VERGENNES — The past year has been one of uncertainty and disruption to everyone’s normal routines. That includes Girl Scout activities. Fortunately, many volunteers have stepped up and kept their Girl Scouts active in virtual troops, with outdoor activities, on Zoom, and other ways.
Volunteers Alexandra McGuire of Vergennes and Kelsey Bradford of Addison received thanks from the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains for their efforts to create a new troop despite the COVID pandemic. In the organization’s words, McGuire and Bradford, “defied the pandemic and started a new Girl Scout Daisy troop, helping girls make new friends and enjoy the outdoors in safe ways.”
Troop 61465 started this past fall with a group of kindergartners. “We currently have 12 Daisies representing two public schools, one private school, and a homeschool,” said McGuire. “While there are a few friend pairs within the Scout group, the group is quite diverse and the girls are making new friendships.”
“In the fall, we earned a few of our Daisy petals in person with activities such as decorating pumpkins, a playground scavenger hunt, and decorating the blacktop outside classrooms with friendly chalk messages for teachers and students,” said McGuire. “When we shifted to remote meetings in November, we hosted a remote food drive to benefit our local food shelf, sent home an outdoor scavenger hunt, conducted a few short Zoom meetings, and sent home instructional videos for a few cookie-related activities.”
They are excited to be meeting in person again now. The Daisies went sledding the last weekend of February and built a campfire. “Soon we hope to go horseback riding and embark on lots of other outdoor adventures,” McGuire said.