The GSSA Weekly from Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama

March 10, 2016 

 


Welcome to GSSA Weekly, the council's e-newsletter. 
 
At right, Victoria of Troop 9080 drew this picture in response to the prompt "What Does Being a Girl Scouts Mean to You?" for our Girl Scout Week Design Contest. We had MANY fine entries, and Victoria's was chosen as the image on the Girl Scout Sunday/Sabbath Bulletin insert.

Click on the image or here to see a larger version. 

Want to see your Girl Scouts featured in GSSA Weekly?  E-mail the photo with event information to communications@girlscoutssa.org.
  
Resident and Day Camp 2016
  
We're so excited!  Summer Camp 2016 information is now available.

An important feature of Summer
Camp Registration this year:
Early Registration (beginning on Monday, March 14) is available to ALL COOKIE ENTREPRENEURS.  This is a "thank you" to all Girl Scouts who engaged in Product Sales by selling $125 in Fall Product or 50 boxes of cookies this year.*

Browse the 2016 Camp Guide, Your Neverland Adventure, and choose your summer fun!

*Girl Scouts who earned Cookie Program Credits in 2016 will be given priority when registering.

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Quick Links
Annual Meeting and Back to Basics Day (Overnight Option): April 9

Girl Scout leaders, volunteers and girls over the age of 14 are invited as delegates to the council's annual business meeting.  This is a great opportunity to discuss the state of the council, as well as participate in fellowship with other Girl Scout leaders.  Here's the Agenda and the Board of Directors biographies.

On Saturday while adults are at the Annual Meeting, girls will get "Back to Basics" and tie-dye bandannas, make some simple campfire cuisine, and go on a letterboxing adventure.  Come prepared to have some good old-fashioned Girl Scout fun!

Click for more information on the Annual Meeting and Back to Basics Day.

Spend Friday night at Kamp Kiwanis for games, SWAPSs, and skits/songs around the campfire! Here's info on the Optional Friday overnight before the Annual Meeting.

Adopt Your Troop's Distinguished Young Woman

The Distinguished Young Women Program teams up with the Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama each year to create relationships between local Girl Scouts and state finalist participants. Troops are invited to "adopt" a Distinguished Young Woman (DYW) from one (or more) state(s) and participate in fun events with her.   

This is an excellent opportunity for our Girl Scouts to meet young women who are role models in their  achievements and ambitions for the future. To learn more and to register, click here.

Service Unit Adult Awards Deadline is April 1

The heart of Girl Scouting is you, the indispensable volunteers who make it all possible!
Because volunteers contribute their time and skills in many ways, there are several Adult Awards that are available to recognize their efforts. 

Awards that are available at the Service Unit Level include the Volunteer of Excellence, Leadership Development Pin and Leaves, Volunteer Years of Service, and the Green Angel award. 

Every person reading this knows someone who deserves to be recognized!  Check out these awards, and nominate a worthy Girl Scout Volunteer.  Deadline for these awards is April 1.  More information may be found on the Adult Awards page of our website.

Thoughts of Spring and Camp    

 
The sun is shining through my office windows as I write this.  There's a squirrel sitting on the bird feeder eating something as the butterflies buzz around, summoning the beginnings of spring.   The breeze is nice, and you can start to see the tree buds as I drive around the council territory.   Clearly, spring is in the air and our thoughts are turning away from cookies and toward being in the outdoors.
This time of year I spend time with the rangers working through their needs, their priorities, and things to get their camps ready for girls to reappear.   They are always eager for the girls to return to camp.   Camp Sid Edmonds was replanted in loblollies in one day.  It's amazing how quick it was.   We had someone working on the stumps there, so it is looking different than the last time you saw it.   I have not been up there yet, but it is certainly on my short list of things to do.   We have had a number of volunteers and parents volunteer to do a workday at Kamp Kiwanis to get it ready for girls.
We welcome a new camp ranger to Kamp Kiwanis.   Mike Breshears might be familiar to you if you are around the Montgomery area.   He has two daughters who are Girl Scouts, and his wife, Caroline, is an active troop leader and runs our Montgomery cookie pantry.   We hope you will welcome him as he works to address the many issues at Kamp Kiwanis.  We have lost some very large pine trees recently in some inconvenient places there.   Kudos to our Camp Sid Edmonds ranger, Jesse Malone, for managing his camp and Kamp Kiwanis as we worked to hire a ranger. We had many wonderful applicants for the ranger position and appreciate those who applied. 
Continue reading on our Virtual Volunteer Blog.  
Upcoming Deadlines 

Event
Location
Date
Deadline
Planned order due in SNAP (TCM/SUCM)
online
 
3/13, 3/20
Camp Scoutshire Woods
4/2-3
3/21
Montgomery
3/24
online study
Milbrook
 4/3
3/25
Outdoor Badge Day (B C S A) 
Kamp Kiwanis
4/2
3/25
Kamp Kiwanis
 4/8
3/25
Kamp Kiwanis
 4/9
3/25
Mobile
 4/10
3/30
 
 
4/1
Kamp Kiwanis
 4/8-10
4/1
Troy
4/16
4/1
Montgomery
 4/16
4/1
Montgomery
 4/16
4/1
 
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: