Troop 1137 size doubles
Troop 1137 leader
PRESQUE ISLE – The newly-formed Girl Scout, Daisy and Brownie Troop 1137 in Presque Isle started in September 2009 with two leaders, 17 registered girls, and 13 adult member volunteers. To date, Troop 1137 has since grown to 35 girls, eight leaders, and 17 adult member volunteers. Since the troop has more than doubled its size in just five months, and in an effort to enable the girls to forge stronger relationships, have better focus, and to have an opportunity to better share and have their voices heard individually, Troop 1137 has recently been organized into smaller troops, each consisting of seven to 11 girls.
All new member registrations, troop goals, activities and events planning for all four mini-Girl Scout troops is overseen by Girl Scout Leader Dina Harding, with each of the following leaders being responsible for the newly-created individual Girl Scout troops’ meeting plans and activities: Daisy Troop 1137 – Erica Johnson and Leslie Smart; Daisy Troop 1170 – Marjorie Snow and Julie Knight; Daisy Troop 1176 – Christa Galipeau and Dina Harding; and Brownie Troop 1178 – Tara Cote and Krissy Williams.
The success of all of our troop’s efforts could not be realized without the dedicated help from these amazing leaders, as well as from our 17 adult Girl Scout member volunteers, which include Jen Hopkins, Melissa Dyer, Tori Moorefield, Linda McKinney, Tammy Michaud, Amy Jackson, Beth Brown, Gretchen Brissette, Nikki Staples, Harmony Ward, Angela Boucher, Jodina Cormier, Cheryl DeMerchant, Dannielle Cronin, Bobby Pelkey, Kim Kinney and Christina Hanks.
Since the original troop’s formation, the girls have participated in many activities and events. All of our meetings, and many of our badge earning opportunities have taken place at the very accommodating, and most friendly and welcoming, Presque Isle Wesleyan Church.
In November, the girls enjoyed a tea party social in the Wesleyan Church’s Diamond Mine Café, where the girls had a fun time in getting to know each other better. In December, the girls made candy cane reindeer ornaments to give to the residents while Christmas caroling with Mapleton sister Girl Scout Troop 1133 at Leisure Gardens Retirement Center and the Presque Isle Nursing Home. All together, we had over 50 girls spreading holiday cheer and joy!
In early January, many girls attended an official Girl Scout “Cookie Rally” at the Rec Center in Caribou, which was sponsored by the Girl Scout Council to kick off the upcoming Cookie Sale. Each girl attending learned positive sales techniques, organization skills, safe selling strategies, and also had a lot of fun playing games and learning principles of teamwork and goal setting. The event definitely impacted the success of our girls’ recent cookie selling campaign, as the entire Troop 1137 sold 3,425 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, all of which are being delivered to customers now! During the cookie selling period, the girls also encouraged customers to donate boxes of cookies to our military troops overseas, and in this additional campaign, the girls were successful in obtaining 193 boxes of cookies, which are being packaged with personal notes, crafts, and photos from the girls and are being shipped directly to our military troops next week.
At the end of January, the girls participated with sister Girl Scout Troop 1133 of Mapleton in an educational tour and information session at the Mapleton Fire Station, which was presented by Mapleton Assistant Fire Chief Adam Rider. The girls learned about fire safety and how to respond appropriately in an emergency fire situation. After watching a dress demonstration teaching them that firemen suited up in full gear are actually not scary at all, but rather are there to help us, the girls had a lot of fun trying on firemen’s protective gear, and also climbing into the fire truck.
At the beginning of February, the girls had their Investiture Ceremony in the multi-purpose room at the Presque Isle Wesleyan Church. This honorary ceremony officially welcomes each girl into Girl Scouts. Each girl was pinned by their parent or grandparent, and was also given a keepsake Girl Scout certificate of membership. A very special thanks goes out to Troop Leader Krissy Williams for securing a very generous donation from MPG Hardware of over 80 boxes of white decorative lights which made our ceremony that much more beautiful in accentuating the very creative ideas in décor by Troop Leader Christa Galipeau. There were over 170 people in attendance for this momentous occasion, with a large social food gathering of delicious covered dishes and desserts for all in attendance afterwards.
Later in February, the girls participated in another Girl Scout Council sponsored event of snow tubing at Big Rock Mountain in Mars Hill. All those in attendance had an incredible day of beautiful weather and fun, while also receiving a great physical workout, along with a patch promoting outdoor fun.
All 24 of our Daisy Girl Scouts continue to work toward the completion of earning the balance of their “petals,” each of which represents a portion of the Girl Scout Law, in addition to six badges sponsored by the Girl Scout Council of Maine, which include learning and taking action in the areas of Girl Scouting, Community, Science, Art, Health, and the Outdoors.
Our 11 Brownie Girl Scouts are also actively earning separate badges of their own, with the remainder of this year focused on specific badges including Art, Health & Nutrition, Money Management, Sports and Games, Writing, Communication, and Plays.
In conjunction to our badge-earning goals, we also have many special events, tours, and field trips planned, including some overnight fun, too! In March, we will go bowling at the Elk’s Lodge in Presque Isle, which is a “bring a friend” event to introduce new girls to the fun of Girl Scouting. We will also tour the Presque Isle Police Department this month, while in April, we have plans to tour The Aroostook Medical Center and Crown Ambulance, go rock climbing and have a pool party at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, go roller skating at Melody Roller Skating in Caribou, and to also attend a Girl Scout neighborhood masquerade ball with sister Girl Scout troops from surrounding towns. In May, we will be learning more about nature and the outdoors at the Francis Malcolm Science Center in Easton, which will include taking a nature hike and building our own fire. In June, we will wind down our year with a Court of Awards Ceremony and a family picnic at Mantle Lake Park in Presque Isle, with each troop optionally continuing to meet once a month for a “fun activity” through the summer, until the new Scouting year begins in September.
The primary focus of all of our meetings and activities is to support the Girl Scout motto of building courage, character and confidence in girls. For anyone interested in joining Girl Scouts, please call toll free 1-88-922-GSME (4763) or visit www.girlscoutsofmaine.org for more information.
ADDITIONAL GIRL SCOUT TROOP 1137 members are, from left: Jordan Burrow, Sierra Lawrence, Elexis Lunn, Kaylee Boyce and Emma Patterson.
