The Great Girl Gathering was a monumental event for River Valleys. Girls rocked it with China Anne McClain, Zumba’d with Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Anna Maria Chávez, learned how to prevent phosphorus and made memories with old and new friends. During the two-day event, 1,000 volunteers donated 3,200 hours to assist with 15 concurrent events and over 140,000 girls along with their family and friends from across the nation attended the event!

Thank you to all the attendees, volunteers, partners, sponsors and staff who made the Great Girl Gathering possible! We are proud to share this award with you.

What were the highlights of your trip to the Great Girl Gathering @ MOA®?

“It was a thrill to see so many girls and alumnae all having fun doing what girls have always had fun doing. While the place was packed, I was proud to see how Girl Scouts were holding their trash and obviously looking for proper places to put it. Compare that behavior with what you’d see at an athletic event. Our coach driver from Redwood Falls was a registered Girl Scout for many years, and he also noticed the same thing and the general polite behavior of everyone in that vast building that day. A real sisterhood. Smiling faces everywhere. Although it was hard to hear some of what was going on that day, nobody could have missed hearing hundreds of voices singing ‘Make New Friends.’”

How did your Girl Scout experience begin?

“When I was small, I happened to be a year ahead of my normal grade level in school. I didn’t know it, but back then Girl Scouting went by age, not grade, and a girl needed to be eight to be a Girl Scout Brownie (the youngest level at that time). Imagine my disappointment when almost all the girls in my grade stayed for troop meetings every Tuesday and I had to go home. On my eighth birthday, January 28, 1940, I finally got to join. After a few required weeks of waiting, I got my pin and could wear my uniform. The memory of that moment still brings an emotional rush as I recall the lines: ‘Twist me and turn me and show me the elf; I look in the pool and I see myself.’ The pool was a mirror on the floor, surrounded by some dry leaves, but what I saw was a grinning little girl with the brown flopped over cotton cone-shaped cap and the pin on the uniform collar was so close that when it touched my chin I was reminded that Brownies have a duty to help others. That really took root and grew with [the former phrase in the Girl Scout law]: “A Girl Scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others.’

A few years later, I remember we were all to encourage other girls to join. The motto of the drive was ‘A million or more by ’44.’”

Why is it important to remain involved as a Girl Scout alumna?

“My own Girl Scouts are now grandmothers, but I’m still somewhat involved as service unit treasurer and keeper of the equipment. Since I’m a math tutor at our local school, I like to wear my pins as a way of validating the Girl Scouting experiences of our older girls.”

What do you enjoy about your Girl Scout connections?

“The nicest people I know are those I’ve met through Girl Scouts. While the wording has changed, we all subscribe to the same set of lofty values, skip the petty and concentrate on the girls.”

Alumnae at the Great Girl Gathering @ MOA®

In addition to welcoming alumnae to the entire weekend festivities, River Valleys hosted two wildly popular, special alumnae events during the Great Girl Gathering @ MOA®. The event brought Girl Scouts of all ages together to celebrate the past, present and future of Girl Scouting. Over 1,000 volunteers gave more than 3,200 hours to make this event memorable for all involved. River Valleys was featured in over 70 media spots over the weekend. Check out these news clips about the Great Girl Gathering from KARE 11.
The first Centennial weekend event, the Alumnae Networking Reception on Thursday evening, March 8, was a huge success! The atmosphere in the room was electric as alumnae of all ages connected with each other and reconnected with Girl Scouts. Sona Mehring, founder of CaringBridge, was the keynote speaker. Sona’s message about how the skills she learned in Girl Scouts gave her the courage to pursue her dreams was powerful. Many thanks to our volunteer co-chairs Mary Younggren and Carol Hoverman for planning this event and to Tempforce, CRAVE and MOA® for their sponsorship.

Check out photos from the Alumnae Networking Reception provided by Christine Wisch, Girl Scout alumna and photographer, who volunteered her services for the event.

On Sunday morning, March 11, over 275 alumnae gathered to reconnect and share Girl Scout memories at the Forever Green Breakfast. In addition to hearing from Stacy Cordery, author of Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts, and Gabrielle Thompson, Girl Scout Ambassador and author of ABC’s of Cancer, attendees marked 100 years of Girl Scouting by sharing memories and singing their favorite Girl Scout songs. A highlight included Cindy Dasch, composer and lyricist of the well-known Girl Scout song “On My Honor,” leading the attendees in this song she composed almost 40 years ago.

View photos from the Forever Green Breakfast on our River Valleys Alumnae Association Facebook page. Watch the video of Cindy Dasch leading the group in “On My Honor.”

Special thanks to CRAVE and MOA® for their sponsorship of this event and a big thanks to the volunteer planning committee: co-chairs Beth Voermans and Donna Pietsch, and committee members Karen Carlson, Elissa Chaffee, Sandy Craighead, Pam Johnson, Carolyn Sandberg, Mary Selby, Karen Snedeker, A.J. Steinbring and Joyce Stanchfield.

As part of the centennial celebration of the Girl Scouts, current Scouts were asked to design their idea for a future uniform. The 10 finalists modeled their outfits in a fashion show Sunday at the Mall of America. Here’s a sampling of what they came up with.

Read the entire story.

• Two different Gold Award Girl Projects will be on display.
• Make an anti-bullying wish bracelet.
• Sign the pledge, which will be located in each court.

Take the pledge today and share it with your friends:

The Pledge

I will do my best to be
Honest and fair when informing a parent or teacher about bullying
Friendly and helpful when finding ways to help those left out
Considerate and caring towards those who lost their voice to bullying
Courageous and strong when standing up against bullying, and
Responsible for what I say and do when I refuse to bully,
and to
Respect myself and others,
Respect authority and their policies on bullying
Use resources wisely when educating others about anti-bullying
Make the world a better place for everyone, and
Be a sister to every girl.

The Great Girl Hangout, sponsored by Radio Disney, will be in West Market Square, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., during the Great Girl Gathering @ MOA, March 10–11. Stop by to connect with other girls, relax, unwind and listen to music. You can also work on your Legacy Badge!

What are SWAPS?

Girl Scouts describe these objects as: Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere (SWAPS). Review SWAPS history and basics to learn more.

From the lottery, 14 troops and eight Juliettes will be selected randomly by grade level to participate.

Note: River Valleys’ Product Program staff will support troops in the cookie booth and River Valleys will provide all cookie inventory (all eight varieties). Troops may not bring their own inventory to sell at this event.

Requirements and Eligibility

• Current registered River Valleys troops are eligible for this opportunity.
• All girls who participate must be registered Girl Scouts.
• The adults who participate do not need to be registered members.
• In order to be eligible, your troop must bring four Girl Scouts and three adult volunteers. If your troop cannot commit to bringing four Girl Scouts and three adult volunteers, you may pair up with another interested troop in your area. Please note: council cannot coordinate pairing of troops.
• Troops cannot bring more than four girls to participate in the booth.
• Girl Scout Brownie, Junior, Senior, Cadette, and Ambassador troops or Juliettes may apply.
• Troop must be available for a two hour 15 minute time slot (15-minute orientation included) on either Saturday, March 10 or Sunday, March 11.
• Morning and afternoon shifts occur between 9:45 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Troop Proceeds and Accommodations

• All troops* will receive an equal share of proceeds from cookies sold over the two-day event. Troop proceeds are $0.55 per package. Troops will receive these proceeds by check after the event, and the sales and proceeds will not be reflected in eBudde.
  *Four Juliettes will be combined to form one troop.
• Packages sold at this event will not count toward girl incentives and recognitions for the 2012 Cookie Program Activity.
• Each girl who participates will receive a special recognition item only available to girls who participate in this opportunity.
• Each adult who participates will receive a special thank you item.
• Each troop will receive four girl and three adult commemorative t-shirts to keep and wear during the booth sale.

Lottery Process Details

• The instructions will be posted on River Valleys’ website the morning of January 19.
• The online lottery will open on January 19 at 6:00 p.m.
• You will have until February 3 at 6:00 p.m. to complete the online lottery form.
• Selected troops will be notified via telephone by 6:00 p.m. on February 10 if they have been chosen to participate in this opportunity. Please note: because of the overwhelming number of entries we anticipate receiving, only troops who have been selected will be notified via telephone. Troops who have not been selected will be notified via email.

Questions?

If you have questions about this opportunity, please contact productprogram@www.girlscoutsrv.org. More detailed information about this opportunity will be published on River Valleys’ website on January 19.

What do you think the future Girl Scout uniform should look like? Put your work on display at the Great Girl Gathering.

We want to know your uniform vision for the future. By entering, you will have a chance to show off your design live at the Great Girl Gathering Fashion Show at the Mall of America.

Get all the challenge details.