Monday, September 28, 2015

Fall Update

Hi everyone. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful
weather! This is a very LONG email with lots of info, so do
me a favor and grab a glass of wine or cup of coffee and
read it all when you have some time - thank you!

#1 Updated Schedule
I will start by saying I KNOW, first hand, how busy all of
the girls are with school, family commitments, and
activities, so thanks to everyone for your understanding if
there is a date conflict. It is impossible to find dates
that work for all 17 girls, but we do try our best. I have
heard from many of you that planning ahead is key, so I have
attached an updated schedule for all of the dates we know,
thus far. This includes our Fashion Photo Shoot Party, two
different Field Trips to the Veterinarian (girls may attend
one or both!), a fun Halloween Costume Party, and our
November Giving Meeting. As new dates get confirmed, we
will share as soon as possible. Please review the schedule
and save these dates. Thank you! <email sent>

#2 New Group Email List
Thanks to all of the moms for helping out this year with
meetings and event support. In order to make communications
easier, I have created a group mailing list that we can ALL
use to contact everyone in the troop. The group mailing
list email address is troop81423@googlegroups.com. You have
all been added to this group mailing list. Please use this
new group mailing list email address
troop81423@googlegroups.com when you need to send emails to
our troop. This ensures no one is accidentally omitted and
that all email addresses are correct. Please save this
group mailing list email address to your address book and
phones. Thanks so much!

#3 Nut sale
Once a year the Girl Scouts host a magazine and nut sale. I
am the first to say there is TOO MUCH fundraising out there
between schools, activities, etc, however, it is a Girl
Scouts rule that our troop must participate in the magazine
and nut sale in order to receive donations throughout the
year. This means, if we don't sell nuts we don't get the
donation money from Microsoft :) So, we need everyone in
the troop to sell at least one nut item please. Do not go
crazy and feel you need to sell alot (like cookies). If
everyone could please sell at least one item, we will be set
for the year. Our troop nut sale lead is Elaine Poaches
(Zahira's mom). Elaine will be sending out info about the
nut sale soon. Please watch for her emails and due dates.

#4 Troop Shirts
At the first meeting we decided to reuse our purple shirts
from last year. Most girls' shirts are still in good
condition and fit. However, there are a few girls that do
indeed need new shirts. If you would like to order a new
shirt please call or email Dawn Scalise (732) 742-9321
cell/text or luvdddev@yahoo.com by September 30th. The
shirts are $18 plus a few dollars shipping.

#5 Planning
At the first meeting, we also sat and reviewed our troop
plan for the year. Thanks to all of the mom's that have
volunteered to help host a meeting. This is extremely
valuable - thank you! I have updated our plan and attached
it here, for your reference. Again, this is just extra info
but it gives you an idea of what types of activities are
being planned for the rest of the year. If there is any
activity you'd like to help out with, please let me know.

#6 Flip Flops
During our kick off meeting, the girls decorated flip flops
with balloons. The flip flops look pretty cute! I attached
a picture to this email, for those that didn't see the flip
flops. Isabelle actually made a pair, using the balloon
technique, for her cousin's birthday gift. If anyone would
like supplies to do the flip flops at home, I have lots of
pairs and extra balloons. Just let me know.

#7 Girl Scout Day at iPlay America
As a bonus for early bird registration, everyone is eligible
to attend the Girl Scout Day at iPlay America on Sat Oct 24
2015 @ 12:00 PM - 4:00. The kicker is this event costs $25
per girl, which many of us leaders feel is still very high
and not much of a treat. However, I did want to ensure you
all knew about the event and that you were eligible to
attend. Package includes: pizza lunch, unlimited rides on
the Spin Zone, Kite Flyer, Happy Swing, Jump Around, Dizzy
Dragon, 4-D Movie Theatre, Lazer Frenzy. Mini Bowling, and
one admission to Cosmic Laser Tag & iPA Speedway Go Karts.
Participants will also receive a $5 Game Credit card. For
questions regarding the Girl Scout Day at iPlay America
please contact: Kim Reed at kreed@gscsnj.org or
1-800-582-7692 Ext. 210.

#8 Extra Badges
Dawn and I cleaned out our supplies and below is a full list
of extra badges that you guys can pick from. These are all
FREE. For the official ones, girls can do exercises online
with you to earn at home. For the fun ones, if you want
it - they are yours! I typically send out this list of
extra badges once a year for you all to pick from. I like
to do this to (1) get rid of them and (2) in case you lost a
badge or two you can get a replacement. First come, first
served. If you would like one of these badges, please call
or email Dawn Scalise (732) 742-9321 cell/text or
luvdddev@yahoo.com.

Official - All levels
1 World Thinking Day 2014
3 World Thinking Day 2015

Cadets - Official
2 First Aid

Junior - Official
2 "AGENT OF CHANGE" JOURNEY AWARD PATCH SET
3 First Aid
5 "Its a bug's Life"

Brownie - Official
1 Brownie Bugs
2 Brownie Computer Expert
3 First Aid

Fun Badges - Back of uniform
4 Nutrition
1 Ceramics
2 Tech smart
2 Selfie
6 Mother/Daughter 2015 "Life is Sweet"
6 Harlem Globetrotter
1 Animal Shelter
1 Girl Scouts B.I.G. Celebration (100th Girl Scout Event)
6 Police Tour