Overlook Farm (home of the northeast regional Heifer
Project International office) is having their 2006 International Fair on June
24th (11am-5pm) and 25th (12 noon-5pm). If your troop has never visited the
farm, it's a great time to see it and to find out more about the work that
Heifer does to fight poverty and hunger around the globe. They have many
> demonstrations of crafts from their project partner countries at the
fair, as well as great healthy, organic grilled and fresh foods, live music,
hayrides, and the opportunity to visit the Global Village, where there are
structures that are representative of rural homes from project partner countries
such as Poland, Guatemala, Tibet, China, Thailand, etc.
A great day trip for the family as well as for the troops - Outlook Farm is located in Rutland, Mass. a quick 38 miles from Sudbury. For more information on the Fair, call the farm at 508-886-2221 or check them out at Heifer.org and navigate to Overlook Farm.
It's a long list, so click here to see it.
Here are some activities/strategies/contacts that have worked well for Brownies. The list starts with the end of the year, and then is in no particular order.
Note: "Badge" and "Try-it" are used interchangeably
Have it at Atkinson Pool--it's only $5/girl, you don't have to worry about rain, and if the weather's good you can do snacks and awards outside after you swim.
Girl Scout Ways: Gotta do this one. Make sit-upons and eat s'mores. Do it at a Patriots Trail camp site if possible!
Water Everywhere: Do it at any conservation land in Sudbury, at Great Meadows, or at Camp Winnetaska, Virginia, or Cedar Hill. The Evergreen Nature Center has sets of dipping nets and magnification boxes that you can take to the pond at Cedar Hill.
Earth and Sky: Do the whole badge at Walden Pond.
Outdoor Adventurer/Eco-Explorer/Ready, Set, Go Camping: Award one each time you go camping (see troop camping certification info below). Another good option is the scout sleepover program at Broadmeadow (an Audubon Society sanctuary in Worcester)--they have a great program that includes a night hike. Go in early spring and you might hear the Woodcock mating calls.
Science Wonders: This has been done at the Discovery Museums in Acton (www.discoverymuseums.org). They do all the work.
Space Explorer: The Ecotarium (www.ecotarium.org) has a great sleepover program. See if you can band together with some other troops to get 30 people and then you can book the whole place just for your group. They include super-power telescopes and a planetarium show (as well as live animals, a blow-up life size whale that you crawl into and many other cool things).
Animals: Get
Debbie Dineen, Sudbury conservation commissioner, to take you on a beaver
tracking hike in the winter. Check out the commission website:
http://home.comcast.net/~sudbury.concom/
Sports activities: Bike on the Battle Road trail at Minuteman National Park. It's hard packed dirt and there are no road crossings. Meriam's Corner to the visitors' center is four miles of rolling but not too challenging terrain. Some troops have rented a van from Enterprise to transport all the bikes at once. Do snow shoeing w/EMS--they'll actually bring snow shoes to you at no cost (Mary Dockray-Miller's troop tromped around Heritage Park one day after school). REI will let you book their climbing wall for about $50 (plan FAR in advance!)
Art To Wear: Make troop t-shirts to wear for parades, flag ceremonies, encampments, etc. Making a troop banner "counts" here as well. Mary Dockray-Miller's troop made a banner that says "Girl Scout Troop 2444" instead of "Brownie Troop 2444" and now they'll never need to make another banner, they just keep adding to that one.
Service Projects: Make cookies with residents at Wingate, do a food pantry collection w/delivery and shelving, clean up a senior citizen's yard, make brownies for firefighters or police officers (deliver personally and get a tour!). Plant geraniums on veterans' graves for Memorial Day. Help the Vets w/their flag ceremony on Veterans' Day. You can earn the "Sudbury Service Stars" patch as brownies w/10 hours of community service (contact Jane Graham 443-1813). Call Ed Gottman if you need help finding a service project.