Meeting news for 4-16-15

Hi Everyone!

Kelly and I wanted to send out a quick reminder that all girls should bring their binders to the troop meeting this week. Each level has homework to complete, so please have that ready, too. If your scout hasn't completed the previous weeks work they should have this completed for this week's meeting. 

Brownie Scouts need to research their family heritage, and determine if they can trace it back to a specific region (country or state) and a food item. We will then attempt to create a 'friendship soup' based on the ingredients indicated by the scouts to be utilized at the camp-in. It wouldn't hurt for Daisies to do this too, but it is work for a brownie badge. 

Daisy Scouts should complete the work for Zinni the Zinnia and look forward to Tula the Tulip. We will have a few out this week, so we wanted to make sure we were all aware of the plan for Daisy Scout meeting. Anyone who missed last week will have the opportunity to make up the work this week, as I will be bringing the mural. .

Also, if you owe money for cookies this week IS the week to clear up that balance. You each received an email with your balance due several weeks ago. Please come prepared this Thursday. 

Finally, please RSVP for our Camp In. Yes, even if you aren't going, or you are only coming for part of the camp in you still need to respond. 

You may RSVP here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a45abaa2ea20-rsvp

Directions to camp there are several way to go but this reflects the most urban route.

Thanks,

Carlee and Kelly 

Information about Girl Scout Diamonds Property: Camp Noark

Camp Noark 

RSVP for NOARK Camp-In: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a45abaa2ea20-rsvp
(deadline to RSVP is 4-10-15)

Camp Noark is 300 acres of Ozark hills, meadows, and valleys located near Huntsville in Northwest Arkansas. Ideally located in northwestern Arkansas at the heart of the Ozarks, Huntsville is just 25 miles east of Fayetteville, home of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Huntsville is served by US Highway 412 and State Highway 74. The modern air-conditioned Friendship Lodge, the historic Chalet, and the Troop House make this an ideal place for year-round camping opportunities. Additionally, the camp is home to an arts and crafts center, dining hall, hiking trails, large open playing fields and two platform tent units. All living units have pavilions with fireplaces and running water. Hot water outdoor showers and latrine toilets are located in each unit, and modern toilet facilities are available in main camp. Older campers can take on the challenge of primitive camping, and girls can pitch their own tents (provided) as part of their outdoor adventure.

·         Dining Hall:  Fully functional commercial kitchen and functions well as a meeting space and dining facility that has a capacity of 99.  Available March 15 - November 1.

·         Friendship Lodge Upper:  It's a great place for troop meetings and training events with a day use capacity of 70. One large multi-use room with kitchen, bathroom, fireplace, that has sleeping capacity for approximately 40. For overnights, bring your own sleeping bags and pads. Available year-round.

·         Friendship Lodge Lower:  It's a great place for troop meetings and training events with a day use capacity of 70. One large multi-use room with kitchen, bathroom, fireplace, that has an approximate sleeping capacity of 40. For overnights, bring your own sleeping bags and pads. Available year-round.

·         Chalet:  It was designed by famed architect Fay Jones. Accommodates 8 people sleeping on bunk beds (bring your own bedding). A full kitchen, indoor flush toilets, a shower and includes a campfire circle. Heating and air conditioning. Available year-round.

·         Troop House:  Accommodates 10 people sleeping on bunk beds (bring your own bedding). A full kitchen, indoor flush toilets, a shower and includes a campfire circle. Heating and air conditioning. Available year-round.

·         Enchanted Hollow:  UNDER CONSTRUCTION.  Has 10 screened cabins (sleeps 4 per cabin) for overnight use.  An outdoor cooking area is provided and includes a campfire circle.  Pit latrines and the Comfort Station for showers.  Available March 15 - November 1.

·         Daisy Patch:  Has 10 canvas platform tents (sleeps 4 per tent) for overnight use (bring your own bedding).  An outdoor cooking area is provided and includes a campfire circle.  Pit latrines and the Comfort Station for showers.  Available March 15 - November 1.

·         Canoes:  We have 11 canoes available.  Capacity is 2 per canoe.

·         Trading Post and Craft Building:  These are NOT available for rental.

No Troop Meeting for the next 2 Thursdays

Our meeting for March 19th will need to be cancelled, and our meeting for the 26th will also be postponed. We still need to get cookies to people. We are making a trip to the Cookie Cupboard on Wednesday and will have all the cookies necessary to fill any outstanding orders due to low inventory.

Ginger has graciously stepped up to be our troop cookie pantry, and she will also be the designated Cookie Mom for next cookie season. As such, if you have outstanding cookies that you are owed, or if you have money to turn in please make arrangements with her to complete this process. If you do not have contact information for Ginger please contact Carlee. 

We will pick up our regularly scheduled meetings on 4-2-15 in the mean time please continue working on the assignments listed below for each scout level.

Brownie assignments were to do a mock shopping trip for five healthy food items. There is a page in their binders which will give them more detailed instructions.

Daisies were to plan a 'pretend' trip either to the fair, movies, bowling, or amusement park. They should plan at least for themselves, but if they want to work a little deeper they could also budget for a trip with the entire Daisy troop (there are four scouts and four parents). 

Cookies Season round-up

Our 2015 Cookie Season will be rapidly approaching it's end this week. If you have additional cookies that need to be ordered please email me (Carlee) before Wednesday so I can make a run to Fayetteville before our meeting on Thursday. 

Just another reminder we will be taking money for cookie orders at our next meeting. Our last cookie booth will be this Sunday at Walmart in Bentonville from noon to 4 p.m. on the grocery side of the store. I will post a link to sign up for a booth slot. 

Cookie Booth Time Slot: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a45abaa2ea20-cookie

Also, our camp in at NOARK is coming up we have created an RSVP for this event. Please feel free to click the link below and RSVP for this fun trip. It will be an exciting event for our troop.

RSVP for NOARK Camp-In: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a45abaa2ea20-rsvp

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again this Thursday, March 12th.

Friendly reminder about cookie money and cookie booths

Since we've missed a few meet-ups due to the weather I wanted to remind everyone that we need at least half of the cookie money from pre-orders at our 3-12-15 meeting. 

Please do not forget we have a cookie booth this coming weekend. Please follow the link below to sign up for a time slot this Saturday morning from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. I can tell you the first slot is already full, but there is plenty of room for everyone to participate. 

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a45abaa2ea20-cookie1

Inclement Weather

If Bentonville Schools are cancelled due to inclement weather our troop meetings will also be cancelled. This is out of an abundance of caution from the troop leaders. We don't want the girls out in slick driving conditions.

Cookie Orders and Monies

If you have more cookie orders submit them to me via email on or before Saturday, February 28th. Please begin turning in money at our Thursday troop meetings. We need a minimum of 50% of our initial orders paid for by March 12th.

Our next cookie booth will be on March 7th at 8:00 a.m. until noon at Bentonville Supercenter on the home side. 

Please note: We were notified the Service Unit encampment for May 15th has been postponed. We will update you when we know the new date for this event. 

Cookie Booths and Camping

This year we will be doing THREE cookie booths for the 2015 Cookie Season!!!! 

• Saturday, February 21st 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Allen's in Bella Vista. 
• Saturday, March 7th 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - home side of Bentonville Wal-Mart Super-center
• Sunday, March 15th 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. - food side of Bentonville Wal-Mart Super-center

I will be sending out a link to sign up for time slots for our upcoming booth sales so be looking for that. 

We have the opportunity to bling our booth, and if there is a mother/daughter team who would like to take this on and help the larger troop assist in this project please let us know! 

We have a whole bunch of camping going on this year!!!!

• Friday, February 27th 6:00 p.m. - Saturday, February 28th 3:00 p.m. at our regular meeting location
• Friday, April 24th 6:00 p.m. - Sunday, April 26th 3:00 p.m. at Camp NOARK
• Friday, May 15th - Sunday, May 17th Service Unit Encampment at Camp NOARK  **postponed**
• June, 5th - Sunday June, 7th Just Us Girls Camp Crossed Arrows 

For our next meeting each girl should come with a menu idea they would use if they were in charge of all the camp meal planning. We will use these ideas to talk about meal planning, budgeting, and get our menu ready for our camp in. 

I also have a packing list we will be using to plan what to pack for camp and we will use this with the girls to discuss what to pack for Girl Scout Camp. Kelly and I encourage you to allow your girl to pack for herself and run through the list with her so she knows what she is bringing, where it is, and how to pack it. 

During the camp in for February if you have a Brownie, you have attended a camp in with them already, THEY are comfortable with being on their own, and YOU are comfortable letting them please feel free to let your daughter attend on her own. However, if you have not attended a camp-in with Kelly and myself you must attend ONE with your Brownie before she can come alone. Should an unattended Brownie become inconsolable we will be calling you to come pick her up, and she will not be allowed to come back for the following day's activities. 

We will meet this week!!!

Hey just want to put this out there, I know R.E. Baker is on February intercession, and many girl who attend there may be out of pocket this week. However, those of you who are in town should come join us for our troop meeting this Thursday. We will be discussing our up coming camp in events, cookie booths, and having fun.

Last but not least, WAY TO GO TROOP 5855!!!! You ladies rocked World Thinking Day!!!!

-Carlee

Update for World Thinking Day Preparation

We will be meeting this Thursday at our normal location and time. This week we will be working on coordinating our presentation/cheer for WTD.

Once again, the girls turned out and made wonderful progress on our World Thinking Day booth. Our service unit has their World Thinking Day Saturday, February 7th at 1 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. Don't forget 2 rolls of dimes and Chastity suggested bringing a small coin purse with the coins already unrolled. 

Please go ahead and begin/continue to practice the following cheer/presentation with your girls.

"We are troop 5855 and Girl Scout in the USA are...

G-giving back
I-independent
R-respectful and resourceful
L-leading and learning

S-supportive
C-community
O-overcoming obstacles
U-useful
T-teamwork
S-SELLING COOKIES" (get really loud on this last line)

All girls attending the WTD event will have a part and are asked to remain for the entirety of the event. Even if your girl won't attend WTD please have them practice the cheer and be ready to participate with the group on Thursday.

I have the following people registered for WTD. Please let me know ASAP if you won't be attending or if you aren't on the list and intend to be there. Only registered scouts, scout parents, and volunteers may enter the event. If you are not registered you will not be allowed entry. This is to ensure security during the event and isn't intended to offend anyone.

Marissa -- Kelly I.
Clara and Ella -- Carlee
Emerald -- Ginger
Delilah -- Sara
Caroline -- Coleen
Madeline and Emily -- Tara
Lauren P. -- Ashley
Cadey -- Lisa
Lauren L -- Denise
Audrey -- Kim
Eve -- Kelly S.

Troop Pictures

Took a couple of pictures at the cookie kick off and wanted to share!

Upcoming Meeting Saturday, January 31st

Greetings!!!

Just wanted you all to know I have placed our initial cookie order. Our girls sold a total of 1411 boxes of cookies in the pre-order season!!!! I'm totally amazed at the effort put forth by our girls and the dedicated moms in our troop. Thanks so much getting our cookie season off to a GREAT start!

As you all know, we are still in the process of completing our booth set up for World Thinking Day 2015 our event will be held on 2-7-15 from 1:30 - 4:30 at Elm Tree Elementary, but we've been asked to be there at 1:00  pm to set-up. We have chosen the USA as the country we will represent this year. Ginger has graciously opened her home to us once more to finish up our booth. Also, it is customary for each girl to bring two rolls of dimes to WTD, this is used to 'purchase' SWAPS and snacks at the booth.

Last weekend the girls and moms that attended completed ALL the SWAPS we needed for WTD!!! Thanks to all who took time to come out and help the troop. This weekend we will focus on booth set up and the presentation portion of World Thinking Day. We will meet from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, like last week it will be a drop in meeting, so please if at all possible make time to come support our efforts in this event.

Ginger's address was emailed to everyone last week, please look through your inbox for that information. If you don't have it or can't find it please email me personally for that information.

Things to look forward to:

Camp-In at our meeting location 2-27-15 6:00 pm will be camp check in. 

Don't forget our meeting has been cancelled for Thursday 1-29-15.

-Carlee

Works for me!

I'm here too!

Yes, this is another test. Specifically to see if you all receive notifications when the blog is updated. Please place a comment under this entry or the previous entry from Tara.

Also, if any of you have taken photos of our meetings or events please post them here. I will be putting together a collage to create a post card for a project for the troop.

Thanks everyone! And thanks especially to Tara for putting this together for us!

-Carlee

Trying the out again..

Hopefully you have received an invitation to author posts on our Troop 5855 private blog.  If you don't want to author or contribute content, then just click the follow by email button in right corner..

My hope was that it would an easy way to better communicate.

Let me know if you have questions!
Tara