The Cookie Cupboards are closed, the Recognition Orders have been placed, and the Cookies-for-a-Cause have been delivered, all of which adds up to the end of another successful Girl Scout cookie season. We are proud to report that this year’s cookie sale far surpassed last year’s totals. This year, 23 Medford troops sold 33,852 packages of cookies, a 27% increase over last year’s total of 26,515 packages. Way to go girls, volunteers, and our supportive Girl Scout families! We look forward to seeing how the troops decide to spend their earnings to pay for dynamic troop activities and to help make the world a better place.
Medford’s Top 5 Selling Troops were:
- Senior Troop 65007 – 4146 packages
- Brownie Troop 69039 – 3354 packages
- Junior Troop 68137 – 2705 packages
- Cadette Troop 71198 – 2200 packages
- Junior Troop 65456 – 2096 packages
This year, Medford has 7 girls in the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts 500 Club for selling over 500 packages, they are:
- Marianne (Troop 65007) – 2,050 packages
- Allie (Troop 65007) – 1,041 packages
- Jennifer (Troop 71198)- 1,000 packages
- Abby L (Troop 71198) – 755 packages
- Bridget (Troop 68140) – 515 packages
- Allesandra (Troop 72096) – 501 packages
- Ellie (Troop 65007) – 500 packages
Each member of the 500 Club will receive a ticket for themselves (and one for a chaperone) to Canobie Lake Park, to attend the park and participate in the 500 Club ceremony event.
2017 marks the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts selling cookies and from the first cookie (Shortbread) to the most recent addition to the lineup (S’mores), Girl Scout cookies have been teaching girls how to run their own business, learn financial literacy skills, and work together as a troop to set goals.
Special thanks to our Medford Cookie Mentor, Monique O’Connell, and the Medford Booth Coordinator, Sammy Parris, and congratulations again to all Medford Girl Scouts for great work they do selling cookies, and all year ’round.
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.
If your troop would like to learn how to do a flag ceremony, please check out the links below:
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.
Medford Girl Scouts 