Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me No Comments 
badges we don't need no stinkin badges, cats, history, the 80s
A friend of mine the other day sent me a picture of a retired badge and said she thought of me when she saw it:
I told her, “I earned that badge growing up!” and took a picture of it on my patch blanket:
National Governance 9 Comments farthest north council, governance, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national convention, national council
Well, there is no Judge Judy Sheindlin in Fairbanks, AK, but there is a Judge Bethany Harbison, and she ruled in favor of GSUSA rather than the Farthest North council on May 1st, 2018:
Delegate Duties 1 Comment board of directors, councils, delegate, governance, roberts rules
So say you’re a delegate, and you’re pretty frustrated because you feel like all you do at annual meetings is sit and listen to presentations given by the board and your council leadership. You have complained many times about the lack of delegate input but to no avail. Q&A sessions, if you even have one, are short and are cut off due to “running out of time.” You might even have to submit your questions ahead of time. How unfair is that? What if you have a question about one of the presentations?
Reminiscing No Comments backpacking, history, jenny, national center west, patches, trip out west, troop 20
A few months ago, fellow Troop 20 member Jenny and I reconnected and went through a lot of her scrapbook stuff from our time together. I took some of it back home in order to document it. She even saved permission slips!
First is a copy of the smaller National Center West map that each of us received when we got there. Of course I lost mine, but Jenny to the rescue! A few years ago, I was able to track down a copy of the larger and more detailed topo map on ebay and pieced it together in one graphic but I was hoping to find a copy of the smaller map too. Continue reading
Delegate Duties No Comments back to the future, camps, councils, delegate, money, old 96 council
So say your council has sold camps through the years, and you want to find out how much they sold for and who bought them. Did you know all of that information is considered public record? Yes, you can find out with a little bit of digging! Here’s how. But just a warning – it might be a little frustrating and more than a little time consuming, but as George McFly said, “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” Continue reading
Experiences as a Leader, National Operations 2 Comments leader issues, multi-level troop, stress, surveys, troop stuff, volunteers
It’s time for the second GSWAC (not a council) survey results to be revealed! This survey was about getting a rough estimate of the percentage of troops that are multi-level vs. single level and also the percentage of Individual Girl Program (aka Juliettes) to see what sort of part they play since they are also a program option.
This poll was very short and straight forward and garnered a total of 826 votes. Here’s what it asked:
These votes were taken via various Facebook groups including Girl Scout Gab, Greenblood Gab, The Outdoor Journey, and various other service unit and council groups. It was also shared via email and on the Facebook pages Greenblood News and GSUSA Are you Listening? I tried to steer away from groups dedicated to a specific level as I was afraid they would skew the results.
So what’s the verdict? Drum roll, please! Continue reading
Experiences as a Leader, National Operations 3 Comments gsusa, leader issues, multi-level troop, surveys, troop stuff, volunteers
Here’s the second installment of the newest category on the GSWAC (not a council) blog called Surveys! These series of polls are designed to be very short and easy in order to get a quick snapshot of whatever the topic is at hand. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the first one about the number one cause of stress for volunteers went, and I hope this one is a success too. Continue reading
National Governance 12 Comments blue book, farthest north council, governance, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national convention, national council, national delegate
Someone the other day in a Facebook group asked about the status of the Farthest North Council’s case versus GSUSA. In case you’re not familiar with it, Farthest North is suing GSUSA for overstepping its bounds per our organization’s Constitution when it raised membership dues from $12 to $15 in 2013 (effective 2014) and then $15 to $25 in 2016 (effective 2017). Well, that trial is being heard TODAY!
If you weren’t around during last summer’s blog drama and are wondering, NO, the National Council did NOT vote to give the National Board authority to raise dues at any time. And NO, the National Council did NOT vote for the increase from $12 to $15 OR the raise from $15 to $25. Don’t believe me? Read through all of the proposals and the results since 2008. While researching all of this, I was completely fascinated by the wholesale confusion about what really happened when discussion about past National Council Sessions took place. A friend told me the other day that this is a perfect example of what’s called the Mandela Effect, or a collective false memory. Continue reading
Experiences as a Leader No Comments cookies, leader issues, memes, volunteers
Hallelujah and Amen.
Traditional Stuff 6 Comments blue book, history, j-low, national council
I didn’t get to publish this on March 12th (the GS birthday if you’ve been living under a rock), but I did make it happen during Girl Scout Week! While researching for a different topic, I came across the perfect thing to share via the Girl Scout Collector’s Guide on pages 22 – 24. It’s called a “History of Uniforms, Insignia, Publications, and Memorabilia,” and it is meticulously researched. I’ve got the second edition from 2005. Continue reading
