Local Girl Scouts Hold Bridging Ceremony

Local Girl Scouts were here in Mountaindale Sunday morning to hold their Bridging Ceremony as these local Scouts move up, graduating from one level of Girl Scouting to another. Bridging is one of the most important transitions that takes place in a Girl Scout's life. It is a defining moment, where a girl becomes aware of all her achievements, is ready for new adventures and responsibilities as she moves up into a more advanced group.

According to the Scouting website, "Celebrating this change should be fun, personalized, and memorable for everyone involved" and yesterday's event was this and so much more, with the girls excited, parents sitting proudly, cameras at the ready as their daughters crossed the bridge, leaving behind their past, while carrying their memories of personal accomplishment with them as they crossed the bridge to their new adventures and responsibilities.

As an outsider, one of the touching moments witnessed was younger and older girls escorting one another over the bridge the first time through...an important part of the Girl Scout experience is being a sister Scout to all your other sister Scouts who are in Girl Scouts. Taking personal responsibility to be there for them, to help them progress in their own journeys as they explore and experience all that Girl Scouting is. Seeing them hand in hand escorting one another over the bridge was a very symbolic moment, and it was a pleasure to have witnessed it, though I did not fully understand the symbolism of it until after the ceremony when I asked one of the Scout Leaders about it.

The girls and leaders involved were from Troop 738 with the leaders being Antonia Colombo & Maria Avelllino. The Troop was a blended troop of Brownies & Juniors, so the Brownies bridged to Junior and the Juniors bridged to Cadette with the help of their Sister Scouts. A number of young Daisy Scouts and new Brownie Scouts also participated enjoyed the wonderful experience of the ceremony that they will have one day.

Fallsburg Girl Scout Troops 738 and 580 Earn Spirit Day Badges

Looking out the window of my apartment here in Mountaindale at the cold, overcast, blustery sky as I sipped my morning coffee early this morning, I was wondering if the planned Volunteer kick iffevent for our 2011 Sullivan Renaissance Project would need to be canceled. It was under forty degrees, and the sky was threatening rain at any moment...as I contemplated this thought the phone rang...it was one of the Girl Scout Leaders letting me know they were planning on being out front of 62 Main Street at 11 O'clock sharp, informing me that the girls were really excited about the chance to be the first volunteers for this years project, which is located inside the entrance to our "Rails to Trails Corridor. Pouring my second cup of coffee I went in search of a HEAVY COAT.

As promised, the three Scout Leaders arrived right on time, charges in tow, full of energy, and excited to get started on doing some trail clean up in the area of our project, so one large wheel barrel wagon and a rake in hand, we all set off for the walk over to the trail head to get started. On the walk over, everyone introduced themselves. Gina Marie Colombo, Donna Lent, and Jennifer Simms were the three Scout Leaders, and as we walked I found out that this was a special day for the girls, as it was "Girl Scout Spirit Day" and the four girls would be earning their Spirit Day badges as a part of their community service work on this day..."How cool is that?" Even better, the theme of this year's Girl Scout Spirit Day as the Girl Scouts celebrate their 100 Year Anniversary is, "Forever Green." What better project could there be for the theme "Forever Green" than doing trail cleaning on a bike path in the "Rails to Trails Corridor" here in our small hamlet? The four girls were ready to work, full of more energy than I was able to muster at eleven in the morning on a almost wintry day, but being around them would get even the most hardened of souls in a great mood, and soon I found myself smiling ear to ear at their zest for the task at hand. Where does all that energy come from, and could I have a bit of it? There was Kaitlyn Simms, dressed in a hot pink jacket, who had on the greatest winter hat. Arianna Gonzalez, the youngest member of our troupe was wearing a vivid purple winter coat, had on a pastel striped hat with a pom pom you could not miss, and she had dug into her own piggy bank to purchase a box of Tagalong peanut butter patties so we had snacks to eat as we worked. There was Madison Lent with her off white fishing hat on, and rounding out the group was Brittany Lent in a pink hat featuring Sponge Bob Square Pants on it...yes, we were quite the sight as we strolled down Main Street pulling along behind us our big yellow wagon as we made our way to the Entrance way of "Rails to Trails." The next couple of hours were a LOT OF FUN as the girls raked up leaves, and began picking up branches and limbs that had fallen onto the trail over the long winter. The Mountaindale Community Development Project wants to thank the members of Troops 738 and 580 and their leaders for stepping up so early in our 2011 Sullivan Renaissance Project, for lending us a hand as we begin our pre-project clean up of the area in which we will be working this spring and summer. Everyone involved had a great time, and I would like to thank the troop for awarding me an "Honorary Girl Scout Spirit Day" badge, the icing on what turned out to be a beautiful day to be out in the woods doing trail clean up on our "Rails to Trails Corridor" here in Mountaindale.

Very excited about our project this year, and for those of you who have not heard yet, we are going to build a sculptural interpretation of the O&W Railway's old number 33 Steam Locomotive, and we could not have asked for a better official kick off to this year's event than having the Girl Scouts here in town to lend us their support. Their hard work today cleared off a nice patch of the trail we are going to be projecting in. If you or your organization would like to be involved in this year's project, or would like to schedule a day to volunteer, we would love to have you. Just give Barb a call at (845) 434-4747 or contact our Committee Chair Sherwood (that would be me...) at (845) 693-4513. My answering machine is on 24/7 so if I am not in, please leave me a message, and will get right back to you.