FALL 2003 NUGGETS

Martinez Co-op Brownie Troop 766 is off to a great start this year! Our first-year Brownies received notice from the GSSFBA Council Office that their artwork was selected for inclusion in the council's new Girl Gallery exhibit. The contest was held during the summer and the winning work of art will be displayed at the newly designed council offices in Oakland. Each of the girls submitted a multi-colored construction paper and felt pen drawing depicting what they want to do this year as Brownies. The individual drawings were pieced together to create a colorful collage. Be sure to look for Troop 766's collage the next time you visit the council offices.

We also celebrated USA Girl Scout Founder Juliette Gordon Lowe's birthday (Oct. 31) by participating in a special community service project. The girls filled nearly 40 festive goody bags with Halloween candy and mini toothpaste tubes, which were distributed to homeless shelters by the staff at the Volunteer Center of Contra Costa.

On Sunday, November 9, Junior Troop 2466 rose at dawn as different shades of pink streaked across the sky. The reason for the early rise was an outing to the San Francisco Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. The event raises money to benefit the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which funds breast cancer research and education.

The girls formed a cheering station where they blew bubbles, passed out hand made cards and waved signs of support and encouragement. The walkers were very excited to see the Girl Scouts and posed with the troop numerous times for pictures. Some of the walkers were overcome with emotion after receiving our cards. Others wanted to know if we had any nuts for sale. One walker commented it was the first "bubble bath" she had had in three days!

On a clear, crisp, early Saturday morning in October, Troops 400, 818 and 1016 completed a surprise mission. With careful planning of the leaders and parents, 24 scouts were rousted from their beds and given no time to change or comb their hair and were whisked off to breakfast at their neighborhood IHOP.

Troop 158 from Sequoia Elementary, Troop 184 from Christ the King School, and members from three other Sequioa Brownie troops held their Fly-up and Bridging to Juniors ceremony at a June overnighter at the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Jillian from Junior Troop 2034 also attended and helped the Brownies with their ceremony.

The museum has a real "kid-sized" nest that we used for the Fly-up and an outdoor bridge. The staff at the museum lead an art activity, museum exploration, and night and morning hikes. The science activity was cool: an owl pellet dissection. The groups slept in the museum buildings, provided their own dinner, and the staff provided the evening snack and morning breakfast for the hike. The views around Fort Baker in Sausalito were fabulous and we were bridging within sight of the Golden Gate Bridge.

OK. So you can't really see the animals but that doesn't mean you don't get a WOW experience. Sounds abounded during our dark-time visit to the Oakland Zoo. We highly recommend their "Bedtime With The Beasts" program.

We arrived with bedrolls and soon were meeting with our knowledgeable docent and getting the "feel" for what was to be our blind evening schedule. Flashlights were rarely to be use we were told!

We definitely felt like flies on a animals tail. We had to be very quiet and creepy and the animals certainly made us feel like we were unusual visitors. They greeted us with creepy shadows, exciting whistles, whoops and thumping sounds. Wait till you hear how a Hyena sounds, and we won't even mention our beloved eagle's sound! After we walked the elephants to bed, we got touchy feely up close with a very sleepy Tenrec from Madagasgar which is a hedgehog. At craft time we made a colorful paper parrot "literally" with our hands. We bedded down inside a nice building for the night after some filling snacks that were provided.

Troop 2156 rented the Laurel Cabin at the Girl Scout Camp Butano the last weekend in January. The trip was to see the Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo ($4.00/person) and earn their Wildlife badge. The girls absolutely loved it and it tied directly to their marine life science curriculum in 5th grade. They also participated in the Pottery Workshop ($4.50/person) available at the camp making various pottery items to earn their Ceramics and Clay badge. They plan to finish their work at Artopia by glazing and re-firing.

Brownie Troop 1544 has 21 Brownie Girl Scouts, but they are keeping busy with community projects this Fall. First, they have collected over 50 pounds of food and hygiene products to donate to the Diablo Valley AIDS Center. Since 1988, the Diablo Valley AIDS Center has served low income people and their families living with AIDS and HIV by providing food and nutritional services. In addition to collecting donations, the troop will also organize and bag donations for the Thanksgiving deliveries. You can learn more about Diablo Valley AIDS Center at www.dvac.org or 925-686-3822. On December 1, the troop will also participate in the Genard Foundation's 5th Annual World AIDS March in Walnut Creek at 6 pm. This march is to raise awareness about AIDS, combat complacency about AIDS education and prevention, and to remember those we have lost to this disease. You can learn more about the Genard Foundation at 925-943-2437 or www.genard.org.

Brownie Troop 1544 also helped collect coats for Project One Warm Coat on October 19 at Morello Park Elementary as a part of the Harvest Festival Celebration. One Warm Coat's goal is to provide any person with a warm coat, free of charge. Providing these coats is a simple, yet vital, need and helps people live productive lives year round. The troop collected, sorted and cleaned the coats for delivery. The Girl Scouts have been actively involved with this agency for a long time. They discussed that by collecting these donations they can feel good that children, women and men in need will receive a gift of a warm coat. You can learn more about the programs for One Warm Coat at www.onewarmcoat.org or 415-474-8481.