Medford Girl Scouts is proud to announce that we have recently purchased our own set of Girl Scout flags, which are available for troop and city-wide events. The money to purchase the flags came from the $300 bonus Medford Girl Scouts received from Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts when more than 50% of our girls re-registered before June 30 last year during the early bird Spring Renewal membership drive. Thanks to all the troop leaders and volunteers for helping their members re-register early.
We have three flags: a Medford Girl Scout flag, a World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts flag, and a flag of the United States of America. In addition, we also have flag stands and flag holders that the girls can wear while walking with the flags.
The Girl Scout website explains that a “flag ceremony honors the American flag as the symbol of our country and all the hopes, dreams, and people it represents. If your group includes girls from other countries, invite them to honor their flags too, and together conduct an international flag ceremony. Flag ceremonies may be used for:
- Opening or closing meetings
- Opening or closing special events
- Beginning or closing a day
- Honoring a special occasion or special person
- Retiring a worn flag
Flag ceremonies may take place in meeting rooms, outdoor settings, large auditoriums, onstage, or even on horseback. The American flag is carried by a color guard for protection during a flag ceremony. All flag ceremonies share one thing—respect for the flag.”
If your troop would like to learn how to do a flag ceremony, please check out the links below:
- Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois has a useful handout which explains all the steps, roles and procedures for indoor and outdoor flag ceremonies: http://www.gsofsi.org/forms/leaders/ceremony/flag.pdf
- Girl Scout Cadettes, Pria and Lauren from Tustin, CA, teach girls and volunteers how to perform a Girl Scout Flag Ceremony in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQepPlMrZmg
To borrow Medford Girl Scout flags, contact the Medford Girl Scout Coordinator Andie Farro at afarro81@gmail.com
Disney on Ice – Follow Your Heart – Friday, Nov. 4 at the DCU Center in Worcester. Tickets for Girl Scouts and their family and friends are $17. Fun patch included. 
Annie the Musical – May 11, 2017. Special Q&A for Girl Scouts at 5pm, show starts at 7pm. Wear your uniform to the show. Annie patches will be available for purchase. 
The girls from Troop 72096, who just completed first grade, gathered together on Saturday, July 16, with several master gardeners at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford to conclude their Daisy year with a Take Action project: the release of almost 20 ladybugs. These small insects are formidable fighters and eat aphids, tiny bugs that afflict vegetable gardens. Controlling aphids is especially important because the food grown at the church is donated directly to the Community Cupboard food pantry. Fewer aphids will equal healthier plants, which will mean more food for the 7090 families that rely on the pantry each week.
The Daisy Girl Scouts spent the past few months learning about gardens. They planted and tended snow peas and beets at Grace Episcopal Church in Medford, which were all donated to the food pantry. Through this work, the girls learned about what gardens need to stay healthy.
The girls very much enjoyed working with the Master Gardeners to contribute to this local food pantry and they eagerly look forward to the projects they may take on as Brownies this coming school year!
Journey with JFK – the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Patch: This patch is open to all levels and it offers girls a variety of different activities, puzzles, worksheets, and games, some of which they can do at home and some which require them to go to the JFK Museum in Boston. 
Fetch! Patch: PBS’s TV show “Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman” teaches kids to explore the world and try new things. Brownies and Juniors can earn this patch by completing science and engineering activities, and then demonstrating what they have learned to younger kids (like Girl Scout Daisies, for example.) 
Plimoth Plantation Patch: Brownies and Juniors can earn this patch by visiting the Plimoth Plantation and learning about the history of the relationship between the Native Wampanoag people and the 17th-century colonists. 
In the nomination, Rebecca Scott (Medford Girl Scout Organizer and Brownie Troop 68137 Co-Leader) was proud to report that “the Medford Service Unit had blown our 2015/16 recruitment goals out of the water by December 2015. We started out in August with about 210 girl and adult members in total and our goal was to welcome at a total of 342 girl and adult members for the 2015/16 year. As of February 4, 2016, we had started eight new Daisy and Brownie troops and enrolled 274 girls and 125 adults, for a total of 399 members. That is a 90% increase in members from August to December!” But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Evalyn O’Rourke is the Coordinator for Medford Girl Scouts (as well as being one of the leaders of Troop 65226) and she highlights the reason more members is important when she explains that, “Medford Girl Scouts has become a vibrant, thriving organization where girls and adults alike can feel safe to share ideas and participate. We have created an environment where girls can build courage, confidence, character, and learn to make the world a better place.” Heather Gaspar, the staff liaison for Medford from Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, sums it up by when she says, “I am excited for the future of Girl Scouting in Medford!”
In addition to the President’s Award, six of Medford Girl Scout’s adult volunteers have been selected to receive Appreciation Pins from Girl Scouts USA. These volunteers are being recognized for “actively giving exemplary service in support of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.” Medford’s 2016 Appreciation Pin award winners are:
Cookie season has come to an end and, once again, Medford Girl Scouts did a stellar job. The funds raised will pay for troop activities and the girls may also decide to make the world a better place by supporting other charities with a portion of the money they have earned.
Congratulations to the girls and troops mentioned above, and to all Medford Girl Scouts, for a successful cookie season. Special thanks to Monique O’Connell for being our Medford Service Unit Cookie Manager and to Sammy Parris for being our Medford Cookie Booth Sale Coordinator. We couldn’t have done it without you!
the world-wide sisterhood of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. Girl Scouts of all ages and levels have the opportunity to earn a special World Thinking Day badge by participating in World Thinking Day activities on their own, or as a troop.
To prepare for cookie season, Girl Scouts has specific badges for all ages that lead the girls through age-appropriate activities to help them prepare to sell cookies. Daisies can earn leaves, older girls earn badges, and all of these activities help the girls learn how to interact with customers, set goals, learn about money, as well as to think about how they want to use the money they earn to pay for troop activities and to support charities that make the world a better place.
Medford Girl Scouts 