Meeting Monday December 20, 6-7pm

In general, if I'm in town, we'll have a meeting. We'll meet this Monday and we'll probably meet next Monday. We'll talk about cookies.
The following girls are registered for the January 8th Cookie Rally in Cedar Park:
Rally RSVP list:
Amri
Gabriella (paid)
Brigid
Naya
Emonee
Emma
Faith
Ariana

For those who did not RSVP to Mandy:
I try to avoid last minute registrations just in case something goes wrong with the process. If you still want to go, follow this link before 11pm Monday Dec 20th. Near the top there will be blue text telling you to "click here to register..." You will be directed to a calendar on which you will need to highlight the Jan. 8 Cookie Rally, then follow the instructions. You can either register as Troop 1563 or as an individual. The cost is $2 per Girl Scout, free for adults. You must pay with credit card.
(You can typically register in person with Jamie at Council, using any payment method- but Council is closed on Mondays.)


And now, just for fun, see if you can name the cookies:

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Troop Outing, RSVP by Sun Dec 19

Saturday January 8, 2-4 pm we will be attending the Travis County Daisy and Brownie Girl Scout Cookie Rally in Cedar Park. You must RSVP to me by Sun Dec 19. The cost is $2 per girl. If your daughter plans to attend, please tell me ASAP. I cannot add additional children after the closing date.

If you commit to going, you must pay the $2 even if she ends up not attending. However,you do not have to turn in the money until next week as we are registering with the troop's card.We will discuss transportation details later. 

After the Rally, you have the option to stay for the Cookie Kick Off- a Girl Scout friendly Texas Stars hockey game at 7pm. I am not planning the hockey game as part of our troop outing. If you would like to attend that event, please contact RHurley@texasstarshockey.com
There may be special Girl Scout pricing, but I also saw an ad on the Stars website for a $44 Family Pack which includes 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 drinks. It is likely you can also get tickets at the door, but please call them to verify.
***12/16 Update***
Just got this e-mail:

Saturday, January 8th at 7 pm (doors at 6 pm)
Tickets are only $8 or $10 dollars!
Add a soda or hotdog for $3
All Girl Scout tickets must be purchased in advance and are not available through the Cedar Park Center box office. Prizes will be awarded to the three troops who bring the most fans. All participating Girl Scouts will receive a patch, courtesy of the Texas Stars Hockey Club 

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Rally RSVP list:
Amri
Gabriella (paid)
Brigid
Naya
Emonee
Emma (paid. needs $3 change)
Faith
Ariana
Atalli (paid)

Hockey Game list:


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Today's the Day! October 1st, Fall Products!

Hooray! Today is the first day of the 2010 Fall Product Sale!
Remember this is a multi-layered sale, so I'll try to make it as painless as possible.

3 Things To Do Today (October 1st.) In no particular order:
#1- Internet Safety Pledge: Parent and Scout together- Complete the Internet Safety Pledge. There isn't a "print" button, so just go up to the "file" option on your menu bar and choose "print" from there. Turn this sheet in with your Nut Ordersheet at the end of the Nut Sale.

#2- Register with QSP: Parent and Scout together- The parent must fill in the "Create a New Account" screen, using the parent's information. Write down your password so you can log-in later. The form should be predesignated as "Girl Scouts of Central Texas." We are Troop 1563. Select the Daisies/Brownies bubble. The rest is self-explanatory, but please read over this blog post before you register. Clicking here will open a new window- GSCTX's Fall Product page. You must then follow their link for the "QSP/Nut Online Program." When you need to log in again, look under the "Fundraisers" tab of this blog.

Now it will take you to some career themed pages for your Scout to complete. When she has answered all the questions, you will come to the "My QSP" page. You can choose to send e-mails or check your progress. (Remember that sending e-mails through this site is the only way to sell magazines. You must collect e-mail addresses in the real world from people wishing to order from you. You can carry a notebook with you for this purpose while you sell Nut products.) From this screen you can choose to send Monkey Mail or a more traditional looking e-mail.The Magazine sale ends November 15. Parents, please make sure she uses the correct date. If you choose Monkey Mail, you get to pick out a monkey who will then appear in a little movie clip about your magazine sale. You can preview your movie by clicking the "play" button under your monkey. You can change your monkey for each time you log back in.

When you are done designing your monkey, click "Share." You will be taken to the e-mail address entering screen. Parents: please help your daughter with this step. We want to be sure the addresses are entered correctly. Once the recipients first and last name and e-mail address are entered, click "add contact." A little box will pop up- DO NOT click the "offer nut products" option. It will make your sale more complicated. It will be easier for you to take your Nut orders in person or by phone on your orderform. There is also an option here to Remove the person you just added in case of errors. You can continue adding recipients. There are also options at the bottom to send reminders. Then click "send."

12 valid e-mails sent earns your Scout the Slide Patch.You can log in and enter collected e-mail addresses throughout the sale. The more e-mails sent, the more magazines you'll sell!

#3- Start Taking Nut Orders: You can now start using your ordersheet! If you think you might fill it up, or you need an extra for the office, feel free to make photocopies. Be sure you fill in your portion of the sheet: Name, Troop #, your phone number, and the Sale Dates: October 1-10. In addition to the nut and candy products, there is also a GS calendar. Orders arrive in November. People can pay now if they want- but they don't have to. Cash or Checks to "Girl Scouts." If you have any people that change their mind or are never home when you try to deliver, we will need to find buyers. There are no returns for this sale.

Help your daughter make a list of adult friends and relatives she can call on the phone. It is important for your Scout to do as much of the selling as possible. Remember to ask for an e-mail address so you can send a magazine invitation. Sales with orderforms are usually easier to do with people you already know, either in person or by phone, but you can ask neighbors if you'd like to.Here are some tips for Door-to-Door Selling:

• Always wear as much Girl Scout stuff as you've got when selling. Anytime you publicly represent Girl Scouts you must wear your uniform AND be on your best behavior. As far as selling goes, it's nearly impossible to resist an adorable, happy, little girl all decked out in her Brownie outfit. Your vest, a GS t-shirt/hat, a parent or sibling also in GS garb- these are all sales aids.
• Smile. Be your friendly self. Tell them you are doing a fundraiser so your Girl Scout Troop can go camping.
• Take a notebook and 2 pens with you.Also take your money envelope, and a "donations" envelope.
• Say "Thank you" even if they don't buy anything. If you are frowny or have a bad attitude, they will remember. Be a good Girl Scout.
• There are a lot of Scouts in Austin's Colony, so if they bought from someone else, be sure to say "Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts."
• NEVER sell door-to-door without a trusted adult.
• Don't walk through people's yards. Stay on the sidewalk.
• Knock firmly and/or ring the doorbell ONCE.
• Give people a reasonable amount of time to get to the door.
• Do not go inside anyone's house.
• Double check their order. They must include a phone number.

General Notes About the Sale
Donations are always gladly accepted. Keep donations in a separate, labeled envelope. The troop keeps 100% of donations. They do not count towards the Sale.
Nut Products run Today-October 10. Then you turn in your orderforms and any money collected  to Mandy.
Magazine Sales run Today- November 15. They can only be ordered though the QSP e-mail system and can only be purchased with credit cards.
Our Troop Goal is $300 per girl. I gave the girls a Goal Sheet at the last meeting. If everyone will maintain their Goal Sheets, it will be easy to share your progress with the troop on Mondays.



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Meeting Monday September 20, 6-7pm

 This event has passed.

Attendance:

Atalli
Desjonique
Ariana
Emonee
Faith
Amri
Brigid

Notes:

We reviewed Fall Products today.
Then we learned some neat facts about Juliette Gordon Low and played a memory game.

I have not made copies of the Goal Sheet yet, but I will soon. I will give them to you when you turn in your registration paperwork and/or fall product permission slip. I need both of these forms by the 25th.

Soon we will be having our weekly meetings at the Austin's Colony Community Center. For those of you who do not live in Austin's Colony, when you are on 969 and reach the Texaco, go South on "Hunter's Bend." Go straight at the 4 way stop and continue to the end of the road. The community center will be directly in front of you. Pull in the dirt road and park to the left on the gravel. Please avoid parking in the grass.

Thanks:

To Gloriana for providing the troop with several pairs of childrens scissors.

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Original Post:

Today we will continue our discussion about Fall Products. Girls should have at least 12 people they can e-mail about magazines. (You cannot begin selling until October 1st.) At our last meeting we determined troop goals. The girls also decided on personal prize goals.
Results:
-Each girl  should aim for at least $300 in total sales. This will hopefully finance our Spring Camping Trip.
-The girls expressed interest in earning all 6 patches. I made goal sheets for the girls. I'll photocopy them and hand them out at this meeting so they can have a visual reference.


The Fall Product Sale is sort of complicated this year, so I will type up a How-To Guide. We are selling Nut Items Oct.1-10 via sign up sheet, and Magazines Oct.1-Nov.15 on-line. Determining subscriptions and total sales will be a waiting game.

"Nut Items" include all items from the sign-up sheet. (various nut products, candies, and a calendar.)

All girls must turn in FP permission slips ASAP. I have to turn them in before the end of the month.
All girls must register for the sale on-line ON October 1st. I will have the link for you later. Parents and girls must also do the on-line safety pledge.

There are a lot of fundraisers going on now, so give your family and friends a heads-up.

I apologize for the difficulty associated with this sale, but it will be well worth our time: The Troop keeps 35% of all Nut product sales, and $2 for every magazine subscription. If we all work together, we can finance our Big Trip, plus cover monthly activity fees and badge costs for the next several months. And we all know how much the girls love earning badges!

Thursday August 26: Green and White Night

GREEN AND WHITE NIGHT FUND RAISER

5-8pm

Not a Troop Event. (This is a free adult event, 21+ only)
Sample free wine and appetizers. A percentage of purchases benefit Girl Scouts of Central
Texas. Mandy will not be attending, but please feel free to go out and mingle with other Girl Scout Moms. Enjoy a night out and raise money for Girl Scouts!

Location:
Davenport Wine & Spirits: 3801 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Austin.

Links:
Green and White Night

Lemonade Day, Sunday May 2: 10am-2pm

This event has passed.

Attendance:

Amri + Troop Leader Mandy

Ariana + Assistant Leader Gloriana

Atalli + Kiana + Alex + Adriana

Emonee

Adajiah

Alexis + Shelly

Brigid + Dave

Mikayla + Cari

Notes:  

Wow! Fantastic job, everyone! We surpassed our goal; Mikayla and Alexis were featured in the Statesman (look in our Troop Photo Gallery;) Ariana, Atalli, Alex, Adriana, Mikayla, Emonee, and Kiana were shown in the CBS news blip; you worked together as a team; AND you completed a very complicated Try It Activity. (Careers #6) Phew! Give yourselves a pat on the back- I'm so proud! Now that we know we can afford our Dell Diamond Trip- we'll need to start thinking about our troop flag for the parade! (Getting troop shirts would also be a good idea...)

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Original Post:

The BIG day is here! You can meet at Atalli's house at 9am, or call me to find our exact location. Please do not call me before 8am. I probably won't answer... Girls should wear their vests and a tropical outfit. We have hula skirts, leis, and flowers for their hair. Sunscreen is highly recommended. Girls can bring a sack lunch or money for lunch if they plan on staying the whole time. Girls that can behave can stay at the stand as long as they like. So many of you are coming that we may split and do 2 stands.

Hooray!

Friday 4-30-10: Morning Update

We have been officially approved for our booth by our Service Unit Director.

Sunday May 2, 10am-2pm we'll be running a lemonade stand downtown in honor of the 4th annual National Lemonade Day. We will be working on our Careers Try It, while earning money for our troop. Brigid's birthday party (which we have all been invited to) starts at 3pm the same day.

Each girl needs to commit to working at least 1-2 hours at our stand.  Call Mandy to sign up for your time.
10am: Brigid + dad
All Day: Mandy and Gloriana

We will need at least 4 girls and 4 adults at a time:

• 2 girls will be in the booth selling- with an adult supervisor. 
• One adult will be in charge of lemonade supply supervision- using random girls as laborers when needed.
• 2 girls will be out front, advertising- with an adult supervisor.
• One adult will be our gopher, should we need anything during the sale.

The girls will all rotate jobs. Each girl needs to know the cost of her product, how to make change, and what we are doing with our profits. We'll go over all of this prior to the sale, but the answer to that last one is "Funding Activities and Community Service Projects!"

Our stand will have a Luau Theme. Think grass skirts and tropical dresses. Dads can wear Hawaiian shirts. If you have any decorations that will go with our theme- please let me know ASAP if we can borrow or have them. Throughout this week, whenever the girls are available, we need to gather  to work on decorating our booth, making signs, and making costumes.

Tuesday: The girls played while the moms hacked up paper bags to make a "grass" fringe to hang from our canopy. Mandy had 2 large pieces of  particle board- Adriana's sister is going to paint them for us. They will be our pricing signs.
Wednesday: Mandy doesn't feel well. We'll postpone Wednesday's plan until Thursday.
Thursday: Gloriana is bringing butcher paper. The girls will gather at the local park to paint the banners for our stand.
Friday: We only got one banner done yesterday as it was very windy. Adriana worked on a sign at home. The girls worked on our pricing signs. Today we will work on another banner (we're trying to have 4.) We will also discuss booth behavior and our advertising strategy.

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Girls should use word-of-mouth advertising to be sure our booth gets plenty of business on Sunday!
If you have not registered, please do so. You need to visit the Lemonade Day website, register, note that you are with Girl Scout Troop 1563, enter the "best stand" contest, and afterward, go to one of the area Runtex locations to pick up your free backpack. OR you can just register inside the Runtex store. The backpack is not a necessity, so don't worry if you haven't picked yours up.

Our Stand Concept:

I have a 10x10 portable canopy to shade us. It has weights, too, so we don't have to worry about it blowing away.

We will decorate our stand A) to attract customers B) to make it more fun and C) so we can enter the Best Stand contest.

We will also have a few chairs, but just like a the Cookie Booths, we should avoid sitting as it makes us appear lazy. 

The city of Austin is allowing lemonade stands to operate without a permit on this day only. I looked on-line- there are going to be stands just about everywhere. We will set up downtown, somewhere near the Pecan Street Festival. Gloriana and I will be the first out to set up and we will call you with the exact location.

Julie has leis for the girls to wear. Atalli's grandma bought the troop hula skirts, leis, and flowers for their hair. Gloriana bought tiki torches to decorate with (we won't be lighting them.) We're keeping all receipts so we can return any unused items.

Supply Needs:
-We already have one table from Amri's dad.
- We have two more tables from Gloriana.
-We need coolers/ice chests for holding ice.
-Gloriana is providing 2  large igloo coolers with spouts.
-Julie is bringing Almond Extract so we can have Unique and Fancy Lemonade.
-Stirring spoons
-Gloriana has secured an ice donation.
-We will need gallon jugs of water.
-Adriana  is working on lemonade mix donations.
-If someone wants to provide a couple watermelons, that would be great. Watermelon Lemonade might be pretty economical...and delicious!
-oodles of small cups- ask for donations from restaurants. Amri and I did that for an hour on Tuesday and got a very positive response. I have donation slips if any of you want to take some with you.
-a garbage can
-trash bags
-rubber gloves for the prep team

We need to go out and ask every store we can (HEBs, Targets, Walmarts, Randalls, Walgreens, CVSs, Party City,etc.) for donations off this list. The Parmer HEB wants to help, but asked me for our Tax ID and an IRS form. I now have our tax ID#, but I don't have the IRS paper.

I recommend asking every restaurant you can think of if they'll donate a sleeve of small to-go cups. We will also accept large cups, but we need a ton of kids cups.  Anything we can't get by this weekend, we'll have to purchase. But that also teaches us a business lesson: Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

I will be updating this post throughout the week, so check back often- or feel free to call me.
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Meeting Monday April 26, 6-7pm

This event has passed.

Attendance: 

Amri
Brigid
Atalli
Mikayla
Ariana

Try It Activities Completed:
pg. 23 Careers #5 (Brigid forgot her Badge Book today.)

Notes:

Mikayla turned in her worksheet and received the Animals Try It. Troop Contact Sheets were passed out. Brigid handed out invitations to her birthday party. (It starts at 3pm in the same day as our Lemonade stand.) 
Tonight we read from the Handbook and discussed our Lemonade stand. We determined our financial goal for this weekend's fundraiser is $200- because  we estimated 9 girls at $17each for the Dell Diamond Overnighter. We also discussed the possibility of not making any profit, or even losing money on this venture. The point is to have fun and learn something- and hopefully make a little money. 

Note about patches:

All fun patches should be sewn close to each other. If your daughter attends a lot of events, you might even begin to overlap them. The girls will be Brownies until May of 2011- at the rate we're going they are sure to run out of room. There are roughly 60 Try Its (the triangle ones that go on the front.) Aprox. 36 will fit on the front of the vest- then they overflow to the back. We can always add an extra row of fabric to the bottom of the vest if needed.



Assignments for the Week:

• Register for Lemonade Day online. You do not need to go pick up the backpack unless you want to. It doesn't have anything we really need. But you do need to register. Note that you are with Girl Scout Troop 1563 and enter the "best stand" contest.
• Any free time you have between now and Sunday should be spent helping the troop decorate the stand. Call me! Brainstorm so we can have an awesome display.
• The Lemonade Stand is from 10-2 Sunday May 2. You need to call Mandy and sign up for at least a one hour shift. You can stay longer if you like.
  

Notes About Upcoming Events:
Sunday May 2, 10am-2pm Lemonade Stand 
Monday May 3, 6-7pm Meeting
Friday May 7, 7:30pm Musical Field Trip (details coming soon)



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Original Post:
Tonight we will begin work on the Careers Try It. We'll be reading from the Handbook, discussing budgets, talking about upcoming field trips- like the Berry Farm Visit and the Overnighter at the Dell Diamond. We will also (hopefully) be working on our lemonade stand. Have some marketing ideas in mind- I'm thinking lemon costumes? We want to get customers and maybe even win a contest.

Possible Try It Activities for tonight:
pg. 23 Careers #5
pg. 23 Careers #4 (if time allows)

There were a few girls that received patches on Friday that did not turn in their worksheets. I know you did the activities, but you still need to complete the worksheet and turn it in! If you have questions about patches, please go here. I will gladly sew patches on for a small troop donation.

I need to write down the "fun patches" Madison and Brigid earned with their previous Troops.

Note about upcoming events:

Lemonade Day is Sunday May 2. We have not determined a time. The troop will work together at one, maybe two, lemonade stands. This project is awesome because it counts as A) pg. 23 Careers Try It Activity #6 and B) from what I can tell- an approved Troop fundraiser.

If you have not already registered for Lemonade Day, please do so. When it asks about contests, choose "best stand."  Atalli's dad is working to secure us a location. If we cannot sell downtown, we will set up shop closer to home- perhaps at the church? (I have not asked them yet.) The Lemonade Day website says the backpacks will have everything we need- but I'm not sure what all that includes. We may need to quickly seek donations of cups, and have everyone bring pitchers from home- but we'll see. I'll keep everyone updated.

In addition to Troop volunteers, we'll also need some parent volunteers later this week in order to make Lemonade Day a success. We'll be building and/or decorating our stand and getting things together for the sale. Kids and adults alike- if you can lend a helping hand anytime this week- please let me know.

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