Here and There and Everywhere

Here comes a hodge podge of updates regarding previous posts and random observations and such that I wanted to share.  I’ll jump right into it!

Lifetime Membership Card Update

Even after almost 7 years of writing, I still cannot correctly predict which posts here on GSWAC (Not a Council) will go viral and which ones won’t.  The one I wrote almost flippantly about membership cards back in December completely blew up much to my surprise.  I guess membership cards are a hot topic!

Speaking of that, after I accidentally requested a new Lifetime Membership card, I received a notification from GSUSA Customer Care about a month after the fact stating that I’d get my new card in 6 to 8 weeks.  A friend of mine in another council requested a new LTM card the same way, but instead of receiving a message from GSUSA, her request was forwarded to her council who instructed her to print one out.  Hmm. 

I Emailed the National Board and Judith Batty

A few weeks after writing Stop Being Hypocritical, GSUSA, I got a wild hair (or maybe it was boredom) and thought I’d write the National Board, Karen Layng (the National President), and Judith Batty (our interim National CEO) and let them know how I felt about what is going on with GSUSA and the Farthest North lawsuit.  Both of them stated in various webinars that they have an open door and to get in touch with them if we would like, so I took them up on that offer.  I diplomatically stated that I believe GSUSA’s actions when it comes to the lawsuit are not reflective of the leadership’s message of “moving on,” and I requested that they take action to remedy this by settling with Farthest North.  I received a very timely reply from Karen Layng who stated she couldn’t comment on pending litigation but that GSUSA has been acting in good faith and is standing ready to mediate with FN.  She then said that she hoped I sent FN the same encouragement.  She also thanked me for writing and said she trusts that we both have the best interests of Girl Scouts at heart.  Well allrighty then.  I wrote back and said that I hoped both sides can be sensible and come to an agreeable settlement quickly.  I guess time will tell what happens with all of this.  If you want to follow the case in Alaskan Superior Court, go here and then search for case 4FA-17-01413CI.  Addendum 3/14/21:  I did reach out to FN, and while I’m not going to go into detail about my conversation, I am just going to say that I stick by my original post regarding GSUSA’s actions.

Parliamentarian Ponderings

Back during the fall, I mentioned in some parliamentary procedure related posts that I was looking into becoming a parliamentarian.  After thinking about it a little more, I don’t know where I could really use this skill set, so I’m dropping it.  Plus, I realized that my Wilderness First Aid certification expires this year, and I need to get it renewed especially since I’m a Trailblazer troop leader.  Parliamentarian certification costs something like $150, and that money would be better spent going toward WFA!  Oh well.

GirlScoutGovernance.com Update

I wasn’t sure what to do with GSG after this past year’s National Council Session since I pitched a fit and said I retired from governance in Girl Scouting – at least having an active role.  I’m still our service unit’s “Governance Consultant.” 😉  GSG’s domain name is registered through 2022, so I knew it would definitely stay up until then at the very least, but I had no idea what to do with it in the interim.  I ended up doing some clean-up, and the plan right now is for it to remain up as a reference site.  We put too much work into it to let all of that go to waste, and someone might stumble across it and find it useful.

And in fact, it looks like it’s already useful for non-Girl Scout purposes.  I checked its stats recently, and apparently it’s become a popular destination for people searching for info about parliamentary procedure in general!  So there’s that, at least.

GSG SWAPs

Back when life was normal and G.I.R.L. 2020 was still on the schedule, I made 1500 (yes, 1500) GSG SWAPs to give out at the National Council Session.  Then we know what happened.  And now I’m stuck with these SWAPs.  I don’t have the heart to throw them out, but I don’t see me being in Orlando in 2023 to give them out either.  So, if you would like some, please email me at amy@dawgtoons.com, and I’ll send you as many as you want if you don’t mind paying for shipping, and I’ll even throw in an OFFICIAL Scarf SWAP.  Seriously, please take them.  A whole lot of them.  Pass them out to your service unit or delegate body or whomever.  Who knows, maybe I’ll send a boxful to the National Board and Judith Batty.  And the entire GSUSA staff.  You get a GSG SWAP, you get a GSG SWAP, everybody gets a GSG SWAP!

Award Pins (or Patches?)

I know I probably tend to nitpick a lot, but like I’ve said before, it’s the little things.  Some of us were discussing older girl awards and pins the other day, and this clip was shared from the Cadette Badge & Award chart on the GSUSA website:

Two things.  First, the Trailblazer and Mariner pins aren’t awards.  Or are they?  There’s some dispute about that because they’re technically membership pins, but you do have to meet requirements in order to wear them.  But you can’t earn them unless you’re in that type of specialty troop, so is it really an award per se?  Personally, I don’t think they should be listed because without some sort of reference, leaders and girls are going to assume those pins are something they can earn on their own.

Second, unless this is something brand new, the Silver Award emblem shown above is really a patch – not a pin.  I suppose what I’m about to say might be seen as splitting hairs, but with the way it’s listed here, I could see someone getting confused thinking it’s an award that’s separate from the Silver Award.  But it’s given to girls who earn Silver as a token.  At least that’s how we do it here.  My service unit hosts a dinner for girls who earn their higher awards, and we present them with the corresponding higher award patch.  It’s also worn on the back of the vest/sash while awards are worn on the front.  So it shouldn’t be featured in my opinion.

Well, that’s it for now.  I’ve had it on my mind to write something big soon, but it’ll take some time to put together.  Plus, the timing has to be right.  I rely on the Girl Scout Universe to tell me when!