Going Postal for Girl Scouts

New Forever Stamp

 I recently discovered that there is going to be a special stamp issued to honor the 100th year anniversary of Girl Scouts with a Celebrate Scouting Forever Stamp. It will be issued by the US Postal Service on June 9th for public purchase. As a 'Forever' stamp it will always be good for USPS First Class postage to mail letters weighing one ounce or less no matter what the postal rate.

Our local Stamp Club, the Sullivan County Philatelic Society, will be hosting a special Stamp & Coin Show at the Ted Stroeble Recreation Center on Jefferson Street  in Monticello from 10AM - 4PM on Sunday, June 10th.  Those of you who are stamp collectors or interested in learning more about this popular hobby may wish to stop in to see what is on display.  Admission is free and you will be able to meet a variety of stamp and coin collectors in this, the club's 40th annual show. The show will also feature door prizes, hourly prize drawings, and will be honoring Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts of America.

Girl Scouts Centennial Celebration

The Girl Scouts are now 100 years old but I got the gift. Over the weekend, I attended the Girl Scouts Centennial Celebration in White Plains, New York, with the 2500 scouts who pre-registered for this major event. The purpose was to celebrate scouting with expo-like booths and to recognize the 178 teen Girl Scouts who were receiving scouting's highest honor, the Gold Award. Since Girl Scouts are encouraged to build character and take action to "make the world a better place," Leaders had previously been asked to provide descriptions of some of our best "Take Action" projects. My troop submitted an application which explained the "Be Smart, Don't Start" anti-smoking program I had done this past November for Girl Scout Troops throughout our area. More details can be found in the October posting entitled, "Great American Smokeout"  Our project was selected to be included in the expo from submissions from all over the seven counties that comprise the Heart of the Hudson Council. Our goal was to discourage young girls from starting to smoke, while also providing them with information to help them encourage loved ones to try to stop smoking.

Our display included a laptop presentation of the very powerful "Splode"video from the TheTruth.com website, as well as a load of craft supplies so that all of our visitors could design posters, banners and signs with anti-smoking messages, and inspiring cards for various smoker family members. Some of the stories those little girls told me were really hearbreaking - like grandparents who died of cancer, or were sick now. I asked each girl to place her hand over her heart and make a promise to herself that she would never start smoking, and would always remember how smart she was now, and not let anyone talk her into bad choices. 

I was amazed and pleased about how receptive the girls and their parents and Leaders were to our table. The most memorable moment came when a troop returned to our table for a second visit. They had brought along a slightly older woman who I took to be the Troop Grandmother, probably the Leader's mom. I heard them telling her how she just "had to hear the info at this booth." Our eyes met & we both knew she was a smoker who had just been ambushed. As gently & tactfully as possible, I talked with her about what we had been doing at the table all day. Then I told her about my late father, Harry Schulman, who had gotten sick of his two pack a day habit and made up his mind, "I'm not going to smoke today. I don't know about tomorrow, but I'm not going to smoke today." Being a salesperson at heart, I had to go for the 'close' and asked her if she might try this tomorrow. She said, "No, TODAY!" Wherever she is, I send her blessings and thanks for that special gift.

Girl Scout Leader CPR Training

It is well known that Girl Scout Leaders are selfless volunteers. However, did you also know that Scout Leaders are required to maintain their First Aid & CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)Certification and keep it constantly updated in order to have a Troop? The Adult Volunteers are responsible for the well being of the young women in their Troop and always need to be prepared for the unexpected during either a meeting, program or special activity.

Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson Leaders from Community 532, representing the Towns of Fallsburg, Monticello and Mamakating, meet each month at a leader's meeting in Mountaindale. One of the recent topics was whether the First Aid/CPR class could be presented right here in Mountaindale for the 5 hour course, rather than have each leader drive to Orange County for certification. Volunteer Community Chair Barb Schmitt was able to contact Council Staff who were all too eager to help. Adult Volunteer Development Manager, Kathie Cayton, devoted all day Sunday, August 21st. to teaching area leaders all the latest techniques in how to provide emergency care until EMS or paramedic staff can take over.

The leaders enjoyed interesting educational videos of various emergency situations, coupled with plenty of hands on experience in delivering CPR compressions; mouth to mouth resuscitation; and bandaging each other. An update in the course included a lot more emphasis on emergency use of an AED, or Automated External Defibrillator.

The Leaders always hope they will never be called upon to use these skills but stand ready 'just in case.' Girl Scouts also offers a Babysitting Certification Course for its young women, and this too, offers preparedness training for emergency situations as the Scouts begin to take on neighborhood babysitting jobs.

Girl Scouts Raising Funds For Quake Damaged Japan

In March of this year, an 8.9 on the Richter Scale Earthquake struck Japan, devastating the Island Community, the resulting Tsunami sweeping thousands out to sea, and crippling the TEPCO Nuclear facility, creating a nuclear accident that we now know is worse than Chernobyl. The tragic events have for the most part faded from our evening news here in America, but our friends in Japan are not out of mind, and we know they still need our help as they go about the long arduous task of rebuilding from not one, but three disasters of almost biblical proportions.

Some of the Girl Scouts here in Sullivan County, New York recently held a fund raising event to help their sisters in Japan. The night of fund raising involved girls from Community 532, which includes the Towns of Fallsburg, Mamakating & Thompson. Troops 401, 580, 604, 676 and 738 participated in the evening's events which included using paper in the fine art or Origami, as Origami Guru, Aaron Schmitt, lent help and instruction as the Girl Scouts created Cranes (which are perceived as a symbol of Peace and Good Fortune in Japan) and other creations with their new found skills.

As a national organization, the Girl Scouts were/are devastated by the catastrophe Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan - their collective hearts deeply concerned about their sisters there, the Girl Scouts of Japan who have been touched by these tragic events.

For decades, the USA Girl Scouts Overseas has served American military and civilian families in Japan for many years, and has close ties with Girl Scouts of Japan. In fact, many Girl Scouts in Japan are sister troops of troops here in America. After receiving many calls from Girl Scouts around the country asking how to help Japan, the National Girl Scout leadership was/is happy to report that the policy prohibiting Girl Scouts from raising money for other organizations has been temporarily suspended. This allowed our Sullivan County New York troops to make this evening of fund raising for Japan possible.
From Girl Scout Memo: Girl Scouts of Japan relief efforts

To contribute to earthquake and tsunami relief efforts, you can make an online donation to the Girl Scouts of Japan Relief Efforts until May 31, 2011. At times like these, Girl Scouts throughout the world come together in sisterhood to help those in need. We have seen our Movement rally in support of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters over the years, and will continue to do everything we can to help our sister Girls Scouts of Japan in the weeks and months ahead.

Where will the funds go?

We can assure you that 100 percent of all relief funds will go to the national organization, Girl Scouts of Japan to be used for families affected by the earthquake and tsunami. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at globalgirlscouting@girlscouts.org.

Make checks payable to Girl Scouts of the USA:
Girl Scouts of the USA-Fund Development
P.O. Box 5046
New York, NY 10087-5046

OMG! GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ARE COMING!

I know, a bit too much enthusiasm, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Girl Scout cookies, and they are going to be arriving ANY DAY NOW! I have a case on order, but wondering if that is going to be enough...I mean seriously, is there ever such a thing as TOO MANY GIRL SCOUT COOKIES? I don't think so. I know these are hard economic times we are living in, but please support the Girl Scouts by getting your cookie orders in EARLY AND OFTEN!

If you would like to support the Girl Scout cookie sales program, but do not want the cookies in your house, I am ALWAYS willing to take in orphaned boxes of these delicious treats for later enjoyment and sampling...LOL