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September 2013 VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER 
Dear Volunteers,

  

Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania has a lot to offer girls and their leaders - from horseback riding to Healthy Promise, from Cookie College to camporees. How do you keep in the loop so as not to miss out on all of the opportunities?

 

Take a look at what's inside your council "communications toolkit" for the 2013-2014 troop year:

  1. Your Membership Associate-the troop leader's go-to person for any and all questions.
  2. Be Connected, your monthly volunteer e-newsletter containing a running list of dates, times and places of council-sponsored Girl Scout events, including girl events, volunteer training and traveling retail store. The volunteer e-newsletter arrives in your inbox on the first Friday of every month and can be accessed online at any time at www.gshpa.org/aboutus/publications.html.
  3. The GSHPA website  www.gshpa.org for volunteer resources and information.
  4. The GSHPA Facebook Page. Go here www.facebook.com/GSHPA to "like" us and you'll receive the postings about GSHPA events.

  5. GSHPA's Program Partner Directory to find exciting things to do with your Girl Scouts, provided by organizations across the region. Each troop leader can either request a hard copy from your Membership Associate or access the full publication online anytime.  Click here to view it.  

Please keep your toolkit handy and have fun as you go about the project of helping girls become aware of their potential and confident in their ability to meet it.

 

Thank you,

 
Signature - Jane Ransom
 Carolyn Warman Jane Ransom
 Board Chair   President & CEO
Girl Scouts Just Dance! Healthy Promise event Slated for October

 

To kick-off our second year of the Healthy Promise initiative to increase our activity level and improve our food choices, what better way to do so than with a dance party? Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors & Ambassadors are all invited to our very own Girl Scouts Just Dance event on Sunday, October 20 at the Hempfield Rec in Landisville, Lancaster County.   

 

You and your troop can choose to attend either the morning session from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. or the afternoon session from 1 - 4 p.m. and learn some hip-hop, ballet, jazz and/or zumba dance moves and more from professional dance instructors from the Susquehanna Dance Studio. Space is limited so don't wait too long to register - this is going to be a dance event you and your troop won't want to miss! Cost is $15 per person.

 

Click here to register for the 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. session.

 

 Click here to register for the 1 - 4 p.m. session. 

 

Registration Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on October 6, 2013.

Calling All Community Delegates!

 

As a Delegate or Alternate Delegate, you have the opportunity to share your Girl Scout Community's valuable insight into high level governance issues that impact our entire council. As we shift to the Girl Scout Community model, your voice at Regional Governance meetings and the Annual meeting becomes even more important so much so that we have a special webinar training scheduled for all Delegates and Alternate Delegates on October 9 at 6 - 7 p.m. Every elected Delegate and Alternate Delegate should contact Shelly Sprenkle at ssprenkle@gshpa.org or 717-233-1656 to register for  training.

 

If your Community has yet to elect Delegates and/or Alternate Delegates and you're interested in serving in this role, please contact your Community Lead. The October Regional Governance meetings (formerly known as the Delegate meetings) will soon be upon us and Girl Scout Communities should elect their delegates prior to the start of the meetings listed below:

 

Oct. 14, 2013 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting @ 6 p.m. in State College

Oct. 15, 2013 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting @ 6 p.m. in York  

Oct. 16, 2013 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting @ 6 p.m. in Montoursville

Oct. 17, 2013 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting @ 6 p.m. in Harrisburg

Oct. 22, 2013 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting @ 6 p.m. in Scranton

Oct. 23, 2013 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting @ 6 p.m. via webinar

Full Listing of Fall Programs Available at www.gshpa.org

As the new troop year gets started, check-out some of the great council-wide girl programs and events that will be available throughout October and November. Here's a quick peak of what's already in the works for girls of all ages.
  • Adventure Days
  • Explorer Backpacking
  • Girl Scouts Just Dance Healthy Promise event
  • Nature Explorers' programs
  • STAR Center programs
  • Troop Adventure Camps
  • aMAZE Journey Overnight
  • Foxfire House programs
  • Healthy Promise Video Chats

To learn more about upcoming council-run girl programs and activities, please visit www.gshpa.org/programs/councilrunprograms.html or "like us" on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GSHPA to receive regular updates as new programs are posted.

 

Upcoming Outdoor Trainings

 

Taking your troop on an outdoor adventure is a key part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience and every good troop leader knows that making sure that you have completed the required training to do so ahead of time is key. To help you get starts, here's a list of the upcoming Outdoor Volunteer Trainings that we have in the works:

 

Outdoor Basics

Outdoor Basics will provide you with the skills necessary to take your troop camping! You will learn about fire safety and how to build a fire.

 

DATE: November 2, 2013 

TIME: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. 

WHERE: Camp Small Valley 

COST: Free 

Registration Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on October 19, 2013.

Click here to register.

 

DATE: November 3, 2013 

TIME: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. 

WHERE: Camp Furnace Hills 

COST: Free 

Registration Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on October 19, 2013.

Click here to register. 

 

Low Ropes Training

Become a part of the adventure team at Small Valley! This training will enable you to become a facilitator for our low ropes course. To continue to be current on these elements, you must volunteer at least twice a year for a Council event.    


DATE:
September 29, 2013
TIME:
9 a.m. - 6 p.m.  

WHERE: Camp Small Valley 

COST: Free

Registration Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on September 19, 2013. 

Click here to register. 

 

High Ropes Training

Become a part of the adventure team at Small Valley! This training will enable you to become a facilitator for the Leap of Faith, Giant Swing, Zipline, Climbing Tower and High Ropes Course. To continue to be current on these elements, you must volunteer at least twice a year for a Council Sponsored event.

 

DATE: October 4 - 6, 2013 

TIME: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

LOCATION: Camp Small Valley

COST: Free

Registration Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on September 19, 2013. 

Click here to register. 

 

Level 1 Archery Certification

This course will certify you as a Level 1 USA Archery Instructor and meets all of the certification requirements listed under the Archery Safety Check Points.

 

DATE: October 12, 2013 

TIME: 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

LOCATION: Camp Echo Trail

COST: $30

Registration Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on September 26, 2013.

 

Northeast Regional Office Set to Relocate

As the lease for our current office soon comes to an end, we are happy to announce that we have found our new Northeast Regional office location at 2200 Stafford Avenue in Scranton. Plans are already underway to be in our new home in November 2013.

 

New Girl Scout Year Kicks Off
New Recruitment Campaign


When you just can't wait for what you'll do next, you can do anything.

  

At Girl Scouts, girls are always counting down to the next adventure we'll go on together. Maybe it's artistic. Maybe it's an experiment. Maybe it's getting outside or helping the community. With us, you'll make a bunch of new friends and have a ton of new experiences that show you how exciting the world is, and how awesome you are, over and over again.

 

So what are you waiting for? Start the fun today.

 

As part of a national recruitment campaign effort to connect more girls and adults with Girl Scouts, GSHPA is in the midst of launching the "I Can't Wait" national recruitment campaign that includes visuals and messages that really capture the fun and experiences that happen every day in Girl Scouting.

 

In the coming weeks, GSHPA will introduce our 30 county footprint to this campaign through flyers, postcards, press releases, giveaways and more, all of which will bear this same theme and messaging. In addition, we're busy organizing Girl Scout Info Nights for parents throughout our council. As a Girl Scout volunteer and advocate, we encourage you to check-out this by county listing of info nights accessed via the pink button labeled "Find A Girl Scout Info Night" located on our homepage at www.gshpa.org and passing it along to interested parents who may want to attend.

 

Local Community Recruitment Teams are also busy convening and mobilizing our efforts to tap into as many local opportunities to reach out to girls, their parents and potential volunteers this fall. If you are interested in joining your Community's Recruitment Team, please contact your Membership Recruiter today.

 

Construction on Archbald Dining Hall Underway!

 After unanticipated permitting delays, we are excited to report that the demolition of the former dining hall and the construction of the new dining hall at Camp Archbald in Susquehanna County have finally begun. If the weather cooperates, we hope to re-open Camp Archbald and unveil the new facility by May 2014. In accordance with our five year camp development plan, this new dining hall will be a welcome year-round addition to this multi-use camp and one of the two* host sites of GSHPA summer camp in 2014.

 

*Camp Small Valley will continue to also host summer camp.

 

In This Issue
Girl Scouts Just Dance! Healthy Promise event Slated for October
Calling All Community Delegates!
Full Listing of Fall Programs Available at www.gshpa.org
Upcoming Outdoor Trainings
Northeast Regional Office Set to Relocate
New Girl Scout Year Kicks Off New Recruitment Campaign
Construction on Archbald Dining Hall Underway!




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Save the Date!

September 7 - 8 - Flat- Water Canoe Training Course at Camp Golden Pond   

      

September 14 - Archery Instructor Certification Course at Camp Louise    

 

September 29 - Low Ropes Training at Camp Echo Trail

 

October 4 - 6 - High Ropes Training at Camp Small Valley

  

October 5 - Traveling Store at York office from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.    

  

October 12 - Archery Training at Camp Echo Trail

 
October 12 - Traveling Store at Montoursville office from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

 

October 14 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting at 6 p.m. in State College   

 

October 15 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting at 6 p.m. in York    

 

October 16 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting at 6 p.m. in  Montoursville


October 17 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting at 6 p.m. in Harrisburg    

 

October 19 - Traveling Store at State College office from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

  

October 20 - Girl Scouts Just Dance event at 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. or 1 - 4 p.m.

  

October 22 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting at 6 p.m. in Scranton  

 

October 23 - Fall Regional Governance Meeting at 6 p.m. via webinar  

 

October 26 - Traveling Store at Scranton office from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

 

November 2 - Outdoor Basics Training at Camp Small Valley 


November 3 - Outdoor Basics Training at Camp Furnace Hills

 

January 4 - Cookie Rallies/Cookie Colleges Return   

 

May 3 - GSHPA Annual Meeting  

 

Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania | 350 Hale Avenue | Harrisburg, PA 17104
www.gshpa.org | general@gshpa.org | 1.800.692.7816