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Holiday Greetings

Girl Scouts of Buckeye Trails had the most wonderful week hosting open houses for all our many friends. On Monday, we invited all the contractors and their families and our staff's family to see the beautiful results. On Wednesday, an unseasonably warm and sunny day, we welcomed our generous donors and community leaders. On Saturday and Sunday, the place rocked with close to 2000 Girl Scouts and their families. The operative word we heard at every occasion was WOW! 

It was especially rewarding to see the girls excitement as they raced from room to room to see what was waiting for them. The For Girls/By Girls committee, identified by their neon green tee shirts, conducted the tours and proudly explained the many "green" features of the building. The guides also pointed out the signature stain glass art windows that were created by the girls. Around the corner they discovered the climbing wall and many of them put on the gear and reached the top! Needless to say, the opportunities are many and only limited by the imagination. 

 There were so many that helped to make this such a success. We want to thank you for your support and invite you to come back any time.

 Other news to share with you:

The Council Realignment Committee (CRC) continues to meet and prepare for the Girl Scout merger. Under their direction, the staff  of each Council has completed the due diligence work that will be used by the integration committees to establish best practice for the new Council. By mid-January, the CRC will issue an update to all of the membership on the new plans. Debbie Watts, Jacquie Powell and I represent Buckeye Trails on the committee.

The Board of Directors approved the sale of the ranger house and 30 acres of land at Camp Whip-Ppoor-Will to our ranger Mark Spencer and his family. The sales agreement includes the "right of first refusal" if Mark would decide to sell the property. The wagon unit that was located on this side of camp will be relocated to the main camp area for use this spring. The wagons are popular with the girls but did not get used because they were so far from the other facilities.
 
The Council offices and camps will be closed for the holidays beginning on December 20th and re-opening on January 2.  The following Saturday, January 6th, will be the kick-off date for the Cookie sale and beginning of the Girl Scout 95th Birthday celebration. 
 
It is now time to close the year and wish you and your family a very special holiday season. May you find time to relax, reflect, and enjoy your many blessings.

Warm wishes,

 Ann Granger

Girl Scouts Announces RECYCLE -
the Art Competition

Explore your creativity, express your imagination and expose your talents. The theme is RECYCLE and how you communicate it is up to you! Enter the GSUSA Recycle art competition today! Find a means of recycling, reusing or reducing that could make a difference and express it in a way that means something to you!

Twelve Girl Scout winners, selected by a panel of professionals in the art and environmental industries, will have their art work reproduced in the 2008 GSUSA fundraising calendar, and will have their art shown in a gallery exhibition in NYC. The artwork may also be reproduced on t-shirts, merchandise where applicable for retail purposes or used in other marketing materials.

How to Enter:

Submission Forms can be downloaded in PDF format from girlscouts.org, gogirlsonly.org and studio2B.org. All entries must be received by January 31, 2007.

Talking Trash
Each American produces about 4.4 pounds of waste daily, which means that over the course of a year, the U.S. produces some 229 million tons of municipal waste.

The Three R's – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
You reduce when you buy stuff with less packaging or make cool picture frames out of CD cases. You reuse when you fix a rip in your jean bag instead of throwing it out or you donate a birthday gift to a woman's shelter because it doesn't fit you. You recycle when you provide used stuff to make new products. That can mean park benches or carpets made out of some plastic bottles.

Why Are the Three R's Important?
Because without them, all the stuff you throw away turns into a boomerang. How's that? It comes right back at you, that's how. Those dead batteries from your MP3 player or cell phone, bottles of dried up nail polish, your old computer, all go to landfills – space that could have been developed into a beautiful park or homes or anything but stinky, toxic trash! Plus the chemicals in that stuff can leak out of the landfill into oceans, rivers, and groundwater – water you use for swimming, canoeing, and even drinking.

Since 1912, Girl Scouts has been a proponent of environmental stewardship. Through the Law, Girls Scouts are taught to "use resources wisely" and "to make the world a better place." These values are re-enforced by programs and opportunities offered through GSUSA's Elliott Wildlife Values Project (EWVP) and close partnerships developed with councils nationwide. 

New Dates! All Ages and Adult Drop-in Ceramics

All registered Girl Scouts can come in and work on a ceramic project of their choice. Call ahead for groups of 15 or more.  Come in the following Tuesday evening to purchase ceramics for yourself or troop.

When:  January 8
When:  February 5
When:  March 5
Time:  6 – 8:30 p.m.
Where:  Urban Campus
Cost:  $3 plus the price of the piece

New Information!
All Ages and Adults Ceramics on the Go

Can't find time to come to a class? Have the class come to you. Stop in Studio One to pick the item the troop would like to do on the first Monday of every month through June or the following Tuesday. Cost: $10 for the paint kit plus the price or each piece. Call Amy Sera at (937) 279-6551 to arrange to check out the box.

Special Request Advance Notice:

20-25 pieces       6 weeks
26-50 pieces       8-10 weeks
51-75 pieces       12 weeks
76 + will need to set up a meeting to go over details

Scout Shabbat

The Dayton Jewish Committee on Scouting invites all Girl Scouts to its annual Scout Shabbat (Sabbath) Service on Saturday, February 10 at 10:00 a.m. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts from across the Miami Valley will participate in the service, and religious awards will be presented. This year the service will be held at Temple Beth Or, 5275 Marshall Road (corner of Rahn and Marshall) in Washington Township. Girl Scouts of all faiths are welcome; there will
be time after the service for questions. A light lunch will be served. If your troop would like to attend or if you would
like more information, contact Cantor Joyce Dumtschin at 435-3400.

Girl Scout Night at the Dayton Bombers

Miami Valley TechFest 2007

Girl Scouts Night at the Opera - January 26, 2007

HMS Pinafore is a brilliant and hilarious comedy in which the sailor Ralph pines after the lovely Josephine, the daughter of the Pinafore's Captain. But a Captain's daughter could never (well, hardly ever) consider the advances of a lowly sailor and is to marry the punctilious Sir Joseph Porter, 1st Lord of the Admiralty. Classes collide until a "switched-at-birth" episode is revealed and it is discovered that Ralph is actually of high class. Ralph marries his beloved Josephine and all is set right in the world! Sung in English with English surtitles.

 TIME:  Registration from 3:30-4 p.m.
             Workshops 4-6 p.m.
             Dinner (on your own) 6:10-7:45 p.m.
             Performance 8 p.m.

Order Form

LOCATION:  Workshops and performance will take place at the Schuster Center.

Get Ready to Step It Up!

The 2007 Girl Scout Cookie Sale will kick off on January 5, with all your favorites and a new sugar free cookie. Girls will begin taking your orders in January. Check the January eNewsletter for all the details.

New this year:  All Girl Scout cookies are now
0 Transfats.

Join us for the 95th Birthday Celebration at the Nutter Center!

Bring the whole family to the Nutter Center for our annual celebration. Saturday, January 6 beginning at 11 a.m. followed by the Wright State Women's Basketball Game vs. Butler at 1 p.m. Tickets for the celebration and game are $1 per person and are available at the Nutter Center ticket office.

Activities include:  autograph signing with the Wright State Women's sports teams and lots of hands-on fun projects. Come out and taste our delicious cookies including the new sugar free Little Brownie.

Congratulations Amber!

As a grand-prize winner in the GSUSA Defy The Ordinary – Rock Out With the Girl Scouts Sweepstakes, our own Amber Penny of Troop 239 was selected to receive the Girl Scouts MP3 Player. We encourage you to be on the lookout for future sweepstakes, contests and Girl Scout fun at http://www.studio2b.org/.

Senior Girl Scouts!
Check Out the 2007 Scholarships

There are five scholarships available annually through Girl Scouts of Buckeye Trails Council. All applicants for these scholarships are required to complete and submit the application and all the requested documentation for review by the scholarship committee by January 10, 2007.

Clip Art for Troops

Looking for illustrations of girls participating in program activities and other images? Look no further! Categorized for easy reference, the Girl Scout Graphics Gallery  gives Girl Scouts, troops and service units access to useful images.