May 27th -- Meeting #10

This night was our last "official" troop meeting for the 4th grade school year!! We made it a "Fun Nite" with the girls playing games outside while the parents busied themselves with the paperwork of signing up for next year and filling out forms for our two camping trips this summer!! We are looking forward to seeing the girls over the summer and having a blast with them again in the following school year!!! We will still post on this blog when we have an event, but in the meantime... ENJOY YOUR SUMMER, GIRLS!!!!

Upcoming Events!

Friday, May 21st:
***Awards Ceremony***
This ceremony will be at Grace United Methodist Church located
on the Morningside College campus. Time is TBA...
Please be sure to wear your pink troop T-shirt to this event!!


Thursday, May 27th:
***Troop Meeting***
We will meet at Washington Heights Church from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm.
This is our last "official" meeting for the school year. For our final
community service project, we are donating new or "gently used" items
to the CSADV (Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence) as there
is always a need for children's and women's clothing, toys, books, soap,
toiletries, etc. Please feel free to bring 2-3 items for donation to this
meeting! Thank you!


Friday, June 4th:
*** Joy Hollow Treehouse Overnite***
We will be leaving early Friday evening and spending the night at
Joy Hollow in their special "treehouse" cabins. Times are TBA and will
be announced at the date gets closer. Cost is $5.00 and is due May 27th
at the final troop meeting!


Saturday, August 7th:
***Henry Doorly Zoo (Omaha) Overnite***
We will be leaving late afternoon on Saturday for Omaha. Upon arriving
at the zoo, we will be checking at zoo closing time. We will have a night
hike for our troop, then spend the night in the Aquarium with late night
pizza and a movie! When we get up in the morning, there is morning hike
and then we spend the day at the zoo before coming home. Our money
from cookie sales will be used for most of this event. Cost is $10.00 (for
meals) and is due May 27th at the final troop meeting! A list of
things to bring and the departure/arrival times will be announced when the
date draws closer! Stay tuned!!

Any questions, please call Gay at 712-389-5370! Thank you!!

April 22nd -- Meeting #9

Reduce... Reuse... Recycle... This was the theme of our meeting tonight, since today was "Earth Day". We learned about how "Earth Day" came about... it actually was started just in the state of Nebraska as "Arbor Day", where trees were planted to replace the ones that are being cut down all the time. This "idea" then caught on with other states, and then it was decided to save more than just trees. Once this idea spread globally, it was decided to call it "Earth Day", because everyone is saving some part of the Earth.

As part of earning our badge for this, we needed to go pick up trash somewhere. We decided to go across the street to Washington School playground to do this. We added the incentive of playing on the playground once we were done picking up trash! The girls were able to fill a whole bag with garbage!! Who knew there was that much garbage just laying around on the playground?! Great Job, Troop 273!!

Girl Scout Prom!

What a fun evening!!! We had 13 girls from our troop participate in this "extravaganza"! The first half of the evening started out by each troop visiting "stations" in the different classrooms of the church. There was a station for everything! You could get your nails done, get your hair done, have make-up applied, make corsages and jewelry, have your picture taken, etc.

The second half of the evening consisted of a dance... complete with a DJ and a chocolate fountain!! We started with a "Grand March", announcing each troop as they walked through and calling each girl by name. The chocolate fountain and the DJ both were a big hit -- chocolate is always a hit for us females, and the DJ really knew how to work the crowd and get everyone involved! I'm sure he was having as much fun as the Girl Scouts!!! Pictures are attached:

The station where we made jewelry:

Gettin hair and make-up done:

Even Christina was out there dancing!:

Some of our troop girls dancing:

The DJ really working with the crowd (and enjoying himself!):

Upcoming Events!

April 10, 2010:
***Girl Scout Prom Night***
Grace United Methodist Church (M'side College campus)
Check-in at 6:30 PM Prom lasts from 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Wear your best dress! There will be a Grand March, along
with a chocolate fountain, a DJ and Dance, and loads of FUN!!!

April 22, 2010:
***Troop Meeting***
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Washington Heights Church
We will be celebrating Earth Day!!

May 21, 2010:
***Court of Awards Ceremony***
Grace United Methodist Church on M'side College campus
More details to follow...

May 27, 2010:
***Troop Meeting***
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Washington Heights Church
This will be our last official meeting for the school year!

A Note from the Leader...

Troop 273 is approaching the end of our Girl Scout year! We have grown to a troop of 22 members -- not a dull moment in these meetings!! As most of you know, Angie, Miranda and myself take the summer off. You can check the Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa Summer Camp Catalog and enroll your Girl Scout in many of the summer activities. (This is also a good way to use any "cookie dough" money your Girl Scout may have earned!) We are planning a service unit run day camp at Joy Hollow on Monday, June 21st. More information on this day camp will follow. I will be there helping to run this day with our troop.

A date will also be set for our GRAND YEAR END EVENT!! The girls will be planning this event with the cookie money they earned with cookies sales!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to call... 712-389-5370.

Thank You,
Gay Parker -- Troop Leader

March 25th -- Meeting #8

All the Girl Scouts present at tonight's meeting participated in a little "ceremony" with their fellow troop members and received their Girl Scout Trefoil pin!! They also received a bag with any patches they have earned so far this year! Great job, girls!!

After our ceremony, we talked about some ideas to put our money earned from cookie sales to good use! The Girl Scouts were asked to right down three ideas and turn them in... we will announce the results at our next meeting!!

Next up, was our "craft hour"! Since Easter is right around the corner, the girls each got to decorate two eggs. We started by poking pin holes in the eggs and blowing the yolk out!! Surprisingly, no eggs were broken in this process! The girls were VERY creative with their eggs... some did decoupage with multi-colored tissue paper, some were decorated with sequins, and some even used paint and painted stripes or even mixed it and made it swirl on the egg... very imaginative! What a fun night!!

Our International Event

The day for our International Event has finally arrived!! First, we would like to thank everyone that helped set up and/or tear down our booth and also a couple BIG "thank yous"... one to Jenna's grandpa for taking pictures and providing a copy for each girl that participated... and another to Sammie's grandma for letting us borrow her Japanese porcelain doll and vase for our display!! We appreciate everything!!

There were eleven booths set up at this event, representing eleven countries... France, Netherlands, Mexico, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Egypt, Greece, Haiti, and Ireland are the countries that were chosen by the troops. Each troop was to have their members dress in "costume" to represent their chosen country. They also created a "stamp" for the passports that everyone presented when visiting your booth. Our troop had the country of Japan, so the girls dressed up in kimono robes, complete with white socks, sandals, and even decorated chopsticks in their hair!! We had a huge posterboard filled with all kinds of facts the girls found about Japan and wrote on the board. Our girls also learned about the Japanese art of origami and made their own paper fans for their costumes and even made picture frames to be sold in their booth. Every country also provided a food... our troop made "candy sushi" (no one in the troop wanted the real thing!!!) and also sold this at the booth! Our candy sushi was a Rice Krispie bar with a gummy Swedish fish on top and wrapped with a fruit roll-up... the Rice Krispies represented the rice, the fish was obviously our raw fish, and the fruit roll-up represented the seaweed!! I have to say that our sushi probably tasted much better!!! It was a great hit with all the visitors, too! Our booth also had chopsticks for sale and we even offered some free items, such as mini-parasol umbrellas and printouts of how to count to ten in Japanese, or how to play Janken... a Japanese version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors". The girls took turns in shifts working our booth. When they weren't working, they got to go around and visit all the other countries!! I think everyone had a great time! Pictures are below:

Here is our troop during the parade:

Here is a picture at our booth:

February 25th -- Meeting #7

Tonight's meeting was all about getting ready for our International Event. We learned how to make the "candy sushi" we are going to sell in our booth and how to make origami picture frames! We also decorated tree branch twigs with tissue paper to make them look like cherry blossoms and decorated chopsticks for decorations in our hair as part of our costumes!! No pictures because we didn't want to ruin the upcoming event!!! Coming soon!!!

BREAKING NEWS!:... Cookies Are Here!!!...

Just got word... the Girl Scout Cookies have arrived!! Please come to the Immaculate Conception School gymnasium on Saturday, February 20th @ 1:00 pm to pick up your cookies! Immaculate Conception is located at the corners of Morningside Ave. and Ridge Ave. See you there!! (If you are unable to be there at this time to pick up your cookies, please arrange to have someone else pick them up for you! Due to the large volume of cookies our troop sold this year, we are unable to keep any boxes to be picked up at a later date. Thanks for your help with this!!)

January 28th -- Meeting #6

At this meeting, we learned more about our International Event... We are representing the country of Japan!! This event will be held on Sunday, February 28th from 3 pm - 5 pm at the Church of the Nativity. Many Girl Scout troops will be on hand, each representing a country. At our meeting, we decided we would be dressing up as geisha girls and learning origami and making food to represent Japan! To see more about what we will be doing, please attend the event!!!

Supermarket Saturday

This is a community service project where the Girl Scouts greet patrons at the entrance of the Gordon Drive Hy-Vee and give them a slip of paper asking them to consider making a donation of a canned food item for the Food Bank of Siouxland. Our troop has a two hour shift from 8-10 am. If you have not yet signed up and are interested, there are still openings for the 8:30am slot and the 9:30am slot. Please call Gay @ 389-5370 to sign up! (Participants will receive a patch!)

To see when your Girl Scout is signed up, see the schedule below:

8:00 - 8:30am:

1. Abbie P
2. Brianna B.
3. Lauren V.
4. Sydney F.
5. Sammie P.
6. Teanna D.

8:30 - 9:00am:

1. Brooklyn N.
2. McKenna U.
3. Jenessa U.

9:00 - 9:30am:

1. Madison L.
2. Britney H.
3. Chloe H.
4. Sarah H.
5. Cierra E.
6. Tarah W.

9:30 - 10:00am:

1. Jenna B.
2. Emily B.
3. Brooke E.

Musketeers Hockey

The Girls Scouts attended a Musketeer Hockey event on Saturday, January 16th. This was an all day event, consisting of ice skating, getting a tour of the Tyson Events Center, and door prizes! We also got to stay and have supper (hot dog and pop) and watch the Musketeers play against the Indiana Ice... and meet some of players after the game for pictures and autographs!!! We had thirteen girls from our troop participate in this event -- and I believe every single one of them had FUN!!! Here are pics:

Some of the girls from our Troop on the ice:

A group picture of our Troop while iceskating:

The Musketeers Locker Room!:

The Training Room and the "Autograph Wall":

(Signed by Nickelback, Trace Atkins, Brad Paisley and many others!)

Our Troop "hanging out" at our seats during the game:

Some hockey action on the ice:

Some of the girls stayed after the game to wait in line for autographs...

Upcoming Events!

Troop Meeting -- Thursday, January 28th:
We will meet at Washington Heights Church from 6-8 pm. This meeting's "focus" will be on preparing for our upcoming International Event! You don't want to miss it!!

Cookie Orders Due -- Monday, February 1st:
Please total up (and double-check) your order forms and drop them off at Washington Heights Church between 5:30-6:00 pm!! (You may also turn in your order form at our January 28th meeting if you are done!!!)

Supermarket Saturday -- Saturday, February 6th:
This is a community service project where the Girl Scouts greet patrons at the entrance of the Gordon Drive Hy-Vee and give them a slip of paper asking them to consider making a donation of a canned food item for the Food Bank of Siouxland. Our troop has a two hour shift from 8-10 am. We need 16 girls to sign up and we will have 4 girls per 1/2 hour shift. If interested, please sign up at Thursday's meeting. (Participants will receive a patch!)

Cookie Pick-Up: TBA

Delivery of Cookie Orders: February 22 - March 14th

Troop Meeting -- Thursday, February 25th:
We will meet at Washington Heights Church from 6-8 pm. We will finish up our projects for our International Event!

Girl Scout International Event -- Sunday, February 28th:
This event will be held at Mater Dei School Gym from 3-5 pm. Mater Dei is located at the Church of the Nativity at 4242 Natalia Way. Each troop from our Prairie Schooner area will be representing a country. At this event, the Girl Scouts can dress in costume, and offer and sell craft or food items from that country!

Cookie Money Due -- Monday, March 15th:
All your cookie order money MUST be turned in on this day! Drop it off at Washington Heights Church between 5:30-6:00 pm. Plan to stay a few minutes while the money is counted and verified! Thanks!!