VISTA 15:

Hawthorn Community Leader Meeting Minutes for 01/14/2008
 
1.     Send e-mail address updates to Valerie P.  Sorry about the conflict with the district school board meeting.  Both schedules were set at the beginning of the year and neither could be changed.

2.     Please review the Activity List in the attachment and choose an activity to assist with – commitments could be just one time, or a few regular hours during the life of the event.  Volunteers are still needed for two activities: Friendship Fair Co-chair and/or task assistance, and Fourth of July Parade Co-chair.  Ask your troop parents if they’re willing to help! 

3.     Update on Cookie Sale from Jeanne D and Karen B.  Site sale requests were due today (Jan 14) to Karen.  The site assignments will be forwarded back out by the end of this week.  Unfortunately the Jewel has been ‘claimed’ by the Adventure Guides for Feb and March, so we will have Dominick’s instead. 

4.     No update on Lifting the Winter from Linda G.

5.     Update on Museum Event from Valerie P.  Sign up by troop at www.naturemuseum.org for the overnight event at the Notebaert Nature museum in Chicago.  It is a clean, newer museum, easy to get to ,and parking is free!

6.   Girl Membership update from Janine J.  Kindergarten registration will begin in February, and new girls of all ages are expected to register.  Please e-mail Janine with your troop’s girl count and if you are accepting (or not) new girls next year so new interests can be placed quickly.

7.     Registration update by Barb W.  For those who have not yet registered for the CURRENT school year, please do so ASAP!  All eCouncil passwords have been reactivated for all troop leaders until February 11, 2008.  New ids and passwords will be provided for the upcoming school year registration.  Be sure to turn in your paperwork and $$ receipts to Barb.

8.     The Troop Photo night is scheduled for Feb 18.  Kelly B will have more details shortly.

 

9.     This year’s Winter Event is Roller Skating on Saturday, February 28, with registration and money due by February 18.  Additional information was e-mailed last night and the flyer will be posted on the website shortly.  This activity is for troops or individual Girl Scouts - please forward the info to your troop parents.  If Girl Scouts come on their own, their parent must stay during the activity.  Leadership assistance is needed from a Junior troop (this can count towards a badge or award activity!).  Please contact Sheri V or Laura B with questions.

 

10.    The theme for this year’s Friendship Fair is Endangered Animals.  Additional information was e-mailed today and the flyer will be posted on the website shortly.  Note the date has changed to Sunday, April 19, with registration and money due by February 20.  Please contact Donna C to volunteer small amounts of time for singular tasks to help make this event a success!

 

11.    The Try-It for this year’s Daisy/Brownie Workshop is Puppets, Dolls and Plays.  It is sponsored/run by Troop #2425 and scheduled for April 24 so save the date!  This event is typically where Daisies can earn their first Try-It as a requirement to bridge to Brownies, so it is open to bridging Daisies and any Brownie. 

 

12.    The Badge for this year’s Junior Badge Workshop is Print and Graphics.  It is sponsored/run by Troop #1374 and scheduled for May 8 so save the date.  This event is typically where Brownies can earn their first Badge as a requirement to bridge to Juniors, so it is open to bridging Brownies and any Junior. 

 

13.    The VISTA Spring Camporee has split into 2 weekends due to the size of our group.  May 1-3 has no more openings, and May 15-17 still has about 120 openings.  Both will be cut off at 300 each.  Detailed information flyers and activity sign up forms were e-mailed on December 31 to all troops and are posted on the website.  Please note that the forms and $ must be turned in to Jana D by March 23.  The order of receipt by Jana, of completed forms and $$, will determine your troop’s priority for activity registration.

 

Other news....Despite the weather, we had more turnout for our January meeting - thank you for participating!  In an effort to share great ideas on earning badges, it has been suggested that at each Hawthorn Community meeting, we have one or two leaders ’present’ an activity their troop did or badge their troop earned that was a success.  This is a wonderful opportunity for new or experienced leaders to share and learn from each other, and make planning troop meetings that much easier!  Our first Leader Share will be given at the February Community meeting by Kari P and Beth D who received recognition on their event from Mrs. McCaskey (yes...of the Chicago Bears fame!)!  Please let me know when you and your co-leader can volunteer for subsequent meetings!

 

Please log onto the VISTA website for VISTA and Community event details - there are quite a few happenings  www.ilcrossroads.org/vistas/15  Just a reminder....due to issues surrounding event planning, late event registrations will no longer be accepted.  This put a great strain and stress on our volunteers who ran the events in past years and is really not necessary.  So please be sure your girls are aware of all events on time, including ones that are individual rather than troop sign ups, so they will not be disappointed!

 

Our Hawthorn Roster, Activity List, Meeting Dates and Leader Listing is attached.  Please let me know if you are unable to open the Excel workbook and I will be happy to send you a copy snail mail.

 

Our next meeting is Monday, February 9 - see you there!

 

Thank you for all you do for our girls!  Your efforts are shaping our next generation of community and world leaders!

Valerie