Submitted by Melinda Kay, Mountain Shadows, Colorado Springs Last weekend I opened my front door and there was a white book sitting on my stoop. It was a cookbook made by the Mountain Shadows Juliette Girl Scout Juniors: Aimee, Brittney, Ella, Evan and Jill. The description stated that the cookbook was a gift from this troop for the Waldo Canyon Fire victims who lost their homes. My heart was so touched by this kind and selfless gesture. I wanted to make sure that the troop knows we received this great cookbook and that we will treasure it and use it often. Thank you so much for such a thoughtful gift and a pretty huge undertaking. #communityservice #MountainShadows #WaldoCanyonFire #TakeAction #GirlScouts #Colorado

Submitted by Daffodil View more photos The last week of Day Camp in the Denver Metro area was a big hit! The theme at this Clement Park Day Camp was Science in Our World, which allowed campers to experience many new and exciting types of science. Girls explored aerodynamics with paper airplanes, sound with various objects, gooey science, flight with balloons and nature. We even had a visit from a counselor’s pets Raspberry and Licorice, two awesome tortoises the made the nature aspect of camp even more special. Campers also had the chance to participate in many camp wide science themed activities throughout the week. They made magic milk, life size bubbles, film canister rockets, gravity goo and the solar bag. Each station was a hands on way for girls to learn more about different types of science. It also gave girls the chance to meet new friends from different units. Sadly, the end of the week brought the end of another Day Camp season. The end of camp was bittersweet. Staff and campers were sad to say goodbye, but at the same time were proud of everything the accomplished. It was the perfect ending to another memorable camp season. #STEM #ClementPark #Littleton #GirlScouts #DayCamps #Colorado

Being a CIT at Magic Sky has been a truly magical experience.  I spent one week learning everything I needed to know as well as experiencing all that camp had to offer.  I learned so much in that first week, I thought I knew everything.  Truth is, I learned new things every week from the different people I worked with.  It was amazing learning everything. Not only did I get to learn, I got to see camp from the counselors perspective.  The staff treated me as one of their own.  I’ve been going to Girl Scout camp for eight summer and to have the opportunity to learn and act as a counselor has been the summer of a lifetime. I’ve had the best six weeks of my life.  Learning how to be a counselor and then being a CIT in the units is something that I wish every girl would try.  I learned so much about camp and myself.  If I had the chance to do it again, I would do it in a heartbeat. –Ghost– #summercamp #CITProgram #MagicSkyRanch #GirlScoutsofColorado #camp

Session 7 was the last resident camp session here at Magic Sky, and we all made sure it was a great one.  Campfire Sunday night opened the session, where everyone sang songs and staff and CITs performed silly skits. Our Brownie Discovery Camp tried out all of the amazing activities camp has to offer.  They made bird feeders with Ash at Arts and Crafts, scaled the climbing wall, and learned beginning ballet moves in Dance and Drama.  With a very busy schedule, they even got to go on a pixie hunt. This week our Night Owls learned lots about the night sky, taking advantage of later breakfasts to stay up and go stargazing.  They even got to see a couple shooting stars from this week’s meteor shower.  While the three Night Owl cabins each participated in different activities.  They all spent time at Arts and Crafts, Nature and Science, Dance and Drama, and the Climbing Wall. Our Archery Adventures campers honed their skills at the archery range before moving on to the field archery course.  They also got to make atomic ice, Magic Sky’s scientific name for ice cream, with Ladybug at Nature and Science, and developed improv skills with Cinderella at Dance and Drama. The All the World’s a Stage group developed their acting chops, working with our Dance and Drama specialist, Cinderella, every day.  They wrapped up the week by showing off their improv skills at a performance Friday afternoon in front of the entire camp.  In addition to all of the time spent acting, they did archery, decorated cupcakes with Ash, and had a Spa Night at their cabin. In addition to all of the individual activities, everyone came together Wednesday morning for a Carnival Field Day.  There was face painting, a sponge toss, potato sack races, hula hoops, parachutes, the opportunity to make a silly hat, and music for a dance party. Thursday ended with closing campfire where all of the cabins got to perform skits together.  Emotions were high for staff and campers as they were sad to leave but happy to get to see their families again soon. All the World’s a Stage’s improv show wrapped up the week with a bang.  During the performance all of the other units also got to perform their favorite song as a group. We hope to see you all next year. Happy Camping. -MSR Staff 2013 #camp #GirlScoutsofColorado #MagicSkyRanch #summercamp

On Monday, the first full day of camp, we had such a busy day.  We began the day with Dance and Drama with Cinderella where we played improv games. Then it was time to head over to the Archery field, we learn how to shoot and then we all got to shoot 3 arrows each. After lunch we had nature and science with Ladybug where we did jelly belly-ology. We learned about classifications of living things and then we got to classify jelly beans, we also got a chance to take photos of all the interesting things in Ladybugs room. Then after dinner we had an introduction to photography, we got to learn about different types of photography, and basic techniques and terms, for example aperture, exposure and shutter speed. Then we got to practice what we learned, by going around camp and taking an alphabet of photos. For this we each took a photo to represent each letter of the alphabet, we were as creative as we wanted to be. Finally we concluded the evening with s’mores. Soon enough it was Tuesday, or otherwise known as inside out day for our unit, so we all headed to breakfast with our clothes inside-out. After breakfast we had nature and science with Ladybug, we learnt about zodiacs and made our own using paper. We then made our own lava lamp using water and oil, which operated on the principles we learned regarding the difference in mass of things. We then had arts and crafts with Ash where we got to make pop can tab bracelets. After lunch we had nature and science again where we did strawberry DNA, in which we extracted the DNA from a strawberry. After this we made marshmallow men using different DNA variables. We then had a pack out dinner followed by a sunset hike to look out point, it took us about 30 minutes to get there, but once we did it was so pretty as it looks like you can see for miles. We took lots of photos here, we also got to use the Polaroid camera and Lomography camera. After some time at lookout point, we began our descent back to camp, and got back to the cabin just in time for bed. Then Wednesday came about, and we were having character day so we all got to dress up as our favorite characters or even ones we made up. To start the day we had dance and drama with Cinderella where we did improv dance. Then it was time for all camp, which was Disney stations. We stayed in the activity centre where all the stations were set up. The stations included face painting, Disney talent show, balloon animals, princess crown making, and dress up relay race. After we had lunch we stayed in the dining hall for a piggy party, this means we got to eat chocolate pudding, in which we had to find a gummy worm. The catch was that we couldn’t use our hands. So we all got very messy. It was then time to go to the climb wall where we all got to climb and we all met our personal goals we made ourselves. Then after dinner we went back to our cabin for a spa night, so we all showered and got clean, and did our hair. Some of us even painted nails. We woke up on Thursday for the last full day of camp and 80’s day, so we all dressed in neon, side ponytails and baggy clothes. We began our day with nature and science with Ladybug where we did bottle rockets. We then had our hike to the lake, which took about 30 minutes. We took lots of pretty photos along the way, and when we got there the lake was so beautiful, that we took lots more photos. When we were done taking photos, we went to the shelter area to have lunch, and a bit of a break, until we headed back to camp. Then we had arts and crafts with Ash where we made dream catchers, we also picked our favourite photos to be in a slideshow on Friday, and practised our skit. After dinner it was closing campfire, where all the units got to perform their skits. They were all really good and funny. Friday was the final day of camp, so we woke up bright and early. We began the day with a little bit of packing, followed by high ropes, where again we all made personal goals. And I think we all met them or beat them. Then it was time for lunch, where we got to watch our photography slideshow which had all our photos in. It was so good, and everyone was commenting on how good the photos looked. We then went to dance and drama for some drama games, and then it was time to go back to the cabin ready to go home. The end. Love Pikachu If you want to see any of the photos this fantastic unit took during their week here, check out the two sets on Flickr: The first link is the slideshow of the photos they shared with camp.  The second link is all of the pictures campers took on the cameras they borrowed from camp. #summercamp #MagicSkyRanch #GirlScoutsofColorado #Snapshot #camp

Girl Scouts of Colorado once again partnered with Rodarte Cultural Center and Anna Gimmestad Memorial Park in Greeley to offer a summer Girl Scout program to local girls. This summer the program focused on the science of light (optics) through Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Lighten Up program put together in collaboration with Colorado State University. At the end of the program, the girls were very proud to have earned a patch for completing the program! Amazing programs such as this could not be possible without our sponsors, including CenturyLink, Intel, The Women’s Fund of Weld County and Wells Fargo. A special thanks goes CenturyLink employees who volunteered their time and worked one-on-one with the children in this program! Two of the CenturyLink volunteers also presented on their careers in science or engineering for the girls. We additionally want to thank Kaarin Goncz with CSU (also a Girl Scout alum) for again partnering with us on another great Lighten Up program! Posted by Amanda Kalina, PR Director, Girl Scouts of Colorado, in collaboration with Amy Myers, Director of Development, and Brenda Realyvasquez, Program Support Specialist, with Girl Scouts of Colorado #AnnaGrimmestadMemorialPark #CenturyLink #RodarteCulturalCenter #STEM #ColoradoStateUniversity #Greeley #TheWomensFundofWeldCounty #WellsFargo #GirlScouts #Colorado #Intel

Girl Scouts of Colorado has volunteers committed to creating horseback riding opportunities for Girl Scouts across the state. We are happy to announce that Julie Fischer, former Statewide Horseback Director, has offered to stay on with GSCO as horseback riding volunteer to continue to develop horse programs away from GSCO properties. She will continue to develop connections with riding facilities and stables to offer Girl Scouts options and opportunities to ride at a discount. Julie will also continue to develop and host events and activities with facilities that Girl Scouts can attend in connection with horses. She is working on Wrangler in Training (WIT) opportunities that would allow older Girl Scouts to still learn and obtain skills relating to horses. Julie is also working on additional riding opportunities so troops/girls have riding options they can opt into during their overnight camp experiences at summer camps, similar to what Magic Sky was able to offer this past summer. She is also connecting with outdoor organizations who do high adventure and outdoor opportunities for scouts as well.  Anyone who has information on facilities near them already offering discounts or who may be interested, or anyone who is interested in helping Julie go forward with developing other horse options as a volunteer, please contact her at dj2fischer@wildblue.net We are also excited to see that Julie will be moving on to pursue her PhD – Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership from University of Phoenix. Julie “Pecos” A.C. Fischer Horse Advocate – Volunteer Girl Scouts of Colorado dj2fischer@wildblue.net 303-747-2512 office/home #Program #horses #GirlScouts #camp #Colorado

Girl Scouts of Colorado once again participated in the annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival at Sloan’s Lake in Denver on July 27 & 28. Despite the abnormally cool and wet weather over the weekend, this was a great opportunity to introduce Girl Scouting to the community. We received lots of interest from both new girl and adult volunteer members. Additionally our booth, which was in the children’s Dragonland area, gave participants the opportunity to color dragon masks, learn their Chinese zodiac symbol and spin the wheel for prizes (in addition to warm up a little from the cool weather :)). Thank you to all the volunteers and staff who helped make this booth successful. We couldn’t have done it without you! Posted by Amanda Kalina, PR Director, Girl Scouts of Colorado, with help from the Denver Recruitment Specialists for Girl Scouts of Colorado #recruitment #girls #Denver #GirlScouts #SloansLake #Colorado #volunteers

In May, 2013 the GSCO Board of Directors commissioned a subcommittee composed of volunteers and staff to review the usage and sustainability of GSCO outdoor, or wilderness properties, including: Pawnee Lodge, Kiwa Korral, Hamp Hut, Lazy Acres, Twisted Pine, Magic Sky Ranch, Sky High Ranch, Meadow Mountain Ranch, and Tomahawk Ranch. The Outdoor Property subcommittee held their initial meeting on 7/19 to review their charge from the statewide, volunteer board and determine their course of action. The following is a synopsis of the meeting and a list of next steps. Summaries from future meetings will also be posted on the blog. I. Background/Context a. The committee reviewed their charge from the board, which includes: gather and review data related to the outdoor / camp / wilderness properties in GSCO and make a recommendation to the GSCO Board of Directors on the future of these properties for their review, discussion and action. ACTION: It was determined that the committee shall draft a formal statement of their charge for inclusion in the committee’s process document (referenced below). b. The committee reviewed the current financial conditions and projections for the organization. c. The committee reviewed the planned programming changes for the summer of 2014 http://gscoblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/2014-outdoor-program-changes/ d. The committee reviewed information and data about each property. Data included basic information about each property, current and historical usage, needed capital improvements, annual expenses and annual revenue. II. Scope of Work a. The committee discussed the potential process for the assessment and evaluation of the properties. ACTION: It was determined that a proposed process should be drafted for committee review at the next meeting. The committee stressed that the process should include ways in which the public would be informed about the process, receive committee status updates and provide feedback. b. The committee discussed current committee members and deliberated on the need to add members. ACTION: It was determined that the committee would identify 2-3 additional members from GSCO volunteers. Interested volunteers may contact Jacky Noden (jackyk.noden@gscolorado.org) for details. III. Next Steps and Timeline a. The committee discussed the overall timeline for the project, as well as a feasible goal for making recommendations to the board. ACTION: The committee requested that the draft process detailed above include a proposed timeline. The timeline will be reviewed at the next committee meeting. b. The committee agreed to meet again in approximately 2-4 weeks to review the proposed evaluation process and timeline. #property

Submitted by Daffodil Dekovend Park, Centennial View more photos It’s sticky. It’s icky. It’s Oopy Goopy Science week! Day camp this week featured a variety of hands-on activities that taught girls about science. And of course things got messy along the way! The week started with each unit talking about the basics of science. This allowed campers to get a feel for their knowledge of science as well as brainstorm things they want to learn more about. Activities this week included density jars, many types of dough, solar beads, solar balloon, making paint, oobleck, making lab coats, tye dye, learning about sound, dissecting diapers, and many more hands-on experiments! Girls learned a lot about the different types of science that they can study, and walked away from camp understanding that science is a fun and exciting thing for young women to be involved in. This week also brought an interesting twist. July 25th landed in the middle of the week which meant campers took a few hours to hang up their lab coats and put on a Christmas in July celebration. Unit three organized a party in which we played with fake snow, decorated a nearby tree, made ornaments, and learned about some Christmas traditions celebrated amongst the group. This also opened up the conversation about what other types of holidays and traditions we celebrate with our families and friends. At the end of the afternoon, there was even a surprise visit from Santa. Friday brought some memorable gooey all camp activities. The morning was spent in units, and the afternoon was spent in stations. Stations included making and testing various shapes and sizes of bubble wands; making colorful artwork out of bubble prints; understating sublimation with smoke filled bubbles; and some hands-on action with an experiment called vampire veins. Closing circle ended differently this week as each girl made a wish and blew bubbles into the wind. It was the perfect send off to a great week at Dekovend Park. This story was submitted via the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #daycamp #STEM #Centennial #Littleton #deKovendPark

Product Sales is happy to announce that our team is now complete and “hungry” to serve Girl Scouts of Colorado, its members, volunteers and families. We are very excited to work with you! (From bottom) Jordan Alvillar (Administrative Support Specialist), Shannon Allison (Product Sales Specialist), Angel Haxton (Director of Product Sales), debi Metheny (Product Sales Specialist), Kathy Singer (Product Sales Specialist) and Dana Harrod (Product Sales Analyst) In order to serve you more efficiently, we have provided brief staff descriptions for each of us: Jordan Alvillar, Product Sales Administrative Support Specialist: Got questions about Cookie Credits, the Fall or Cookie sale, or need additional support from Product Sales? Jordan helps with “tightening up the screws” in our department. She is based out of the Denver office and is very excited to participate in the upcoming Fall and Cookie sale as an official Product Sales staff member! Contact: jordan.alvillar@gscolorado.org, (303) 607-4870. Shannon Allison, Product Sales Specialist (Denver Metro, Pueblo and Colorado Springs (El Paso County): Shannon Allison, Product Sales Specialist Shannon is our brand spankin’ new member in Product Sales! She just moved to Colorado after living and working in South Florida for the Girl Scouts of Gulf Coast Florida! She was the Sales Coordinator and worked with Product Sales and the Girl Scout Shop. Shannon was a Girl Scout herself and is loving the opportunity to work with volunteers and staff to continue to help empower girls to become leaders. She is ready to get started with Girl Scouts of Colorado and we are so happy to have her! Contact: Shannon.allison@gscolorado.org, (303) 607-4839. Angel Haxton, Director of Product Sales: After 17 years, Dorothy Gregory retired as the Product Sales Director. We were very fortunate to inherit Angel as the new Product Sales Director after serving on the Girl Scouts of Colorado Product Sales team for 2.5 years. Angel has twelve years of previous Girl Scout experience as the CFO of Girl Scouts of Oklahoma. Something you’ll hear Angel say often is, “I love my job”. She is an enthusiastic leader who is determined to make this years Fall and Cookie sale the best ever. Contact: angel.haxton@gscolorado.org, (303) 607-4819. debi Metheny, Product Sales Specialist (Northern, Northeastern Colorado and Denver Metro): debi Metheny was a Membership Specialist for Girl Scouts of Colorado before she came to the Product Sales team. Through her Product Sales Specialist position, she has been able to make strong connections with volunteers and members. Contact: debi.metheny@gscolorado.org, (303) 607-4886. Kathy Singer, Product Sales Specialist (Western Slope, Southwestern Colorado and Mountain Communities): Kathy has been on the Product Sales team for 2.5 years. Before that, she was a Service Unit Product Sales volunteer for three service units in Grand Junction on the Western Slope. Kathy has a knack for planning spectacular Top Seller events to honor the Girl Scouts of Colorado who sell more than 750 boxes of cookies! Contact: kathy.singer@gscolorado.org, (970) 628-8018. Dana Harrod (Product Sales Analyst): Dana had worked for Girl Scouts of Colorado in Registration and Business Systems for eight years before coming to Product Sales. Dana also has experience as a troop and unit volunteer as well as a council trainer. Dana serves as the “technical support” branch of the Product Sales team. She provides extensive technical and customer support for the user side of eBudde and NutE and also assists in inventory management with the Cookie Cupboards around the state. Are you ready for the Fall Sale and Cookie Sale like us? We are excited to announce the Fall and Cookie Sale dates below: Fall Sale 2013: Sale Dates: September 21, 2013 to October 13, 2013 Order form due to leader by: October 14, 2013 Turn in Money to Leader by: October 14, 2013 Deliver Products to Customers: October 30, 2013 – November 10, 2013 NEW to this year’s Fall Sale! We are now offering Fall Program Credits for this year’s sale, which will work like Cookie Credits! Stay tuned for more details. Cookie Sale 2014: Sale Dates: January 26, 2014 – March 2, 2014 Deliveries Start: January 20, 2014 Big Delivery Day: January 25, 2014 Cookies Now! My Sale Boothing: January 26, 2014 Council Booth Sale Starts: February 7, 2014 Cookie Return Date: February 12, 2014 (*You cannot return anything that is non-chocolate after the return date) Arrival of Awards: April 21, 2014 We will be selling the six most popular varieties Do-si-Dos, Samoas, Savannah Smiles, Tagalongs, Thin Mints and Trefoils *Since inventory management has been a big challenge for non-chocolate varieties, we’re asking that you order only what you think you can sell. Non-chocolate varieties cannot be returned this year. NEW! Personal Booth Sales are a go from day one! Get creative and think about where girls can arrange their own Booth Sales throughout the entire sale. You still need to get them approved so they can get in eBudde and you’ll get the bonus of public promotions through the Cookie Locator website and mobile app! Council contracted sites such as Walmart, Sam’s, Safeway, King Soopers and Albertsons will run Feb. 7– March 2. Volunteer! Want to be an asset in this year’s Fall Sale or next year’s Cookie Sale? Become a volunteer! All you need to do is fill out a volunteer application and specify if you would like to participate in the Fall or Cookie Sale! Hungry for updates regarding Fall Sale, Cookie Sale and Product Sales in general? Visit the Product Sales Facebook page! Thanks for reading! Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to better serve you. Sincerely, Product Sales #GirlScoutsofColorado #ProductSales #Facebook #cookies #FallSale #volunteers

From Irene, a parent of a Daisy camper at Make A Mess Day Camp in Colorado Springs Growing up in a small town in New Mexico, I have many fond memories of my time in Girl Scouts. Perhaps my favorite of them all is the summer I spent at a day-camp out in the desert, cooking breakfast or lunch every day in our little Dutch ovens and cleaning our plates and silverware in mesh bags and buckets. So as my little 6-year-old was nearing the end of her first year in elementary school, my thoughts turned to what kind of day-camp she might enjoy. My daughter, M, had been enjoying her first year as a Daisy Scout and I knew she would miss the learning and fun of her monthly Girl Scout meetings. Initially, though, I thought there wouldn’t be any camps for her at such a young age. Thankfully, I was wrong! When I received a summer camp brochure in the mail one afternoon, I was excited to see many opportunities for a girl her age. We decided on an art and science camp for her – Make a Mess Art Camp. The art part for M, the science part for me (who desperately hopes she loves science more than I did!). What a great experience this was for her! She was a little nervous on the first day, knowing that none of her troop friends would be with her, but after about three minutes she was busily making and decorating her name tag, and telling me I needed to leave! Every day was an adventure. M would come home with a list of all the neat (but messy) things they made at camp that day – snow, mucus, putty. She would excitedly tell her dad and I about painting with her feet, bobbing for apples, blowing bubbles with Columbine, and singing lots of songs (some of which I remember from my Girl Scout days!). I did worry a bit because she is a picky eater, but she would come home telling me about the healthy snacks they got to have and what new things she had tried. It was wonderful to see my shy little girl make new friends on her first day and tell me all the nicknames of her new pals and leaders – M&M, Happy, Aspen, Pills. While she looked like one of the littler kids at camp, she seemed so grown up and confident as I left her each morning. And she is already asking about art camp next summer! We’re so glad we chose a Girl Scout camp for M’s first day camp experience. We don’t leave her with people we don’t know very easily, but knowing this was a Girl Scout camp, I had full confidence in the leaders and organizers and knew my daughter would be safe and have a great time. #ColoradoSprings #Daisy #daycamp #MakeaMess