go on the back of the vest if you'd like. If your daughter participates in any Girl Scout-related fun this summer (i.e. marching in the July 4 parade, going to a Girl Scout camp, going to Girl Scout night at the symphony, etc.) than those "fun badges" go on the back of her vest. If she does any skill-related badges, they likely go on the front, but check with me first if you're not sure.

We will use troop funds, as usual, to purchase skill-related badges the girls work on during the school year.

Flying Up to Juniors!

Our troop's 20 girls bridged from Brownies to Juniors Friday in a "Flying Up" bridging ceremony. It has been great to see how they've grown over the years! We have such a fun group of girls filled with talent and personality, and all you had to do was watch as they one by one got up in front of the group -- unprompted -- to show off their talents!

We had fantastic singers, back hand springers, horse jumpers and everything in between.

We were hoping for a sunny day at the park for our ceremony but, instead, the girls brought their own sunshine to the indoor ceremony Friday.

Over the past year, we've watched some of them perform in the school talent show, cook and serve a meal to a homeless mission, learn all about business as they've sold cookies door to door and collect and donate canned food for the needy. They all have big hearts and want to make the world a better place.

Looking forward to lots more fun with this group soon! Congratulations, girls!

Powder Puff Derby!

(Left to right: Julianna Dodge, Sara Progler, Meg Westland, Kayley Moore, Elena Parodi, Genevieve Johns, Gracie Kisala and Margie Heritage. Not pictured but also racing: Clare Regan and Ava Raffin).

They're all winners just for designing and working on their wooden cars!

But our official trophy winners included:

Margie Heritage (1st place -- fastest car)

Gracie Kisala (2nd place -- fastest car)

Genevieve Johns (3rd place -- fastest car)

Kayley Moore (safest driver)

Meg Westland (best design)

Girls Rock!