Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys » brownies

Brownies, Earn Your Hiker Badge this Summer

Sam Tuttle — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:56:06 +0000

Summer is just around the corner! What better way to spend time in the sun than by exploring your local outdoors on a hiking adventure with your troop?

Earn your Girl Scout Hiker Badge, which teaches you how to prepare for a hike. From learning which important items to pack to discovering what kinds of snacks are best for hiking trips, this badge activity is a great opportunity for your troop to enjoy nature and work as a team.

Learn more about the Girl Scout Hiker Badge and other outdoor awareness activities.

Basketball Fun at Saint Mary’s University

Elaina Buzzell — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:14:33 +0000

Girl Scout Brownies and Juniors, are you looking for a fun way to earn your Fair Play and Practice with Purpose badges? Join the Saint Mary’s University Women’s basketball team for a unique experience. You will train with the team and discover ways to improve your basketball skills. Learn from the athletes to find out what makes them love being active and take away experiences to inspire others to achieve more active, healthy lifestyles.

Brownies, register for our Fair Play Badge Day with SMUMN Women’s Basketball, and Juniors, register for Practice with Purpose Badge Day with SMUMN Women’s Basketball.

When: Sunday, April 21, 1–4 pm
Cost: $8

Girl Scout Court of Awards

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:58:55 +0000

Brownie Girl Scout Troop 13433, third graders out of out of Elm Creek Elementary, recently held their first Court of Awards. These 14 girls earned more than 47 Try-Its in the last few months. They have been working very hard and are in the process of planning a service project.

Isabella, Anna, Rhiannon, Bailey, Abby, Molly, Emma, Ellie, Analise, Ana, Leah, Paula, Matigann and Kaeley.

Faribault Girl Scout Balloon Rally

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:34:02 +0000

Last month, Girl Scout Daisy through Cadette troops in Faribault participated in the 25^th Annual Airfest and Balloon Rally, a community-wide event at the Faribault Airport. Troops signed up for one-hour time slots to work at the Girl Scout booth. The girls helped children and passersby make various styles of paper aircraft and parachutes. Leaders were present to assist as needed.

There was also a Girl Scout information display set up where the general public could stop in and ask questions about Girl Scouting in Faribault (or River Valleys in general). This was a wonderful opportunity for the girls to learn and practice leadership and public relations skills.

Faribault’s service unit also invited Miss Washington County, Mary Swenson, to partake in the festivities, and the girls loved her. She mingled with the Girl Scouts and the audience, worked with the girls in the activities booth, was a featured guest speaker, appeared on stage and shared her platform (self-esteem building through the uniquely ME! program), participated in numerous photo opportunities, gave autographs, etc.

The Girl Scouts also packed up bags filled with goodies and coupons (including Girl Scout brochures/bookmarks) and passed them out to passersby.

Girl Scout Troop 13433 at Feed My Starving Children

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:41:33 +0000

Our first service projects of the year was a great success! Seven girls, as well as their families and leaders, joined other volunteers at Feed My Starving Children to pack nutritious meals for children around the world.

The result was 7,992 meals (enough to feed 22 children for a year) packed in two hours. Afterward we were allowed to help say a prayer over the meals before they left. We also got to see how many Girl Scout Brownies could fit in a sack which holds a ton of rice. If you’ve been there, you will certainly remember, “chicken, veggies, soy, rice!” We would encourage every troop to try out this great service project. Our girls are already planning their next trip back!

Girls who attended: Ana, Analise, Anna, Ellie, Emma, Leah, and Paula.

Girl Scouts at Rondo Days

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:34:27 +0000

For more information about Rondo Days, visit http://rondodays.com/.

Adopting a Soldier

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:07:38 +0000

In July 2008, while looking for projects for our Girl Scout troop to work on for the coming school year, I read an article about another troop that had “adopted a soldier” and thought it sounded like a wonderful idea and a great experience for the girls. I contacted www.mysoldier.com, and they sent me the contact information for a soldier currently serving in Iraq. They also sent me some red bracelets for each of the Girl Scouts to wear, symbolizing their part of adopting a soldier. Each girl in the troop has been given one to wear if and when they wish.

Our soldier’s name is Charles (Charlie) Enebrad. He grew up on the coast in South Carolina and worked on shrimp boats before joining the military. The movie “Forest Gump” was filmed in his hometown. He joined the military at age 17 and has been an active member for nine years now. He is stationed out of Fort Lewis, Washington and is an army fire fighter currently working with a construction unit in Nasariyah, Iraq. He has been married for six years and has a four-year-old son and twin two-year-old daughters, whom he says he wants to join the Girl Scouts as soon as they are able to; he feels it is a wonderful organization to be a part of. He currently has 122 soldiers in his company.

Of the 18 girls that currently attend Girl Scouts in Ellendale/Geneva, 16 wrote letters to Charlie in November 2008, and he, along with a fellow soldier named Logan Hastings from St. Paul, Minn., wrote an individual letter back to each and every girl. They thought that was pretty cool and they each have taken their letters home to keep. Along with the letters, we made and sent some Christmas decorations, hand-crafted with construction paper, glue, glitter, puff balls, markers, and crayons. The girls were very creative, and the decorations looked awesome. When Charlie received the decorations, he hung them up for everyone in his company to see and enjoy throughout the holiday season and wrote to tell us it added a “touch of home” for the soldiers.

In February, we hand-crafted Valentine decorations for Charlie and his company, and he also hung those up for everyone to see and enjoy.

The month of February was a sad one for Charlie as one of his friends was killed in a road side bomb in Iraq and left behind a wife and four children. I’m sure Charlie probably sees, hears about, and deals with this type of thing on a daily basis, but it is even harder when it is one of his own and a personal friend.

Charlie sent us some photos in February showing the large trucks he drives over in Iraq and the girls were in awe when they saw the size of them.

Most recently, the girls each bought and donated Girl Scout cookies for Charlie and the other soldiers, and we sent them right to his attention in Iraq.

He sent back pictures showing many of the soldiers sorting through and eating the cookies as they unpacked them. He said we have no idea how much they all appreciate and LOVE Girl Scout cookies – another little touch of home to them.The girls and I have totally enjoyed our activities and communications revolving around Charlie, and we are looking forward to more. We plan to stay in communication with Charlie for the duration of his stay in Iraq. We feel like we know Charlie, even though we have never personally met him and probably never will. We talk about him as we would someone we see and talk to every day. Our communication with him has meant a lot to us and it probably always will. I think the girls in the troop, who range from ages 5-10, will all remember Charlie when they look back and think about the days they were a Girl Scout.

Update

The girls were touched and honored to receive the following letter from Charlie:

Hello,

I have a “special gift” for your troop. I have an American Flag that was flown out here in Iraq that I plan on sending to you once I get home. A certificate will accompany it stating such. I hope it is something that can express the gratitude my guys and I have for your troop. I cannot thank you for the overwhelming support you have provided during my time here. I still have a month or so to go, and I am busy as ever, but I just wanted to let you know I will be sending this so you will have something to look forward to … Thanks again and God bless.

Charlie

Brownie Troop 11548 Visit Feed My Starving Children

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:21:08 +0000

Troop 13739 Collects More Than 3,000 Caps for Caps Off with Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:24:53 +0000

Troop 13739 celebrates their success in collecting more than 3,000 caps for Caps Off with Girl Scouts. Not only did the third grade girls collect these on an individual basis, they also partnered with their school and fellow students at Gleason Lake Elementary in Wayzata, Minn., to raise awareness and participation in the program.

The girls made posters to educate and promote the program at school and had announcements made during the lunch hour. Fellow students were encouraged to recycle the caps from their water bottles at lunchtime as well as collect caps at home and deposit them in the Caps Off buckets placed in the cafeteria and main lobby of the school.

Woodbury Girl Scouts Produce Caps Off Skit

Girl Scouts River Valleys — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:37:04 +0000

Girl Scout Brownie Troop 52970 (Woodbury Service Unit) created and performed a puppet skit as part of a presentation for staff at their school (Harambee Environmental Science and Community Cultures School in Maplewood). They asked that the school implement the Aveda Cap Recycling program on a permanent basis. They want to educate students and families about what is happening with caps that end up in landfills, rivers, and oceans. They will use designated proceeds from Cookies 4 a Change to create a display and collection bin in the school lobby. The girls are also preparing an interactive display for the upcoming school science fair as an effort to spread the word to everyone. Their presentation was a hit with staff and their proposal has been approved.

Pictured: Front row: Stephanie, Alyissa, and Josie. Second Row: Elizabeth, Abby, Alana, Kendra, Savannah, and Olivia. Third Row: Makehba, Asha, and Mariah.