March 2 2025

I Have a Dilemma

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me    9 Comments    , , , , , ,

So, dear reader, I wanted to share some of my recent thoughts with you and get your input. The reality is that I’ve been struggling with this for quite some time now, and it’s reached a point where it’s completely maddening to me. So instead of me continuing to wrestle with this alone, I’m going to share my innermost thoughts with you. If blogs could go through a mid-life crisis, this would be it.

Perhaps it would be helpful for me to share what I’m doing in GS now. Last year, my co-leader and I made the decision to “reboot” my troop with my co-leader taking over as the primary leader, and I would serve in a secondary role. Frankly, I’m burned out when it comes to troop business and badge programming. My youngest daughter is a 10th grader, so assuming she continues, I’ve still got two more years to go. I’m in my 15th year as a GS volunteer. I realize compared to a lot of folks, that’s young when it comes to GS years, but I feel like I’ve been through a lifetime in my GS career that I won’t rehash here. Continue reading

February 16 2025

Thinking About World Thinking Day

Opinions    2 Comments    , , , , , ,

In case you’re new to Girl Scouting, let’s revisit February 22 – one of the most important Girl Scout holidays – and known to everyone as World Thinking Day. To summarize from GSUSA:

World Thinking Day was first created in 1926 at the fourth Girl Guide/Girl Scout International Conference, held at Girl Scouts of the USA’s Camp Edith Macy (now called Edith Macy Conference Center). Conference attendees decided that there should be a special day when Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all around the world think of each other and give thanks and appreciation to their “sister” Girl Scouts. The delegates chose February 22 as the date for Thinking Day because it was the mutual birthday of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, and his wife Olave, who served as World Chief Guide.

In 1932, at the seventh World Conference, held in Poland, a Belgian delegate suggested that since birthdays usually involve presents, girls could show their appreciation and friendship on Thinking Day not only by extending warm wishes but by offering a voluntary contribution to the World Association. This is how the World Association’s Thinking Day Fund began. The fund helps offer Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting to more girls and young women worldwide. Girl Scouts of the USA, through its Juliette Low World Friendship Fund, gives to the Thinking Day Fund.

Continue reading

December 22 2024

We’re in the Money

National Operations    No Comments    , ,

We’re in the money!
We’re in the money!
We’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along!

GSUSA didn’t quite get what it wanted when it came to a membership dues raise back in October, but any disappointment  should have been short lived when it was announced that the Lilly Endowment recently awarded a grant of $30 million to GSUSA to “create, test, implement and sustain strategies that support character development in the young people they serve.” There’s been no word on whether councils will receive any of these funds. What will this grant support? Don’t know about that either. Hopefully something more than a hastily developed patch program.

This isn’t the first time Girl Scouts has received a grant from the Lilly Endowment. In 2022, six councils that serve Indiana girls received a total of $15 million to “find creative solutions to reach and better support Hoosier girls and families in all 92 counties with a particular focus on girls and families who have historically not engaged with Girl Scouts.”  Continue reading

December 13 2024

In Search of… Badges

National Operations    5 Comments    , , , , ,

Recently, I checked my blog’s stats to find that for 2024, I’ve broken my previous record of yearly page views even though I published fewer posts this year comparatively. But the upward trend started before this year. I noticed in 2023 that daily page views had doubled, and after looking into it, I finally found the reason. It’s due to hits from Google searches to two specific blog posts: one being my badge and award summary from 2023 and the other of the same topic from 2024.

According to Google, here are the top 10 keyword searches for my blog in 2024:

The results for 11-20 are more of the same with a few “journey” keywords mixed in. Continue reading

October 24 2024

Special NCS Roundup

National Governance    9 Comments    , , , , , , , , ,

Another National Council Session (NCS) is in the books, albeit this one comes a little sooner within the triennium due to it being the first ever special session. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to listen to this 12 hour marathon from start to finish due to my attending and running trainings at our council’s leader weekend at Camp WaBak. However, I did get to hear a good portion of the NCS between sessions so I feel like I caught about two-thirds of it. I also had some friends take very good notes and catch me up on what I missed. If you’re interested in a high level play by play, be sure to check out GSG’s summary. But if you don’t want to read it, know that the National Council decided that girl membership dues will be raised to $45 for Membership Year (MY) 2026 (next year) and then $65 for MY2027, and adult dues will rise to $30 starting MY2026. Continue reading

September 24 2024

Worst. Survey. Ever.

National Governance    8 Comments    , ,

I usually don’t do things like this, but I just wanted to bring attention to the absolutely most low key effort survey out there when it comes to the membership dues proposals. As my daughter says, this is Beta Ohio. Dog water. Not demure and not very mindful. And they actually use the words “democratic process” on this form.

Edit on 10/14/24: Well, looks like they pulled the form. Basically it was obvious that the leadership of that council already made their mind up to vote for $85 dues for girls and asked one question so that they could twist the results to match what they wanted.

September 23 2024

Membership Dues Redux

National Governance    11 Comments    , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A friend of mine recently called me the Girl Scout version of Cassandra of Troy. I can’t think of a better description, especially lately. So once again, I bring you my ramblings. This time over a topic of which I am well familiar. After the Farthest North lawsuit was finally settled back in 2021, I kicked back and felt like I could finally retire from discussing membership dues.

Wrong. Continue reading

September 8 2024

CME History: A Writer Comes to the Rescue

Traditional Stuff    No Comments    , , , ,

The pen is mightier than the sword. — Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Back in 2016, I started a series of blog posts about the history of two GSSC-MM camps with one being Camp Mary Elizabeth (CME). CME is one of only a few camps left in the United States located in the middle of urban sprawl and is home to a very rare wildflower. Back in 1999, CME was in danger of being sold, but some folks in the community took action to save the camp from development.

I recently became reengaged with CME due to the wildflower restoration grant that we received earlier this year, and while working on the project, Tina’s husband and I started up a conversation about CME’s history and how close it came to being sold. Steve told me about John Lane, a poet and Wofford College professor who helped lead the charge to save CME through his writings. This piqued my interest, so Steve said he’d send me one of the essays Lane wrote plus an article about them. Here’s the article (click to see a larger version): Continue reading