Officially Brownies!

Thanks so much to everyone who attended and helped to make the Bridging Ceremony such a success.    It was so nice to see the you all there.  It's hard to believe how much the girls have grown.  The Brownie sashes somehow magically make them them look so much older and more mature!

Photo Credit:  Gina Berry

Bridging Ceremony

Hello!

Just a few notes to help prepare for the bridging ceremony THIS SATURDAY at 10:30am at the SP LDS church, located at 1781 Raritan Road, Scotch Plains.  I plan to have balloons near the entrance to indicate where we will be gathering.

- Please have your girl bring her Daisy Tunic with all patches affixed.
- We have prepared the Brownie sashes to give the girls during the ceremony.
- I will be sending out the words via e-mail to a song that Maila composed to the tune of "I Love Candy."  So be on the lookout for that by the end of the day.  We rehearsed it back in June, but I'm sure a review of the words and tune will help.
- And lastly, it would be wonderful if any of you could help out by bringing the following to the event:

• Box of Joe (Coffee) for the adults
• Donuts and/or munchkins or some kind of treat
• Fruit platter or fruit salad
• Paper plates, cups, utensils, napkins
• Bagels and cream cheese/butter
• Muffins
• Juice for the kids

Whatever you decide to bring, it doesn't have to be much.  There are ten girls in our troop to consider and whichever adults will be accompanying.  Please post what you plan to bring by commenting below (or send me an e-mail if you are unsuccessful).  

Thanks again!  Looking forward to bridging with everyone!

We all scream for ice cream!

Just a reminder of the ice cream social I'll be hosting this Thursday evening from 6:30-7:30pm.  Feel free to drop in and get your ice cream during this time.  Please let me (Erica) know via e-mail or comment below know if you are planning to come so I have enough ice cream and toppings for everyone!  My address is:

175 William Street, SP
Behind Grille Stone restaurant on Rt. 22 West, after Bowcraft and BP station.  If you miss William street, you can make the right on Harding and loop behind to William Street.  It will be the second to last house on the right (white house with red door).

This will be a great chance to catch up and collect the latest patches to complete your Daisy tunic before our bridging ceremony/parent meeting on Saturday, Sept. 22.

See you Thursday!

School Starts This Week!

I don't know about you, but I can hardly believe that school will be starting in just three days!  I hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day weekend as we close out the summer.

I thought I'd send out a few reminders and events to add to your calendar before the onslaught of back-to-school forms and flyers begins:

- This Tuesday, September 4th is the Party in the Park at La Grande Park from 3pm-5pm.  For those who are planning to attend, you should have already purchased your wristband.  They will NOT be sold at the event!

- I'll be hosting an Ice Cream Social on Thursday, September 13th from 6:30-7:30pm at my home.  This will be a relaxing hour to reunite our troop and share about all that we did during the summer and what we'd like to accomplish for the 2012-2013 school year.

- Bridging Ceremony / Parent Meeting is planned for Saturday, September 22nd at 10:30-11:30am.  Please have your girls bring their Daisy tunics to this event.  We will be using the money raised from our cookie sales to purchase the Brownie sashes for all the girls, so there is NO NEED to purchase it yourself prior to the ceremony.

- Troop meetings will take place once a month on THURSDAYS (pending School One's approval for room availability) after school.  I know this is different from the Wednesdays we used to meet.  I hope this isn't a huge inconvenience for any of the girls and doesn't conflict with any other commitments.  Our first troop meeting is planned for Thursday, October 11th at 3:20-5:00pm.

- In addition to our monthly troop meetings, we will be participating in various events/trips/activities throughout the year.  Our first activity will be visiting the Scotch Plains TD Bank on Thursday, October 25th after school.  We will need some chaperones and drivers for this event, so if you can help out please let us know!

**For those who are interested, a copy of our financial report for the previous year will be available at the Bridging Ceremony / Parent Meeting.

If you would like to be removed from these updates, please e-mail me and I will remove your address from the distribution list.

Summer's Almost Over!

It's so hard to believe that the first day of school is just over two weeks away!  I hope you all get to soak up every last bit of summer vacation.  And while you're doing that, I just want to update everyone on some exciting events and dates coming up for our first year as a BROWNIES!

If you girl is going to continue on as a Brownie, please let us know by renewing your membership ASAP!  You can also find the link is in the upper right hand corner of this blog.  You'll need to click under Current and Past Members to create a login name for your daughter.  It helps to use the first email you provided when you first registered your daughter as a new member; that will help find your daughter's name that is already stored in the system.  If you're not sure what e-mail that is, let me know and I can look it up for you.

This is also a great chance for parents to register or renew their membership as adult members if you plan to volunteer with any troop activities.  This registration is mandatory if you want to chaperone any troop events and meetings.  YOUR INVOLVEMENT IS GREATLY WELCOMED!  Specifically, we are looking to add TWO Assistant Troop Leaders.  Maila and Erica are not disappearing, but the more help we have, the better experience we can make for our girls.  If being a leader is not up your alley, there are tons more ways to get involved.  We are going to need a Cookie Mom, a Finance Manager, Drivers and Chaperones, so please consider some ways you would like to be involved this year!  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Maila or Erica.

PARTY IN THE PARK
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
La Grande Park
3:00PM - 5:00PM

This is going to be a fun party to kick off the GS year for all of the SP-F members.  It's not a troop event, but all registered girl scouts are invited to attend.  It's also a great chance for us all to participate in a mass bridging to the Brownie level.  If you plan to be there, you can purchase your wristband for $2 by contacting Angie Voorhees.  They will only be available through her until August 28th!  The cost of the wristband includes a patch.  Everyone attending is asked to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to a local food pantry.  Let us know if you can come with a comment below so we can look out for you.  I can also pick up and drop off a few girls to the event if that helps!

Bridging to Brownie Ceremony POSTPONED!

Upon some further consideration, the Bridging to Brownie ceremony that we originally planned to have this Saturday, 6/23 has been postponed to the fall. We know this may come as a disappointment to some of your girls, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. But we actually think holding off the ceremony until the fall will be best for a couple of reasons:

1 - We'd like to bridge the girls who are definitely going to continue as Brownies in the fall. There are a number of materials such as the sash that will be required for this new chapter in our troop, and we want to be sensitive to those who may not want to spend the money on materials they may not need.

2 - It's looking like a fair number of the girls won't be able to make the ceremony due to soccer matches, travel, and other commitments, and it's really more worthwhile to have all the girls be there for this transitional ceremony. Postponing the event to the fall will be a better way to reunite and regroup for the upcoming school year. We've set a tentative date for the morning of Saturday, September 15, 2012.

If your girl is certain she wants to continue as a Brownie, don't hesitate to register and renew your daughter's membership for the 2012-2013 year. (Information about this is on the previous post.) This will help us plan our meeting dates, reserve rooms and dates at the school, and schedule other fun events for the year. Remember that GSHNJ has made it a lot easier to renew and register our troop members online, so be sure to take advantage of this great new portal.  See the links on the upper right hand corner of the blog.

Maila will be distributing the remainder of your Daisy's patches after school this Tuesday, so look out for little baggies with their new patches. Maila will also follow up with a progress report to help you complete your girl's tunic. Keep those tunics in a safe place this summer as we'll need them for the Bridging to Brownie ceremony in the fall. If you have any questions about the patches or have any other suggestions for the new year, be sure to let us know. We welcome your help and your input!

And lastly, we're not disappearing this summer! We'd love to schedule some informal get-togethers at the park, so stay in touch!!!

Important June Announcements and Updates!

Next troop meeting (final one for this school year) is this WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 after school.  Remember to include a note and pack your girl's tunic!

Please have your girl bring in a small plastic jar with a lid (about the size of a peanut butter jar) along with a handful of assorted coins for a craft we will be doing.

Our Bridging to Brownie Ceremony will be next SATURDAY, JUNE 23 at 10:30am-11:30am.
Details TBA.

And lastly, you may have received information via snail mail and/or e-mail announcing the launch of the new GSHNJ online membership registration and management site (finally!).  It's crucial that you re-register and renew your adult membership and/or your girl scout's membership before the start of the new school year.   I know it seems premature, but it would help out your troop leaders tremendously to take care of this by the end of this June.  It will be one less expense and thing to do in September, and your troop leaders can spend the summer organizing to make our first year as a brownie troop the best one yet!

Thanks again for your help, involvement, and participation and taking the time from your busy schedules this past year.  We look forward to growing with your girls as brownies!