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Fall Registrations Due October 1

If you did not pick up pre-printed forms from the service unit, 2008-2009 registration forms are available on-line: www.girlscoutsrv.org/Forms/forms.html

Mail or deliver your completed forms with payment--ONE check per troop, please--to Carry Langseth, Registrar (drop box available at the end of her driveway).

Leaders - you may also bring them to the Leaders' Meeting at Augustana Health Care Center Oct 2 (that's tonight)!

Please do not send forms directly to the council office.

Remember to complete & include your Troop Membership Dues Summary (see above link) with your registrations & payment.

Service Project Opportunities

November - Caps & Mittens for Students: Collect & donate NEW hats, gloves or mittens for students in area schools who are in need this season. We've made it easy! Just bring your donations to the November Leader's meeting. For more info, here's the flyer: Caps for Kids.

October - 2008 Children's Project: Operation Quiet Comfort has a creative holiday project for your troop: girls can adorn a 9' piece of artificial garland for soldiers with cheerful decorations to help them feel appreciated and give them a small feeling of holiday spirit. Hurry! Garlands must be completed & received no later than October 31. Questions? Contact Jeanne Morgan. Click for flyer: Garlands for Soldiers.

October - Cards for Soldiers (Holiday, Thank-You & Get Well): Here's a fun & easy service project - your troop can create cards & bring them to the November 6 Leader's meeting. For details & important guidelines, please click here.

Upcoming Service Unit Events

Black Cat Ball, Friday, October 24: This annual service unit event is always a favorite! The party's at Falcon Ridge Middle School; 7-9pm. Here's the flyer.

Fairy Tea for Daisies & Brownies, October 25, 2-4:30pm: Dress up as your favorite fairy! Registration begins at 1:30pm. Hurry & click here for flyer & details. (Deadline is Oct. 10).

New! Pumpkin Log Overnight, November 1 & 2, at Camp Rolling Ridges. OVERNIGHT registration has just filled, but there's still room for day-only attendees! Click for more info. Hurry! Registrations due Oct. 2. All Valley Lake & Rosemount Girl Scouts and volunteers are invited.

Come one, Come All! Annual Valley Lake Craft & Bake Sale, Saturday, November 22, Falcon Ridge Middle School. To register your troop & reserve your table, plus view the flyer, click here: Craft & Bake Sale Flyer Registration (Deadline is Nov 1).

Please note an important change: new SafetyWise rules require all partcipating troops to submit the revised Money-Earning Project Approval Form 30 days in advance of the event, regardless of the amount your troop will raise. (Leaders, please note on your form that Valley Lake does have a valid food license to cover this event). Go to the Council Forms page of this website to locate the form.

Community Events & Council Programs for Girl Scouts

Haunted House Fun! October 10 & 11, Dakota County Fairgrounds, Farmington. 6th annual "Support Our Troops Haunted House"; open to the public. To read more about it, click here.

TAGS Gymnastics - Saturday, November 1 (1:30 - 2:30pm), TAGS-South, Apple Valley. Sign up now with your troop, or individually. Registration deadline October 22. Click for more information: TAGS Flyer TAGS Registration. (Pre-registration required; space is limited).

Wonderful World of Science - Saturday, November 22 (1 - 3:30pm), Camp Rolling Ridges. Get messy, play with magnets and electricity, mix & stir all kinds of liquids, and see what happens next! Girl Scout Brownies will earn their Science Wonders Try-It. $9 per girl (adults no charge). Register at www.girlscoutsrv.org.

"Way Cool Cooking School," Eden Prairie: Want a great, new experience for your Troop? Fun, educational Girl Scout programs can be tailored to the needs & size of your Troop. Visit www.waycoolcookingschool.com for more info, or call 952-949-6799 to register. A variety of cooking choices are offered, including many badgework opportunities.

Love rock climbing? Find out about Vertical Endeavors' Girl Scout Badgework programs! Classes are 5 hours & cover material to fulfill Sports Sampler or Adventure Sports (Juniors); or High Adventure Interest Project Patch (Cadettes, Seniors). Visit www.verticalendeavors.com or email info@verticalendeavors.com for more info. Vertical Endeavors is located in St. Paul. Phone 651-776-1430.

New! Girl Scout Patch Program: Co-Ops for Community - Valley Natural Foods, Apple Valley, MN. This patch program teaches girls about the 7 principles of a co-op & involves a fun tour, with free food samples! Girls will understand how buying locally helps our community, and learn ways in which they can reduce waste & help save the planet. (Sponsored by the National Cooperative Business Association). Email Valley Natural Foods for FREE activity booklet & to set up your troop's tour.

You've Gotta Go . . to our Monthly Leader's Meetings!

Want to know what events are being planned for troops? Looking for leadership opportunities for girls? Want to get some training or learn new things to use with your troop? Want to be ready for cookie sales? All of that and so much more will be covered at monthly leaders' meetings. (Check out the Info for Leaders page for up-to-date Meeting Minutes).

Meetings are held the first Thursday of the month @ 6:30pm. Next meeting is: November 6.

Meeting Location Augustana Health Care Center (across from Paideia, off 147th between Cedar & Galaxie); we meet on the Lower Level (use elevator near main desk & please sign in and wear a Visitor's Badge)

Note on parking at Augustana - click here for more info: Leader Meeting Parking

Share Your Troop's Talents, Accomplishments or Projects

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Bring your girls to a leaders' meeting to hold a flag ceremony, discuss their recent service project(s), or teach us a song! We want to APPLAUD our Girl Scouts, so there will be time at leaders' meetings for girl participation. Contact Lisa Fix or Terri McArthur to get your troop on the meeting's agenda!

Attention, Leaders: Girl Scout Stories Wanted!

GSMWRV's Fund Development department is looking for stories of exceptional girl accomplishments for this year (Oct. 07-present), including accomplishments by troops or individuals; describing activities, field trips, anything that demonstrates girls becoming leaders with courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place!

The stories should include a wealth of details, plus troop number(s), date(s) & place(s).

Ideally, the stories should also be related to one or more of the seven areas of learning: Arts, Community Service, Environmental/Outdoor Education, Healthy Living, Leadership/Life Skills, Multicultural Learning, or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

We know there are great stories out there--from small but wonderful projects that Girl Scout Daisies are doing--to those larger Gold, Silver and Bronze Award projects that older girls are working on! Please submit your story to VLSU Membership Specialist, Kris Parker.

Photos, Photos, Photos

Don't miss all the fun photos from this summer's exciting Valley Adventures Daycamp "All Star Scouts!" If you haven't visited www.FOTKI.com recently, it's time to check out all the great shots from our AWESOME year! Simply click here to check it out: Valley Lake Photos. Password is required. (See Terri McArthur if you have not received the password). Note: In keeping with Safety-Wise guidelines, no G.S. photos placed on-line will be identified. (Please restrict the use of our Valley Lake password to leaders, Girl Scouts, and parents of registered Girl Scouts).

What's New?

SWAPS on our Site, that's what! Check out the Idea Incubator page of this site for even more great Girl ideas . . . and don't forget to submit your own!

Don't forget to head over to the Links page of our site for crafts & games ideas, plus other helpful links.

Valley Lake is all about ideas, fun & 'what's happenin'! All upcoming events are discussed in detail at our monthly leader's meetings.

Can We Talk? - We have three main avenues of communication within our Service Unit:

This Web Site - It's always available and it's updated OFTEN. Make sure to check frequently for up-to-date announcements, & to find flyers & registration for MANY troop activities/events throughout the year.
Leader's Meetings - Held the first Thursday of each month, Sept. through May, at Augustana Health Care Center, off 147th across from Paideia (new location). Usually they start at 6:30pm and last one hour. These meetings are a great way to meet and learn from other leaders in our area, ask questions, get answers first-hand.

Be sure to check out the Info for Leaders and Calendar links on our site, too, for more Girl Scout info.