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8 MAY 2021 Girl Scout News for March/April –

Daisy Girl Scout Troop 47147

Think Spring! That’s just what Westchester’s Daisy Girl Scout Troop 47147 did this past month. At the March 18th meeting the girls learned about the Vernal Equinox also known as the Spring Equinox, which brings more daylight hours and warmth for plants to sprout and flowers to bloom. The girls had a special guest, local space enthusiast, John Napoletano, demonstrate how the vernal equinox happens. He brought props to demonstrate how the earth tilts more toward the sun at this time of year. Mr. Napoletano also brought his telescope and talked to the scouts about what can be seen from Westchester as he fielded many questions about planets and stars. This all helped the girls work toward earning their Space Explorer badge. They found out there is lots to explore in the skies over Westchester! In early April, the scouts chose to add a little sunshine to Spring through kindness rocks. Kindness rocks are painted rocks with positive messages that are placed around town, sort of like Easter Eggs, to surprise and uplift walkers, runners, skaters and our neighbors along their travels through town. If you find a kindness rock in town, you can leave it for others to find or relocate it to spread the cheer. Also, at this meeting the scouts worked further on their Good Neighbor badge by doing a little spring cleaning. The girls collected garbage from around the Westchester Community Church and around the Community Center. After they were done tidying up, the girls placed the kindness rocks they painted around the Community Center park. There is still much to enjoy in the remaining two months of scouts this year! Our daisies will be learning about car engines and how they work. And probably, more complex – how democracy works, as they will be meeting with our town president and one of our village trustees later this month. The girls are also looking forward to a visit from Kirby, the Brookfield Zoo police dog, who probably cares more about biscuits than how democracy works!

Eagle Scout Project Continues to Give

Eagle Scout Project Continues to Give Since 2013, Boy Scout Troop 1 from Westchester has been assembling beautiful handmade Easter baskets for families who are served by Divine Infant St. Vincent DePaul Society (SVDP). This program, developed by Aidan Walton (a long time SVDP and Troop 1 member) as his Eagle Scout project, aims to bring joy on Easter morning to local families enduring financial hardships. The scouts receive funds from SVDP, along with the gender and age of the child they are buying for. Then the fun starts as the scouts go out shopping for their assigned child. They pick out the baskets, the treats, and maybe a gift or two. All items are hand-picked to be age and gender appropriate, while maintaining the confidentiality of the recipients. The baskets are then wrapped, labeled, and later delivered to the children by St. Vincent DePaul members.

This year, the Divine Infant St. Vincent DePaul Society decided to sponsor the purchase of 14 Easter baskets for the children staying in BEDS shelter motels. The baskets were prepared by the Boy Scouts and delivered to the children of BEDS clients. The children and the parents were delighted when the baskets were delivered. “It’s great they think of us,” said one parent. “It makes it a little easier.” Now in its 8th year, this Easter basket project is a great example of Troop 1 Scouts staying involved and giving back to their community.