The GSSA Weekly from Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama

October 9, 2014


 


Welcome to GSSA Weekly, the council's e-newsletter. 

 

On Saturday, September 20, seven GSSA Girl Scouts participated in the POW/MIA Remembrance ceremony that took place at the State Capitol Building to honor Alabama's POW/MIA soldiers.  

The girls presented red roses to the families of those soldiers and were honored to have their photo taken with Seymour "Sy" Lichtenfeld, Former WWII Prisoner of War.

Thank you, Girl Scouts, for taking part in this important ceremony.  


 

Want to see your Girl Scouts featured in GSSA Weekly?  E-mail the photo with event information to [email protected].

  
How Will You Celebrate JGL's Birthday?


Did you know that Juliette Gordon Low stood on her head every year on her birthday, just because she could?

How will your troop celebrate the birthday of  the founder of Girl Scouts?

However you celebrate, we have fun patches in our Service Center shops and in our online shop to commemorate your fun!

Please send a photo of your celebration.  We would love to put up a special birthday album on our flickr.com page.  The email address is [email protected].

Follow Us!

Check out what GSSA is up to on these social media sites:

     

 

Quick Links
To Promote Breast Cancer Awareness
  
The Joy to Life Foundation asks Girl Scouts to create special friendship bracelets for breast cancer survivors for their annual Walk of Life event.  This is a great opportunity for girls to use their arts and crafts skills to bring support, joy and friendship to women and men of all ages who have been touched with this disease. 

Girls of all ages and skill levels can create a bracelet by either coming up with their own design or using various tutorials  on our Girl Blog at www.girlscoutssa.org/blog.  

Girl Scouts are also invited to volunteer at the Walk of Life event held on April 18, 2015!   Troops who volunteer will be placed throughout the course to cheer on the participants as they complete their walk, run or dash!  Troops can also volunteer to hand out the friendship bracelets and visit with survivors and their families in the Survivor's Tent.  


 

Click here for all the details on the bracelets and the Walk of Life event.  

 


 

It's Good to be Grateful
  


I lost one of my best friends recently.
   She died from complications from surgery.   She was bright, funny, hard-working and extraordinarily talented; a teacher and skilled leader.   During her career, she successfully juggled raising three children with her work, as well as serving as the director of a theater program.   She spent many evenings at work, rehearsing students while her own children were with her doing homework, but she also spent lots of time attending synchronized swim meets and her own children's events and activities.   She was simply an amazing woman, and I'm not the only one who can attest to that.

As I reminisce about her, her greatest gift was that she was a wonderful listener, offering good advice to those who came to her.   One of my friends, one of her theater students, said she gave him a gift with a verse on it that he could recite when he graduated from college, which he still has today, some 30 plus years later.   She was my friend, but for a year she was also my boss.   When she left, she broke up a chess set and gave each of us that worked for her a piece of that chess set, with a note on why she selected that piece for each one.   My chess piece has been on my desk since she gave it to me, and it is here today.

As you struggle to juggle your children's needs with your work, your spouse, and other obligations, at the end of the day you drop in sheer exhaustion.   But somehow, it all gets done, or at least most of it gets done.   I suspect most of those days you do not have a minute to reflect on what you are giving to your children, those around you, and those that you work to serve.   And sometimes it is not until the end of the road, that you look back and see what tidbits of yourself you left along your journey.   This individual was a leader, a mother, a teacher, a mentor, and a good friend. One of her small gestures of best wishes and hope stay with one of her charges today, 30 years later.   She would be touched to know that.

Understand that what you do on a daily basis for your children and those you come in contact with does matter.   You might not receive the feedback on that now or ever, but sometimes it is some small token of appreciation that stays with someone else their entire life.   We should be grateful to all of those who share their gifts with us and make us better.   Thank you for all you do for those you serve.

 
New Programs & Updates
  

For your convenience, we now have a "Trainings/Certifications" calendar on our Volunteer Resources page -- this makes it easy to find upcoming certifications that will enable you to have more fun with your troop!


 

 Camping Certification at KK (Volunteers) 11/1
 

 Kappa Delta International Girls Day (B J) 11/14


 Holidays at Humming Hills (D B) 12/6
 

 Brownies Love Cookies! Earn the "Money Manager" and "Meet My Customers"  Badge - Enterprise (B) 12/13

 

 Juniors Love Cookies! Earn the "Cookie CEO" and "Customer Insights" Badge - Enterprise (J) 12/13
 

 USS Alabama Sleepover (B J C S A) 3/13-14

 

Upcoming Deadlines 

Event

Location

Date

Deadline

Sail Away Weekend at KK (C S A)

Eclectic

10/17-19

10/9

Out of This World: Montgomery Planetarium( (D B J)

Montgomery

10/25

10/10

ADT Dracula Behind the Scenes & Performance( (J C S A)

Montgomery

10/19 AND 11/2

10/15

Halloween Tricks and Treats Day(D B J)

Montgomery

10/25

10/15

Back to Basics: "Girl Scout Way" Badge Day at KK (ALL)

Kamp Kiwanis

11/1

10/17

Back to Basics: "Girl Scout Way" Badge Day at CSW (ALL)

Camp Scoutshire Woods

11/1

10/17

Wing It! (C S A)

Mobile

11/15

10/22

Scouting for Food 2014 (ALL)

Baldwin, Clarke, Mobile, Washington counties

11/1 & 11/8

10/22

Camping Certification at KK (Volunteers)

Kamp Kiwanis

11/1

10/24

My Country Tis of Thee: American Flag Ceremonies & Etiquette  (ALL)

Montgomery

11/8

10/29

Kappa Delta International Girls Day (B J)(evening event)

Mobile

11/14

10/31

 

For a complete listing of our events, please visit our calendar. 

 

Other Opportunities

 

Because we want our girls to have many learning (and fun!) opportunities, we offer this additional calendar for programs that are not presented by our council. Some of these programs are presented by our volunteer Troops and Service Units, others are put on by groups in the communities we serve. Calendar listings do not imply endorsement by the council.  This calendar is available on our Events & Programs page 

Please contact the volunteer listed in the program for more information and program status. 

Newly Listed Events:    

 Weeks Bay Foundation Nature Photography Contest  

 Harlem Globetrotters in Dothan

Upcoming Events: