EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes

Leader Meeting Minutes 4/26/2010

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 18:04:00 +0000

Please Note: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance. Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The Minutes will be posted on the web-site for future reference as well.

Service Unit Manager Sally O’Grady opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

COUNCIL UPDATE: Sally O’Grady
• No Minutes from Council provided
• Sally was the only representative from EWAGs for Leader/Membership forum.
• Continue to check www.gscsnj.org for updates to web-site and Council calendar.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE (Sally O’Grady and Debbie Cohen)

Registration for 2010-2011:
Materials were handed out at this meeting. It was suggested that you put every girl’s name on the top for the registration form so you know who has a form and who doesn’t. Early Bird registration is due in June 19th. Patches will be available at the Council Shop but troops will have to pay for them on their own. No other “troop” incentives are available this year. The incentive for Service Units that submit 60% or more of their membership by the dead line, will be admittance into a raffle. Five will be chosen for a Council sponsored program which will be free of cost to the members of the winning service units. We registered 871 people last year, so we need about 520 people, about 10 members per troop, in order to qualify. It’s best to try to bring your registrations to the May 24th Leader Meeting. Troops interested in helping the Service Unit make it into the raffle will need to drop off registrations no later than Friday, June 19th. Questions? Go to www.ewags.org/registrations for detailed information. Still need help? Contact April Suk at april@troop913.com.

Babysitting for Leader Meetings:
Had trouble organizing it this year. Typically, it’s harder for the older girls to help out because of outside activities. It was recommended that 7th Grade Leaders coordinate this task going forward but allow 6th, 7th and 8th girls scouts to help volunteer to baby-sit.

Cookie Incentives – Beth Kupper
Beth handed out cookie incentives. Small Adult “hoodies” are on back order. Movie tickets are not in yet. If you did not get your incentives, please contact Beth at bckrn@verizon.net.

Family Fun Day (Leader/Daughter Appreciation) – June 27 Black Bear Day Camp, Millstone, NJ.
So far only 47 registrations have been received and 100 are needed to hold the event. The event has been opened to the entire Council. The cost is $40 per person and all food and activities are included. Go to www.blackbearlake.com to see all that the camp has to offer. The Service Unit is looking for suggestions for future Leader/Daughter programs. Please email Debbie or Sally.

Memorial Day Parade: May 31
The Service Unit needs a Kindergarten or 1st Grader Leaders to organize EWAGs participation in this event. Deirdre Misura will send in the participation form to the township but someone needs to step-up and coordinate rest of EWAGs participation in Hightstown’s parade only. FYI: The Hightstown and Cranbury parades are both held on Monday, May 31. Line-up for Hightstown’s parade is at the Walter C. Black Horseshoe at 8:30 am. The Cranbury parade begins at 1:00 pm. Line-up is in Symmes Court. Participation in the parade counts are community service and rockers are available.

Bridging: Ulrica Infosino - Sunday, June 6 from 6:00 -7:30 pm
This event will be held at the Walter C. Black gym. Troops who notified Ulrica that they are bridging should have received an email about the event. So far, 15 troops and 130 girls have registered. Those who are not bridging are still invited to come to the event. If your have Scouts in your troop who have received their Gold, Silver or Bronze award and are not Bridging, please let Ulrica know so she can list them in the program.
Questions? Contact Ulrica at anthony.infosino@erols.com.

Habitat for Humanity: Ulrica Infosino
The Habitat for Humanity house is located on South Academy Street. Some ways Girl Scouts can help include: site-greeter (checks-in volunteers); meal provider/server (breakfast or lunch); planter/plant supplier for a Rain Garden nd/or babysitting (at First United Methodist Church). Site greeting position may be better suited for older Scouts and an adult would need to be present. For babysitting (no more than 10 children will be allowed and 2 adults need to be present). Ulrica is trying to set-up a chart for scheduling/coordinating meals which will be served at Dawes Park. Contact Ulrica at anthony.infosino@erols.com if you are interested. Beverly Asselstine is coordinating any Boy Scout volunteers. Most of the work is done on the weekend. Great opportunity for Community Service hours. More info available on http://habitatmba.org. Also, there is a Girl Scout Habitat for Humanity Badge available. The cost is $70 for the kit which is for 10 girls. Kit includes “sinch sac,” pencil, notebook and meeting modules. Five modules need to be completed to earn the patch. Contact Ulrica if you’d like the information so she can email it to you.

Reminder: Service Unit Event Guidelines
Having Grade Level Leaders responsible for organizing Service Unit events has been very successful this year. To keep the ball rolling in the right direction, a “Service Unit Event Guidelines Binder” is being developed.
This will be an invaluable resource to leaders organizing a Service Unit event next year. We are asking all leaders who led Service Unit event this year to fill-out a form with contact and procedure information as well as recommendations/suggestions for the future. Please email Christine O’Brien at christineob17@gmail.com so she can email you a blank form. Blank forms will also be available at the 5/24 Leader Meeting as well. Once you’ve filled out the form, we will add your form to the binder, which will be available at every Leader Meeting. We will also try to get this information up on the web-site as well.

OPEN DISCUSSION:
Suggestions for next year’s Service Unit:
Leader Meetings - have level Breakout meetings before the Leader Meeting begins.

Service Unit Events:
Grade Level Leader Responsibilities had some slight changes for 2010-2011. Breakdown is as follows:
Grade level leaders) (EWAGs Event)
Kindergarten Memorial Day Parade
1st Grade Deck the Walls and Giving Tree
2nd Grade Teddy Bear Picnic
3rd Grade Girl Scout Open House (Fall and Spring)
4th Grade Interfaith Prayer Service
5th Grade Thinking Day or EWAGs Service Unit Camp-out
6th Grade Bridging Ceremony
7th Grade Baby Sitters for Leader Meetings and Caroling
8th Grade Favorite Fella Activity
9th Grade Leader/Daughter Activity
10th, 11th, 12th Sing-a-long with Joanne Tyne & Investiture of new Leaders

Open Positions for next year:
• Brownie Consultant
• Cookie Manager
• Registrar
• 1 SUM position for 2011-2012 (Sally is looking for someone to shadow her this year so they are ready to take over the following year).

Next Month’s Leader Meeting: (it’s the last one of the school year!)
Some suggestions mentioned to make the last Leader Meeting of the year more fun:
• everyone bring a dish to share
• 10 Games in a bag (Joanne Tyne)
• Any other suggestions? Contact Sally O’Grady or Debbie Cohen

* LAST Leader Meeting: Monday, May 24 *

Leader Meeting Minutes 3/22/2010

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:35:00 +0000

Please Note: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance. Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The Minutes will be posted on the web-site for future reference as well.

Service Unit Manager Sally O’Grady opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

COUNCIL UPDATE: (Sally O’Grady & Martha Brasby (LDS))

Shop-Rite/LPGA Classic
June 14 – 20. Council is looking for 50 volunteers ages 14 and up. Fee is $55 to volunteer. Girls receive a NIKE uniform, tickets, and can golf on the Seaview Golf course. Check Council Calendar for more info.

Keeping Music Alive
April 9 – 11 at Camp Sac North. Adults only. It’s like WOW but singing. Go to GSCSNJ.org for details.

Sail-a-way/Leader’s Day
5/22 10 – 12:30. $30 pp
More info on Council’s Web-site (but I didn’t see it posted on the Council calendar yet, so keep checking)

Training
Don’t skip classes. It’s important to do them in order, starting with Orientation.

Early Bird Registration for 2010-2011
SUMs can pick-up forms on at the April 7th meeting. Due back to Martha Brasby/Council on 6/30/10.

Leader Meeting/Membership Forum
Wednesday, April 7th at 7:00 pm at East Brunswick Service Center. Girl Scouts are encouraged to go. This is their Council, they have a voice, and are being encouraged to use it.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE (Sally O’Grady)

Silver Award Presentation
Brittney Ogorzalek is doing a non-perishable/canned Food Drive for her Silver Award project. Any troop interested in donating items should contact Brittney at (609) 490-0633 by the end of the week. She is willing to come to your meeting to pick-up the items. She is working on this over Spring Break.

Bridging – Ulrica Infosino - Sunday, June 6 from 6:00 -7:30 pm
This event will be held at the Walter C. Black gym. Please respond to Ulrica with your Troop # and number of participants if you troop will be attending. Ulrica’s troop is organizing this as their Bronze Award and they need to know who many will be in attendance. If other troops would like to participate (sing song, etc), please contact Ulrica at anthony.infosino@erols.com. If you have a troop or Scout(s) that recently received an award (Gold, Silver, Bronze), please contact her as well.

Habitat for Humanity – Ulrica Infosino
Hightstown is building its first Habitat for Humanity house on South Academy Street. Scouts ages 16 and under can help when power tools are not present. Some ways to help include: greeter (checks-in volunteers; meal provider/server (breakfast or lunch); planter/plant supplier for a Rain Garden. Joanne Tyne mentioned that the planting portion would be ideal service project for Daisies participating in the Daisy Journey. Ulrica will be organizing a schedule to coordinate meals Meals would be served to workers/volunteers at Dawes Park. Contact Ulrica at anthony.infosino@erols.com if you are interested. Beverly Asselstine is coordinating any Boy Scout volunteers. Most of the work is done on the weekend. Great opportunity for Community Service hours. The groundbreaking ceremony is Sunday, March 28 at 12:00 noon followed by a reception at the First United Methodist Church. More info available on http://habitatmba.org.

Interfaith Service Recap - Deirdre Misiura
Very nice ceremony , but small turn-out. Maybe 75 total (Scouts and Parents).

Reminder: Guidelines
When you are done coordinating an event, please write-up a brief description of your event, forms you filled out, to whom you sent them to, who your contacts were and any changes/suggestion for the future. We’re trying to compile this information to aid the next’s year group who will be responsible for the event. Guidelines can be brought to the next Leader Meeting.

Upcoming Clowning Events – Joanne Tyne
There will be a Daisy and Brownie Earth Day Celebration/Clowning Workshops in the GNR Rogers School Cafeteria this Sunday (4/24) at 3:30 pm. This is a troop/family event about Ecology. Flyer is available on www.ewags.org under calendar and click on the date. Questions? Contact Joanne at JoanneTMS@aol.com

End of Year Financial Forms – Carol Wolkiewicz
Carole will be emailing the due date for Financial Forms shortly. Helpful tip: download the spreadsheet from the Council web-site and use it all year long. End of year statements for your troop must be submitted to Council. If this is not done, your troop will be disbanded. Council will accept Financial forms done on “g-scout mate” software. Bank Statements were available. If you are not sending your statements to the Service Unit PO Box, then you must supply Carole with a copy of your bank statement monthly. Troop 70113 – your checks are in and Carole has them. Troop 70202 – your cookie booth share from last year’s Wal-Mart Cookie booth is still with Carole. She can not give it out unless you sign for it.

OPEN DISCUSSION:

RISE 5 K Race - Beverly Asselstine
March 24 at Hightstown High school. Needs help with Registration and as course guides. Contact Beverly if your troop is interested at baamjc@aol.com.

Hightstown Clean-Up Day - Beverly Asselstine
April 24, 10:00 am – Town-wide street and watershed clean-up. Contact Beverly if your troop is interested at baamjc@aol.com.

New Ice Cream/Candy Store – Kate Murphy
Carnival opened up over the Shop-Rite in Town Center. They will be offering Scout programs. Be on the lookout for flyers.

Teddy Bear Picnic – Deirdre Misiura
Trying to put one together but 2 dates she had in mind do not work.

Have a great Spring Break, everyone!!

* Next Leader Meeting: Monday, April 26 *

Leader Meeting Minutes 2/22/2010

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:25:00 +0000

Please Note: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance. Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The Minutes will be posted on the web-site for future reference as well.

Service Unit Manager Sally O’Grady opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE: Sally O’Grady
TD Bank Debit cards:
GSCSNJ allows 2 debit bank cards per troop. Troops can use TD Bank or any other bank. There is no on-line banking at TD Bank. Other banks do offer on-line banking.

Monetary Contributions to Troops:
No more than $250 can be donated to a troop. Any funds great than that go to Council. For example, if a company wanted to sponsor a troop, no more than $250 can be donated to the troop.

Cookie Booths:
Daisies CAN sell cookies at cookie booths.

Cookie Sale:
Cookie sales are up 5% from last year. New Deadlines:
3/3 – Scout cookie money and paperwork due to Cookie Mom
3/5 – Final cookie deposits due
3/10 – Troop paperwork due
3/17 – Service paperwork due to Council

Camp Brochures:
Were sent out and info is also available on-line.

Hundred Minute Challenge:
Details are supposed to be available on Council’s web-site (www.gscsnj.com). Girls are encouraged to ask people to sign-up and “unplug” all electronics for the day. Electronics still use electricity even when not in use. Patches are free. Part of the “Forever Green” Community Action project.

Juliette’s Closet (Council Store)
In order to be “green,” the Council store no longer supplies shopping bags. You can either bring them or buy one. Please remember to bring empty bags with you.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE (Debbie Cohen and Sally
Problems with in your Troop:
If you have a problem with girls in your troop, or with parents, or if they have a problem with you, please contact your Consultant first. The next step would be to contact (call or email) Debbie Cohen or Sally O’Grady (SUMs) first before going to Council. You can call Debbie or Sally at home, as long it is done at a reasonable hour. Please do not give our their cell phone numbers.

Cookie Booth: Betsy Bloemeke
Additional booths have been set up. Final schedule went out. Over 6,400 hundred boxes have been sold at 100 booth sales. This is double than last year. There are 20 booth sales left.

World Thinking Day: Kathy Patt, Barbara Regan and Anita Jetter, Irish Penn, Betsy Bloemeke
Kathy thanked all the troops that participated as well as the Troops that hosted booths. It was a very successful event. Great job everyone!!

Post-Event Write-ups:
To assist Leaders who will be taking over the events next year, it would be helpful if the current Leaders who ran event this year wrote-up a summary. It should include: of how they planned the event, contact information, success of event and any changes they would make. Assigning Leaders (by grade) has proved to be a successful way to ensure that Service Unit events are held.

Favorite Fellow: Jayne Lenzo and Regina Shannon
Regina reported that this was a successful event. Dads and daughters enjoyed it and Princeton defeated Yale! If you wore pink, you were allowed to keep your ticket and use it for another game. Should have patches by the next meeting. Sport component seemed to go over big with the fathers.

National Girls and Women Sports Day:
Will be held on February 27 at Princeton University’s Jadwin Gym. The event will feature a sports clinic behind the main court on the indoor track from 4:30-5:30 p.m. The clinic will offer participants the chance to learn the fundamentals of a variety of sports from Princeton student-athletes and coaches. It will be followed by a women’s basketball game against Columbia. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for girls under 14 years of age.

Upcoming Clowning Events – Joanne Tyne:
There will be a Daisy and Brownie Clowning Workshops in the GNR Rogers School Cafeteria this Sunday (2/28).
Daisy Workshop (1-3pm) and Brownie Workshop (3:30-5:30 pm). Joanne is looking for older Scouts to help. Please let her know ASAP if you are interested to she can give you a bigger role. Joanne can by reached at JoanneTMS@aol.com

Bridging – Ulrica Infosino - Sunday, June 6 from 6:00 -7:30 pm:
This event will be held at the Walter C. Black gym. Ceremony will be 1 hour, followed by refreshments. Ulrica’s troop is organizing this as their Bronze Award. If other troops would like to participate (sing song, etc), please contact Ulrica at anthony.infosino@erols.com. Details will be available shortly via email.

EWAGs Girl Scout Family Day - June 27th from 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm. at Black Bear Lake Camp:
All members of the family are invited to join in the fun. The cost is $40 per person and children under 3 years old are free. All food and activities will be included. Food includes 20 different choices all made fresh. Activities include climbing wall, pool, lake and more. . Invitations should be extended to parents who always help out with the troop (Cookie Mom, QSP Mom, Treasurer, Mom who always drives) and are registered adults. Visit www.blackbearlake.com to see what it’s like. This will be opened to everyone in the Council if EWAGs can’t fill it. Details will be emailed out shortly.

Interfaith Service: Lisa Grillo - March 7 from 4:00 – 5:00pm at the Peddie Chapel:
If your troop is interested, please register with Francene Brown at francenebrown@verizon.net. This non-denominational service open to all levels of Girl Scouts and their families. Please bring a canned good which will be donated to a local food bank. Event is eligible for a Rocker.

Badge/Patch Exchange - Rosellyn Cassidy:
Rosellyn suggested that Leaders bring in any patches, badges, pins or discs that are no longer needed. She’ll keep the box and bring it to every Leader meeting. Great idea, Rosellyn!

Open Discussion:
TD Bank requested to come in and do a presentation. If this bank is allowed to come in, we should open it to other banks as well. A suggestion was made to allow this but do it before or after the Leader Meetings. Please email Sally O’Grady or Debbie Cohen with your opinions.

Term Limits for Service Unit Positions:
Council will be putting limits on terms. This is a great way to get fresh ideas into any Service Unit. It was suggested that we institute 3 year terms going forward. The next group can shadow the current group so they learn the “ropes.” Please email Debbie Cohen or Sally O’Grady with your comments.

Service Unit Jeopardy:
Debbie and Sally treated us all to a fun-filled and engaging round of Jeopardy which challenged our knowledge of Girl Scout trivia, policies and procedures. Congratulations to the winning group: the Thin Mints!

* Next Leader Meeting: Monday, March 22nd *

EWAGGS Leader Meeting Minutes 11/23/2009

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:34:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

COUNCIL UPDATE: Sally O’Grady & Debbie Cohen (SUMs)
Cookies
There will be no Cookie Coordinator Booth Training this year. Information will be mailed out. There is a new accounting system for cookies, called SNAP (replaces Cookie Works).

Cookie Booth
WaWa only allows cookie booth sales for one weekend. It’s their rule not ours.

Uniquely Me Program
A grant is still in effect for this year. The theme is “Celebrate You” for Juniors through Ambassadors. Starting in December, Council will have the resources for troops to run their own Uniquely Me programs.

GSCSNJ Programs. New programs are being added daily. Check the Council Calendar on the www.GSCSNJ.org Registration can be done on-line. Daisy, Brownie and Juniors need chaperones. Cadettes and older do not.

On-Line Orientation Training
Is up and running and takes 45 minutes to complete. You can pause and pick-up where you left off. Password is “Discover.” Training cards are tracked by Council for this course.

Adult Awards
New Awards for this year:
* Rookie of the Year: for new volunteers who go above and beyond in their Service Unit,
* STAR, for service teams who have worked with the LDS staff in order to meet Council goals (deadline is 2/1/10),
* Helping Hands Award – held the same position for a long time in their Service Unit;

Banking
Still some troops with outstanding reports for 2009. Reports must be sent to Martha Brasby (LDS in East Brunswick) ASAP. Carol Wolkiewicz emailed out a list of those who have not turned in their forms. If forms are not turned in to Council, Council will freeze your accounts. Next, a letter will go home to all the parents in your troop notifying them of the freeze. Financial forms are located on-line at the www.gscsnj.org. Carol had sample forms.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE – Debbie Cohen & Sally O’Grady
Debbie and Sally welcomed new leaders. As a reminder….EWAGS stands for East Windsor Area Girls Scouts. The area includes, East Windsor, Hightstown, Cranbury and Roosevelt.

RE-INVESTITURE CEREMONY
Investiture/Candle Ceremony was organized and performed by the following girls: Amy Ackerman, Ashley Morgan, Leah Reiss and Samantha LeBlanc. All your time in effort was greatly appreciated. It was a beautiful ceremony.

Gold Award Projects
Amy Ackerman/Troop 71385 – “Love Yourself” – This program is a(variation of Dove Program and will be held at Drew and McKnight Schools for 4th and 5th graders. It’s a 4 week program which addresses issues such as peer pressure. Please contact Amy if there are students from Rogers or Black that are interested. She can be contacted via email at dianra@comcast.net

Samantha LeBlanc’s summary will be in January Leader Minutes.

Daisy Consultant
Joanne Tyne has stepped up to be Consultant. Thanks Joanne!

Daisy Organizer
Still open.

Registration – April Fierro
Registrations are complete. There are 7 new Daisy troops! All the kindergartners have been placed. If you know of someone who needs one, you can print one off of www.GSCSNJ.org (click on “for volunteers” and click on “forms.”). If you have someone new at this point, April will need the filled out form as well as a copy along with the bank deposit slip (date stamped copy). You need to fill out a new dues summary as well. If you don’t have any more “membership deposit slips from GSCSNJ, existing troops can get the account number from an old registration bank deposit slip (make sure it’s a “membership” bank deposit slip). Please remember to put your troop# and EWAGS on your deposit slip. There is a box in front of April’s house and Patty Dill’s house. Please put your registration in envelopes provided in the boxes.

QSP – Ulrica Infosino
Done!

Cookies Manager – Beth Kupper
Initial Cookie Order forms are due 12/1. Forms can be dropped off at Beth’s house (4 houses down from First Presbyterian Church, 129 Mechanic Street). No money is needed at that time. Direct sale begin on January 14th and ends February 21st. Cookie Delivery is on Monday, January 11th from 8:00 am – 6:30 pm at the East Windsor Firehouse located on One Mile Road. A sign-up sheet for cookie pick-up times will the available at Cookie Training. Cookie Training will be held on December 14 at the Walter C. Black School. There will be 2 sessions: Experienced 7:00 – 7:30 pm and First Timers 7:30 – 8:15 pm.

Cookie Booth Manager – Betsy Bloemeke
Wal-Mart check from last year was split and distributed. It will be divided amongst troops that had cookie booth sales based on number of total hours. Going forward, the $1,000 will go toward the Service Unit.
Cookie Booth sign-up sheet will be available at the 12/14 cookie training meeting. There will be a lottery system for the more popular spots to make it fair. She will take into account special circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

Sing-A-Long
Was very well received. There were 25 older girls leading the Sing-a-Long. Many thanks for Joanne Tyne for organizing and to all the Scouts who helped pick the songs and lead the Sing-a-Long.

Deck the Walls – Sherry Devlin
They are due the first week of December. There is a box in front of her house. There was a great response this year. Girls earn a rocker for participating. Leaders can buy them from Beth Vittor.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
EWAGS Caroling
Will be held on Friday, 12/4, from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm at the Walter C. Black School multipurpose room.
Information is posted on the EWAGs calendar. We will sing Holiday songs around the neighborhood, come back for hot cocoa and dessert and participate in a SWAPs exchange. There will be a food drive (non-perishable) as well. Each troop should bring a dessert also. Girl Scout Leader will need to fill-out a trip log. Girls should dress warmly. This is a rain or shine event. Contacts: Michele Charache & Christine O’Brien.

Grace N. Rogers Craft/Bake Fair – Christine O’Brien
This event will be held on Saturday 12/12 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. The PTO is looking for Girl Scouts who would like to sing Holiday carols or host a face painting table (Juniors and above). This is a great opportunity to spread holiday cheer and earn community service time. You don’t need to stay for the entire event. A half hour for caroling and 2 hours for face painting would work out too. Contact Christine O’Brien or Angela Henderson (hendersonfudge@hotmail.com) if interested.

Favorite Fella – Regina Shannon/Jayne Lenzo
Trying a Sports theme this year by going to a Basketball Game at Princeton University. The event will be held on January 30th at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $2 per person. Look for Regina Shannon or Jayne Lenzo at the Jadwin Gymnasium at Princeton University. Please bring a Valentine’s Card for the troops and wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. Please register with Regina Shannon or Jayne Lenzo by emailing them with your name and # of tickets needed by 1/15/09.

World Thinking Day – Sunday, 2/21/10 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm.
Theme: “Together We can end World Hunger.” This event will be held at Hightstown High School. The cost is $5 girl and includes a patch. Still looking for troops to create and man stations. Usually older girls (Juniors and above) but any age can do this. It can be a song, craft or game. Each station is about 15 minutes. If you need ideas, contact Barbara Regan or Kathy Spe-Patt

EWAGS Bridging
Ulrica Infosino has a date saved already: June 6th at Walter C. Black,

Leadership Opportunities
Consider babysitting at the Leader Meetings. Perfect for Scouts in 6th grade and up. What a great way to try out what you’ve learned at a babysitting class (if you’ve take one). There are 5 more meetings left:
January 25, February 22, March 22, April 26 and May24. Contact April Fierro if you would like to help.

Wishing you and your families a joyous Holiday Season!!

The next Leader Meeting will be Monday, January 25th

EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes (10/26/09)

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:38:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.
Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.
COUNCIL UPDATE: Sally O’Grady & Martha Brasby (LDS)

Girl Scout Properties:
A vote was taken the results are as follows:
Sell: Camp Sacajaea North and Newfield
Renovate/Improve: Inawendiwin, Oak Spring, Kettle Run and East Brunswick Service Center
Maintain: Camp Sac South

GSCSNJ Programs. New programs are being added daily. Check the Council Calendar on the www.GSCSNJ.org Registration can be done on-line. Daisy, Brownie and Juniors need chaperones. Cadettes and older do not.

Destinations – for girls ages 11 – 17 are listed on the council web-site under Studio 2B. Used to be called “Wider Ops”. Registration deadline is November 15. Some of these events could be offered outside Girl scouts. However, by going through Girls Scouts you may receive a discount.

“Unity” 2010 – Camporee in England. Council can send 20 girls. In 2012, it will be held in US. It’s for ages 14+.

On-Line Orientation – go to www.GSCSNJ.org – for volunteers – “e-learning” to register for online orientation. Password is ‘discover” and new leaders will be emailed information.

Camping Training – change in training. Overnight training is for hotel and museums only. If you are cabin or tent camping outdoors, Outdoor Adventure is required. If you already have it, you are grandfathered in.

Membership – 1.6% increase since last year. 6.1% in adults. Overall girl membership is down.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE – Debbie Cohen & Sally O’Grady

Debbie and Sally welcomed new leaders. As a reminder….EWAGS stands for East Windsor Area Girls Scouts. The area includes, East Windsor, Hightstown, Cranbury and Roosevelt.

Tax exempt forms:
Were available at meeting and can also be found at Council. Tax ID# can be used for hotel overnights and tours as well as buying crafts for the troop at stores like AC Moore and Michaels. Make sure you have extra forms on hand.

Daisy Consultant and Organizer:
Both positions are still open for younger girls is still open. Training is available and SUMs can help you as well. Please consider filing one of these positions.

EWAGS Open House:
Debbie and Sally thank April Fierro and Patty Dill for coordinating this very successful event. Six to eight new groups have started.

Registration - April Fierro
Most of the registrations are complete. If you know of someone who needs one, you can print one off of www.GSCSNJ.org (click on “for volunteers” and click on “forms.” ). April will need the forms that’s filled out as well as a copy along with the bank deposit slip (date stamped copy). You need to fill out a new dues summary as well. If you don’t have any more “membership deposit slips from GSCSNJ, existing troops can get the account number from an old registration bank deposit slip (make sure it’s a “membership” bank deposit slip). Please remember to put your troop# and EWAGS on your deposit slip. There is a box in front of April’s house and Patty Dill’s house. Please put your registration in envelopes provided in the boxes.

QSP – Ulrica Infosino
You can enter your order on-line. Your T2 order report will tell you the balance due to Council. If you signed-up for QSP, you are the manager and are responsible for signing form. This is a tracking issue for Council. Ulrica has extra forms. If you are having trouble with the system, just keep trying. The system will be locked on Thursday, 10/30 by 5:00 pm if not sooner. All entries must be done BEFORE then. However, you can still print out individual sales reports after this date.

Cookies Manager – Beth Kupper
Cookies are being sold 12 in a case. Pre-order can be brought to the next Leader Meeting (11/23). The forms are due 12/1. Forms can be dropped off at Beth’s house (4 houses down from First Presbyterian Church, 129 Mechanic Street). No money is needed at that time. The sale starts on January 12th and ends February xx. Direct sales and Cookie Booth sales start on January 14th. Different this year: NO PRE-ORDER SELLING. Cookies can be pick-up at East Windsor Firehouse on date TBD. After that, cookies will be available over by the Grounds for Sculpture. There will be a meeting for “Cookie moms,” possibly in the beginning of December. If your troop is not selling, you must let Beth know. If your troop does 10% more than last year, your troop is given 2 tote bags. Every troop should put in a pre-order, even if it’s just 1 case of every type of cookie. You can advertise before the sale but can not make any transactions. Cookies can be sold on Craigslist and email with parental supervision. Paypal is not accepted.

Cookie Booth Manager – Betsy Bloemeke
No money received from Wal-Mart from last year’s sale. It will be divided amongst troops that had cookie booth sales. Going forward, the $1,000 will go toward the Service Unit. More information to come and will be part of Beth’s “Cookie Mom” training session. Cookies Booths are normally set-up at Wal-Mart, Shop-Rite, SuperFresh, Blockbuster, WaWa and St. Anthony’s.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Re-investiture Ceremony – 11/23
Need at least 2 girls (10-12th grade level). This ceremony is for new leaders. April working on a list of who will be recognized.

Caroling - 12/4 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm at the Walter C. Black School multipurpose room.
Flyer will be out shortly. We will be singing Holiday songs around the neighborhood and coming back for hot cocoa and dessert. There will be a food drive as well. Leader will need to register and fill-out a trip log. Contacts: Michele Charache & Christine O’Brien.

Deck the Walls – Sherry Devlin
The sheets are due by the November leader meeting (11/23). There are still some sheets left. Contact Sherry.

Giving Tree
Ornaments were collected.

World Thinking Day – Sunday, 2/21/10. Theme: “World Poverty”
Beth Vittor and Kathy Spe-Patt are looking for troops to create and man stations. Usually older girls (Juniors and above) but any age can do this. It can be a song or craft. Each station is about 15 minutes.
If you need ideas, contact Kathy.

Sing-a-long – Joanne Tyne
This event will be held at the Kreps multi-purpose room on 11/22. Quite a few girls have volunteered. Leaders need to fill-out a trip log. . There will be a practice for the older girls who are going to lead the event a week prior. Older girls will need a permission slip. Mail to Joanne. Information for event is found the the EWAGs.org under calendar.

NEW BUSINESS:
Spring Service Unit Camping Trip
There is no camping trip this coming Spring unless someone would like to organize one. The Service Unit rotates between Thinking Day and Spring Service Unit camping trip.

Religious Awards Meeting
Flyers were available at the meeting. Contact Joanne Tyne for information

Clowning Events: 2/28/10 & 4/24/10
A Clowning Workshop for Daisies and Brownies will be held on Sunday, 2/28/10 See EWAGS calendar for flyer and details. Also, an Earth Day Celebration clown and puppet show will be held on 4/24/10. Information and flyers for both events were available at the meeting but can also be found on the EWAGs calendar. Questions? Contact Joanne Tyne.

Rocker Sales: Beth Vittor
Beth was selling rockers at the meeting. They are $.35 each. Rockers are to be placed around the EWAGS circle patch ($2) which is worn on the back to the Scout’s vests. Snowflake rockers were available for Deck the Walls & Giving Tree. QSP rockers will be available at the next meeting.

Spring Events:
Teddy Bear Picnic, Favorite Fella (possible hockey game).

The next Leader Meeting will be Monday, November 23rd

Leader Meeting Minutes 9/22/2009

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Please Note: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The Minutes will be posted on the web-site for future reference as well.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE
Service Unit Manager Debbie Cohen opened the meeting.

Board Positions Status:

• Introduced and thanked Beth Kupper for stepping up to be the EWAGS Cookie
Manager.

• Introduced and thanked Diane Ackerman for stepped up as Junior Consultant.

• Daisy Consulting Position is still vacant. Contact Debbie or Sally if interested.

Trip Log and Trip Forms: ** VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ** (Information below is post Leader Meetiing)

Any time you meet outside of your meetings, it is considered a trip. This includes meeting at your designated meeting place on a different day, or having your regularly scheduled meeting at a different location. Any day trip destination that takes place within Council jurisdiction can be logged on the Troop Trip Log on the EWAGS site and approved by your consultant a few days in advance. Any overnights or trips outside of Council jurisdiction must be approved 6 weeks in advance by Council by submitting high risk trip form. Council Jurisdiction includes Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex and Salem counties and parts of Monmouth county. If you are unsure if your trip destination is part of GSCSNJ, please check with your consultant BEFORE you submit your trip request.

* All trips require a first aider be present.
* A first aider is someone who is a registered Girl Scout, has had a chaperone
background check completed, and has current First Aid and CPR certification.
* The first aider cannot be the only trained leader present.
* A first aid tent/booth/station/office provided at the trip location or by the trip
venue does not take the place of a troop first aider.
* The only exception is if it is noted on a GSCSNJ registration form that First Aid
will be provided, as in the case of events open to individual girls.

If you register for a GSCSNJ trip, you do not need to fill out a trip form or trip log entry. Your registration for the event counts as a trip form. This includes camping at a GSCSNJ campsite as well.

To ensure you are always covered, and to prevent last minute scrambling and loop-hole looking, it's in the best interest of your troop to have both leaders trained in First Aid/CPR so there are always two First Aiders and two trained leaders present on every trip. The same goes for Camping Certification. Better to be double covered for everything then to risk the health and safety of your girls.

Should you have specific questions about trip procedures always check Safety Wise first. If you are still confused please contact your consultant.

Registration: April Fierro
April has blank forms. They can also be downloaded from the web-site. 9/30 is the last day to register. 10/1 starts the new year. New girls will be covered as long as the leader has their registration form in hand at beginning of the meeting.

Open House: Patty Dill & April Fierro
This recruitment event will be held at the Walter C. Black School at 7:00 pm on October 8th. April will get flyers from Council and ask volunteers to help distribute them. If your troop would like to help or present banners, vests, scrapbooks etc, please feel free to bring them. Please let April know if your troop can take new members or if you are full. Leaders are welcome to come and help. If a parent wishes to stay and help with their child, they are welcome to come without their troop. If a leader is attending with her daughter and other scouts, then you must fill out the trip log.

QSP Reminder
Only registered scouts can sell and only registered & background parents can handle money.

Background Checks
Should be a 7 day turn-around. Not sure if it went through for one of your parents? Contact April Fierro.

Leader Recognition Awards
Service Team met last week to discuss. No one won last year. Debee Gash has agreed to spearhead this but needs a committee. Should have forms ready at next week’s meeting. Some suggestion included Council sending a mailing to parents. Also suggested was setting a link via the EWAGS web-site.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Deck the Walls
Sheri Devlin and Deirdre Misiura (Troop 71693) had coloring packets available at the meeting. Completed pictures are due 11/1 or by the October 26th Leader meeting. If you would like to participate but did not get a packet, please contact Sheri at 609-443-6896 or thedevlin7@verizon.

Giving Tree
Troops interested in participating in the program can contact Kim Hoeflinger (Troop 71426) via email: troop71426@gmail.com.

EWAGS Sing-A-Long: Joanne Tyne
Cadette, Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts will lead the younger girls in an hour of singing their favorite songs. All levels are to participate. You do not need to register for this event, but you do need to fill out the troop trip log. Participating parents may attend. Siblings are strongly discouraged from attending. This event will be held in the Kreps School cafeteria on Sunday, November 22 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Please arrive at 6:15 so that we can start promptly at 6:30. Rockers will be available for sale (.35 each). Please bring troop’s permission slips, a blanket/sit-upon, American and/or troop flag for the flag ceremony. Uniforms are suggested.

EWAGs Patches
Beth Vittor had the main EWAGS circle patch (which rockers go around) for sale at the meeting for $2/patch.

Bank Statements
Carol Wolkiewicz had them available for pick-up.

Recyling Brownie and Junior Badge Books
Sheri Devlin suggested that the service unit offer this to scouts in the service unit. Leaders, please ask your troop parents if anyone has Brownie or Junior Badge books that they not longer use/want, please bring them to the 10/26 Leader Meeting.

Religious Awards: Joanne Tyne
This meeting will be held on Monday, October 19 from 7 to 8 PM at the Rogers School auditorium. It will provide information on how parents can help their daughters earn Girl Scout religious awards. These awards are not earned at troop meetings. They are earned by girls working with their parents or working with groups at their place of worship. Information will also be available for Boy Scouts as well. Patches ($3 exact change please) are available for scouts and adults who attend this meeting and decide to earn a religious award.

* Next Leader Meeting: Monday, October 26th *

EWAGGS Leader Meeting Minutes 8/31/2009

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Please Note: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The Minutes will be posted on the web-site for future reference as well.

Service Unit Update:

Service Unit Managers Sally O’Grady and Debbie Cohen opened the meeting.

Thanked Ulrica for heading QSP and for doing seminar.

Welcomed back old leaders and also welcomed and introduced 3 new leaders:
2 Brownie leaders and 1 Daisy troop.

Service Unit Positions:
Service Unit Managers (SUMs) - Debbie Cohen and Sally O’Grady
Secretary – Christine O’Brien
QSP – Ulrica Infosino
Registrar and Web Master - April Suk
Treasurer- Carol Wolkiewicz
Library – Kathy Patt
Rockers – Beth Vittor
Cookie Booth Coordinator – Betsy Bloemeke
Service Unit Organizer – Patty Dill will hold the orientation at her house for people
(old/new) who need this requirement.

Open Service Unit positions which still need to be filled:

Service Unit Cookie Manager (OPEN) – we have a mentor BUT CAN’T SELL COOKIES without a Manager.

Consultants – Daisy and Junior positions are open
Daisy - OPEN
Brownie - Michele Giovine
Junior – OPEN
Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors – Patty Dill

Organizers – positions for all levels are OPEN
Especially need for Open House. 3rd-5th grades are really down in numbers.

Overseer of Grade level breakouts K-12
(Ie. 8th grade babysitters at leader meetings should be all troops @ that level. Keep these organized (ie. 5th Grade Leaders organize Thinking Day).

Service Unit Events and Leaders Who Is Responsible for Organizing Them:
Kindergarten 1st Grade - Memorial Day Parade, Deck the Wall & Giving Tree

2nd Grade - Teddy Bear Picnic

3rd Grade - Hightstown Day (Fall)& Open House (Spring) have booth with photos and posters

4th Grade - Interfaith Prayer Service

5th Grade - Thinking Day

6th Grade - Bridging Ceremony

7th Grade - Caroling

8th Grade - Babysitters for Leader Meetings & Favorite Fella Activity

9th Grade- Leader/Daughter (Black Bear Camp in May/June – they are letting us keep the deposit)

10th, 11th & 12th Grades - Sing-a-Long with Joanne Tyne and Investiture Ceremony of New Leaders

** if you are a multi-level troop, then you need to declare a grade.

Council Update:

New Program Training Guide – Annual. A lot of important info and contacts. Check www.GSCSNJ.org for date changes.

Fundraising Participation Guidelines:
Must do both QSP and Cookies to fundraise for your troop (but does not apply to girls raising money for their Silver or Gold award, but it must be written in the award proposal).

QSP – 1 magazine and 1 nut sale per girl
Cookies – 1 case per girl
AND 75% of the troop must participate

Monopoly Night – Big GS fundraiser. November 13 6:30 pm Forsgate, Monroe, $75/pp.
Each Service Unit needs to supply a basket for the silent auction. Service project – do a basket for the Monopoly Night.

Bronze, Silver and Gold – New Guidelines:
Beginning with October 2011 – 2012 year MUST do new guidelines
Bronze – 4th, 5th Must do Journeys
Silver – 6,7,8 Cadette Journeys
Gold – 9-12 2 journeys or Silver plus 1 Sr/Ambassador Journey

“Forever Green” Community Action Project is run by GSCSNJ. Scouts can take action in their community to make the world a better place. Deals with improving environment (air, water, energy, waste management and green space). If interested, fill out form (available at meeting and gscsnj.org) and contact Kim Reed at kreed@gscsnj.org.

Maria Bongiovine (SP?) is former Girl Scout who would like to mentor Girl Scouts (but not lead a troop). If interested, please contact Sally O’Grady.

In need of babysitting for Leader Meetings. 7th & 8th grade girls can do this. Can do Grade Level breakouts as Bronze/Silver Award project.

Early Bird patches distributed.

New Girls Scout “year” begins October 1st. (official year goes October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2010).

GS no longer prints membership cards. Cards are used for discounts. Take blank ones for the girls.

A Triathlon will be held in Hightstown on Sunday, September 27th at 7:30 am. Lots of opportunities for Scouts to help (parking guides, course guides, finish line, water stops, transition area and clean-up. Scouts will receive a patch and volunteer shirt. Contact: Beverly Asselstine Troop 70196 at 448-8156 or baamjc@aol.com.

Troop #71269 is doing a homeless project for their Bronze Award. The troop will come to 2nd and 3rd year Brownies to do “Homeless Awareness” Try-it @ your meeting. Contact Kathy Patt or Barbara Reagan.

Joanne Tyne will decide work on Sing-A-Long and Brownie Clowning Event.

WOW – workshop. See EWAGS.org for details.

Last weekend in September is Religious Retreat for 6th grade and up. Go to DOTCTS web-site http://www.dotccs.org/retreat-54.html for more info. This is a camping trips for both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.

Religious Award information seminar – Joanne Tyne will be at the Rogers School on October 19 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Parents must stay.

Carol distributed bank statements.

Leader Meeting Calendar for the upcoming year: (4th Monday of every Month)
September 21, October 26, November 23, December (none), January 25, February 22, March 22, April 26, and May 24th. FYI…SUM meeting are the 1st Wednesday of the month.

Special thanks to Michele Charache for jotting down the Minutes for me!!

* Next Leader Meeting: Monday, September 21*

May 2009 SUM Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:12:00 +0000

1)Erin Deets, Leadership Development Specialist wants older girls input, especially Juliettes. Contact her at EDeets@gscsnj.org.

2) Early Bird Registrations are due at council 6/30. Patches will be given to each early bird registrant, not early bird bucks.

3) GSUSA will no longer be printing membership cards. There have been too many problems, mainly members not receiving them in a timely manner. If a girl needs proof that she is a scout, for colleges for example, contact your LDS and she can give the girl a letter verifying her membership on official GS letterhead.

4) In order to help serve us better GSCSNJ will be holding a "kick off event" in each service area. The purpose of this event is to inform us of any changes and happenings in GS over the summer. The event in East Brunswick will be held Wed, 8/19. We can bring five people per service unit to come and see what’s new.

5) Rona Whitehead can provide training for girls earning their Silver or Gold award. Girls must receive this training to earn their award. Rona can provide this training in our area if we have a need. Email her at RWhitehead@GSCSNJ.org for more info or to schedule a training. Until the year 2012 girls have until the end of their sophomore year to earn their sSlver award and until October of their freshman year in college to earn their Gold.

6)All online training will now go through e-council. This is to keep better track of who takes the training. The records will be kept online. Orientation for GSCSNJ will begin online in September. Many service units expressed an interest in holding their own orientations because so much of the info for new leaders is relevant only to their Service Unit.

7) GSCSNJ is compiling a hard copy of a list of establishments which have a certificate of insurance. This way leaders can check with this list to find an insured establishment to take their girls. Hopefully this can save leaders time if they know their destination is already insured. Contact Francene Jenkins if you need a certificate of insurance from GSUSA for a trip to a place that is not already insured by GSUSA.

8) All leaders are asked to do an annual self evaluation. The form can be found on the GSCSNJ website. Turn all evaluations into council through your LDS.

9) Banking: Andrea Miller no longer needs to be on troop bank accounts. End of year financial statements are due to council 6/30 (the same as early bird registrations). Trip logs are due at the same time. Accounts can be frozen if end of year financial statements are not turned in. The SUM will let the LDS know if a troop has not turned in her financial statement.

EWAGS LEADER MEETING MINUTES MAY 18, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:28:00 +0000

2009-2010 Registration Forms:
April had troop packets available for pick-up at the Meeting. Items included inside the packet are 1 form per girl, parent forms, 2 Dues Summaries and 2 deposit slips. There is a shortage of forms and April was only able to include one Girl Scout form per child. It is highly recommended that you ask parents to fill-out forms at a meeting and hand them in at the end of it. Forms that leave meetings usually don’t come back.
Changes for this year:
* The registration fee is now $12 per girl or adult.
* Forms are no longer colored (so take a close look to make sure you are filling out the correct form).
* Place “name” stickers on forms AFTER parents sign them.
* Parents CAN NOT be the emergency contact. Chose someone else.

Registrations are due on June 20th to qualify for Early Bird (only girls get Early Bird patches). The latest you can register is September 15th (does not qualify for Early Bird).

April will need both copies of registration forms, copies of Dues Summary and 1 copy of deposit slip (with bank stamp). If you use a blank deposit slip, please be sure to put your name, troop name and EWAGS on the form. A drop-off box will be located in East Windsor at Patty Dill’s house (233 Hickory Corner Road). Blank forms will be available there as well. Questions? Contact April Fierro at april@troop913.com.

Service Unit Camping Trip to Kettle Run:
Many thanks to Patty Dill and her Cadette troop for providing a wonderful weekend for the girls. There were lots of activities available, complete with healthy snacks and water at all the stations. It was a great success!

Memorial Day Parade:
12 Troops will be marching. Please be at the Walter C. Black School front parking lot no later than 8:45 AM. The parade begins at the intersection of Stockton and Harron. EWAGs will be marching in position #38. Make sure you have plenty of activities planned for the girls, especially the little ones (chalk, campfire songs, etc). Be prepared with water and possibly snacks. If you can, try to wear some Red, White & Blue to display our patriotism. Don’t forget your vests. If you have time to make some patriotic SWAPS, please feel free. Candy is NOT supposed to be thrown to the spectators. If you absolutely feel the need to give out candy, please make sure it is handed to the recipient. If you forgot to sign up and your troop would still like to participate, please contact Deirdre Misiura stevendee@verizon.net. Make sure you submit a trip log and get permission slips. All participants are invited to the VFW pavilion on Dutch Neck Road after the parade for hot dogs, sodas and ice water! Michele Catana will be selling rockers at the parade. Rockers are $.35 cents each. Try to have exact change or pay with troop check. Checks should be made out to: GSCSNJ - Unit 727.

EWAGS Afternoon at Black Bear Camp:
As of the tonight, 40 people have signed up but at least 100 are needed. This event is now open to all Girl Scouts and their families since the service Unit is in jeopardy of losing a $500 non-refundable deposit. This event will be held on Sunday, August 22 from 12-5 pm. All activities and food/drinks are included.

Bridging Ceremony:
The Service Unit Bridging Ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 14th at the Walter C. Black Gym from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Everything is in place (room is secured, insurance form has been filed, bridge deposit made, notice for food contributions made). Decorations and program are being worked on. The theme is flowers. Also, please remind your Scouts and their parents that we will be collecting canned food for a food bank in Hightstown. If your troop participates, your scouts will receive a “fight hunger”rocker. There is a bridging fee of $3/scout fee (which includes a bridging rocker and the fight hunger rocker) Please make checks out to: GSCSNJ – Unit 727. Payment is due BEFORE bridging. We will be at the parade on Monday if you’d like to give it to us at that time, or you can mail/drop-off to: Christine O'Brien (17 Maple Stream Road, East Windsor, NJ 08520) or Michele Charache (2 Hawthorne Lane, East Windsor, NJ 08520). Questions? Contact christineob@comcast.net as soon as possible.

Service Projects Binder:
Joanne Tyne is in the process of compiling a binder that lists service projects located locally and abroad. It is a great source for Leaders for girls to look through if they are looking for community service ideas/options. If you have any suggestions or know of an organization that is looking for help, please contact Joanne at JoanneTMS@aol.com

Financial Forms:
Debbi Martinez had statements available for pickup. Debbi remarked that some troops still need to direct their statement to “P.O. Box 306, Hightstown, NJ.” Be sure to look at Council notes that Sally will be sending out this week for procedures on filing end of year financial paperwork.

Open Service Unit Positions:
If you are interested in the positions listed below, please contact Debbie (deborah.cohen@pnc.com) or Sally (cranburyvikings@comcast.net)

* Organizers and Consultants at all levels
* Cookie Manager

Congratulations to Carole Wolkiewicz who has volunteered to be our new Treasurer and Beth Vittor who will be taking over Rocker Sales. Debbi, thank you for your many years of dedication and hard work as our Treasurer and Rocker Seller!!

Thanks Given……
Debbie and Sally recognized those who serve on the Service Unit Board and all Leaders present at the meeting with lovely floral tokens of their appreciation. Debbie and Sally – we applaud you and all the work you’ve done during your first year as SUM.

SUMMER VACATION……YA-HOOOOOO!

EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes (4/27/09)

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:43:00 +0000

Wal-Mart Cookie Booth Contribution:
Wal-Mart contributes up to $1,000 to EWAGS for having cookie booth sales at their East Windsor location. There were 23 troops that participated in cookie booth sales in this year. A vote was taken to see how money would be split this year based on the following 2 options:
#1. Divide the $1,000 by the 22 troops that participated in a cookie booth sale(s) (regardless of location), each troop received $44.45.
#2. Divide the $1,000 based on total hours per troop (total cookie booth hours 153). The troop that participated for 18 hours would receive $98.28 and the least amount of hours would be $16.30. The average would be $43.
Voting results: Option #1: 10 votes, Option #2 11 votes, Abstain: 9 votes. Option #2 had the majority.

Bridging:
All troops that are Bridging will be asked to pay a $3 fee per girl. Checks should be made out to GSCSNJ Unit 727. Christine O’Brien and Michele Charache will be collecting the cash/checks to pass along to Debbi Martinez. Please include your troop # and number of girls bridging.

Service Unit Event Fee:
Going forward, there will be a need to charge for all Service Unit events to replenish the EWAGS account. All events must stand on their own. Can’t always take money from the Service Unit. We had a $2,000 buffer and now it’s gone.

Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards:
Debbie Cohen asked for a count of girl receiving these awards. Please email Debbie the number of girls in your troop who have earned the award at deborah.cohen@pnc.com. A vote was taken and girls can be recognized at Bridging. A list of names will be put in program and they will be asked to stand up if they’ve earned that award. Leaders can bring pins and pin during Bridging ceremony. Patty Dill is organizing the program for bridging. Leaders should submit a list of girls receiving awards to Patty at thejd99@yahoo.com.

Adult Recognitions:
Debee Gash has not received any responses from the email she sent from Council regarding Council or Service Unit recognitions. 5 year level pins for years of service and membership include your years as a girl scout too. There are 2 applications (Outstanding Leader and Outstanding Volunteer) which are located on the GSCSNJ website list below. . Debbie and her committee will review applications and decide the winner on the Service Unit level. Please send out information to your parents. Website: http://www.gscsnj.org/pdf_docs/Volunteer%20Forms/09%20Recognitions%20Resource%20WORD%20FORM.doc

Last Leader Meeting:
Will be May 18th. Please note that there will be NO babysitter. Also, we will need Girl Scouts (7th grade and up) to volunteer to baby sit for the next year. Need Location of last Leader meeting…..First Presbyterian church, someone’s house? Hors d’oeuvres?

Leader/Volunteer “Family Carnival” Recognition Trip to Black Bear:
This event takes place on August 22 at the Black Bear camp located on Rt. 571 in nearby Millstone, NJ (10 minutes away). It’s from 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm, all you can eat. April said that Cookie and QSP moms are welcome to attend as well as any registered Adults. It’s $50 per person and due by June 1st. Need a minimum number of people.

Many thanks to Michele Charache for taking the Minutes!

* Next and Final Leader Meeting for this school year is scheduled for: Monday, May 18, 2009 *

EWAGS LEADER MEETING MINUTES MARCH 23, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:13:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

UPDATE FROM MARTHA BRASBY (LDS) :
Leadership Essentials: All new leaders must take this new program and Orientation. It is also a very good idea for leaders who have not had training to take this course as well (but it is not mandatory to do so). Leadership Essentials will replace all New Leader, Transition and Advisor trainings starting in November of 2008. It includes an overview of the Journey’s Program. Joanne Tyne volunteered to have a local instructional meeting and only needs 6 leaders to commit. On-line Training for Orientation is available on www.girlscouts.org and provides a good overview or practice but it is lacking information specific to our Council. Martha offered to have an Orientation Training meeting locally with as little as 2 leaders present. *If troop leaders do not have their training up-to-date, the troop will be disbanded *

COUNCIL UPDATE – Sally O’Grady & Debbie Cohen
1) At the member forum in East Brunswick it was stated that cookies will always be sold in the winter from now on, never again in the fall. Members were told to “get used to it”.

2) GS registration dues are now up to $12. This will begin with “Early Bird” Registration and any registrations for 2009-2010.

3) Many adults have responded to the property survey on the website. Please encourage Juniors-Ambassadors to respond. Although it is not definite that a property will be sold council is definitely looking into it. Please participate.

4) Troop fundraising policies have changed. The recently adopted policies to Adult Volunteer Policies and Safety Wise can be found at: http://gscsnj.org/vol_policies.php. Both are large documents and hard copies were not provided at the meeting. Changes are different for each service unit so check it out. Any questions, contact Donna Evans ext 114.

Adult Volunteer Policies is a 20 page document and includes updates to: membership and training, Equal Opportunity & discrimination policies, contract and agreements, troop finances, insurance coverage, money earning guidelines, donations, Silver and Gold Award projects, confidentiality, conflicts and interest, drugs, alcohol and smoking, child abuse, resolutions of conflicts and whistleblower protection policy.

Safety Wise PDF file is 15 pages long and includes the most recent March updates with regards to: Future Safety-Wise Checkpoint Additions : Zip Lines, Tree Climbing, and Canopy Cruising guidelines are the same as the Challenge Courses, Climbing, and Rappelling checkpoints on pp. 99–101 of Safety-Wise. Land Sports, p. 94, which include: Fencing, Geocaching, Segway (transportation using EPAMDS—electric personal assistive mobility devices), Skateboarding, Sail Skateboarding, Skate Sailing (Wind Skating or Street Surfing) and Kite Skateboarding , Water Activities, p. 112 which include: Ice Fishing, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling and Surfing. Please consult Safety Wise before doing an activity, especially one that is high risk.

5) Family Partnership has raised $9600 so far. Encourage your parents to donate to FP when they are registering their daughters for next year. Money earned through this program is used to support Council Cares which helps pay for registration, badge books, uniforms and trips for those families that can not afford it.

6) There are several opportunities for older girls. One is community service: putting stamps on envelopes for FP at registration. Contact Carol Miller at ext 161 if interested. The other is leadership: Older girls are needed to help at Trenton Area Summer Camps (leadership hours). Contact Tanya Hemmingway- 732-821-9090 ext 152 or themingway@gscsnj.org for more info. The camps run from 7/13 to 8/19 at various locations in Trenton.

7) Baby bundles boxes are still available at council or you could decorate your own. Place the box in a convenient collection spot, advertise it, then donate the contributions to the charity of your choice. St Anthony’s in Hightstown is participating so your troop could give all of your donations to them. There is a patch available for this up at Council.

8) The old Inchworm of Service program is staying. It may be modified to accommodate the new levels but it will still exist and should be back on the web soon. The new program, Seasons of Service, is also an option.

9) The next Program and Training Guide will be for a full year and will be out in the Fall and will cover both Fall and Spring programs

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE – Debbie Cohen & Sally O’Grady

Cookie Update:
Renee Miller handed out a worksheet with our Service Unit’s Cookie Sales totals going back to 2003. We sold a total of 35,112 boxes of cookies this past cookie sale! The number was on target with last year number (35,556). The question was raised as to why some service units offer different cookies (i.e. a sugar free cookie). There are 2 bakers that can be contracted to make the cookies (ABC and Little Brown). The contract is for 3 years. Each factory slightly varies what it produces. Renee was recognized and commended for all of her hard work, dedication, pleasant demeanor and overall helpfulness during this year’s sale. Many thanks to Renee for a job well-done! Also, a question arose with regards to recognizing the top cookie sellers (sold over 200 boxes) in the Service Unit. A vote was taken and it was agreed that this recognition should be handled at the troop level and leaders should recognize girls within their troop if they choose to. The problem is that Daisies are not permitted to part-take in cookie booth sales and some cookie booth cookie numbers are included in individual sales on the cookie tally sheets.

Also, it was brought to our attention that a troop is selling Girl Scout cookies for $4.00 a box when they should be sold for $3.50 a box. Please let Renee or any Service Team member know the Troop# of the troop that is responsible for this (whether they are in our Service Unit or not). Renee’s email is Renee@troop913.com.

Dirt, Glorious Dirt Event:
Joanne and John Tyne will be performing a clown & puppet show event on Sunday, March 29th at St. Anthony of Padua Parish Hall in Hightstown. Sign-in is at 12:45 pm and the program will run from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. There will be a Clown Show at 2:45 pm. The cost $6.50 per girl and includes a patch. Questions? Contact Joanne Tyne at RainbowTyne@aol.com.

Service Unit Camping Trip to Kettle Run:
Patty Dill said that 80 people have signed up so far. The deadline is April 1st. Everyone has been able to get the accommodations they put in for. Leaders won’t need to fill out a trip form since this is a Service Unit event. Just fill out the trip log. This event will take place from May 15-17th. The price is $12 per person whether you stay 1 night or 2 nights. Archery, Boating, Scrapbooking for Brownies, organized games and a campfire will be available. Questions? Contact Patty at thejd@yahoo.com.

Memorial Day Parade:
This annual event will take place in Hightstown on May 25th beginning at 9:00 am. The parade is a wonderful way to say *thanks* to all the fallen heroes and the local veterans who served this wonderful country of ours. Let's try to make 2009 the year where EWAGS has its best turn out ever. If your troop is interested in marching, or if you would like to help with the planning/coordinating, please contact Deirdre Misiura at stevendee@verizon.net.

Leadership Appreciation Event (Leader/Daughter Camp Out):
As a result of the survey, this family event will be held at Black Bear Day Camp (tentatively Aug. 22nd) and is for Leaders, Co-Leaders, Assistant Leaders and their families. If they are able to get more than 100 people, the price drops. Costs and final date TBD. Questions? Contact April Fierro or Debbie Cohen.

Trip Insurance/Registered Adult/Background Checks:
Mutual of Omaha Insurance is $5 per event and covers non-registered adults. April suggested that if you have an adult that is helping 1 time at your regular meeting, then you need it. However, if the person is going to help more than once and at a place other than your regular meeting place, then its cost effective to ask the person to just become a Registered Adult. Background check is needed if person is going to help/chaperone outside regular meeting place. You only need to be background checked once and Council can now process the form in 1 week. Adults must register/re-register every year. Questions? Contact April Fierro at April@troop913.com.

Adult Recognition:
The Service Unit will be recognizing 2 Outstanding Leaders and 2 Outstanding Volunteers. The candidates must be registered adults who have completed all of their training, and performed at a level that exceeds expectations. Debee will be sending out more specific info via email. She may be asking for narratives from Scouts, Leaders and parents. Nominations should be emailed to Debee Gash at debdeg@comcast.net by April 10th.

Bridging Ceremony:
The Service Unit Bridging Ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 14th at the Walter C. Black Gym from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. An email went out regarding the specifics. The following troops are on the list to Bridge: (No Daisies; Brownies #70196, #70202, #70342, #70496, #70649; Juniors: #70246, #70658, #71447; Cadettes: #70913. If you are Bridging and are not listed, please contact Christine O’Brien at christineob@comcast.net as soon as possible. We are currently working on a theme and ceremony format.

Teddy Bear Picnic:
This event is for Daisies, 1st Grade Brownies and their favorite teddy bear. It will be held on Saturday, June 6th at the Drew School from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. The cost is $7.50 per girl. Flyers were available at the meeting. Questions? Contact Sandy Trenholm at sandyholm@aol.com.

Financial Forms:
Debbi Martinez had statements available for pickup.

FAQ’s Section on EWAGS Web-site:
Someone suggested that a FAQs section be created on the EWAGS web-site. It would contained a list of the most frequently asked questions (ie. regarding registration, who consultants are, etc) and their answers. GREAT IDEA!!

The Next Leader Meeting is scheduled for: Monday, April 27, 2009

EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes (2/23/09)

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:52:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance. Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council.

SUM’s Sally O’Grady and Debbie Cohen welcomed everyone present after the Pledge of Alliance and Girl Scout Law was recited.

Community Service Opportunity: Hightstown Health Fair
Sally introduced Carmen Laverty who is a representative from RISE (former CASC - Hightstown's Community Action Service Center ). RISE will be holding its annual Wellness Fair and 5K Run on Saturday, April 4th at the Hightstown High School. RISE is looking for older Girl Scouts (age 11+) to volunteer and assist with the Fair. Some activities during the 5K race that the girls can help with are: t-shirt give-away, distribution of goody bags, give ribbons out at the end of the track. Older girls can help guide runners at the end of the race, distribute food and water in the gym, man water stops and hand out water bottles on the race course and traffic control (this last task is better suited for older high school girls because it will require taking a car to transport a table and heavy water bottles). Younger Girls Scouts (Brownies and below) can help stuff goody bags, which will likely be done before the event. All girls are asked to help with clean-up (11:15-11:30 am). Girl are welcome to enjoy the activities at the fair once their assigned duties are completed (moon bounces, etc). Girls should report to the school by 7:30 am on 4/4. If your troop is interested in participating, please contact Carmen Laverty at 647-7495 or via email at mckandsmk@yahoo.com. Attendance at a volunteer meeting to be held on March 26th at 6:30 pm is recommended. The meeting will take place at Andy Weinman's Chiropractic office (located at 226 Franklin Street, across the street from St. Anthony of Padua's church).

COUNCIL UPDATE: - Sally O’Grady and Debbie Cohen

Service Unit Web-site
Melissa Borotto from Communications reported on how a service unit’s website can be added to the www.gscsnj.org website. This is optional. If we want to have a website this way, our webmaster would work closely with our LDS. There can be 25 scrolling pictures which we provide. There can be announcements and links from our website. The links have to be prescreened and approved by our LDS. Only the LDS can put info on our website and we can only contact the LDS with info we want to add once a month. This service is provided by GSCSNJ because some service units do not have websites. (Personally SUMs feel that the EWAG's site is working really well so I do not think we need this service but it is certainly something that can be discussed). Thank you, April!!!!!!

Web Calendar
Melissa also reported on some changes to the web calendar currently on the www.gscsnj site. On the top of the calendar page there are two new features: “search tips” and “new to the calendar”. If you click on “search tips” it will give you tips on how to use the calendar. If you click on “new to the calendar” you will find newly added programs. Also, forms and instructions can now be printed directly from the calendar instead of having to open a new page to get them. If a new program is listed it may be so new that there is not a specific registration form for it so you can use the general registration form for that event- or any event for that matter. Use the boxes on the left of the calendar to search for specific activities and levels.

Service Unit Member Forums
Gail Pfister said that each service unit will be having “member forums” as a way of sharing info. The next one will be held at East Brunswick on 4/12 from 7-9pm. This is a time to come and let your thoughts be known about what you like and don’t like about how things are running. A form titled “Beginning the Dialogue You Talk We Listen”-was passed out and should be filled out ahead of time. Fill out the form if you have any issues to discuss and return it to our LDS at Council or e-mail it to Gail Pfister: gpfister1@optonline.net. Any registered person age 14 and older is welcome to attend (and it can count towards Leadership hours).

Adult Recognition Awards
Bonnie Kelly said that apparently not enough people are being nominated for these awards. Contact Council if you need a packet or go to Council’s web-site. An Adult Recognition Event will be held 4/27 from 1-4 at Forsgate in Jamesburg.

“Seasons of Service”
This program is designed to replace “Inchworm of Service.” Because Inchworm was unique to Delaware Raritan, Council needed something new for everyone. “Seasons of Service” is designed to be ongoing. Scouts need to do a certain number of projects based on their level to receive the patch. : Kim Reed is the contact at Council. SUM’s are not happy with this new program because the “Inchworm” was earned for hours worked, not projects. For example: kids coloring 1 sheet for Deck the Walls are rewarded the same as those performing a service for several hours. Please voice your opinion to Martha Brasby. Question: Do Service Projects for “Journeys” count for Inchworm/Seasons? No, that’s double-dipping. If you need to order Inchworm patches, order them now.

Cookie sale is over. Council is now encouraging troops to trade amongst themselves if they have leftover cookies. There was an excess of Daisy-Go-Rounds. They were not a big seller and could be donated if you have any left. Program Perks is a $5.00 coupon to be used for a GS program awarded to each girl who sells if their troop sold 5% more than last year. A troop must have sold last year to qualify so new troops are not included in this incentive.

Camp brochures are available online now. Registration opens March 2nd and can be done online.

Baby Bundles: Council has information. If your troop is interested, contact Samantha Whitfield at 856-795-1560 x 316 or via email swhitfield@gscsnj.org.

Alcohol on Council Campground Policy *Update*
Martha announced that NO alcohol is permitted on Council Campgrounds at all. Also, smoking is only permitted in the fire ring when girls are not present.

Cadette Focus Group Volunteers Needed
Martha Brasby is looking for Cadettes to review and discuss a potential 6-8 week program for Cadettes. This will be held in East Brunswick and should take 2.5-3 hours. Leadership hours can be earned. Contact Martha if you have someone who is interested in participating.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE:

Cookie Sales – Renee Miller
If you have left over cookies, you may want to contact other troops to trade. A $5 coupon will be available to girls who sold 5% more than last year. The $5 can only be used towards attending a Council-sponsored program.

Pin Ediquette – Sally O’Grady
The Owl pin is worn on the opposite side of your leader pin. Leader pin is worn on your left and Owl pin is worn on your right side. If you are on the Service Team, you are eligible for the red bar with is worn on your leader tab.

Post Card Drive
Girl Scout Troop # 196 from Maywood Nebraska is asking for postcards from all over the United States. If you would like your town to be represented, please send a post card to: GS Troop #196, 73722 Road 383, Maywood, NE 69038.

Journey’s – Joanne Tyne
This program is a good program for girls who are active outside of Girl Scouts and may not get their Silver or Gold Award. It runs in 6 week programs. Girl Scouts is an ever evolving organization. Give it a try! Lots of training for this is available through Council.

NJ Historical Site and State Park Guides – Sally O’Grady
Go to www.visitnj.org for information on historic sites and state parks in New Jersey. If you go to the historic site or state park, “Passport to Adventure” booklets are available. Children can collect a sticker for their passport from each place they visit.

Cookies - Renee Miller
The Deadline for paperwork is March 4th . Leaders need to work closely & help your cookie mom. Deposits by 2/27. Paperwork to Renee March 4th. Call or email Renee’s at hoocutone@aol.com. Booth sales money must be deposited by 2/25.

Cookie Recognitions
Total sales were down this year from last year. A lot of people complained about tattoos for 1st threshold of 75 boxes sold. The company that makes the cookies decides on the awards for the girls. Limits and prizes are being reviewed. Email Martha Brasby and she’ll make sure your viewpoint gets across.

Cookie Booth Sale –Betsy Bloemeke and Loretta Holzbaur
Wal-Mart Grant – Wal-Mart will donate up to $1,000 to the Service Unit and bases this number on amount of cookies sold at booth sales performed at Wal-Mart. This money needs to be divided and Betsy and Loretta are looking for the fairest way to do this. Suggestions so far: base it on number of hours troop put in cookie booth sales. If you have any suggestions as to how this should fairly be divided, please email Debbie or Sally.

Interfaith – Kathy Patt and Barbara Regan
This event will be held on Sunday, March 8th from 4:15 pm – 5:00 pm Peddie’s Ayer Chapel. Please bring Troop banner and a canned good which will be donated to the Trenton Soup Kitchen. Religious awards will be given out. Please contact Kathy or Barbara if someone in your troop earned a religious award during the last 2 years.

Teddy Bear Picnic- Michele Giovine and Sandy T.
This event will take place on March 22nd at St. Anthony of Padua Church from 1:30 – 3:30 pm. The cost is $5 per girl and is for Daisies and 1st Graders.

Favorite Fella – Renee Miller and April Fierro
The event was very successful! Everyone had a great time. Renee had photos available that were not picked up at the event.

Daisy/Brownie Dirt, Glorious Dirt Event – Joanne Tyne
Joanne and John Tyne will be performing a clown & puppet show event on Sunday, March 29th at St. Anthony of Padua Parish Hall in Hightstown. There will only be 1 session. Sign-in is at 12:45 pm and the program will run from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. There will be a Clown Show at 2:45 pm. The cost $6.50 per girl and includes an Earth Day patch. Daisy leaders – note that worm composting demo will be available. This is part of one of the Journey’s. Questions? Contact Joanne Tyne at RainbowTyne@aol.com.

EWAGS Camping Trip to Kettle Run – Patty Dill
Sign-up and information sheets were available at the meeting. Also available was a description of the sleeping accommodations. Accommodations will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis. Sign-ups and payment is due to Patty by April 1st. The cost is $12 per person and it includes the boating and archery activities.

Scrapbooking Project at EWAGS Campout – Debbie Cohen
Debbie Cohen’s troop will be hosting a Scrapbooking project as part of their Bronze Award project. Girl will have an opportunity to make a troop scrapbook. Two sessions will be offered, 30 girls per session. The cost is $5 per girl. Each girl should bring 3-4 photos of something troop related. If you will not be camping, you can contact Debbie Cohen and her girls will come to your troop to do the project.

Bank Statement
Debbi Martinez had bank statements available.

Leader/Daughter Survey
The SUM’s would like to have an EWAGS Leader/Daughter event and are looking for feedback from its leaders. If you have not done so already, please fill out the survey that was emailed to you.

Bronze Award – “Sky Lab” Planetarium:
Betsy Bloemeke announced that there is still some room available. Please contact Betsy is you are interested.

Religious Awards – Deidre Misiura
St. Anthony of Padua’s Knights of Columbus will sponsor Girl and Boy Scouts that are trying to earn their religious awards. Please contact Deirdre if you are interested in more information.

The Next Leader Meeting is scheduled for: Monday, March 23, 2009.

EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes (1/26/09)

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:52:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

COUNCIL UPDATE – Sally O’Grady & Debbie Cohen

New LDS (Leadership Development Specialist) – Martha Brasby was introduced and welcomed to the meeting. She can do an abbreviated orientation at a leader meeting. Online orientation is still coming.

Leadership Development Award – This award recognizes an adult troop/group leader who participates in training that increases her/his skills in delivering the Girl Scout Program to girls. The award comes in the form of an owl pin. All trained leaders are eligible for this pin and leaves are attached to it depending on the amount of training they had (see your green card). Check the GSCSNJ website for more info and the forms needed to obtain this award (under volunteers/forms/awards). The pin is worn on either side of the Years of Service pin and is earned by meeting the basic criteria listed on Council’s web-site. Additional training is recognized by leaves: Green Leaf: Represents ten accumulated hours of training or one CEU.* Five green leaves are replaced by one silver leaf. Silver Leaf: Represents 50 accumulated hours of training or five CEUs.* Five silver leaves are replaced by one gold leaf. Gold Leaf: Represents 250 accumulated hours of training or 25 CEUs.* (* CEU is defined as ten hours of participation in a recognized continuing education program, with qualified instruction and sponsorship.) Debbie Cohen asked if this is something we’d like to do individually or as a Service Unit. A vote was taken and it was decided that everyone would earn this award individually. Can’t double-dip.

Camping Requirements - Every troop that camps must have a trained troop camper and first aider, even at a SU wide camping event. You are allowed to camp with a troop that is trained and has a first aider. The use of alcohol at Council campground was also discussed. Per a new policy: alcohol can only be present during an “adult only” function (ie. fundraiser/celebration) when NO girls are present AND Council has given permission. (Side note: Otherwise, per Council policy: no alcohol, illegal drugs, prescription drugs intended for another person, or weapons are permitted on camp property. )

Transforming Leadership Video is a 3 minute video which can be found on the GSCSNJ website. Check-it out…it’s apparently very good.

Uniforms – All Scouts must have a uniform. This can be just a name tag and insignia tab (especially for older Scouts) but all Scouts need a uniform. However, younger girls look to the older girls as an example, so please encourage older girls to continue to wear uniforms.

Rutgers University Badge – There is a new program for Junior Scouts and up through Rutgers where the girls can earn a program badge online. The web-site is: http://ur.rutgers.edu/girlscouts/. The first 400 girls who earn this will get their badge for free from the Council shop. This program counts as an IPP for those girls who are earning their Silver or Gold Award.

Cookie College – 236 girls went to Cookie College. Cookie delivery was very successful with only two phone calls out of 60 service units. All peanut butter questions were resolved quickly. (Girl Scout peanut butter cookies are safe to eat.)

Family Partnership has raised $8,000 so far (10/1-1/1). Council is looking to put together a task force for FP. FP raises money to be used for girls in “need.” These girls are able to get sashes, vests, and attend Council Events through the Council Cares program. They would like one person from each SU to organize FP in their SU. Please contact April Fierro if you are interested.

Women of Distinction will be held on March 9 at the Marriott in Cinnaminson. This program honors women who serve as role models for the next generation of leaders and develops relationships which last through college. Girls are nominated by other girls. Program guides for the Spring were available at the meeting. Sponsors donated money to print and advertise this program.

American Girl Doll Program– Martha Brasby informed group of a new American Girl doll that is being introduced. Her name is Christi and will be used to discuss “bullying”. Check the Council web-site for more info. There is going to be a huge promotion with Girl Scouts. There will be a program for grades 4th – 8th graders at the East Brunswick Service Center. No date available as of yet. Keep checking www.gscsnj.org.

Positive Girl Diaries were available for the taking at the meeting.

Camp brochures are now available on the www.gscsnj.org. Please mail in by March 2. Good programs for older girls this year.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE – Debbie Cohen & Sally O’Grady

Service Unit Roster:
April Fierro distributed hard copies to those that were present. All the information is also located on www.EWAGS.org website under Resources/Roster.

Cookie Update:
Renee Miller said that this was the best year ever. Everything went very smoothly. She thanked the volunteers who were fantastic! Truck was there by 8:10 am. Thank you Cookie Moms! Please watch for emails regarding times and dates in warehouse brochure. Cookie Moms, please email any questions or problems to Renee hoocutone@aol.com.

Cookie Booth:
Loretta Holzbaur and Betsy Bloemeke will hold on to the certificates and they are good for whole weekend. Please email Loretta (rettsmail@yahoo.com)or Betsy (bbloemeke@comcast.net) with the number of boxes you sold and where you sold them. Last weekend, the following amounts were sold: 252 boxes, 92 boxes, 60 boxes and 86 boxes. Troops must fill-out a trip form to have a cookie booth sale. Please remember to thank the store for hosting your cookie booth. Please remember to use latex gloves when giving out samples.

Trip Forms and Permission Slips:
Troops do an initial one at the beginning of the year listing where, when and time the troop will meet. You can ask parents to fill out a general permission slip at that point and include all the other places that the troop may be meeting as an alternative location (ie. library, back-up locations). Permission slips need to be kept on file 1 year (then shredded) unless a girl is injured or a nurse is needed or any type of incident occurs. Then the permission slip must be held onto until she is 23 years old. QSP and Cookie permission slips should be kept 3 years and then shredded.

Favorite Fella Bowling:
April Fierro and Renee Miller announced that this event was almost filled to capacity. Total is 90 and max is 100. A list of registered participants was emailed. The event will take place on 2/14.

Daisy/Brownie Dirt, Glorious Dirt Event:
Joanne and John Tyne will be performing a clown & puppet show event on Sunday, March 29th at St. Anthony of Padua Parish Hall in Hightstown. Sign-in is at 12:45 pm and the program will run from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. There will be a Clown Show at 2:45 pm. The cost $6.50 per girl and includes a patch. Question? Contact Joanne Tyne at RainbowTyne@aol.com.

Service Unit Camping Trip to Kettle Run:
Patty Dill passed out flyers regarding this trip. This event will take place from May 15-17th. The price is $12 per person whether you stay 1 night or 2 nights. Archery, Boating, Scrapbooking for Brownies, organized games and a campfire will be available. A “conte” is a small attached building with plumbing. Deadline to register is April 1st. Questions? Contact Patty at thejd@yahoo.com.

Bronze Award – “Sky Lab” Planetarium:
This is a Bronze award project for Troop #71447 and is geared toward Brownies and Juniors. The cost is $10 and will be held at the Elks Lodge on Hickory Corner Road on March 28th.. A flyer was distributed at the meeting. No siblings permitted. Two sessions will be held. Questions? Contact Betsy Bloemeke at bbloemeke@comcast.net.

Interfaith Prayer Service:
Kathy Patt and Barbara Regan are coordinating this event which will take place on Sunday, March 8 from 4:15 – 5:00 pm at Peddie’s Ayer Memorial Chapel. They are asking for assistance from 4th grade troop leaders to run the event with other leaders. Please contact Kathy (kpatt@peddie.org) or Barbara (bregan-1@comcast.net).

Notes of Thanks:
Deidre Misura read thank you notes from the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs and the New Jersey Firemen’s Home thanking the Scouts for their Deck the Walls decorations.

Bridging Ceremony:
The Service Unit Bridging Ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 14 at the Walter C. Black Gym from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. An email went out regarding the specifics. Anyone not listed should contact Christine O’Brien at christineob@comcast.net.

Leader/Daughter Camp Out:
April Fierro, Debbie Cohen and the 9th grade Scouts are taking a survey to see if there is any interest in this event. Please look for an email from them shortly. The trip/event would either take place by June or this coming Fall (Sept/Oct). Please survey your daughter to see what kinds of activities she would like to do at camp. This is only for leaders/co-leaders (01 & 02) from Daisies to Seniors and their Girl Scout daughters. Unfortunately helping parents can not attend.

International Uniform Collection:
Joanne Tyne has several uniforms available for Thinking Day. She is asking for a $75 deposit and will refund it upon return of the uniform. Might be nice to use for Thinking Day.

Financial Forms:
Debbi Martinez had statements available for pickup.

Intro to Journey’s:
Martha Brasby spoke about this new program. This program provides a better plan to have girls run their own meetings. Their troop facilitator guide does it all. Meetings should be creative so it doesn’t get boring and side trips are suggested as well. Programs are fun if you give it a chance. Martha handed out literature and pencils. Programs for older girls are harder to do. It consists of 6-8 week programs, however, girls earn big chunks of their requirements during that time. Topics that are taught include: interviewing, etiquette, finances, management, balancing a checkbook, percentages, pronunciation, JP Morgan for GSUSA and resume writing.

* Special thanks to Michele Charache for taking the Minutes! *

The Next Leader Meeting is scheduled for: Monday, February 23, 2009.

EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes (11/24/08)

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:59:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

COUNCIL UPDATE – Sally O’Grady

New LDS:
Sue Tamulevicz is our new LDS (Leadership Development Specialist). Her e-mail is stamulevicz@gscsnj.org. She is also in charge of older girls (Silver and Gold Awards) along with Rona Whitehead and Lauren Gaynor.

Monopoly Night:
This event was a huge success. South Brunswick Service Unit’s baskets earned the most money (they had 2 Coach bags).

Volunteer Awards:
Nominations for Volunteer Awards are due to Council by 12/10. The forms can be found on the web-site: click on “volunteers,” “forms” and then “awards.” Awards will be given out at the WOW Workshop on 1/5/09 at Middlesex County College.

Camping Reservations for Council Campsites:
To make reservations on-line go to: “volunteers,” “forms,” and then “camp.” Preference will be given to large groups who have not camped recently. Please select dates and sites with a first and second choice. Site also has a list of amenities at each camp site along with other helpful information.

Girl Scout Insurance:
Questions? Go to www.mutualofomaha.com/girlscoutsoftheusa. Reminder: Plan 2 insurance covers only unregistered adults and unregistered participating members – NOT siblings. For siblings to be covered, the even has to be advertised as a “family event.”

Safety Wise:
Updates are available on-line at www.gsusa.org. Please check it!

Leader Orientation:
As of 1/1/09, Orientation will be available on-line. All Leader must have Orientation before starting a Troop and then have 3 months to get the Leader essentials.

Bank Accounts:
Andrea Miller does NOT have to be on bank accounts. It is recommended that someone from GSUSA be on your troop account. This can be co-leader or registered adult.

Trip Forms:
On trip forms that ask for driver’s info, that info does not have to be filled out for each trip form, BUT the Leader must have a copy of the info. If you meet AT THE LOCATON of a trip, then that info is not necessary. Driver’s insurance will cover.

GSCSNJ Calendar:
Check the GSCSNJ web-site for upcoming events – calendar page. An upcoming event that my be of interest is “Working Wonders Career Fair” to be held Friday, December 5th, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the Princeton Montessori School, 487 Cherry Valley Road, Princeton. There is no admission fee but bring a children’s book to donate. This is a girl’s Silver Award project. For more info, email kabrunner@yahoo.com or call Kristin at 609-933-9884. This is great opportunity for girls working on their Silver or Gold award and need career hours.

Local Trip Ideas:
Other ideas for local trips: Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, Princeton University Art Museum and Liberty Hall in Union County.

SERVICE UNIT UPDATE – Debbie Cohen & Sally O’Grady

Sally thanked everyone for their patience during her absence. She had brought a wonderful article about Helene Cody that was from the Princeton High School newspaper and a copy of the eulogy she gave at Helene’s funeral.

Investiture/Rededication Ceremony
During this ceremony, we welcomed new leaders and gave them their pins. Existing leaders reaffirmed their belief in the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Many thanks to Jayne Lenzo and Troop #71464 for organizing and performing this ceremony. Well done, ladies!

QSP Update: Ulrica Infosino
No incentives have arrived from Council as of yet. They were ordered late. Ulrica will send out an email when they arrive. Top sellers in order of top sales: Troops #70153, #70205, #70301 and #71426 (a Daisy troop!). The on-line order placement system worked great. Ulrica also distributed Pray Patches for those that attended Joanne Tyne’s religious award presentation.

Cookie Sale: Renee Miller
Initial order forms due tonight (11/24). You don’t have to do an initial order to sell cookies. Cookie Training will take place on January 5, 2009 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm at the Walter C. Black school cafeteria. No paper this year, everything will be done on-line. Cookie Managers must be registered adults and have had a background check completed because they are handling money. Tentative delivery date for cookies is January 20, 2009.

Cookie Booth Sale: Betsy Bloemeke and Loretta Holzbaur
Only 9 groups have signed-up so far. Please submit 2 dates and 2 locations by 12/1, 12/7 at the latest. You can fill out form or email Betsy at bbloemeke@comcast.net or Loretta at rettsmail@yahoo.com.

Rogers School Craft/Bake Fair – Christine O’Brien
The Grace Rogers PTO is looking for Girl Scouts Troops that would like to sing Holiday Carols or face paint at its upcoming craft fair. The Craft Fair will be held on Saturday, December 13th from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Several Girl Scouts sang carols last year and it was very well received by the vendors and shoppers. This is a great opportunity for those that are looking to spread holiday cheer and earn community service hours too. The girls do not need to stay for a whole fair. Even a 1/2 hour is greatly appreciated by everyone! If your troop is interested, please contact Angela Henderson at 443-6247 or email her at hendersonfudge@hotmail.com.

MRC Van
Debbie and Sally thanked Christine O’Brien for organizing the MRC van visit to Hightstown. The van really is a mini-Juliette’s Closet on wheels and great resource. It helped to pre-order patches in advance.

Sing-A-Long
Jayne Lenzo said that she has older girls that would go to younger troop meetings to teach them songs. If your troop is interested, contact Jayne at JGLRN@msn.com.

Service Unit Camp-Out at Kettle Run - Patty Dill
Camping dates are May 15-17th. Please email Patty at thejd99@yahoo.com with your Troop# and # of girls interested. The camp is located about 50 minutes from East Windsor. Troops can go for 1 night, 2 nights or just for the day. There is a Yert, Conte buildings, platform tents and you can pitch your own tent if you’d like to also. The forms will be going out in March.

Caroling – Patty Dill
Will be held on Friday, December 19th from 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm beginning in the Walter C. Black’s Multi-purpose room. The girls will be caroling from 6:30 – 7:30. Please contact Patty at thejd99@yahoo.com if your troop is interested.

Banking – Debbi Martinez
Please pick-up bank statements.

Craft Day - Lynn Spencer
To help earn Leadership hours, Lynn Spencer’s Troop would like to have a Craft Day for Brownies. Scouts will have the opportunity to decorate cupcakes and make a scrapbook page. Her troop will run stations for 2 hours at either the Walter C. Black or Rogers school from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. This event will be just for Brownies. Date: TBD.

Favorite Fellow Bowl – Renee Miller
Update: please make checks out to GSCSNJ-Service Unit 727 to make it easier for checks to go through. There is still plenty of room.

Deck The Walls
Completed packets were collected.

Free Market
We need to put a date on the calendar.

Service Unit Vacancies:
The Service Unit is looking for your help. If anyone is interested in filling the Daisy Organizer or Junior Organizer positions, please contact either Debbie Cohen or Sally O’Grady.

Closing:
The meeting ended with Level Breakouts with Consultants. Please note that there will be no SUM or Leader Meeting for December.

The Next Leader Meeting is scheduled for: Monday, January 26, 2009.

Wishing you and your families Peace and Joy this Holiday Season!

EWAGS LEADER MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 27, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:24:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

COUNCIL BUSINESS:
Council will try to focus on activities for older girls (6th grade and older) as well as other ways keeping girls involved in Scouting.

New Leadership Specialist (LDS): Sue Temulwitz (sp?). She will also be Specialist for older girls.

Bank accounts
Must be switched to either PNC or TD Bank (old Commerce) Banks. Statements will be automatically picked up by Debbi Martinez who will scan them for such things as service charges which should not be applied to non-profit accounts. Please remember the following when switching the account over:
- Statements should be sent to P.O. Box 306, Hightstown, NJ 08520
- Andrea Miller’s name must be put on the account
- 2 designated signers are needed.

Trip Forms
There has been some confusion regarding trip forms. All High Risk forms need SUM approval. All overnights are High Risk. Any adult who goes on any overnight must have a background check done and approved in advance. Camping trips inside and outside our Council are High Risk. High Risk forms should be signed and submitted a minimum of 6 weeks prior to the event. Laser Tag can only be offered if the facility is approved by GSCSNJ’s Council and is considered a High Risk trip.

Low Risk trips are local day trips within the Council area. (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex and Salem counties and parts of Monmouth county in New Jersey). Only these types of trips can be entered on your Troop Trip log and will be approved online by your level Consultant. Please note that trips to Freehold Mall and camping trips to Camp Sacajawea in Farmingdale, NJ. are outside our Council as they are located within the boundaries of GS of Jersey Shore Council.

Questions? Please see the following link:
http://www.gscsnj.org/pdf_docs/Troop%20Forms/trooptripguidelines.pdf
http://www.gscsnj.org/pdf_docs/Troop%20Forms/trooptripformfinal.pdf

Troop Trip Logs:
All information fields must be filled in before you submit your request. That includes a full address. If your name is listed on the form, you should be going on the trip.

EWAGS BUSINESS: SUM – Debbie Cohen
Debbie passed along unfortunate news regarding a former EWAGS Girl Scout. Sixteen year old Helene Cody tragically passed away on Sunday. She was a very good friend of Sally O’Grady’s daughter, lived in Cranbury and attended Princeton High School. The family is finding comfort in kindness from others. If you would like to send condolences to the family, their address is: The Cody Family, 8 Adams Court, Cranbury, NJ 08512.

Registrations – April Fierro
EWAGS Registration Reports listing the most up-to-date approved adults (Background Checks cleared) were distributed by Troop. In addition, an EWAGS Training Report by Troop was given out and listed those in need of mandatory training. Unapproved adults (Background Checks not received or not approved) can not participate as QSP or as Cookie Mom as they cannot handle money until approved. Chaperone (Background Check) forms are available on the Council website under “Volunteer” and under “Forms.” Send Chaperone (Background Check) forms directly to Council to Rebecca Cho’s attention.

QSP – Ulrica Infosino
There was a problem with Online Reader’s Digest entries and how the “phone patch” is awarded. If you see an * next to the total, then the Scout will receive a patch. Council is also ordering extra phones. Ulrica has extra deposit slips available on her front porch. All QSP/Nut orders are due to Ulrica by Wednesday (10/29) Midnight.

Cookie Booth – Betsy Bloemeke and Loretta Holzbaur
Cookie Sales will run from January 22nd – February 22nd, 2009. Both Informational and Sign up Sheets for cookie booth sale were distributed. Booths will be assigned on first-come, first-serve basis. Daisy Scouts are not allowed to participate in cookies booth. There may be a booth sale for those that would like to sell left over cookies after the sale is over towards the end of February.

Cookie Sales –Renee Miller
Renee Miller distributed the 2009 Initial Troop Cookie Order Forms. This form is due at the November Leader Meeting. You do not need to fill out this form, you can still sell cookies. This form is helpful in fulfilling pre-ordered cookies. Cookie Training will take place approximately the first week of January. Cookies are arriving approximately January 12th. The Troop is responsible for all cookies purchased and not sold. Daisy Scouts may only sell to friends and family.

Holiday Caroling – Patty Dill
The event will be held on Friday, December 19 between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm. This event will begin in the Walter C. Black Multipurpose room and girls will proceed to sing songs as they walk through Hightstown. If your troop is attending, please notify Patty by 12/10. Please see flyer for details.

EWAGS Service Unit Campout – Patty Dill
This event will take place on May 15-17, 2009 at Kettle Run Campground located in Medford, NJ: Boating, Archery and Campfire with songs will be available. Details will be forthcoming in March. This is a good opportunity for girls looking Leadership Hours. If you are not certified as an Outdoor Camper, you can still go but must “buddy up” with a troop leader who is certified. If your Troop is interested in participating, please fill out the form that was distributed at the meeting and return it to Patty.

Sing-A-Long - Joanne Tyne
This event will be held at Kreps Middle School on November 23. Girls should report to the school by 6:15 pm and the event will begin at 6:30 pm. One adult must be sitting with the girls on the floor at all times during the event. Any Leaders who would like to lead a song, please contact Joanne Tyne.

Clowning Show – Joanne Tyne
There will be a clown and puppet show for Daisy and Brownie Girl Scouts on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 1:30 pm at the Grace N. Rogers auditorium. The event will celebrate Earth Day and ticket admission includes an Earth Day patch and a multi-media show about caring for the environment. See flyer for details.

Giving Tree Ornaments & Deck the Walls – Deirdre Misura
Deirdre Misura collected the ornaments (600!) for the Giving Tree and distributed Deck the Walls coloring packets as well. Scouts are eligible for an EWAGS rocker for participating in this event as well as Deck the Walls. Please see Debbie Martinez to purchase them. Deck the Walls packets are due at the November Leader Meeting.

Favorite Fellow Breakfast Bowl – April Fierro and Renee Miller
This bowling event will take place on February 14, 2009 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and will be held at the Playdome Recreation Center located on Rt. 130 North in East Windsor. The fee includes 2 hour of bowling, shoes, continental breakfast and photo of Scout and “favorite fellow.” Registrations must be received by 1/17/09 and there is a maximum number of 100 participants. See flyer for details.

MRC Van (Mobile Resource Center) - Christine O’Brien
MRC (Mobile Resource Center) – The van is basically a Juliette’s shop and Resource Center on wheels. It will be here (First Presbyterian Church parking lot) on Monday, November 24th between 4:00 am – 8:00 pm. As to not overwhelm the driver and cause disruptions during the Leader meeting, a schedule has been created. We are hoping that leaders adhere to the following schedule as best they can:
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Daisy’s & Brownies
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Juniors, Cadettes and Ambassadors
6:30 pm – 7:00 pm anyone who couldn’t make the first 2 slots

Please take advantage of the services the MRC has to offer as it is a busy time of year for everyone and it could save you a trip up to Council. Patches, pins, vests, books, program kits and a variety of forms will be available. To guarantee that your item(s) will be on the van, you can pre-order by emailing : Joe Decker at http://www.jdecker.gscsnj.org/ with your order NO LATER THAN WED. 11/19. Please specify that it’s for the van coming to EWAGS on 11/24. Come and see what it’s all about!

The next Leader Meeting will be on Monday, November 24, 2008

EWAGS LEADER MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:49:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leader's Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our Leaders and do not take the place of attendance.

WELCOME:
Debbie and Sally (Service Unit Managers/SUMs) welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. They reminded everyone that it is very important to attend Leader Meetings. They introduced the Board. A list of who’s who and their contact information is available on our Service Unit web-site: http://www.ewags.org/. There are several positions open. If anyone is interested in volunteering for them, please contact one of the SUMs.

Consultants: Cadette, Senior, & Ambassador (6th & up) and a Juliette Consultant

Organizers: for Brownie (2-3rd) and Junior (4-5th)

COUNCIL BUSINESS:
If you have any questions regarding the info below, please contact Sally.

Marisa Redding’s Gold Award Project, “Souper Bowl of Caring” flyer was distributed.

Lisa Cheng is EWAGS new Leadership Development Specialist (LDS). Her email address is: lcheng@gscsnj.org

Gold and Silver Award contacts are: Rona Whitehead (Newfield) rwhitehead@gscsnj.org , Ambassador contact: Lauren Schoner laschoener@gscsnj.org and Kimberly Reed (Cherry Hill) kreed@gscsnj.org.

Council’s toll free phone number is (800) 582-7692.

Free photo copies (up to 1,000) can be at East Brunswick Service Center.

Girls 14 years and older will have to opportunity to vote on new by-laws on October 18 form 10:00 am – 3:30 pm at the Merion in Cinnaminson. Free Continental breakfast and lunch included. Good way to earn Leadership hours. There will be a bus leaving from the East. Brunswick service center.

Service Unit web-sites will soon be available on the Council web-site.

Monopoly Baskets for Council Fundraiser -it was decided that the EWAGS Consultants from each level would handle collecting items to donate towards this event and make the basket.

Need for CPR and First Aiders will be clarified at next SUM Manager’s meeting.

Safety Wise has been updated to reflect new groupings of girls and other changes. An addendum will be available soon. A new Safety Wise comes out in 2010.

Financial forms should be opened and review before going to Leaders. Check for mistakes that may have been made by bank (ie. Service fees etc).

Be a pen pal to a service person overseas and earn community service hours. Go to hugsfromhome.org.

EWAGS BUSINESS: SUMs
The following new troop leaders were welcomed:
Betsy Bloemeke, Michele Calzia, Michele Catana, Sandy Cohen, Sandy Colie, Beth Erma, Kim Hoeflinger, Carlene Reyes and Carol Wolkiewicz.

Service Unit Positions Clarification:
Organizers – recruit new leaders, troops, help new troops become established, help place new girls in troops, facilitate merging/splitting of new/existing troops & assigns troop numbers.

Consultants – take attendance at leader meetings, ensure leader’s training is up-to-date, signs high risk trip forms and trip logs, mediates intra-troop problems and level up any issues to SUMs and should be contacted if a troop splits or merges.

Registrar – handles registration of new and existing troops with Council, handles registration forms, dues summary forms and copies of deposit tickets from Commerce bank and should be notified if troop splits or mergers.

Service Unit Library is also available. It has books and booklets that you can borrow instead of buying at Council. Questions? Contact Kathy Patt.

Chain of Command:
Please pass the following along to your parents. It is important to use this model to try to resolves problems within our Service Unit before going to Council.

Parent - Leader - Consultants/Organizer - SUM - Council

Registration – April Fierro
All outstanding registration forms for all returning Girl scouts along with the bank deposit slip (copy with bank stamp) must be to April by October 1st. It is okay to register parents or girls new to scouting after 10/1. Exisiting troops are not covered by Girl Scout insurance if not registered by Oct. 1 and troop can therefore not participate in any Service Unit Events, meet as a troop or participate in QSP/Nut or Cookie Sale.

Accessing Roster:
1. Sign-on is your GSofUSA number that was assigned to you by them. You pick your user ID name and ID#.
2. If you receive an error message, please copy it down and email it April.

Advise April and your level Consultant if you troop is splitting/merging. Early Bird patches were distributed.

Training – April Fierro
Leaders must have training for legal purposes. If you are a registered adult, then you must fill out a Chaperone Security Check form, especially if you are going to be with the girls for more than 2 meetings. Interested parents should fill-out the Chaperone form and then place it in a sealed envelope marked “confidential” when competed (since forms contain sensitive information). Leaders submit these envelopes directly to Rebecca Cho at Council.

Journey’s Program – Joanne Tyne
Joanne will be taking a training course on the Journey’s Program in November and will hold a training program locally for Journey’s at a later date. Check for program date and contact Kim Reed kreed@gscsnj.org to register.

QSP/Nuts – Ulrica Infosino
Ulrica has not received deposit slips yet. She’s have them on the front porch of her house when they arrive. Important dates: Order Taking Dates: 10/6 – 10/24, Order forms and money due to Ulrica by: 10/29 Delivery of products: November 17-21.

Cookie Sales: Betsy Bloemeke
EWAGS has 2 new Cookie Managers:
Renee Miller will be training Debbie Cesard as Cookie Manager
Betsy Bloemeke and Loretta Holzbaur will co manage Cookie Booth Sales
This year theme is “Going Places.” New rules and guidelines for Cookie Sales/Cookie Booth were discussed. Daisies can only sell to family and friends. There will be a “cookie booth locator” available on-line at http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/ so anyone can punch a zip code to see where GS cookies are being sold. Best things to help sell: have samples out and Green GS logo sign. (Also note: per Sally (from SUD Meeting at Council): major change in cookie sales this year, cookie sales must stay own Council. See http://www.girlscouts.org/ under product activity – updated Safetywise info.

Reminder: In order to hold additional fund raisers for troop, the troop has to sell Nuts and Cookies.

Awards and Recognitions - Debee Gash and April Fierro
Congratulations to the following Leaders who received their Years of Service Membership Numeral Guards:

5 – 9 years:
Michele Charache, Theresa Vaccaro, Claudia Maxey, Michelle Redfern, Sandra Boyles, Jennifer Laurash, Deborah Cohen, Regina Shannon, Rosellyn Cassidy, Krista Saufler, Jacqueline Baptiste, Laura Gardner, Lori Pawlak, Debra Duke, Jackie Hart, Donna Murray, Michele Till, Patricia Dill, Claudette Jack, Lynn Spencer & Leigh Zink.

10 -14 years: Loren Colonna, Beth Fessel, Debee Gash, Wendy Humphrey, Jayne Lenzo, Debbi Martinez, Christine Moll, Eileen Moran, Sally O’Grady, Audrey Rothbloom, Peggy Wingo.

15 years: Karen Compton, Mary Doncheck and Renee Miller.

Posthumous Recognition Award: SUMs
Debbie and Sally presented Nancy Baumann with flowers and congratulated her for her 15 years of dedication and service to Girl Scouts and our Service Unit. Nancy has retired from Girls Scouts but is still available to help. Her daughters are also certified life guards and would be willing to help with camping or hiking trips as well.

Recognition for Girl Scout Membership (given at EWAGS June 2008 Bridging):
Congratulations to Joanne Tyne who received an anniversary award for being a member of the Girl Scouting organization for 45 years!!

Clowning Workshop – Joanne Tyne
This event will be held at St. Anthony of Padua’s Parish Center on Sunday, November 2 from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Girls in 4th grade and up and can attend this on an individual basis. The cost is $20. For more info go to: http://www.ewags.org/calendar/uploads/clowing08.pdf

Religious Award Workshop – Joanne Tyne
On Monday 10/20 from 7-8 pm at the Hickory Corner Library, Joanne Tyne will be holding an informational meeting regarding awards which can be earned by Girl or Boy Scouts from any religious denomination. A patch can be earned if the Scout attends the meeting and then informs their troop or another troop about the awards available. All scouts must be accompanied by an adult. For more info see: ttp://www.ewags.org/calendar/uploads/religious_info.pdf
Leaders may want to put something in their house of worship bulletin about this event.

OTHER: Christine O’Brien
MRC (mobile resource center) – Looking into scheduling the MRC to come to a future meeting. The MRC provides the opportunity to shop for badges etc, pick up forms and other print media without having to go up to Council.

EWAGS EVENTS:
These events will now be coordinated by Leaders and broken out the grade level. A list of previous organizers who can serve as contacts and references was distributed. Keep scrolling down to see breakdown chart.

Leaders for
Scouts at
Grade Level Events

Kindergarten & 1st Grade: Deck the Walls/Giving Tree & (Fall) and Memorial Day Parade (late Spring)

2nd Grade: Teddy Bear Picnic

3rd Grade: Hightstown Day Booth (Fall) & Open House (Spring)

4th Grade: Interfaith Service* (approx. March 12: Girl Scout Sunday)

5th Grade: World Thinking Day & Service Unit Camp Out
(Spring events that alternate every other year)

6th Grade: Bridging Ceremony (early June)

7th Grade: Carolling

8th Grade: Babysitting at Leader Meetings & Father/Daughter Event (approx. Feb.14th)

9th Grade: Leader/Daughter Event

10th, 11th, 12th Grades: Sing-A-Long, Leader Investiture/Ceremony for November Leader Meeting

Juliette Low’s Birthday/Founder’s Day (10/31) and/or Girl Scout Birthday (March 12).
Could also be events added to the calendar.

* FYI…Girl Scout Week always starts with Girl Scout Sunday and end with Girl Scout Sabbath Saturday and always includes the Girl Scout Birthday March 12.

Next Leader Meeting is Monday, October 24th from 7:00 – 8:00 pm

EWAGS LEADER MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 28, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:44:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

SERVICE UNIT NEWS:
Debbie Cohen, EWAGS new Service Unit Director introduced the Service Team. Sally O’Grady has stepped up to act as a Service Unit Director as well.

The current Service Team list is available on EWAGS web site (http://www.ewags.org/) under “Resources.” Once you’ve clicked on “Resources,” look for “Roster” and click on it. The password for accessing the information was mailed to you when you first created an account on the website. Please refer back to that email for the password. If you no longer have the email, please contact your level consultant.

We are looking for volunteers to step-up and help out the Service Unit in the following ways:
Service Unit Openings:
Troop Consultant for Brownie (2nd & 3rd grade)
Troop Consultant for Cadette, Senior & Ambassador Levels: (6th grade)
Troop Organizer for Junior (4th & 5th grade)
Cookie Booth Manager

(See the EWAGS web-site and look under the Roster for a description of responsibilities.)

QSP/NUT FUNDRAISER:
Ulrica Infosino is heading up QSP for our Service Unit. She explained the program and handed out the sales packets to troop leaders.
Important dates:
The QSP sale begins on 10/6 and ends 10/24.
All paperwork is due to Ulrica on 10/27.
Questions? Call Ulrica at (609) 443-0514 or email her at anthony.infosino@erols.com.

FINAL NOTES:
Leader Meetings will be held the 4th Monday of every month. The next meeting will be 9/22.

Looking forward to seeing you all then!
Christine & the Service Team

EWAGS LEADER MEETING MINUTES JUNE 9 2008

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:32:00 +0000

EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes (June 9, 2008)

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leaders' Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

(Please note that the May Leader Meeting was cancelled and the June meeting was abbreviated due to the lack of air conditioning in the building.)

COUNCIL UPDATE:

Council Web-site
Katie Kotaska talked about the Council’s Web-site’s (www.gscsnj.org) and new information that will be updated on it.

Council’s Outstanding Volunteer Award
Katie recognized the following leaders who earned this award. Congratulations Ladies!
Debbie Cohen
April Fierro
Debee Gash
Sally O’Grady
Rachel Scotto-DiClemente
Peggy Wingo

End of Year Financials
End of year financial forms can be found on Council’s web-site. If you have money left over, please put a one-line sentence on the form describing what the money will be used for. Financial Form and Troop Trip Log are both due by July 31st can be emailed or mailed to Katie.

Katie also distributed cups with the Council’s 800# printed on it. Thank you, Katie!

SERVICE UNIT COUNCIL UPDATE:

EWAGS AWARDS:
Debee Gash and Michele Charache handed-out local awards. Congratulations to the following recipients:

Outstanding Rookie Leader – Antoinette Holder and Sandra Trenholm
Outstanding Leader – Patty Dill
Service Team Awards – Debee Gash and Rachel Scotto DiClemente

This was Debee Gash’s last year as Service Unit Manager. To thank Debee for her many years of dedication and service to EWAGS, she was presented with a $100 Spa gift certificate.

Rachel Scotto-DiClemente and her family are moving to North Carolina. We wish Rachel and her family a smooth transition and best of luck!

Katie Kotaska was presented with flowers to thank her for all of her assistance with EWAGS this year.

EWAGS provided the cake to thank all the leaders for their hard work this year.

Registrations
April Fierro had registration forms with her at the meeting. Registration forms can be submitted directly to Council. Remind parents that: Emergency contact can not be parent. April gets dues summary too. There are no longer registrations forms outside Renee Miller’s house. April will be bringing completed forms to Council on June 16th. The cut-off for Early Bird is June 30th. Contact April Fierro with any questions at april@troop913.com.

American Heart Association Event
There will be an event in Mercer County Park on Sunday, 9/14. Michele, who is an Ambassador for the American Heart Association, is looking for girls to help with the event. She would like older girls to help blow-up balloons beginning at 7:00 am. They can stay as long as they would like. She is looking for younger girls to hand out water at water stations beginning at 9:00 am. Any age group can participate. Michele will be there beginning at 7:00 am. Please contact Michele Giovine (mgiovine827@yahoo.com) for more info.

EWAGS Manual
Wish you had a manual when you started as a Leader in EWAGs? Francene Brown, Michele Giovine and Sandy Trenholm are putting together a manua for new leadersl. Please contact them with suggestions of what you think would be helpful to others or what you would like to know.
Francene Brown at francenebrown@comcast.net
Michele Giovine at mgiovine827@yahoo.com
Sandy Trenholm at sandyholm@aol.com

Open House
The next Open House will be held on Friday, June 20th from 7:30-8:30 pm at the Drew School. If you know of anyone who would like to be a leader, please ask them to attend. Also, they are looking for a few words from current Leaders that can inspire prospective ones. Please take the time to email Sandy with something at sandyholm@aol.com.

Financial Statements

Debbi Martinez gave out Financial Statements.

Wishing you all a wonderful and safe Summer!

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:18:00 +0000

EWAGS Leader Meeting Minutes (April 28, 2008)

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leaders' Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

COUNCIL UPDATE:

Note from Katie….
At the May Leader’s Meeting, Katie will bring her lap-top and show us how to navigate the Council web-site.

SERVICE UNIT COUNCIL UPDATE:

Registrations
There is a new Summary, but all the forms are the same. Keep the yellow and give April the green. Troops collect and deposit the money at Council and April get the deposit slip. Council would like a troop check for total amount. Hints: at 2nd to last or last Troop meeting, give parents the form and ask them to fill-out and pay right there. If the form leaves the meeting, it may not come back. Remind parents that: Emergency contact can not be parent. April gets dues summary too. Contact April Fierro with any questions.

New Volunteer Application
Council has come out with the following new volunteer application forms:
Chaperone Background Investigation Consent form (to be filled out by any attending an overnight trip)
Volunteer Application (for co-leaders, Cookie Mom, etc).

Both forms can be found on www.gscsnj.org under “for Volunteers,” then click on “Forms.” The Volunteer Application is found under “Adult/Volunteer forms” and the Chaperone Background Investigation Consent form is found under “Troop trip forms.” It is heavily suggested that when parents fill out their Registration Forms, they fill out the Chaperone Background Investigation Consent form as well. All leaders, parents and volunteers who chaperone overnight trips will need a background check. Parents can send forms directly to Council. This procedure is effective immediately. Chaperone & Volunteer Application forms should be sent to Rebecca Cho at the East Brunswick Service Center.

Ideas for Next Year’s Leader Meetings & Events
Have A and B meetings, where part of the meeting would discuss Service Unit information followed by level breakouts. Groups can idea share, have breakout training, attend workshops and go through the EWAGS library. Another idea for next year: EWAGS Events could be managed by the Level every year. For example, the Daisy Leaders would be responsible for the Memorial Day parade and Junior Leaders for Thinking Day. Consultants and Organizers would be there to help groups with events.

Babysitting at Leader Meetings
Is another troop interested in taking this over? It is a great opportunity for scouts to earn Leadership hours (2 hours each time they help). Perfect for 6th graders and up. Babysitting can be done on a rotational basis. Maybe a Cadette can earn hours by coordinating this. Contact Sally O’Grady if you are interested.

CPR/First Aider
According to Safety Wise, Adult must have First Aid and CPR. CPR must be renewed every year if it’s Red Cross (every 2 for American Red Cross) and First Aid every 3 years. It’s a good idea that person be present at meetings and is required to be there on overnight trips. For more information, please consult page 36 of your Safety Wise booklet.

Adult Recognitions
Council has a recognition program and EWAGS has it’s own as well. Deadline for Council’s has past. Deadline for EWAGS submissions is May 10th. The Criteria for nominee is as follows: Must be a registered Girl Scout Adult and has completed all appropriate training. Exceeds expectations of leader or volunteer, 2 letters of endorsement (one of which must be written by troop members and their families). Leaders can summit endorsements for Outstanding Service Team members. There will be 2 Outstanding Leader Awards and 2 Outstanding Volunteer Awards. A leader can not win 2 consecutive years in a row. Please forward all submissions to either Michele Charache (gcharache@verizon.net) or Renee Miller (hoocutone@aol.com)

Cookies
Celebration Day Pink sheets are for the free tickets earned for selling over 135+ boxes. The form needs to be filled out and mailed to Council. You can order additional family/friend tickets for $22 each as well. Each girl who sold over 135+ receives a free seat on the bus, plus 2 additional seats. Additional seats can be purchased for the bus at $5 per seat. Free tickets are transferable.
For those girls who did not earn a free ticket, please go to the Council Web-site:
http://www.gscsnj.org and click on “Celebration Day Cookie Event” to access form.
You do not need to take the bus. Parking is $6.

Cookie Patches
Here is a breakdown of the patches:
Cookies Sold Award
0-11 boxes Certificate of appreciation
12-59 boxes Little Patch
60-99 boxes Smart Cookie patch
100+ boxes Smart Cookie patch 100+ patch
200+ boxes Super Cookie patch 200+ patch

Cookie Booth patches and Cookie Share patches must be purchased at Council.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact Michele Giovine.

Magic Show
There will be a Magic Show at the Rogers School Auditorium on May 31st at 2:00 p.m. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children (ages 0-17). Parents and siblings are welcome. No trip form is needed because this is a Service Unit Event. Please contact Michele Giovine for more info.

American Heart Association Event
There will be an event in Mercer County Park on Sunday, 9/14. Michele, who is an Ambassador for the American Heart Association, will need Girl Scouts to help hand out water. Any age group can participate. Please contact Michele Giovine for more info.

Memorial Day Parade (5/26)
Francene Brown is ordering flags, stickers to hand-out as well as making SWAPS. If interested, please contact Francene Brown. Questions regarding the parade should be directed to Patty Dill.

Bridging
Any troops that are Bridging this year, please contact the ladies above. Also, if you have Scouts that have received Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards, this may provide a perfect opportunity to give them recognition. This is also a good opportunity for Junior Scouts to earn leadership hours for Leadership and Junior Aide. Please contact Jayne Lenzo, Kathy Patt or Barbara Reagan for more information.

Treasurer Notes
Debbie distributed Troop bank statements. Please note that all checks made payable to our Service Unit should now be payable to GSCSNJ Service Unit #727. We can no longer take checks payable to EWAGS. Questions? Contact Debbi Martinez at martcart@gmail.com.

February 2008 Leaders' Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:32:00 +0000

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leader Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.
-----------------

COUNCIL NEWS (Katie Kotaska):

Annual Meeting for New Council:

On March 5th at Mercer County College from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, you have an opportunity to cast your vote for Council operations and board members elections for the merged Council. Anyone 14 years of age or older can vote. Please RSVP with Katie via email kkotaska@gscsnj.org. There will be no voting by proxy.

SUD MEETING INFORMATION FOR SERVICE UNIT(Michele Charache):

1. Scouting Levels:

2008-2009 and 2009-2010 will be the transition years. Girls will be able to decide which model you would like to do (still unavailable at this time). The new length of time at each level will be:

Daisy term from 1 year to 2 years
Brownie term from 3 years to 2 years
Junior term from 3 years to 2 years
Cadets from 3 years to 2 years
Seniors from 3 years to 2 years

As of 10/1/07 – those girls going for their Silver and Gold Awards must attend a seminar. Their names were entered into a database and they will be grandfathered into “old system” – 3 year term.

Beginning in 2010, girls will have 3-5 “journeys” or paths to follow. These “journeys” will serve as guidelines for them to follow at whatever level they are at. Why is Council doing this? There is a decline in Scouting so this new system will provide more opportunities for the girls, increases community service, increase number of volunteers. It’s a more global approach.

2. Celebration Day:

Celebration Day (Sunday, June 22nd): If a Scout sold 135 boxes of cookies or more, she earned a day at the Clementon Amusement and Water Park (www.celmentonpark.com). There will be a complimentary bus departing from the East Brunswick Service Center) for the Scout who earned the trip plus 2 guests (which can be family, siblings or other scouts) if they would like to bring guests. The cost for guests and non-winning scouts is $22 per person. The Amusement park is open from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm and the Water Park is open from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm. The park will only be open for our Council only. Food is not included. Ticket is transferable but please let Michele Giovine know and she will notify Council.

3. “Baby Bundles” Community Awareness Project:

Troops that would like to participate will be given a box to decorate and fill with a specified list of baby-related items. This box can be donated to Council or your own organization.

4. Recognition Awards:

Form must be in by April 2. All submissions should be forwarded to either Michele Charache or Renee Miller. Categories include: Outstanding Leader, Volunteer, Years of Service. In following with National Guidelines, Rookie of the Year is no longer a category.

5. Day Camps:

This year, Oak Spring has paid positions available for girls ages 14 and up such as lifeguard, help in kitchen, etc.). Please contact Vicky Allen if you are interested.

6. CPR/First Aid Training Clarification:

If you are registering for the 1 day combo course, register through Council but make checks out to Forest. This is for the 1 day combo course only. For all other courses, make checks out to Council and register through Council.

High Risk trips should have a First Aider that is also CPR certified, especially if you are on your own. Please contact Council if you are unsure as to whether or not you need a Firs Aider on a trip.

SERVICE UNIT NEWS: (Rachel Scotto-DiClemente)

1. Garden Tea Party:

This is a Bronze Award project for Junior Troop #1464. The tea party will be held on April 26th at the Grace Norton Rogers cafeteria. There will be 2 sessions: morning for Daisies and afternoon for Brownies. Please contact Jayne Lenzo for more information at JGLRN@msn.com.

2. Cookies:

The cookie sale is officially over. You can continue to sell any cookies that you have. However, all paperwork and money is due to Michele by March 3. Cookie evaluation forms were available at the meeting. Michele will have a box on her front porch. Please put your bank deposit slip in an envelope with your name and troop number on the outside.

Cookie Depot (Katie Kotaska): If you were unable to pick-up your cookies at the Cookie Depot last Friday because they ran out, please contact Angela Joyner (ajoyner@gscsnj.org) and she will try to help you fill your order.

3. World Thinking Day:

This event was a great success! The Daisy and Brownie girls had a wonderful afternoon learning about ways to protect and conserve water. $100 was raised to buy water filters for people in Africa who need clean drinking water. Many thanks go out to April Fierro, Renee Miller and the girls of Troop #913 for all of their hard work in coordinating this event!! Thanks also go out to all of the troops that participated in the booths and came up with demonstrations and activities for the Daisy and Brownie Scouts.

4. New Banking Policy:

All checking accounts going forward will require the following information by May of 2008:

New troop numbers with either the “70” or “71” pre-fix added Please do not put your level, ex. Brownie, Junior etc on the check)
Girl scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey
P.O. Box 306 is where statements should be sent:

Any mail for GSCSNJ troop numbers, EWAGS or GSCSNJ Service Unit #727 can be sent to this PO Box. Debbi Martinez or someone else will pick up the statements each month, review and make available at the following monthly leader's meetings. Arrangements for the summer months will be given at a later.

Reminder: You should always have at least 2 people on the check signer card (preferably, the leader and co-leader or treasurer.)

5. Uniform Exchange/International Uniforms:

There will no longer be a uniform exchange. However, if your are interested in using a collection of International uniforms for a presentation or to show your troop, please contact Joanne Tyne at JoanneTGS@aol.com.

6. Camping:

Council Campgrounds have filled-up quickly and were done by lottery. If you were unable to get into a camp, contact Katie Kotaska or Vicky Allen (Oak Spring). Other options might be Turkey Swap Park, Allairre State park or contact the Rolling Hills Council.

7. Problem in your troop?

Leaders and parents should try to make an effort to solve problems within troops by talking to the Organizer or Consultant of your level (ie. Daisy, Brownie etc). If you or your parent is not comfortable speaking with that person, you can contact one of the Consultants-at-Large or Service Unit Managers. Contact information for these folks can be found at: www.ewags.org under “Resources”. Then click on “Roster.” To access the roster, you will need to type in the following password: ewags411. If you are still uncomfortable or could not resolve your problem within the Service Unit, then please contact Katie Kotaska at Council. Please share this information with your parents.

8. Thank you Babysitters!

Many thanks to the girls of Troop #1476 for helping watch our kids during the Leader Meetings!

Post- Meeting……

9. EWAGS - Gold Award Project: Explore through Reading

A Teddy Bear Picnic with books will be held for 2nd and 3rd year Brownies on Saturday, March 29th. Each girl will bring in her favorite book to share with others. There will be fun activities also. Snacks will be provided for the picnic. The cost is $1/girl and no charge for Troop adults. Please register as at troop. The event will be held at the Cranbury United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall, 21 North Main Street, Cranbury, NJ 08512. Two time sessions: 10:30 am- 1:00 pm, and 2:00 pm- 4:30 pm.

The next Leader Meeting is scheduled for: March 17, 2008

January 2008 Leaders' Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:45:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leaders' Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

MESSAGE FROM COUNCIL:

1. Carole Miller from Council was present. She awarded Certificates of Appreciation to Renee Miller and Michele Giovine for all their work with the Cookie Sale.

2. Read a letter from Katie Kosta regarding Cookie Sales. The main message: “Girls Set Goals, Not Leaders.”

3. Cookies: A few questions were raised regarding cookies:

Why can’t you return un-opened cases of cookies?

It’s a food product. It’s something that only GSofDR did as a courtesy and they required a 2 day turn-around. The 2 Councils that we merged with never offered this courtesy and neither will the newly formed Council of GSCSNJ.

Did you have to pre-order cookie in November in order to get cookies from the depot in January? Council will research this.

Taste of Home – How do you record it on the order sheet?

Under the “Cookie Share” column. The buyer can not pick the type of cookie. The Scout should mark the # of boxes in the “Cookie Share” column and collect the money. The Scout will be given credit for the sale and should not take the box of cookies out of her supply.

Who gets which copy of the Cookie Deposit Slips?

1st copy goes to bank (white sheet)

2nd for troop records (yellow sheet)

3rd sheet is for Michele Giovine (pink)

4th copy (white photocopy from the bank that gets handed to Michele Giovine in March with the Troop’s paperwork)

SERVICE UNIT EVENTS:

World Thinking Day:

This is event is filled and is now closed. Please email April Fierro at April@troop913.com to let her know about how many Scouts you have volunteering or attending this event. She is ordering them this week!

Teddy Bear Picnic for 1st Year Brownies:

This event will be held on March 2nd at St. Anthony of Padua. Please contact Bernadette Moehringer or Diedre Masura for details.

Gold Award Event:

There is a Scout in Debee Gash’s troop who will be working on her Gold Award project. The theme is “Reading.’ Details to follow.

Early Bird Patches:

April Fierro handed out troop lists with Early Bird patches attached. Please review the list to make sure it is correct. Email any errors to April at april@troop913.com.

Clowning Event:

Joanne Tyne will be running a Brownie Clown workshop on Sunday, April 13. If you would like to receive the fliers via e-mail or if you have any questions, e-mail Joanne at JoanneTGS@aol.com

SUD MEETING INFORMATION FOR SERVICE UNIT:

1. Camp Booklets are going out this month.

2. Council Program booklets were given out. Please double-check events on-line at the Council web-site: http://www.gscsnj.org before registering. The most up-to-date information is always available there. You can also call the person running the event.

3. BLT 3 & 4. Going forward, leaders will need to be re-certified every 5 years. Leaders who already have their certification will be grandfathered in. However, it is always good to take a refresher, especially if you are camping at a campground you’ve never been to.

4. Questions or Concerns about something? Feel free to send your comments or questions to Council using the “feedback” prompt at the top of the CGSNJ web-page . They will contact you to discuss. The web-site is listed above.

5. First Aid/CPR – there is a class available at Council this Saturday, February 2/2.

6. WOW Workshops – there will be a workshop in Cape May on February 2 and on February 9th in South River. Please see the Council web-site for details.

7. Council Web-site: http://www.gscsnj.org is always your best source of information. Please register for newsletters.

8. Service Unit Monthly Meetings Attendance Policy: Sign-in sheets are being submitted and monitored by Council. Please make sure that your troop either has a leader or a parent present to represent your troop.

9. Please make your parents aware that there are 4 EWAGS Service Unit Directors available should they ever need talk to someone other than their daughter’s troop leader:

Debee Gash, Rachel Scotto DiClemente, Michele Charache, Francene Brown

NEW BANKING POLICY:

All checking accounts going forward will require the following information by April of 2008:

• New troop numbers with either the “70” or “71” pre-fix added Please do not put your level, ex. Brownie, Junior etc on the check)

• Girl scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey

• P.O. Box # for where statements should be sent(which Debbi Martinez will be supplying)

Reminder: You should always have at least 2 people on the check signer card (preferably, the leader and co-leader or treasurer.)

You can open your account at any bank. Council recommends Commerce because they have a lot of the information you’ll need in their system already.

Should you have any trouble with Commerce, please contact the following:

Nalimi Yarlagadda or Rose Ann Moffa (Atrium Customer Service Representatives), Nancy Santoro (VP/Retail Market Manager at either (856) 751-2739 or (856) 751-7317.

If you are using PNC Bank in Hamilton, all the information is on file as well. You can contact Debbie Cohen.

Debit cards are available at both Commerce and PNC banks. These can be used to register for Council events. All banks should give you the ability to review your account on-line at all times.

Problems with any bank? Contact: Andrea Miller, Director of membership Service (856) 697-3900.

Going forward, Debbi Martinez will be reviewing all bank statements and distributing them at the monthly Leader meetings. Financial Statements must be filed with Debbi Martinez by the end of the fiscal year (July 2008). She will send out more information closer to that time. Council will freeze bank account if paperwork is not received and they will prosecute those who are stealing.

The next Leader Meeting is scheduled for: February 25, 2008

October 2008 Leaders' Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:53:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE: Leaders' Meeting Minutes are provided as a courtesy to our leaders and do not take the place of meeting attendance.

Your consultant will be taking attendance at each Leaders' Meeting and forwarding this information to Council. The minutes will be posted on the website for future reference as well.

Service Unit Council Update – Debee Gash/Rachel Scott DiClemente:

Financial Update:

Banking issues are still unresolved so, for now, business as usual. If you are a new troop and need to open an account, please contact Rachel Scotto-DiClemente.

New Council Web-Site:

Please check out it’s new look and programs. http://www.gscsnj.org.

New Service Membership Specialist:

We welcomed Katie Kotaska as our new Specialist. She can be reached at www.kkotaska@gscsnj.org or by calling (800) 582-7692 x.357. Also, everyone at Council has a new email address. It’s the letter of their first name, then last name, ending @gscsnj.org.

Service Team Vacancies:

Service Team Vacancies have been filled:

Junior Organizer: Michele Charache

Cookie Booth Manager – Patti Dill

QSP Update:

All QSP Nut & Subscription orders and money were due to Ulrica Infosino by Tuesday (10/23).

Registrations:

April needs both copies of forms. Everything must be filled including Nationality, Employers of both parents (you can mark N/A if not working). Do not send personal checks or cash. Only troop checks written to “GSofDR” will be accepted. If using blank forms, please put your troop number on the form.

Cookie Sale: (January 24, – February 25th, 2008)

Cookies Sales will be conducted differently. Initial cookie orders are due at the November 26th Leader’s Meeting. Cookie Mom training will be coming up shortly. Please contact Michele Giovine ASAP if you missed Monday’s Leader Meeting. Her email address is mgiovine827@yahoo.com. Important things to note for this year’s Cookie Sale:

* cookies CAN NOT be sold before the sale begins (January 24, 2008)

* unsold cookies CAN NOT be returned

* cookie money is due March 3, 2008.

Meal-A-Month:

If you have already signed up for Meal-A-Month, please let Francene Brown know what month your troop is doing. If you are interested in delivering meals for Meal-A-Month, please contact Francene at francenebrown@comcast.net.

Interfaith:

This is a non-demoninational, non-sectarian prayer service which is held every Spring. In the past, it has been held at Meadow Lakes and the Peddie School Chapel. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, please contact Jeannine Lanphear at lanphear@att.net.

Sing-A-Long:

This Service Unit Event event will be held at the Kreps Middle School Multipurpose Room on November 18th from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Troops should plan to arrive by 5:45 pm for the event will promptly begin at 6:00 pm. If any older girl scouts (7th grade and over) would like to assist, please contact Joanne at JoanneTGS@aol.com. Troops are welcome to bring their troop and/or American flags for the flag ceremony.

Clowning Events:

Clown Training for Junior, Cadette & Senior Girl Scouts will be held Sunday, October 4, 1 to 5 PM. There are 7 registration spots still available. Registration closes October 27. For a registration form contact RainbowTyne@aol.com.

A Daisy Clown Party presented by Rainbow & Friends will be held on Sunday, February 10, 2008 at St. Anthony of Padua parish hall from 4 to 5:30 PM. To receive a registration form, contact Joanne Tyne at RainbowTyne@aol.com.

International Day:

This Service Unit event is usually held around February 23rd. Past events have included Girl Scout Olympics and a celebration of different countries. If anyone is interested in organizing this event, please contact one of the SUDs.

Giving Tree Ornaments:

Giving Tree Ornaments are due by the first week of November. Please contact Jayne Lenzo at jglrn@mns.com or drop them off at her home.

Deck the Walls:

These are holiday themed pictures that the girls can color. The pictures will be hung on the walls of a senior housing residence. Please ask the girls to only write their first name and Troop#. If you are need of packets, please stop by either Jayne Lenzo’s house or Peggy Wingo’s house. ONE PACKET per troop, please. Packets are due the first week of December.

Both Giving Tree and Deck the Walls are projects that can earn the girls Community Service hours and a holiday rocker.

Daisy & 1st Grade Halloween Party:

The party is being held this Saturday. Please contact Jayne Lenzo for information.

Camping Skill Program (Gold Award Project for Sarah Mills):

There is still space available for this program. It will be held on Saturday (10/27) and Sunday (10/28) at Etra Park, East Windsor from 11:30 – 6:00 pm. Fee is $5. No trip form is needed but parental supervision is required. If interested, please contact Sarah.

SUD in Need of Assistance:

Unfortunately, Loretta Holzbaur (one of our Service Unit Director for EWAGS) is currently in the hospital. She and her family (husband and 3 children) live in Hightstown and they can really use any help that we can offer. Please contact Francene Brown at francenebrown@comcast.net if you are interested in helping Loretta and her family. We wish you a speedy recovery, Loretta!!

Monopoly Basket:

Thank you to all who contributed in putting together the EWAGS Monopoly Basket. It was very well received and looked professionally done!

The Next Leader Meeting is scheduled for: Monday, November 26.

September 2007 Leaders' Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (EWAGS) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:18:00 +0000