Girl Scouts of Northern California
North Coast, Santa Rosa Office

4825 Old Redwood Hwy, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Phone: 707.544.5472
Fax: 707.544.5477

Eureka Office: 707.443.6641
Lake County Office: 707.279.4689
Mendocino County Office: 707.463.2888
Sonoma County Office: 707.544.5472

Home > Leader Links Online > Leader Links 2007-2008

Leader Links 2007-2008 Online

December 2007

A Fond Farewell to Troop 10125
S'mores. Bozo. Tizzy. Salsa. Cloudberry. Pebbles. Spunky. Chatterbox. Strawberry. Snoopy. To some, this might sound like a shopping list for food and toys. But to the scouts at Petaluma Day Camp, these are the "leadership girls" who taught them songs, games and crafts. Added together, the graduating seniors of Troop 125 in Service Unit 10 have 33 years of leadership at the popular camp.

Started at the Daisy level, Girl Scout Troop 125 just finished its last year. After spending a collective 137 years in Girl Scouting, its members have scattered across the states to follow their career plans. Erica Castro is at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Kristina Soper traveled south to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, while Kelsey Wambold went north to Southern Oregon University. Nisha Punatar chose U.C. Berkeley; Kelli Miller is at U.C. Davis. Emily Burgholzer is at Chico State and Katie Anderson at Sacramento State. Arianna Withof, Chelsea Clark, Kargene Sims, Elizabeth Bessmer and Lena Winterboer will begin their studies at SRJC.

In the second year of Cadette Girl Scouts, Troop 125 merged with Troop 646 from Service Unit 17. Before and after the merger, the troops participated in countless service projects – including spearheading coat and toy drives, cleaning creek beds, planting trees and flowers, staffing community events, making cards and gathering magazines for hospital patients, providing instrumental music and caroling at senior facilities, performing at a Gold Award event, and helping with the distribution of food to those less fortunate. They taught crafts and provided entertainment at local scout events, such as the Look See Do, Thinking Day and Cat Nap camp. This last spring, the girls sponsored an evening campfire program to teach Girl Scout songs and traditions.

Erica completed a Gold Award project collecting large-print books for seniors. Kelsey, Kristina and Elizabeth earned their Silver Award by designing and teaching animal-related art projects for the Petaluma Animal Shelter's Critter Camp. As her Silver Award project, Nisha offered younger scouts a workshop on tennis and nutrition. In addition, Nisha, Katie and Kelsey received the President's Volunteer Service Award for hundreds of hours of community service.

As the troop's final "field trip," Elizabeth, Chelsea, Nisha, Kristina, Katie and Kelsey traveled to Florida and Mexico this summer. They first stayed in a youth hostel at Clearwater Beach-where they dove for shells, rode boats, watched a sea turtle's release, swam in balmy waters, shopped at an evening festival, watched dolphins play, learned about hazards to marine life, and enjoyed talking with hostel guests from all over the world. Then they moved on to more plush accommodations on a four-day cruise, where their activities included snorkeling off Key West, bargaining in Playa Del Carmen and touring the Mayan ruins of Tulum. Before boarding the plane home, they air boated through an Everglades canal (and then petted, of all things, an alligator). Keeping with their long commitment to community service, they "adopted" a turtle-egg nest through the Clearwater Aquarium and participated in a breast cancer walkathon on the ship.

As other highlights of their Girl Scout years, the girls mentioned numerous camping trips, overnights at program aid training and at the Marin Headlands Hostel, helping at the 6th Grade Happening, a "spa day" in Calistoga, "jeeping" through Safari West, bridging on the Golden Gate, and earning their career badges (including spending a day in the field with AmeriCorps volunteers). Chelsea fondly recalls the troop's many years of recycling Christmas trees, particularly "jumping in the trees and racing against the Boy Scouts." Arianna will always remember the slumber parties when "we would stay up all night gossiping and then work on badges in the morning."

The members of Troop 125 have always had diverse interests-including band, drama, school journalism, peer tutoring/counseling, and a broad range of sports from badminton and wrestling to cheerleading. Outside scouting, they have demonstrated leadership in many ways, such as helping at the Sister to Sister event. Five have even traveled to other countries in school or church-related service projects. What made Troop 125 special is not only its commitment to Girl Scout values, but its broad range of talent. The leaders of Troop 125-Brigitte Winterboer, Karen Norton and Tawnya Sharke - have no doubt that the girls will continue to draw on the values they learned in Girl Scouting, and make the world a better place.

Troop 10139 Celebrates a Birthday
Brownie Girl Scout Troop 10139 from Santa Rosa, spent their meeting on Halloween celebrating Juliette Low’s birthday. In honor of Girl Scout founder Juliette Low they sat on their sit-upons and read about who she was. The girls made a birthday card together, shared birthday goodies, balloons, and learned how to tie several knots. They really enjoyed learning more about the history of who started the Girl Scouts here in the USA. Happy Birthday Juliette Low from Brownie Girl Scout Troop 10139!

February 2008

Troop 10386 at PA Play Day
Seven members of Brownie Troop 10386 attended the PA Play Day at Two Rock Coast Guard Station in October. It was a Sunday afternoon full of songs and games. Thank you to the PAs and leaders for providing a safe and fun Girl Scout experience!

Troop 10565 Earns Bronze Award
Junior Girl Scouts from Troop 10565 constructed and installed 24 nesting boxes for American Kestrels, Western Screech Owls and Wood Ducks and installed them along the Gualala River area completing their requirements to earn the highest award in Junior Girl Scouting.

The project began in April when the scouts learned about conservation and preservation of native bird species. Philip Chidlaw, parent and Geographical Information Systems Forester for the Gualala Redwoods, arranged for the lumber, supplies and nesting box design for the troop. Gualala Redwoods Company purchased all the materials. Kestrels and Screech Owls can use the same box. Several of the boxes were modified to accommodate Wood Ducks by elongating the opening and adding mesh wire for the ducklings to climb out of the nest after they hatch. Plans can be obtained through the USGS and the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.

The scouts learned "how-to" read building plans, use power tools and how to properly fasten boxes to trees without damaging them. Several field trips were arranged for the installation along Elk Prairie and the Gualala River, all located within the Gualala Redwoods Company property. The scouts learned how to operate a GPS and plotted the location of each nesting box. The locations were then put on a map for future reference.

Thank you Gualala Redwoods Company and Philip Chidlaw for making this possible. Since the completion of this project, the Junior Girl Scouts bridged up to Cadette Girl Scouts. The girls of Troop 565 look forward to maintaining the success of this project.

Troop 10168 Shops and SCOREs!
To meet part of the requirements for the Consumer Power badge, members of Junior Girl Scout Troop 10168 from Sonoma Mountain Elementary in Petaluma had fun Holiday Bag shopping for "their" 3-5 year old boy. In addition, the newly formed troop has recently enjoyed a trip to the pumpkin patch and a trip to SCORE! in Corte Madera to earn their CyberGirl badge.

Girl Scouts Bring Happiness to Children
For the fourth year running, local Senior and Cadette Girl Scout Troop 10565 and Brownie Girl Scout Troop 10271 decorated 22 felt bags and filled them with wonderful gifts purchased by the girls to give to children this Christmas at Safe Passage Family Resource Center located in Fort Bragg.

The Senior and Cadette Girl Scout Troop traveled to Fort Bragg and met the Executive Director of Safe Passage, Laura Welter. The Girl Scouts learned about the role Safe Passage has in the community and the partnership they have with the Department of Social Services, Mendocino Coast Clinics and with the School District. They learned about many of the programs currently offered to those in need. The Troop toured the facility and were treated to festive Christmas cupcakes. "This project is the first thing the Girl Scouts vote to put on the event calendar. They know that they are bringing happiness and good cheer to children in need this Christmas," said Jeanine Stefani Girl Scout Cadette Advisor.

After the visit at Safe Passage, the girls tried their skills at bowling at Noyo Bowl and ate pizza at Round Table. A great time had by all who participated.

Lake County Cookie Rally Shines
Service Unit 114’s Girl Scout Cookie Rally was a HUGE success. Approximately 30 girls learned about Girl Scout Cookies and had fun too! They started with the ice breaker game "find someone who" – it was fun to hear the chatter level go up and all the girls mingle with girls they didn’t know and even the adults too!

The cookie catcher was a great station. Safety was discussed and the girls tried role playing. Cookie knowledge was taught so that girls will be able to answer any question posed to them about the cookies.

March 2008

Hello from Daisy Girl Scout Troop 10513,
We would like to introduce ourselves and let everyone know how excited we are to be a troop this year. Our troop is 10 members strong, 9 kindergarteners and 1 first grader. We are already more than half way done earning our petals, we have attended Thinking day and we will be attending Camp Butterfly in March. Our troop has also decided to earm the MEGS TROOP recognition. In addition, We donated a holiday bag, and have done some community service. We are looking foreward to The Father Daughter Dance, and many more outings to come. Please call upon us to helpwith service projects if you are in need of many little helping hands, we are always looking for ways to help others.

Sincerely,
Troop 10513

New Daisy Girl Scout Troop 10653 Makes the World a Better Place by Smiling
by Sherry Phillips and Lisa Goetowski

The reason Lisa and I became leaders was because we have daughters that wanted to be Girl Scouts because they have watched their older sisters be Girl Scouts. There were already two established Daisy troops in Windsor that were either full or met at a time that didn't work for our children. So we decided in order to give our younger daughters the Girl Scouting experience, we would need to establish a troop. When you are a Girl Scout as a Kindergartener, you are called a Daisy.

We held our first meeting in November 2007 with 6 members and by February 2008 we had 12 members which we decided was going to be the maximum we wanted in our troop. We had a lot of interest quickly.

The 12 girls in our troop are all in Kindergarten and represent 4 different schools (Cali Calmeca, Mattie Washburn, Windsor Christian Academy and Sonoma Country Day School) and one girl is home schooled. Ten of the twelve girls are Windsor residents. One girl lives in Santa Rosa but goes to school at Cali.

We meet twice a month in order to do lessons to earn the petal patches to our Daisy which we iron on the girl's tunic. We have also attended the following additional Girl Scout events: Elves' Workshop, Father Daughter Dance, and Thinking Day. We are also looking forward to the Mother Daughter Tea in April and Day Camp July 14-18th here in Windsor at Keiser Park. Last year my older daughter said that Girl Scout Day Camp was a highlight of her summer. She loved it.

The attached picture is of the girls on Thursday, February 21. We were earning a petal for Making the World a Better Place. The girls shared A LOT of examples of how to make the world a better place. We also talked about how simply smiling can help make the world a better place. Since February is Children's Dental Health Month, and my husband is a dentist and I have 20 years of dental office experience, I included a lesson on how the girls can take care of their beautiful smiles by brushing, flossing and visiting the dentist. The girls were surprised to see pictures of what could realistically happen to their teeth and their beautiful smile if they didn't take care of their teeth. They were excited about the new toothbrushes I gave them. Many of the girls found new meaning to brushing regularly and flossing. Unfortunately, many were out sick that day. Included in the photo are: (back row) Kendra, Savannah, Catherine, Ellery, Sami, (front row) Natasha and Lucie.

Troop 10345 Helps Brownies Learn to Cook!
Girl Scout Cadette Troop 10345 ran a workshop for Brownies on March 8. It was called the Make It, Eat It Try-It Workshop. It is a workshop where the Brownies learn cooking techniques, knife skills and then get to eat what they make. The 7th grade Cadettes made recipe books from recipes brought in by the Brownie troops. They helped the younger girls carve soap shapes to work on their knife skills. They instructed the Brownies to make a huge batch of fruit salad and some vegetable soup. The Brownie Girl Scouts also planted some seeds to take home and have some vegetables for later. The girls also worked on learning about nutrition. The girls all had fun playing games and learning some new Girl Scout songs. Marie Ganister from the Windsor High School volunteered her time and Windsor High School's culinary kitchen so that Troop 10345 could have the workshop in Windsor. She was impressed with how well the 7th grade girls were able to run the workshop.

Troop 10057 Plants Trees in Santa Rosa
This is one of four projects that our girls are using for their bronze awards. Photos by Crista Jeremiason.

Photo to right: Volunteers including Girl Scouts from Troop 57 learn about how tree roots and how to correctly plant a tree as dozens of volunteers came together to plant 91 trees around Santa Rosa.

Photo to left: Lisa Grant, left, park superintendent of the City of Santa Rosa show Girl Scout Troop 10057 members from left to right, Milena, Emily, Cathelina and Sierra how to plant a tree during along Mendocino Avenue in downtown Santa Rosa. Winzler & Kelly Consulting Engineers organized the planting including re-planting seven red maple trees on Mendocino Avenue in front of Exchange Bank where the trees were vandalized last fall.

Click here to read the article from the Sunday, March 30, 2008 Press Democrat.

April 2008

Troop 10618 Visits Petaluma Airport
from an email dated April 4, 2008:

Hi there,

Just wanted to share with you our outing today. I took our troop to the Petaluma Airport for a tour. The girls were able to sit in the front seat of a Cessna single engine prop and learned about some basic safety at a small airport. They were able to see the planes come and go and see how a small airport operates as opposed to a large one like SFO or Oakland. Except for one girl, they never been in a small airplane. They also learned that it takes a lot of schooling to become a pilot., including math, science and reading.

Thanks-
Stephanie Jason

Poem by Claire from Troop 10031
from an email dated April 13, 2008:

If every grain of sand was a girl
Girl Scouting would be the tide
Everytime it comes in
It carries more girls into it's warmth


cfc

Troop 10036 Got Earthy at Armstong Woods
from an email dated April 16, 2008:

I am emailing you about the wonderful time we had on April 13, 2008 at the Girl Scout event we attended. As we were on our guided tour one of the girls spotted an owl. This was quite the event because seeing an owl is very unusual and it stood still for all of us to see and to take pictures. We have also been asked to email Armstrong Redwoods the pictures we took because they were quite excited about the sighting. We thought we would share our adventure with all of you.

Thank you,
Laurie Weaver

Agriculture Up Close at the SRJC's Shone Farm

Brownie Girl Scout Troop 10371 and Junior Girl Scout Troop 10337 from Santa Rosa spent an afternoon at Santa Rosa Junior College's Shone Farm in April. The Brownies are spending the year learning about Agriculture in Sonoma County and this was a singular experience. The girls were treated to a tour by Mr. Leonard Diggs, Manager of Shone Farms, who shared with them a portion of the 365 acres maintained by students of the SRJC.

The girls learned about how various plants are nurtured from seed and cultivated. The girls began in the greenhouse which is equipped with panels that move based on the elements, then they ventured into the field to learn about the tractor, compost, the use of beneficial plants to feed the soil, how the plantings are marked and the use of manure taken from the animals maintained on the property. The girls also got to pick strawberries and lemons, they met the bull, some of the horses, saw the cows and picked wildflowers.

It was a unique experience and the girls enjoyed it all, as did the leaders and parent chaperones!