Happy Fall!

Fall is officially here! Today is the Autumn Equinox, or first day of Autumn. Enjoy it!

Don't forget to look over your badge book and bring a few badge ideas that you would like to complete as a troop this year. If you do not have your book yet, no worries, just check out badges online.

Either write down your ideas or email them. See you Thursday! And Happy Fall!

Welcome Back Note

Welcome back Troop 840! This is going to be an exciting year. Here's a recap of some of what we covered at Thursday's meeting plus more that wasn't.

1. This year we will have Patrol's that will be responsible for taking attendance, records of uniform, treasurer, kaper keeper (set up and taken down table), flag bearers. They will earn a "Leadership Cord" that they can wear on their vest. They will be voted on by the troop and everyone will have the opportunity to provide this leadership to the troop throughout the year.

2. It is important that they are responsible for wearing their vest each week and bringing their quarter and book(s).

3. The leaders will keep a "catch ya being good" chart. This is to note the times that we see especially good behavior or participation.

4. We will have quarterly family celebrations to show the importance of what the girls are achieving with their badges, journey and service projects. (dates/times TBA)

5. We will take up a one time for the year dues of $25 to cover badges, crafts and extras. If you have extra cookie dough and would like to use that to pay the dues with, please let me know and that is acceptable.

6. There will NOT be paper notes sent home (unless they come from a source other than our troop specifically). Check your email for notes, dates, reminders and information of the like.

7. Snack: Healthy Snack please. No drinks, unless Capri Suns. Look at the troop calendar and email the dates you would like to send snack. As they are received, they will be added to the calendar. No dates are taken yet.

8. There are a few weeks that we can not meet on Thursdays. Check the calendar for those dates. A reminder will be posted prior to the date. We are going to try to do other activities or field trips those weeks. Details TBA.

9. ***Badges*** this is important :)
Girls, for this Thursday, look over your Badge book and bring 3 or 4 that you would like to accomplish this year. We will compile a list and you will get to vote on the blog. We will try to get as many of your choices done this year as we can.

Remember: Live by the Girl Scout Law. Have Fun. Do your best. and Be Prepared!

Let's Get Ready . . . . .

This is going to be another great year of Girl Scouting!
Check the calendar for up coming meeting dates as well as dates that we will not be meeting. You should plan to check your email and/or the blog at least weekly for notes, updates and much more.
There is a lot to look forward to this year, we are going to go from Traditions to Leadership and Self Esteem to Exciting Adventures.

So get ready with your vest, get set with your Junior Handbook and Badge book, and let's GO on this Journey together!
If you have any friends that would like to join us this year, please let us know or have their parents contact us. We would love to meet new friends and look forward to seeing the old.

Fall Program Guide 2009

The Girl Scout Fall Program Guide is now available. If there are any activities you are interested in participating in, please comment to this post.

Hold the Presses! Day Change!!

Day Correction: We will meet on Thursdays this year, NOT Tuesdays as previously reported.

Everything else is correct . . . as far as we know. (see last post)

So our first meeting will be September 17 CT Cafeteria - Pick up 5PM.

Juniors 2009-10

We hope everyone had a great summer! School starts next week, but Girl Scouts does not start until September 15. This year we will meet on Tuesdays after school, not Mondays, so mark your calendars. The troop calendar is updated to reflect this change.
If you have not already visited either the GS Western OK shop or website to purchase your uniform and handbook, here is a breakdown of the costs and items.

Item	$
Vest	$15.75
Troop #'s	$3.75
US flag	$1.75
Insignia tab	$2.50
GSWOK	$4.00
GS Pin	$2.00
* handbook	$10.95
* badge book	$11.95
**hand/badge books	$21.50

*Badge book alone has description of Junior Badges
*Handbook alone is not recommended
** package of both Handbook & Badge Book is the best deal to keep track of badges completed, information on Girl Scouting and Junior requirements.

Basically if you would like both books, a vest and the basic emblems it will be $51.25 plus tax.

Are you ready to discover your power? Are you ready to see how this power can make a change in the world?
We hope you are ready and excited to discover this power that you resides within you!
This year we will become "Agents of Change"!
The troop will purchase these books for you.

In addition to this journey, we will accomplish a number of badges. If you have any particular badges that you would like to do as a troop, please let us know.

We are excited to take this journey of Girl Scouting with you. We will see you Tuesday, September 15 after school at CrossTimbers for our 1st meeting of this school year.

*Mystery in our National Park series*

National Geographic Series Mysteries in Our National Parks

	Buried Alive, A Mystery in Denali National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • LITERATURE • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • The Landons are in Alaska's Denali National Park and are joined by 13-year-old Nicky Milano. Jack, Ashley and Nicky accept a dogsled ride from a man in a Park Service uniform -- which leads to trouble. (ALA251, $4.99)
	Cliff-Hanger, A Mystery in Mesa Verde National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • LITERATURE • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • Jack's mother is investigating a cougar attack at Mesa Verde in this installment of the popular series, co-authored by science and mystery authors. (USW522, $4.99)
	Deadly Waters: A Mystery in Everglades National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • Alane Ferguson • MYSTERY • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • While visiting the Everglades National Park with their parents, the Landon children uncover the mystery of dying manatees and learn important lessons about the natural environment. (FLA69, $4.99)
	Escape from Fear, A Mystery in Virgin Islands National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • MYSTERY • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • The Landon family races to figure out what is destroying the coral reefs at the Virgin Islands National Park in the ninth installment of the popular mystery series. (CRB208, $4.99)
	Ghost Horses, A Mystery in Zion National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • LITERATURE • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • Life-threatening accidents keep plaguing the Landon family as they investigate the mysterious deaths of white mustangs at Zion National Park (USW521, $4.99)
	The Hunted, A Mystery in Glacier National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • MYSTERY • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • The fifth installment from the popular series follows the Landon family's attempts to uncover the mysterious disappearance of grizzly cubs in Glacier National Park. (ALA252, $4.99)
	Night of the Black Bear, A Mystery in Great Smoky Mountains National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • LITERATURE • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • While their mother investigates a series of bear attacks in and near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Jack and Ashley learn about country music and Cherokee people from two new friends, one of whom is keeping a secret. (USS400, $4.99)
	Out of the Deep, A Mystery in Acadia National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • MYSTERY • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • The Landons travel to Arcadia National Park in Maine for the tenth installment of the popular mystery series. (USE414, $4.99)
	Over the Edge, A Mystery in Grand Canyon National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • LITERATURE • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • The life of a biologist studying condors in the Grand Canyon is threatened in this entry in Mysteries in Our National Parks -- and the hostile teenage computer whiz in her family's foster care may be involved. (USW520, $4.99)
	Rage of Fire • Gloria Skurzynski • Alane Ferguson • MYSTERY • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • In this suspenseful entry in the Mysteries in our National series, Jack, Ashley and their parents visit Hawaii and meet a Vietnamese boy who leads them on a mysterious adventure into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. (HWI212, $5.95)
	Running Scared, A Mystery in Carlsbad Caverns National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • MYSTERY • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • The Landons travel to Carlsbad Cavern to study the local bat population, but find themselves lost in the dark tunnels of the caves in this installent of the Mysteries in Our National Parks series. (SWU236, $4.99)
	Valley of Death, A Mystery in Death Valley National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • LITERATURE • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • The Landon family makes a trip to Death Valley National Park accompanied by a mysterious new foster child, fourteen-year-old Leesa Sherman. (CAL216, $4.99)
	Wolf Stalker, A Mystery in Yellowstone National Park • Gloria Skurzynski • Alane Ferguson • MYSTERY • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) • Published by National Geographic, this mystery concerns the shooting of a wolf in Yellowstone National Park. For readers ages 9-12. (RKY45, $4.99)

Amy Akin "Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do. Or, Do without."
Junior GS Troop # 840
Akin Adventure

theakins@sbcglobal.net

No Kid Hungry - Dine Out 2009

Each year, more than 12 million children in America (one in six) worry about when their next meal will come.

Eat out the week of September 20-28, 2009 at a local participating restaurant.
Click to find one of the many near you!

CAMP EDGE VBS @ FUMC Edmond

SUMMERTIME FUN

CAMP E.D.G.E

The Lord is my strength and my might.

Psalm 118:14a

Camp E.D.G.E Vacation Bible School is not your typical stroll through the woods. It is an

action-packed, adrenaline-filled expedition to an Extreme Adventure Camp that teaches

kids their strength and might come from God!

First United Methodist Church of Edmond - 305 E Hurd in the CAC

Camp Dates July 20-24 from 9:30 to 12:00 (Noon)

Register on line (click here)

Twlight Campers

Quite a few from our troop will be at Twilight Camp this week. Keep an eye out for each other & have fun!

Happy Summer!

Summer plans will be found here on the blog & on the Troop Calendar. Check in for details.
See below for June's meeting info @ the Edmond Library.

Books Badge

We will meet at Edmond Public Library to complete the Books badge. We will try to make the meeting times for the summer some time during the 2nd week of the month.
For June, we will meet at Shannon Miller Park, just in front of the library on Wednesday, June 10 at 10AM for about 40 minutes. We will complete 6 of the requirements during the meeting. Please bring a gently used book(s) to donate to a local organization. (Troop will decide who will receive the books)

Books
Complete any six of the following requirements to earn this badge:

1. It's a Wide World
   Read two fold tales, stories, or poems from a culture other than your own. Share what you have learned in any of the following ways:
   - Act out one or more of the stories or folk tales.
   - Learn more about one or more of the writers.
   - Read one of the stories, poems, or folk tales to your Girl Scout group or another audience.
   - Create puppets and put on a puppet show, based on one of the stories, for a group of younger children or Girl Scouts.

2. Picture This!
   Select one or tow picture books and do one of the following:
   - Read the books to younger friends or Girl Scouts. Ask what they like about the illustrations and the stories.
   - Create two book covers to go with your selected books.
   - Create your own picture book in the same style.

3. Be a Tape Worm!
   Make an audiotape of a book, short story, magazine article, joke or riddle collection, play or poetry collection that you can give to someone who cannot read. You could, with your troop or group, make tapes at a local agency that service people who are blind or visually impaired. Practice reading aloud so that your tape will sound polished and smooth.

4. Be a Reading Helper
   Some children and adults have trouble reading. Find out from a reading specialist, teacher, librarian, or another adult about different types of reading difficulties or disabilities. Then, with the help of adults as needed, do one of the following:
   - put together and distribute a list of places to go in your community for reading help. This information is available at most libraries.
   - be a reading buddy. find out where you can help a younger child who is learning to read or having trouble reading. check with your teacher or leader, or ask your librarian if there are literacy or reading organizations in your community. volunteer to spend at least one-half hour a week for alt least a month with a reading partner.

5. The Living Past!
   When you read about something that happened a long time ago, you make the event come alive again in your mind. Read a story poem, or folk tale that reflects past life in the united States.

6. Read and Review
   In a newspaper or other source, read review of new books for your age level. Check one of the books out of the library, read it, and decide if the review was right.

7. How To? Read On!
   Become an expert in a subject by reading about it. You might read about the subject mater of another badge in this book. For example, read a book about dance, music, the life of a famous woman artist or sports hero, horses, cooking, the environment, or an historic event. Review the book in writing or discuss it with your troop or family.

8. Build a Library
   Share your love of reading with others in your community in one of two ways:
   - Set up a schedule with other Girl Scout members to bring library books in large print, in Braille, or on tape to someone who will enjoy them.
   - With the help of an adult, collect books and magazines for specific age levels and donate them to a library, camp, nursing home, youth shelter, pediatric office, clinic, day-care center, or other facility.

9. Books for Life
   Find out about careers for people who like books. If you can, visit with an author, poet, illustrator, editor, librarian, bookstore owner or book publisher or invite any of those professional to visit your troop or group.

10. Your Library's Treasures
    Explore your local library's resources. Prepare poster to encourage greater use of the library, or an advertising flyer to let the community know about all the library's treasures. Some libraries sponsor readings by local poets and authors, or concert series. What kinds of classes or lectures are available at yours?