Girl Scout sisters earn their stars together

It was a rainy and blustery night when I met with Dianna and Diella Niño at the Groton Public Library recently to hear about the recent awards each of them earned through Girl Scouts.

Both girls had walked from their home in the Village of Groton to meet me, all on their own because their mom was working an evening shift, despite the wind and the rain.

Groton Girl Scout leader, Jen Dean, told me that Diella had recently earned the Bronze Star and Dianna the Silver Star from their respective troops, and I was delighted for the opportunity to hear all about what they had done to earn these coveted Girl Scout awards.

As Girl Scout Juniors (fourth and fifth grade), girls must have completed all their “Journeys,” which then allows them to earn their first major level award – the Bronze, which must be a project that would benefit the community, with each girl contributing 20 work hours.

The Silver Award is earned as a Cadette (sixth through eighth grade), must also benefit the community, is done by an individual or small group and requires 50 work hours.

Both Niño sisters attend Groton Central School and are very active and involved there, in addition to their deep commitment to the Girl Scouts.

Dianna is in ninth grade and on the High Honor Roll with a 95 average. She participates in volleyball, basketball and softball and loves Drama Club. Dianna has been involved in drama since junior high and played roles in the high school musicals “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and “Annie.” She is already excited about being involved in this spring’s musical, “The Little Mermaid.”

When thinking about how she would go about planning her Silver Star project, Dianna said she felt the Groton community was “not as close-knit as it could be,” and she wanted to do something that would bring people together.

She decided to create an outdoor game that people of any age could play and enjoy. Utilizing an extremely large tree stump and two smaller ones, Dianna created a “Tic-Tac-Toe” table board out of the large stump and two chairs to go with it out of the smaller ones.

To do this, she “de-barked” each stump by hand, which took about three hours a day for four days to accomplish, with the help of her mom, Jacalyn Niño, and the Dean family: Dan, Jen and Sarah. Dianna said she is so thankful for their help because she can’t even imagine how much longer that part of the project would have taken her without it.

After the de-barking, each piece needed to be sanded and planed down. Dianna finished the game off by hand-painting rocks to look like ladybugs and bumble bees to use on the game board instead of the “X” and “O” that are usually used. She believes she exceeded the required 50 hours.

While she initially hoped to place the game in the Groton Memorial Park, she ended up deciding it would be better utilized in the elementary school, so that is where it is currently.

Dianna is a Senior Girl Scout now, but earning her Silver Star really capped off her Cadette years for her, as it is the highest award a Cadette can earn. She is already working toward getting her Gold Star but said her idea for that is top secret for now.

Diella is in sixth grade as of September, so has now joined the ranks of the Cadette troop, but she is very pleased to have finished off her Junior Girl Scout years with earning the highest award for that level – her Bronze Star.

Dianna had joined the scouts a year before Diella because, at the time, Diella didn’t think she would like “just doing nothing but selling cookies.” Once she got involved, though, she realized how much fun it all was.

Now, Diella loves being involved in selling cookies because she understands how much benefit there is to it. She said that half the profits go back to the community for things like the Groton Community Night Out in August that the Girl Scouts sponsor, and the other half goes back to the troop so they can “get to do special fun things like go on trips to Rocking Horse Ranch, Sea Breeze, and other fun things.”

“Being a part of Girl Scouts also looks good later in life on your college applications,” she said.

In school, like her older sister Diella is quite involved. She plays soccer, basketball and softball, sings soprano in chorus, plays the clarinet in band and is currently rehearsing for a dual role as the March Hare and a chorus member in the Jr. High School play, “Alice at Wonderland,” which will be performed in November.

Diella was also in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and “Annie” and is looking forward to trying out for “The Little Mermaid.” She enjoys writing plays that she puts on with her friends just for fun.

To earn her Bronze Star, Diella spearheaded a campaign to collect toys, food and monetary donations for the Cortland SPCA. She said she loves animals and wanted to do something that would help them.

Diella started out by contacting the animal shelter to ask what sort of things were needed. She then contacted stores to get permission to solicit outside of them and then designed and created posters to advertise when and where and what was needed.

She spent about four hours on three separate dates in front of the Family Dollar in Groton, ending up with enough supplies to fill an entire car trunk to the brim with, as Diella said, “mainly cat food and dog treats, but it made me feel so good to help all the animals.” She clocked about 28 hours for the total project.

Now that she is a Cadette, Diella is starting to think about her Silver Star project. She plans to start it this coming summer and is hoping it can be something to help shelter animals to get adopted.

Both Niño sisters have every intention of being Girl Scouts for as long as they can. Dianna said she feels that getting involved in it was the best thing their family ever did. Their mom, Jacalyn, is also a scout leader.

“Being a Girl Scout helps you to grow into strong and independent women, and I would love to someday teach a group of girls how to become one!” Dianna said.

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922.

In brief:

Oct. 31 reminders

The annual Groton Business Association Trick-or-Treat at area businesses will be held on Thursday, Oct. 31 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

The 3rd Annual Groton Trunk or Treat follows from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the C.R. Pavilion Lot on Main Street. This location will also include the Groton Fire Department’s annual donuts and cider giveaway.

There is still time to decorate a trunk (or table) to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Sign up at tinyurl.com/grotontreat or reach out to Jennifer Foote Dean or Monica Delanoy-Dykeman on Facebook.

Clothing Closet

The Clothing Closet, 160 Main St. (in the Open Door), has a selection of gently used clothing, shoes and accessories for the entire family, and all for free! Now that the colder weather is, sadly, upon us, stop by to add to your fall and winter wardrobe.

The CC is regularly open from 10 a.m. to noon every second and fourth Saturday of the month and during those same hours on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month.

Donations of clean and presentable clothing are accepted for all ages, infants through adults, primarily during the hours the Closet is open, but messages may be left at (607) 898-5263, ext. 615, to make possible other arrangements for drop-off, or for any other messages.

Fire station ornaments

Stop in at Brittany Station, 152 Main St., to check out the beautiful fire station ornaments in stock. They are made in the USA and can be placed on a tree or can stand alone on a table or shelf. They are $19.95 each and proceeds will benefit the Groton Fire Department.