Cookie Classic Success

The weather outside was HOT, HOT, HOT, but that didn't dampen the spirits of our 2007 Cookie Classic enthusiasts! With the support of a great group of golfers and generous sponsors, Girl Scouts of Buckeye Trails Council was able to raise nearly $24,000 for our healthy living and mentoring initiatives. A special thanks to our sponsors. Read more and see photos. 

Pampered Camper

Prizes are:
1st Prize - 2 Round Trip US Airways Tickets (valued at $1200) - Courtesy of US Airways

2nd Prize - Murphin Ridge Bed & Breakfast Package (valued at $500) in West Union, OH

3rd Prize - 2GB iPod Nano (valued at $180) with accessories - Courtesy of The Huelsman Agency, Inc.

4th Prize - $100 US Savings Bond - Courtesy of KeyBank

Congratulations to the Early Bird Prize Winners

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio - Who We Are

The Girl Scouts of Western Ohio will be comprised of a combination of the western portion of Ohio and a bit of Indiana. This includes merging the following councils, all of which fall along the 1-75 corridor:  Maumee Valley in Toledo, Appleseed Ridge in Lima, Buckeye Trails in Dayton, and Great Rivers in Cincinnati. Girl Scouts of Western Ohio will serve almost 60,000 girls and 18,000 adult volunteers in a 32 county region. The new structure will make the most effective use of resources to better serve our communities and create more opportunities in Girl Scouting for even more girls.

The four Ohio councils are uniting to create an even stronger council that has optimal impact on leadership development for the largest number of girls. The realignment will also significantly increase the number of volunteers participating in Girl Scouting throughout Western Ohio and enhance the volunteer experience.

Each of our councils has key strengths that our new council will share along with new opportunities and improvements. Western Ohio is realigning to offer premium services to all girls in our area. These are exciting times for Girl Scouting in Western Ohio!

Service Regions
Girl Scouts of Western Ohio will be comprised of four regions that represent the original four council service areas. The current council names will be retained as regional identifiers.   All four service centers will remain open. All camps and program centers will remain open and will be available to the entire new council. The Service Center locations are as follows:

Maumee Valley Region
2244 Collingwood Blvd
Toledo, OH 43620
416-243-8216 or 1-800-860-4516
(FAX) 419-245-5357

Appleseed Ridge Region
1870 W. Robb Ave.
Lima, OH 45805
419-225-4085 or 1-800-96-APPLE
(FAX) 419-229-7570

Buckeye Trails Region
450 Shoup Mill Road
Dayton, OH 45415
937-275-7601 or 1-800-233-4845
(FAX) 937-275-1147

Great Rivers Region
4930 Cornell Road
Cincinnati, OH 45242
513-489-1025 or 1-800-537-6241
(FAX) 513-489-1417

Launch of New Web Site

We are pleased and excited to announce that Girl Scouts of Western Ohio launched a joint web site on July 1, 2007. The new web site will be a central source for merger information. Each council will be maintaining their current web site for local services and information. The new combined site will have links to all four of the current council web sites.

Troop Numbers

As we move toward the merger and become Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, it is necessary to adopt a system for dealing with duplicate troop numbers across the four councils. The new council will be composed of over 4,450 troops. In an effort to be fair to all troops involved, we will be using a new system that is recommended by Girl Scouts of the USA.

All troops will receive a five-digit troop number for 2008, while retaining the digits of their original troop number. The four merging councils will add a prefix to the beginning of existing troop numbers that will identify the service region. Zeros will be inserted after the prefix to make the troop number five digits.

The prefix was assigned to each council from north to south as follows:
• Maumee Valley Region – 1
• Appleseed Ridge Region – 2
• Buckeye Trails Region – 3
• Great Rivers Region – 4

Examples:
• Troop 35 from Maumee Valley Region will become 10035
• Troop 3 from Appleseed Ridge Region will become 20003
• Troop 789 from Buckeye Trails Region will become 30789
• Troop 1164 from Great Rivers Region will become 41164

Implementation will begin this summer with all troops being assigned numbers using the new system. Service Unit report codes will remain three digits but will also be changed to begin with the regional prefix. For example, service unit report code 612 in Buckeye Trails would become 312.

We are aware of the impact of purchasing new numbers and new council identification strips. Watch the council web site for updates and upcoming newsletters for exciting news about special offers and incentives.

New Girl Scout Cookie Baker Selected for Girl Scouts of Western Ohio

Buckeye Trails Council is pleased to announce that ABC Bakers is the Official Girl Scout Cookie Baker for the newly merged Girl Scouts of Western Ohio's 2008 Girl Scout Cookie Sale.

The delicious new cookie selection consists of Lemonades, Thanks-A-Lot (All Abouts), Carmel deLites (Samoas), Peanut Butter Patties (Tagalongs), Shortbread (Trefoils), Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwich (Do-Si-Dos) and new 100 calorie pack Cinna-Spins. 

Selling Girl Scout cookies has been part of our Girl Scout heritage and tradition for 90 years.  It is an important part of what makes Girl Scouts the world's largest organization dedicated to girls. We are all excited about the opportunities this decision brings and look forward to partnering with ABC Bakers to create an outstanding cookie sale for 2008. For more information on the new Girl Scout Cookie varieties and ABC Bakers please visit their web site. 

This first major decision for Girl Scouts of Western Ohio was based on a recommendation by the Cookie Selection Task Group. The task group was comprised of equal representation from all four merging Western Ohio Girl Scout Councils, including Maumee Valley (Toledo), Appleseed Ridge (Lima), Buckeye Trails (Dayton) and Great Rivers (Cincinnati).  A process was developed and implemented for the selection of the cookie supplier for the combined sale. Each member of the Cookie Selection Task Group had experience and expertise in the Girl Scout Cookie Sale and each council was responsible for selecting its own members from staff, operational volunteers, and board members.

Some of the criteria used to make this choice included:
• A knowledgeable, responsive, experienced baker team able to support the cookie sale throughout the council
• User friendly cookie sale software
• Theme & Materials are designed to be girl, parent and volunteer friendly and linked to the Girl Scout Program
• Creative marketing plan to maximize the effectiveness of the sale
• Demonstrated reliable delivery service – cookies available when and where needed
• Overall product selection and quality
• Best total financial package
• Baker's commitment to ongoing research
• Demonstrated history in large councils (volume and/or geography)
• Support for merger – best partner to facilitate a smooth transition of the cookie sale into one unified process for the new council

After interviewing a team from each baker and reviewing information presented as to how they would meet the set criteria, the Cookie Selection Task Group was excited to recommend to the merging council CEOs that ABC Baker be the official Girl Scout Cookie Baker for Girl Scouts of Western Ohio.

We recognize that selecting a new cookie baker and creating a unified cookie sale for all four merging Girl Scout councils will create variations to each regions sale. Your continued support for this very valuable economic literacy and business skills activity will help Girl Scouts of Western Ohio change the lives of girls. As we continue through the realignment process more details will follow such as cookie pricing, dates and girl/troop recognitions. Please check back later this summer for additional 2008 Girl Scout Cookie Sale updates.

Exciting New Publication

Watch your mail at the end of this month for the new publication "WHAT"S HAPPENING!" Included in this new book are news, program listings, adult learning opportunities and helpful information. This comprehensive book replaces the old Buckeye Trails University catalog, Just Us Girls program guide and Totally You program guide. We hope you enjoy the convenience of having everything in one book.

Go GREEN at Wright State! Register Now!

The Girls Ready to Explore Engineering Now (GREEN) Program is a fun-filled 3-day residential camp for rising 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls. Campers will experience engineering in the real world and the academic world through interesting design projects, tours, interactive activities and much, much more! Girls will be supervised 24-hours a day by current engineering students and staff from the College.
 
The GREEN Program will be held August 1 - 3, 2007 on the Wright State University campus.
 
Cost: $175, which includes housing, linens, meals and supplies
 
The camp is limited to 60 participants, 20 from each grade level. Space will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information, contact Ann Wright at (937) 775-5011 or by email at ann.wright@wright.edu.
 
To download GREEN Program application, visit their web site.

Community Service Project

"The Adopt An Area" program is a great community service project sponsored by the Montgomery County Solid Waste District, Montgomery County Engineer's Office, and partnering municipalities. Just choose an area you would like to adopt, complete the application contract and release forms, and clean your area at least twice a year.

Personalized Adopt An Area signs will be available for your area. Participants can receive promotional items, media/web coverage, and invitations to special Solid Waste District events. Your group will be provided with safety training, vests, trash bags, and trash disposal if needed.

(Please note that participants must be at least twelve years old). For more information call 225-4999 or visit their web site.

Cincinnati Ballet Girl Scout Workshops

Greetings from the President of the Blue Star Mothers of America, Miami Valley Chapter #3, in Dayton, Ohio

Our chapter received over 2,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from all over the Miami Valley area. The Girl Scouts and Brownie Troops wanted the boxes sent to the troops. So, I'm very happy to tell you that all 2,000 boxes of cookies have been packed and shipped to our Heroes overseas.   
 
Below is a letter we received from one of our Chaplains that received several boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I thought you would enjoy sharing this letter with all of the troops here in Ohio. 
 
LETTER FROM CHAPLAIN WILSON, 10th Mountain Division: 
 
Dear Girl Scouts: 
 
Thank you so much for the cookies! No matter how old we get we love cookies. We know that you do much more than just cookies and we hope you continue to work hard to complete your badges. We hope you've studied a little bit about Iraq. We had to learn the weather, culture and traditions the hard way. 
 
I know that you are all looking forward to summer and the warm fun filled days. We are having warm days already. It is over 100 degrees each day. Study hard and finish the school year on a high note! Your are so blessed to have great schools. The children here only have school a few hours a day and the classrooms are just simple concrete rooms. We've given them a notebook and pens and pencils. 
 
We hope that someday the children of Iraq and the children of America can live in peace and share in building peace throughout the world. They love to play soccer here. 
 
Thanks again for your gift of cookies. 
 
Sincerely,  Chaplain Wilson   

HOURS 

Summer hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will be closed on Saturdays except for Saturday, August 25 when we will be open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

July - All items in the new scrap booking area are 10% off. Check out the new cookie merchandise available now and some great clearance prices on discontinued items on our web site.

Buckeye trails commemorative t-Shirts 

The Boutique for Girls has available for a limited time, Buckeye Trails Commemorative T-Shirts. This is a black T-Shirt, full front, and four color design; white, violet, hot pink and shimmer. These shirts are available in youth small through youth large, and adult small through adult 3X. They are a great way to commemorate Buckeye Trails Council before we become the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio in January.

Come visit or call the Boutique for Girls and place your order for your Commemorative T-Shirt. Your troop or group would look great in one of these shirts. Remember availability is only for a limited time, so don't hesitate to purchase yours NOW! Contact Lottie or Connie in the Boutique and we will be more than happy to assist you with all your Girl Scout needs.

Kids getting bored! Don't forget the Zink the Zebra Program on August 16

Zink the Zebra Program for Daisy and Brownie girls August 16, 6:30-7:45 p.m. Cost is $5 per girl. Participants will receive a Zink the Zebra beanie and a patch. Parents welcome! See the website for details.

Basics in a Bag Starter Kit - FREE BAG

Get a free bag to carry your gear to your troop meeting. All the basics a girl will need to start her Girl Scout adventure. See the website for more details. Order yours today.

Summer T-Shirts

The new shipment of summer t-shirts is in. The first order sold out in less than two weeks. Prices range from $10 -$13, a bargain you won't want to miss. Featuring:  A Camping We Will Go, Camp Like a Girl and the most popular,  A Camper's Life for Me. This khaki colored shirt features a delightful; smiley face pirate and is suitable for boys and girls. Finally something for the little brothers!

The winner of the freaky frog is:  Vicki Wissel, Troop 361 & 2038