VISTA 5:

1. Welcome to Service Unit 405 Meeting

   • Welcome and thank you for coming.
   • We have lots of material to go over tonight.
   • Our end-of-meeting raffle is in honor of President’s Day--a Baker’s Square cherry pie or apple pie; and four Mikasa picture frames that were generously donated. Good luck!

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

   • Please start thinking about those volunteers who are doing an outstanding job and nominate them to be recognized or awarded a special Girl Scout award pin.
   • All nominations are due to Margaret by February 17, 2012.
   • Information can be found at www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org by searching for 2012 Adult Recognition Packet or by clicking here [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/2012-adult-recognition-packet].
   • These awards will be approved by our local Service Unit 405 task force first; then sent to council for their approval by March 1st.
   • These awards will be given locally at our May 9, 2012 Service Unit 405 meeting.
   • All nominees must be registered, trained, and owe no money to council.
   • When completing the Awards Nomination Application, please be as specific as reasonable. Details are important. Generalities such as "she is very creative" are helpful, but what has she done to show her creativity?

   • Council Recognition Luncheon

   • Those people receiving these awards will also be recognized at a council luncheon.
   • Saturday, April 21, 2012
   • Registration starts at 11:00 am; Luncheon 12 Noon - 3:00 pm
   • White Eagle Banquets
   • 6839 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles
   • Cost: $27
   • Theme: Celebrate! Our Promise: Then, Now & Forever
   • Any troop interested in making table favors, please contact Sara N. at the Vernon Hills Regional Gathering Place.

   • Awards

   • Outstanding Leader Pin recognizes the leader or co-leader who has done an exceptionally good job with her troop. This award requires two letters of endorsement. This is the last year that we will be awarding this pin. This pin is being retired by Girl Scouts as of June 1, 2012.
   • Outstanding Volunteer Pin is for the volunteer (school organizer, event coordinator, cookie mom, troop committee member, etc.) who has surpassed what she was expected to do in a position other than that of troop leader. This is the last year that we will be awarding this pin. This pin is being retired by Girl Scouts as of June 1, 2012.
   • New Found Treasure Award is for a volunteer who was registered last year, and returned for a second year and "hit the ground running." This pin may only be awarded once to any leader or volunteer.
   • Hidden Heroine Award is for the volunteer who has a history or reputation of always being there when needed, picking up the slack, stepping in at the last moment, or volunteering for additional assignments or responsibilities beyond the expectations of her/his volunteer position. This pin may only be awarded once to any leader or volunteer.
   • Service Unit 405 Honor Roll is meant to honor volunteers who do not fit the criteria of other recognitions.
   • Years of Membership pins: The recognition task force would like to award our volunteers their Years of Membership pins for years of membership as both a girl and adult, and issued in 5-year increments. If you think you are eligible to receive this pin or know someone else who might be eligible, please complete the appropriate page of the nomination application, or contact Margaret.

3. Cookie Sale Update

   • A great big THANK YOU to all of our Cookie Volunteers.
   • A great big THANK YOU to all of our girls who sold cookies. We met our goal!

   • Cookie Sale Managers

   • Service Unit 405: Sue S. (Park Ridge) and Chris W. (Park Ridge)
   • SU 405 Site Sale Managers: Barbara M. (Morton Grove) and Jennifer M. (Park Ridge) [No Trip Application is needed for site sales]
   • Niles/Morton Grove: Joyce M.
   • Skokie/Lincolnwood: Susie S.
   • Park Ridge Cookie Managers: Sue S. and Chris W.
   • Park Ridge Delivery Day Manager: Allison B. (from Carpenter)
   • If you have any questions regarding cookies, before you contact your Community Cookie Manager, please check your paperwork. The answer to your question may already be in your possession!

   • Delivery Day

   • Niles/Morton Grove: Saturday, Feb. 11 at A-1 Towing
   • Skokie/Lincolnwood: Friday, Feb. 10
   • Park Ridge: Friday, Feb. 17
   • Please, NO CHILDREN AT THE DELIVERY SITE!

   • Site Sales

   • There are still 85 time slots open in our Service Unit 405 communities (Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Park Ridge, and Skokie) and lots more outside of our five communities.
   • There are a number of ways to secure your site sale. Please contact Barbara or Jennifer if you have questions.
   • Ebudde sign-ups: You will be required to sign up on-line and can choose 3 hour blocks of time for selling in various communities around the region. You are not limited to selling in your town.
   • My Sales: These are locations for troops that have a personal relationship with a specific organization or business. These sites must be entered into Ebudde under MySales so that council has a record of where you are both for safety and insurance reasons, however no one else can secure your site.
   • Chicago Loop Sales: These are 12-hour blocks of time in very busy downtown buildings. You must commit for the entire time at one location. If you are interested, you must contact council and fill out an application of commitment. These dates are random, and are all weekdays. Cookies will be delivered to the location for you and picked up at the end of the day. For additional details please contact council directly. Two such dates available are: March 28th and April 3rd.
   • Please make sure that girls are respectful regardless of which site sale you participate in. Do not harass store customers.
   • Your entire troop does not/should not be at your site sale at the same time. Stagger the girls’ time slots. 3-4 girls at a time are sufficient.
   • Important note for troops with confirmed site sale at Dominick’s: you will need an approval letter to give to the store manager upon arrival. Please contact Jennifer M. (Park Ridge) with your troop number, Dominick’s location and date and time of your site sale at least 48 hours prior to your sale. Troops that do not have this letter of approval will not be able to sell their cookies.
     

   • Cookie Costumes

   • Thank you to Joyce M. (Niles/Morton Grove) for finding Cookie Costumes to use at the site sales!
   • Hurry! The schedule is filling up fast. Please contact Joyce for information on using the costumes.
   • Depending on demand, you may be able to use one or more of the costumes.
   • Costumes should be picked up and returned to Joyce within 24 hours after your site sale is completed.
   • You are responsible for replacing these costumes if they get ruined.

4. Registration

   • Join the "It’s Not Too Late" recruitment campaign to add 1 new girl/1 new adult per troop and help Service Unit 405 meet their registration goals.
   • This campaign started on January 16, 2012 and runs through March 12, 2012.
   • We have over 80 troops in our Service Unit. A troop must have a minimum of 5 girls and 2 adults.
   • Register your drivers and product activity volunteers (cookie and fall). Best practice is to register your First Aid/CPR volunteer or any parent who is a regular troop helper.
   • A big thank you to those troops who have already increased their rosters.

5. Girl Scout Week

   • Every year we celebrate the birthday of Girl Scouts on March 12th. Girl Scout Week begins on the Sunday prior to March 12 and is often celebrated with some type of service or ceremony. During Girl Scout Week girls of all ages come together to celebrate by participating in ceremonies, events and service projects.
   • Girl Scout Week 2012 begins on Sunday, March 11th.
   •  
   • St. Paul of the Cross, 320 S. Washington, Park Ridge invites any Girl Scout to Girl Scout Sunday on March 11, 2012 at the 9:00 am mass in the upper church. Girls are asked to wear their uniform. The group will assemble in the foyer of the lower church at 8:40 am.
   • If your troop is receiving a religious award, please contact Karen H. (Park Ridge) with the religious award name, list of girls receiving the award, and the religious moderator’s name by February 29th to be included in the church bulletin.
   •  
   • Church Bulletins
   • If you would like information to be inserted into your church bulletin (paper or electronic copies), please contact Sara N, our Membership Specialist in the Vernon Hills Gathering Place.

6. Camp Anokijig

   • Friday, August 24 - Sunday, August 26, 2012
   • This year’s camping trip is very late starting after most schools start in August because Camp Anokijig, a former YMCA camp, is a not-for-profit camp that runs their own summer programs. These were the first dates available to our Service Unit.
   • Please click here for Nancy’s letter to troop leaders and registration information.
   • The complete registration packet will be distributed shortly. Please watch your e-mails from Mary Beth C. (Park Ridge) or check the Events sections of our Service Unit 405 web site.

   • Outdoor Training (for camping)

   • Outdoor Module 1 -- this is a self-study training, and a pre-requisite for Outdoor Module 2.
   • Outdoor Module 2 -- for cabin camping
   • Outdoor Module 3 -- for tent camping
   • If you are going to a Girl Scout owned camp, and food and activities are going to be done for you, leaders do not need to be trained.
   • If you are going to a Girl Scout camp, and you and the girls are preparing your own food and activities, leaders need to be trained.
   • If you are going to a non-Girl Scout camp, even if food and activities are going to be done for you, leaders do need to be trained.
   • Classes starting in March are on-line. Search the on-line registration for Outdoor Adult Training.
   • Click here [register.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/] to access the online registration, or go to register.girlscoutsgcnwi.org.

7. 100th Birthday Promise Circle

   • A great big THANK YOU to Sandy H. (Park Ridge) for organizing this event for our entire Service Unit 405.
   • Please join your fellow Girl Scouts, leaders, volunteers, and alumni for the 100th Anniversary Promise Circle on
   • Monday, March 12, 2012
   • Golf Mill Shopping Center, North Milwaukee Ave. (at Golf Rd.), Niles
   • Meet in the center lobby near the food court about 6:40 pm.
   • At exactly 7:12 pm (19:12 military time), we will recite the Girl Scout Promise, Girl Scout Law and sing the first 2-3 verses of Make New Friends. (Click here [www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/makenewfriends.html] to learn all 8 verses of the song.)
   • Everyone should be wearing his or her uniform or a Girl Scout t-shirt.
   • Click here to see the event flier.
   • This is a council event, so no Trip Application is needed. However, parents should complete a permission slip, leaders should carry their girls’ Emergency Health History cards. Make sure you have enough chaperones for the amount and age level of the girls attending.
   • This entire event will take about 15 minutes. Do not be late! Get the little ones to the bathroom in plenty of time!

8. Thinking Day 2012 -- Girl Scouts 100th Birthday Celebration

   • Our Service Unit 405 event is quickly approaching!
   • Please bring your SWAPs in a Ziploc bag. The SWAP interaction will happen early in the event.
   • Girls should wear their uniform.
   • Adults attending should wear a uniform, as well--navy slacks or skirt; white or cream-colored blouse; and a dark green insignia tab with pins (GS pin, membership numeral guard, WAGGGS pin, leader bar, SU team bar) on your left side over your heart.
   • Begin to arrive at 9:40 am. Pick up is at 12:30 pm.
   • Table assignments will be e-mailed shortly. Almost every troop is split. Every table must have at least one adult sitting with the girls.
   • Bring a camera!
   • Service Project: please bring a new or gently used children’s book to be donated to a local charity.
   • Thank you to Sandy H. (Park Ridge) and Karen H. (Park Ridge) for organizing this event.
   •  
   • If you haven’t made your SWAPs yet, there is still time.
   • Suggested Amounts: Daisies--10-12 swaps; Brownies--12-15 swaps; Juniors and older--20-25 swaps. The more you make, the more you get!
   • Here are some links to look for ideas. Or just google SWAPS and see what you find.
   • www.girlscouts.org/gs_central/swaps/
   • swaps-a-lot.ecrater.com
   • www.makingfriends.com/swaps.htm
   • prokidwriter.hubpages.com/hub/Girl-Scout-SWAPs
   • www.squidoo.com/swaps
   • www.myswapscollection.com/
   • www.goddesscamp.org/campfire/swaps.htm
   • gsleaders.org/files/swaps.htm
   • trudyd.homestead.com/swaps.html
   • www.snappyswaps.com/index.php

9. Council News and Updates

   • Check out the Girl Scout Shop, online [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/shop] or at one of seven Regional Gathering Places.
   • Items include: It’s Cookie Time!; NEW 100th Anniversary Merchandise; and new logo items.
   •  
   • Service Unit 405 received a thank you note from the Marillac House [www.marillachouse.org/] for our donations of canned food to help meet the needs of struggling families in their community.
   •  
   • Girl Scout Chemistry Day 2012
   • Saturdays, April 14, 21 or 28 at College of DuPage, College of Lake County, or Valparaiso University, respectively.
   • Click here to see the official flier.
   •  
   • SAVE THE DATE for the Inaugural Cookie Classic Timed 5K Race, Walk and Expo!
   • Saturday, September 8, 2012
   • Grant Park, Chicago
   • Race starts at 9:00 am. Expo goes until 5:00 pm.
   • Open to the public. Bring friends and family. Registration coming soon.
   • Click here [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/Default.aspx?PageID=6557663&A=SearchResult&SearchID=3458478&ObjectID=6557663&ObjectType=1] for official information.
   •  
   • Join Service Unit 406 for their 100 Years celebration in Schaumburg on August 12, 2012. Click here to see the event flier.

10. E-mails and Web Site Communications

    • Thank you to Mary Beth C. (Park Ridge)
    • If you are not receiving our Service Unit 405 e-mails, or you know of a leader who is not receiving them, and would like to, please contact Mary Beth.
    •  
    • Thank you to Michele H. (Skokie) for our meeting minutes.
    • Minutes from our monthly Service Unit 405 meetings are posted on-line within a week of the meeting. Please try to read them. They have a lot of information, along with links to specific activities and web sites.
    • Minutes can be found at www.ilcrossroads.org/vistas/5/meetings/archive/ or www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/su_links and select VISTA 5.

11. Trainings

    • Please remember that you need to have completed your trainings to continue as a leader.
    • Girl Scouting 101 (formerly Orientation)
    • Volunteer Essentials
    • Grade Level Leader Training
    • Download the Council Training Calendar [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/adult-learning-opportunities] for dates and times of classes throughout our entire council.
    •  
    • Service Unit 405 will be offering a local Daisy (Program code: 1146), Brownie (Program code: 1250) & Junior  (Program code: 1338) Grade Level Leader Training on Monday, April 30, 2012 at 6:30 - 9:30 pm at St. John Brebeuf. Please check the on-line registration [register.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/index.php?page=search&action=new] for more details and to register for this training.

12. Silver Award -- Cadette Troop 41781

    • Please help Lauren, Roshni, Devin and Bridgette of Morton Grove’s Cadette Troop 41781 earn their Silver Award.
    • They are collecting non-perishable food items for Hilda’s Place, a homeless shelter for single men and women in Evanston. It provides overnight shelter to 34 adults and is open 365 days a year. It also provides meals and assists these men and women in their transition to independence.
    • Thank you for your generosity in helping these girls to help others.
    • A drop off will be available at the Morton Grove Park District facility.
    • Please contact Jeannie H. (Morton Grove) if you have any questions.

13. Girl Scout Green Ribbon Campaign

    • Troops will be receiving a packet of green Girl Scout ribbons attached to a card when they pick up their cookies on delivery day. These ribbons are to be distributed to each registered girl and adult in your troop, who will then give them to a former Girl Scout.
    • The card will include information on how to connect with the GCNWI Alumnae Association. Please ask these former Girl Scouts to wear their ribbon proudly during Girl Scout Week (March 11-17, 2012).

14. Leader Appreciation and Award Recognition

    • Thank you to Cadette Troop 40791 and their leaders, Judie E. (Niles) and Michele H. (Skokie) for volunteering to run this event.
    • May 9, 2012

15. Summer Camp

    • Summer camp catalogs are now on-line. Click here [www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/summer-camp] to download.
16. Raffle

• Congratulations to all those who won the pies and picture frames!

Happy President’s Day!

Next Service Unit 405 Meeting:

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 7:00 pm

St. John Brebeuf Ministry Center