Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana

Vernon Hills Regional Service Center

“ Through VISTAs, communities will understand the value of Girl Scouting! ”

Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Park Ridge, Skokie

  • 1,409 current girl members *
  • 480 current adult volunteers *

VISTA Meeting Detail

Service Unit 405 Meeting


Meeting Agenda:

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 - 7:00 pm

St. John Brebeuf Ministry Center, 8301 Harlem Avenue, Niles

no agenda defined yet

Meeting Minutes:

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 - 7:00 pm

St. John Brebeuf Ministry Center, 8301 Harlem Avenue, Niles

  1. Welcome, everyone!

    • Welcome and congratulations to all our new leaders who were invested into the Girl Scout program!
    • A big thank you to Morton Grove Cadette Troop #42525 and their leaders, Sharon S., Karen F., and Linda S. for leading our investiture and rededication ceremony. The girls did a fabulous job!
    • About a dozen new leaders were invested, and we all said the Girl Scout Promise together as a group.
    • Thank you to all those who donated peanut butter and jelly for the St. Paul of the Cross food pantry in advance of our Caroling and Hot Chocolate party. Donations to the food pantry are accepted any time of the year, and will be collected again the night of the party. (See below for event details.)

  2. Fall Product Sale

    • Thank you to all those girls who sold Fall Product.
    • Unfortunately, Service Unit 405 did not meet our goal, but we came close!
    • Delivery of nut and chocolate products is Saturday, November 19, 2011.
    • Niles/Morton Grove: at Joyce M.’s house in Glenview after 12:30 pm. Please call before picking up.
    • Park Ridge: St. Paul of the Cross lunchroom. Check with Chris W. (Park Ridge) for times.
    • Skokie/Lincolnwood: at Susie S.’s house in Morton Grove. Check with Susie for times.
    • Check your e-mail for further delivery information from your Community Fall Product Manager.

  3. Cookie Sale and Training

    • Training

    • Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 7:00 pm.
    • St. John Brebeuf Ministry Center, 8301 N. Harlem, Niles
    • This training was for cookie volunteers from all troops selling cookies. Cookie materials were distributed at this meeting.
    • If you missed this training, please contact your Community Cookie Manager.
    • Niles/Morton Grove: Joyce M.
    • Park Ridge: Chris W. and Sue S.
    • Skokie/Lincolnwood: Susie S. and Chris R. (Highland School)

    • Cookie Sale

    • Help Service Unit 405 reach our goal of 8,836 cases, or 106,032 boxes, of the best cookies ever! We can do it!
    • As a Troop Cookie Manager, here are the basic guidelines:
    1. Open your e-mails. It’s the easiest way to reach a large group of leaders quickly, and lots of information is disseminated via these e-mails.
    2. Not getting any e-mails? Put your Community Cookie Manager’s e-mail address in your address book (so the e-mails don’t end up in your Spam folder).
    3. Read the 2012 Troop Cookie Program Guide [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/cookie-resources] before calling for help. Chances are the answer to your question is in the guide.
    4. Be sure you are registered, and have completed a Volunteer Application so council can do a background check.
    5. Check your calendar to make sure that you do not have any conflicts on important cookie dates.
    6. Make sure you have access to a computer and the Internet so that you can access eBudde.
    • Cookie incentives for this year are really great! Back by popular demand, all incentives are cumulative! Among the incentives are themed water bottles (the #1 "most wanted" item) and pop art tote bags.
    • Troop awards are also available depending on the per-girl selling average.

  4. Caroling and Hot Chocolate Party

    • Start the season with a Girl Scout Troop Caroling Party!
    • All Service Unit 405 troops are invited to join the Caroling and Hot Chocolate Party on the Friday after Thanksgiving, November 25, 2011, starting at 6:30 pm.
    • Traditionally, on the day after Thanksgiving, Park Ridge hosts a winter festival. Among other activities, the stores are open, there are double-decker bus rides, and Santa Claus comes to town. Girl Scout troops are invited to sing carols almost anywhere they would like in Uptown Park Ridge, including outside the library, in front of stores, or even on the double-decker buses.
    • Troops are invited to the St. Paul of the Cross Gym before or after caroling, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm, for cookies and hot chocolate. It’s also a great place to drop off and pick up the girls, as well as a great place to warm up (depending on the weather!).
    • This is a free event.
    • Service Project: We are asking that each girl bring a non-expired jar of peanut butter and/or jelly for the St. Paul of the Cross Food Pantry.
    • Any non-expired, non-perishable food item or paper goods item is always accepted. Cash donations are accepted, as well. The food pantry at St. Paul’s serves the entire Park Ridge community, as well as surrounding communities.
    • Please submit your Trip Application to Sue S. (Park Ridge), Michael M. (Morton Grove/Niles) or Susie S. (Skokie/Lincolnwood); and best practice is to have your First Aid adult volunteer with you that evening.
    • If you have questions about this event, please contact Sue S. (Park Ridge).

  5. Girl Scout Cookie Kickoff Rally

    • Saturday, January 7, 2012
    • Rally starts at 2:00 pm.
    • Chicago Wolves (vs. Lake Erie Monsters) game starts at 7:00 pm.
    • Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Mannheim Rd., Rosemont
    • Cost: $15 per person; optional $4 food voucher
    • Register on-line at ChicagoWolvesStore.com [www.chicagowolvesstore.com/girl-scout-cookie-kickoff/]. (Click here to access the Event section of our web site.)
    • Registration deadline is December 16, 2011.
    • Tips from leaders who have attended previous rallies:
    • If you attend as a troop, and want to sit together, you must purchase all your tickets at the same time. Otherwise, girls can go with their families. You do not need a Trip Application for this troop activity, but it is recommended to have your First Aid volunteer in attendance.
    • It does get crowded, and it is a long day for the little ones, but it is a lot of fun.
    • Bring snacks for the afternoon. The concession stands do not open until closer to game time.
    • Most of the booths and activities are geared for the younger girls.

  6. Documentation

    • All completed training documentation and Trip Applications must be turned in to the following:
    • Niles/Morton Grove: Michael M.
    • Park Ridge: Sue S.
    • Skokie/Lincolnwood: Susie S.
    • Girl Scout sponsored events, such as the Cookie Kickoff Rally, or trips to a council site, do not need a Trip Application. However, your First Aid volunteer must go with you.
    • Please turn applications in at least 2 weeks before you plan on going on your trip. Trip applications must be signed. Applications will not be accepted without a signature.
    • Before you go on your trip, you need to check Safety-Wise for girl-to-adult ratios and other activity-specific information. Unfortunately, Safety-Wise is no longer available in print. Much of the information can now be found in the Volunteer Essentials 2011 booklet. Click here [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/volunteer-resources] to download Volunteer Essentials 2011, or click here [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/safety-activity-checkpoints] to see the safety requirements for specific activities. The old Safety-Wise booklet is outdated!
    • Make sure that the information for any adult who drives any scout besides their own daughter(s) is added to the application. This is no longer optional information. Drivers do not need to be certified in First Aid and CPR. They do need to carry permission slips and medical cards for any girl in their car.
    • Drivers need to be registered, and complete a Volunteer Application so that council can do a background check.
    • The emergency person on the application is NOT the leader. Someone who is not going on the field trip should be your emergency person. That person should have a list of everyone attending the trip, and emergency phone numbers for those attending.
    • Best practice: Take your First Aid/CPR volunteer with you on your trip. A copy of their CPR and First Aid cards should be on file with your community partner, as well as nurse’s license and paramedic’s certification. A minimum of one First Aid/CPR volunteer is needed per trip.
    • According to Illinois law, car seats are required for Daisies and some Brownies (8-year-olds and younger).

    • Certificates of Insurance

    • All trip facilities/locations need to have a COI listing Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 2120, Chicago, IL 60606 as the certificate holder.
    • There are already pages of destinations on file that list Girl Scouts on their COI. Please click here [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/volunteer-resources] and scroll to the bottom of the page. Download the document entitled Approved Certificates of Insurance to see if your destination is listed. If so, you don’t need a new certificate. If not, e-mail Gail (see below). You may need to get a certificate of insurance to add to the list.
    • All Catholic schools and many public schools, especially those that host GS meetings, have a COI.
    • Gail L., Vernon Hills Regional Service Center, GLudwigsen@girlscoutsgcnwi.org

  7. Thinking Day 2012 -- Girl Scouts 100th Birthday Celebration!

  8. Service Unit 405 Events -- Sandy H. (Park Ridge), Events Coordinator

    • Leader Appreciation Night
    • We are looking for a few dedicated volunteers to run this event. Please contact Sandy if you are interested.

  9. Council News -- Sara N., Membership Specialist

    • Please watch for an e-mail from Mary Beth C. (Park Ridge) for upcoming events.
    • Leader’s Conference on January 28, 2012
    • As part of the 100th Birthday Celebration, girls can participate in the Passport to History by visiting various locations around the city to see historical displays. Click here to download the 100th Anniversary Preview Booklet [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/media/files/Anniversary_Preview_Booklet_FINAL.pdf] and the Calendar of 100th Anniversary Events, Activities and Service Opportunities [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/media/files/calendarofevents_100thanniversary.pdf].

  10. Service Unit 405 Web Site

    • Minutes from all our Service Unit 405 meetings are available on-line. Every month, within a week of the meeting, Mary Beth C. (Park Ridge) sends out an e-mail containing a link to inform our volunteers that the minutes are posted. Click on the link to access the current minutes.
    • You can browse for all meeting minutes in two few ways:
    1. Go to www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org; click on the SUPPORT US tab; click on CURRENT VOLUNTEERS; click on SERVICE UNIT LINKS; click on VISTA 5. You will end up at the old www.ilcrossroads.org web site. Click on VISTA Meetings; click on the word Archived in the pink box to the right to see all the meeting minutes. Click on the desired date.
    2. Go directly to www.ilcrossroads.org; under the VISTAs pull down menu, click on VISTA 5. Click on VISTA Meetings; click on the word Archived in the pink box to the right to see all the meeting minutes. Click on the desired date.
    • Note: For those of you new to Girl Scouts, prior to being called Service Unit 405, we were known as VISTA 5.

  11. Adult Awards and Recognitions -- Margaret T. (Park Ridge)

    • Nominations for Adult Volunteer Awards and Recognitions that require council’s Board of Directors approval are due by December 31, 2011. These include Appreciation Pin, Honor Pin, Thanks Badge, Thanks Badge II, and President’s Award, as well as the new awards, Women of the Century, Hall of Fame and Daisy.
    • Click here to download the packet to submit a Nomination Form and Letters of Endorsement.
    • Please contact Margaret before sending your nomination to council to see if Margaret has additional information to add to your nomination, and to avoid duplicate nominations.
    • Also, please remember that awards and recognitions presented at our local May 9, 2012 Service Unit 405 meeting (Outstanding Leader, Outstanding Volunteer, Honor Roll and years of service pins) will be due to Margaret in the Spring. Further information will be available at a future Service Unit meeting.

  12. Roster

    • A special thanks to Michele H. (Skokie) who has done the impossible and updated our Service Unit 405 Roster!
    • Rosters are available per troop (one per troop), not per leader. If you did not pick up your roster at the November Service Unit meeting, please contact the following people:
    • Niles/Morton Grove: Michael M.
    • Park Ridge: Sandy H.
    • Skokie/Lincolnwood: Michele H.
    • Our apologies for any inconvenient phone calls or e-mails as we were trying to obtain information for the roster.
    • Although the information needed for the roster is essentially the same as the information submitted for registration, it is a separate process done by a separate group of volunteers. We are currently working on ways to improve the process of creating the annual roster.
    • If needed, we will distribute an update in January.

  13. Raffle

    • Congratulations to all those volunteers who won a coffee gift card in our end-of-meeting raffle.

 

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!

 

Thanks for coming to our Service Unit 405 meeting!

 

Next Service Unit 405 Meeting

Wednesday, JANUARY 11, 2012 at 7:00 pm

St. John Brebeuf Ministry Center

 

 

 
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