On August 9, 2010, the troop held a flag retirement ceremony at the Program Activity Center of Camp Sacajawea. In attendance were Susan, Kayla, Maria, Claire, Aimee, Alison and Hailey (and Aubree). Adults: Bruce and Christie Kaplan, Tammy Ciok, Maria Chaffer, Kathy Mulholland and Lia Prendergast. Special guests included Freehold Borough Councilman John Newman, Mrs. Newman and their two lovely daughters, plus three good friends of Aimee. Over 175 unserviceable American Flags were respectfully retired in this ceremony. The flags had been collected during June and July by the Teen Library Committee/Freehold Public Library. Terrific job, girls!
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June 15: Troop 66 registered "earlybird" for 2010 - 2011. We added Kayla C. to our roster.
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The troop attended OCKY, with Aimee managing the Bridging Ceremony (which was beautiful)! Lia was our new Craft Coordinator and did a TERRIFIC job. Also, we made history with our
first-ever "Ocky Dad": Mr. Kaplan. Sheryl and Mrs. Martin rounded-out our adult team. The troop stayed in Douglass Lodge for the first time. Lots of pictures can be viewed at:
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The troop met on May 17 to plan Ocky; we also learned that Clarice and Shareema were moving to Red Bank. We'll miss them, and are glad they'll try to join a troop there.
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Our 4/19 meeting was well-attended (Laura, Shareema, Clare, maria, Molly, Hailey, Michaela, Sydney, Clarice, Susan, Drew, Aimee, Alison, and guests Aubree and former member Diane; adults were leaders Sheryl, Lia, Annemarie and Kathy, with parents Mrs. Collier, Mrs. Martin, and Mr. Kaplan). We also had a "special guest"...the proverbial-turned-literal church mouse! Molly spotted it first, so she got to name it....Mickey (very imaginative). We caught the mouse and later released it in the grass behind the church's garage. Our main focus of the meeting was preparing for Ocky by making "Ocky in a bag" SWAPS (Thanks, Sheryl, for getting the stuff and coming up with the design). We also had 13 girls and 3 adults sign up for Ocky (not including Lia and Kathy who attend as event staff). Diane will be going, also. Conversation about the skit night was started, but will be continued at our next meeting (which will focus on final prep for Ocky!). Also, any girls who want were invited to join troop 1212 (Diane's troop) to be "waterstoppers" at an animal-charity event at Monmouth Battlefield State Park on Saturday...contact Kathy for details.
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Though our group was decidedly small, our walk around the Manasquan Reservoir was a big success (in Kathy's opinion, anyway). We hiked the 5.1 miles with minimal whining! Susan, Laura and Hailey, along with leader Kathy and dad Mr. Kaplan enjoyed the gorgeous day, and the trail looks nicer since we picked up litter along the way. You should have seen the ginormous snapping turtle! If you're interested in getting a free t-shirt from Monmouth County Parks for their 50-Miler Trail Challenge, visit this site: http://monmouthcountyparks.com/documents/153/50miles.pdf There's more details there...but the res walk put us 5.1 miles closer to finishing!
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The troop members/parents who came to the St. Paddy's Day Run to hand out water to the runners ("waterstoppers") had a good time in beautiful weather! Susan, Drew, Maria, Clare, big-sister Devin and adults Kathy, Sheryl and Maria were there from our troop. We luckily shared the spot with another group of girls because there was plenty of "work" to do. But there was also a lot of fun with group games casually started by the girls. We finished a bit early, around 10:30, since this was a stop early-on in the race, and added to our wardrobes with "thank-you" sweatshirts from the Freehold Area Runners Club.
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Attendance was poor for our March 1 meeting; there were only four girls! Ocky paperwork was given out, and we designed patches for the Ocky patch contest. The troop also elected to do a hula-hoop contest for the "Fabulous Fifties Party" Friday Night Activity at Ocky, and received information about the March 21 St. Paddy's Day Run and Manasquan Reservoir Walk/Pick-up on April 11.
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Our February 1 meeting was an old-fashioned game night. We had "almost perfect" attendance (Susan, Drew, Shareema, Clarice, Clare, Alison, Kaitlyn, Maria, Michaela, Laura, Sydney, Caroline, Aimee, tag-along Aubree, Jennifer, Alison, plus all troop leaders: Kathy, Lia, Sheryl, Annemarie and mom Suzanne) and played a number of different games and shared snacks. Cookie orders were also turned-in.
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Troop 66 rang in the new year with Suzanne Martin demonstrating and teaching the troop about skin and hair care. Different products and tools, and proper use, were tried on manequin heads and on the girls. Kaitlin, Laura, Maria, Clarice, Susan, Shareema, Clare, Sydney, Alison, Drew, Aimee and tag-along Aubree had a great time learning about ways to take care of your appearance. We also read a very nice thank-you card from Jim Benedict of the Soup Kitchen (see 12/7/09) and got our cookie-sale packets from Mr. Tipan. Adults at the meeting were Suzanne, Lia, Sheryl and Kathy. Next meeting will be a game night, with girls bringing favorite "non-electronic" type games.
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At our December 7 meeting, the girls, lead by the Neon Frogs patrol, made hundreds of chocolate-covered treats for the people served by the Soup Kitchen at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Downtown Freehold. Girls dipped pretzels, cookies and Rice Krispie Treats in chocolate, white chocolate, and sprinkles, then bagged the assorted treats. Susan, Kaitlin, Jennifer, Drew, Clare, Shareema, Clarice, Michalea, Carolyn, Maria, Sydney, Aimee and tag-along Aubree were there, with leadership of Lia, Suzanne, Sheryl and Kathy. Sheryl delivered the tasty treats to Jim Benedict of the Soup Kitchen the next morning.
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Drew, Shareema, and Susan (with Diane M. from Troop 1212 as guest), with Kathy and Sheryl as leaders, attended the bike trip up and down the Henry Hudson Trail. We covered about 8 or 9 miles! Definitely something to do again, maybe the next section beginning in Marlboro.
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As of November 7th, 2009, Troop 66 had 16 girls registered. We welcome Clarice and Kaitie to the troop.
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Special guests for our November troop meeting were girls from Junior Troop 1141. The S'Mores patrol organized several activities to celebrate Juliette Gordon Low's birthday, including a balloon-popping race and birthday cupcakes. We shared with our visitors the "Friendship Registers" that we made a few years ago (and still had some left). Visiting girls were: Nameera H., Erica D., Caroline L., Jordan F., Kate C. Christie D. and Tara C. We hope they enjoyed a taste of the patrol method of troop leadership, Troop 66 style (this was our first patrol-led meeting, by the way).
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Our October 5th meeting was attended by Jaslin, Susan, Drew, Laura, Alison, Sydney, Carolyn, Aimee, Michaela, Shareema, Clarice and Kaitlin; plus troop leaders Kathy, Lia, Annemarie and Sheryl. Girls were divided up into two patrols, who selected patrol names and patrol leaders, plus planned a future troop meeting. The S'Mores patrol will do a Juliette Gordon Low birthday party/ceremony at our November meeting, while the Neon Frogs will organize a service project for December's meeting.
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Congratulations to Susan Mulholland who completed Camp Program Aide training on July 10, 2009, at Camp Sacajawea. This enables Susan to volunteer during the Summer Camp and other programs at Council, as well as serve as a Council Outdoor Trained person for overnight encampments including cooking with fire. Many girls who complete this training go on to paid employment with Girl Scouts during summer camp!
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Troop 66 registered 13 girls and 6 adults as "Earlybirds" for 2009-2010, including all the leaders and product-sales coordinators from the prior year! Any girls/adults who want to be registered for the troop but who aren't "Earlybird" can easily be added later. We wish a fond-farewell to Diane, who is joining a Troop 1212 (all high school girls closer to her age). We're sure she'll be around to help out from time-to-time. 6/17/09
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Congratulations to the following troop members who were recognized at the Freehold Service Unit Annual Recognition Ceremony on June 11:
Leadership Award: Aimee Prendergast
Bronze Award: Caroline Adams, Drew Polhemus and Alison Prendergast
Silver Award: Aimee Prendergast
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Ocky was a blast! Special thanks to Mrs. Prendergast, Mrs. Kramer and Mrs. Martin for being our troop adults. Email pictures to Kathymommy@aol.com so we can post them!
Earlybird registration is due...please confirm with Mrs. Mulholland that you intend to sign-up with Troop 66 next year!
We will be postponing our Letterboxing event; there were several schedule conflicts that popped up this spring.
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The following girls have signed-up to go to Ocky: Susan, Molly, Sydney, Maria, Clare, Shareema, Laura, Caroline, Jenny, Jennifer, Aimee, Alison, Diane and Michaela. There's room for one or two adults. If you're interested, please contact Mrs. Kramer.
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Our troop earned $417.60 profit from the 2009 cookie sale! Congratulations to all our girls; we had 100% participation! Our special thanks to Cookie Mom Sonia and Cookie Dad Paul Tipan.
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The Junior Girl Scouts of Troop 66 provided a "thank you" service to our Sponsor, the First United Methodist Church. We "tuned up" fourteen "Little Methodist Bags" (activity kits for restless little ones to use during worship services) by providing new crayons, coloring pages and a backer-board. We hope the children enjoy these, and we'll check them occasionally to keep them in good shape.
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Our troop celebrated Thinking Day with an international family potluck dinner on February 23. We had 24 girls and parents, and an amazing array of delicious food. The girls practiced their match-lighting skills during a candle ceremony honoring the originators of all youth Scouting, Lady and Lord Baden Powell. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mulholland's camera battery didn't last past the lock-in of a few days before, so we don't have pictures. Girls and parents will have to rely on their fond memories.
THANK YOU girls and parents for honoring your troop and Girl Scout heritage by participating!
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Kaylee Ramos (age 11, 6th grade student at FIS) of Troop 2780 lost her life during a tragic house fire on February 2. Troop 66 donated a $215.00 gift card to the Ramos family (including $25 troop funds and individual donations). The family lost everything in the fire that took Kaylee's life; this is the least we can do to "be a sister to every Girl Scout."
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Troop 66 registered 13 girls and 6 adults as "Earlybirds" for 2009-2010, including all the leaders and product-sales coordinators from the prior year! Any girls/adults who want to be registered for the troop but who aren't "Earlybird" can easily be added later. We wish a fond-farewell to Diane, who is joining a Troop 1212 (all high school girls closer to her age). We're sure she'll be around to help out from time-to-time. 6/17/09
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Congratulations to the following troop members who were recognized at the Freehold Service Unit Annual Recognition Ceremony on June 11:
Leadership Award: Aimee Prendergast
Bronze Award: Caroline Adams, Drew Polhemus and Alison Prendergast
Silver Award: Aimee Prendergast
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Ocky was a blast! Special thanks to Mrs. Prendergast, Mrs. Kramer and Mrs. Martin for being our troop adults. Email pictures to Kathymommy@aol.com so we can post them!
Earlybird registration is due...please confirm with Mrs. Mulholland that you intend to sign-up with Troop 66 next year!
We will be postponing our Letterboxing event; there were several schedule conflicts that popped up this spring.
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The following girls have signed-up to go to Ocky: Susan, Molly, Sydney, Maria, Clare, Shareema, Laura, Caroline, Jenny, Jennifer, Aimee, Alison, Diane and Michaela. There's room for one or two adults. If you're interested, please contact Mrs. Kramer.
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Our troop earned $417.60 profit from the 2009 cookie sale! Congratulations to all our girls; we had 100% participation! Our special thanks to Cookie Mom Sonia and Cookie Dad Paul Tipan.
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The Junior Girl Scouts of Troop 66 provided a "thank you" service to our Sponsor, the First United Methodist Church. We "tuned up" fourteen "Little Methodist Bags" (activity kits for restless little ones to use during worship services) by providing new crayons, coloring pages and a backer-board. We hope the children enjoy these, and we'll check them occasionally to keep them in good shape.
============================
Our troop celebrated Thinking Day with an international family potluck dinner on February 23. We had 24 girls and parents, and an amazing array of delicious food. The girls practiced their match-lighting skills during a candle ceremony honoring the originators of all youth Scouting, Lady and Lord Baden Powell. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mulholland's camera battery didn't last past the lock-in of a few days before, so we don't have pictures. Girls and parents will have to rely on their fond memories.
THANK YOU girls and parents for honoring your troop and Girl Scout heritage by participating!
===========================
Kaylee Ramos (age 11, 6th grade student at FIS) of Troop 2780 lost her life during a tragic house fire on February 2. Troop 66 donated a $215.00 gift card to the Ramos family (including $25 troop funds and individual donations). The family lost everything in the fire that took Kaylee's life; this is the least we can do to "be a sister to every Girl Scout."
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The "First Ever" Dry-Run Camp-In was a success!
Thanks to the First United Methodist Church for becoming our official sponsor. What this means is that they have agreed to provide for us certain services, in this case, our meeting facility. They've done this for years, but now we have the "paperwork" to make it official.
We should be reminded, however, that we aren't the only people to be using the facility during our time there. Downstairs, while we are in Wesley Hall (the big room) there are ESL classes. We must be considerate in terms of noise and also not running around the building. It is very important that we be good neighbors.
Any ideas to show the Church our appreciation? Let's discuss at a troop meeting. We know for a fact the Church secretary likes Trefoil Girl Scout Cookies!
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Thanks to: our experienced girls for helping the newer ones; our troop leaders and families for loaning us tents, cooking equipment and other gear; Mrs. Krause for doing the "lion's share" of the shopping; Mrs. Mulholland for handling the registration; and all our girls for doing a great job packing and cooperating on what was for some a first "tent camping" experience.
Our pre-camping troop lock-in to teach/review basic outdoor skills was attended by 15 troop girls (Caroline, Shareema, Krystal, Clare, Maria, Jaslin, Molly, Michaela, Sydney, Diane, Susan, Drew, Aimee, Alison, and Jennifer). two Ambassador Girl Scout helpers (Devin and Grace), and two troop leaders (Mrs. Krause and Mrs. Mulholland). Girls learned...
BASIC CAMPING:
___ assemble dunk bag (each girl brought her own and we hung them on a clothesline)
___ 3-bucket dishwash (the exact way we will do when camping)
___ outdoor apparel (what to wear/what NOT to wear)
___ packing skills
___ 4 knots/hitches (bowline, square knot, sheet bend, tautline hitch, etc.)
___ make fire starters ("wisely" using broken crayons as a resource)
___ strike matches (it was the first time for some girls)
___ tent assembly (assembled and slept in them)
___ first aid I (led by our Ambassador GS guests)
___ animal hazards I (Led by our Ambassador GS guests)
We also had a flag ceremony; cooked a taco salad dinner; made "Wicky-Wacky-Walkaways" for snack; watched the movie Troop Beverly Hills; played team-buiding games such as "The Name Game," "Human Knot" and "Levitating Stick," as well as "Upset the Fruit Basket" and "Who's the Murderer." After a 7:00 wake-up, we made a full-course breakfast (pancakes, scrambled egges, Canadian bacon, fruit). And, we cleaned everything up in true Girl Scout fashion!
Special thanks to the First United Methodist Church for allowing us to use their facilities; we appreciate them for making-way for us on their busy schedule and making us feel welcome.
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ROLLER SKATING!
BASIC CAMPING:
___ assemble dunk bag (each girl brought her own and we hung them on a clothesline)
___ 3-bucket dishwash (the exact way we will do when camping)
___ outdoor apparel (what to wear/what NOT to wear)
___ packing skills
___ 4 knots/hitches (bowline, square knot, sheet bend, tautline hitch, etc.)
___ make fire starters ("wisely" using broken crayons as a resource)
___ strike matches (it was the first time for some girls)
___ tent assembly (assembled and slept in them)
___ first aid I (led by our Ambassador GS guests)
___ animal hazards I (Led by our Ambassador GS guests)
We also had a flag ceremony; cooked a taco salad dinner; made "Wicky-Wacky-Walkaways" for snack; watched the movie Troop Beverly Hills; played team-buiding games such as "The Name Game," "Human Knot" and "Levitating Stick," as well as "Upset the Fruit Basket" and "Who's the Murderer." After a 7:00 wake-up, we made a full-course breakfast (pancakes, scrambled egges, Canadian bacon, fruit). And, we cleaned everything up in true Girl Scout fashion!
Special thanks to the First United Methodist Church for allowing us to use their facilities; we appreciate them for making-way for us on their busy schedule and making us feel welcome.
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ROLLER SKATING!
Our Troop went roller skating on December 27, 2008, at Jackson Skate Center as guests of Girl Scout Troop 1032. There were about 17 from our group there including Jaslin, Drew, Diane, Susan, Lindsey, Shareema, some friends and family members, and leaders Mrs. Mulholland and Mrs. Krause. Thanks to Mr. Duarte. for taking great pictures.
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The troop went caroling at CentraState Medical Center on Monday, December 22. We were met by Ms. Joan Nealon, who heads up volunteer services there, and guided through several floors. We sang an assortment of traditional Christmas carols as well as "The Dreidle Song." After spreading cheer to patients in their rooms, we gathered in the lobby in front of the Christmas tree to greet visitors and staff. We received many compliments and holiday wishes. Thanks to Mrs. Jasko for putting this opportunity together! Lindsey, Julianne, Aimee, Alison, Maria, Susan, Elizabeth, Clare, Jaslin, Jennifer T., Mrs. Chaffer, Mrs. Haley, Mr. and Mrs. Duarte, Mrs. Mulholland and Mrs. Jasko all spread cheer to those who found themselves in the hospital over the holidays.
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SPONSOR!
Thanks to the First United Methodist Church for becoming our official sponsor. What this means is that they have agreed to provide for us certain services, in this case, our meeting facility. They've done this for years, but now we have the "paperwork" to make it official.We should be reminded, however, that we aren't the only people to be using the facility during our time there. Downstairs, while we are in Wesley Hall (the big room) there are ESL classes. We must be considerate in terms of noise and also not running around the building. It is very important that we be good neighbors.
Any ideas to show the Church our appreciation? Let's discuss at a troop meeting. We know for a fact the Church secretary likes Trefoil Girl Scout Cookies!
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KICK-OFF!
Laura, Jaslin, Jennifer T., Susan, Diane, Michaela, Mrs. Kramer and Mrs. Mulholland represented Troop 66 at the 2nd Annual Freehold Service Unit Kick-Off. Held at the beautiful Turkey Swamp Park, activities included outdoor games and a campfire with hot cocoa and s'mores. This event was an Investiture/Rededication ceremony as well as Founder's Day Celebration (Juliette Gordon Low's birthday was October 31). Thanks to Diane for starting and tending the campfire (Diane is a Council trained Camp Aide and qualified in outdoor skills). Thanks also to Mrs. B. of Freehold Service Unit as well as a bunch of older girls including "troop sister" Grace. Girls in attendance also received their "Troop 66" t-shirt and a bonus SWAP from the event coordinator for wearing their shirt to the event.
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GREAT ADVENTURE!
Thirteen girls (Aimee, Jennifer M., Susan, Molly, Julianne, Shareema, Maria, Natali, Drew, Ashley, Diane, and "tags" Devin and Alyssa) accompanied by two leaders went on a two-night encampment for Cadettes+ at Six Flags Great Adventure run by Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore.
We slept (and shivered) in tents, spent all day Saturday in the theme park ("Fright Fest" was happening!), spent the night again, then Sunday drove through the Safari and girls arrived home around 1:00. In the morning, we could hear the lions roaring from our site (which was a few miles west of the park itself).
Thanks to: our experienced girls for helping the newer ones; our troop leaders and families for loaning us tents, cooking equipment and other gear; Mrs. Krause for doing the "lion's share" of the shopping; Mrs. Mulholland for handling the registration; and all our girls for doing a great job packing and cooperating on what was for some a first "tent camping" experience.
This was the troop's first time attending this event.
