AV Beat - Girl Scouts

Braving the cold temperatures and waiting in line to begin the parade route, local Girl Scouts as young as five years old participated in the Lancaster and Palmdale Holiday Parades. In the Lancaster parade, the Girl Scouts won third place in the large floats category. In the Palmdale parade, they won the Chairman’s Trophy. After the Palmdale Parade, the city had its Holiday Festival. Some of the troops donated baked goods for the cake walk. Troop 025 participated as part of their service hours for their Silver Award.

On Friday, December 7, Troop 025’s Cadets earned their Silver Award by putting on a Holiday Gift Boutique for other Girl Scouts. The Silver Award is the second highest award that a girl can earn. Elizabeth Miljan and Vanessa Nettelhorst are third year Cadets. They earned their Bronze Award as Juniors in 2004 by collecting toy donations for Santa’s Workers of the Antelope Valley. They have now earned their Silver Award. The Holiday Gift Boutique is an event where girls can shop for family and friends in a safe environment without actually spending any money. The troops earn credit by making and donating gifts for moms, dads, children, and pets. The total value of the troop’s donation is divided evenly among the girls in that troop and they receive a “credit card”. The Cadets price the merchandise and set up a shop decorated for the holidays. The girls come and spend their credit on the merchandise donated by all the troops that participated. One leader, Erin Kolesar said, “This was so rewarding for the girls, and they are all so excited to have gifts to hand out this year.”
The Brownies of Troop 224 participated in the annual Lancaster City Hall Christmas Tree lighting. After they led the flag salute to begin the meeting, the City Council began to take care of business. Suddenly, there arose such a clatter, everyone turned to see what was the matter! Santa came into the meeting! He had his red nose and jolly belly and wanted to wish the city a Merry Christmas. The girls went outside into the cold with Santa and lit the city tree. They all sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. Santa let the girls go home after that so that they wouldn’t have to sit through the entire meeting.
The girls have been very busy this Holiday Season. Now, after a short break to spend time with family, the girls will be back in January getting ready for Cookie Sales! Yum!