Groton Girl Scouts earn Bronze Awards

The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can achieve, and 10 Groton Girl Scouts from Troop 40011 recently earned the award by repainting the tables and pavilion at Groton Memorial Park to refresh them and get rid of the graffiti.

Peyton Conger, Aoife Cummings, Connie Dickerson, Michaela Durkee, Ariana Hillery, Nattalie Lombardi, Alyssa Mejia, Ann Seamans, Grace Shaff and Mariah Van Etten, along with help from their leaders Angela Conger, Jamie Seamans and Emily Slater, worked together for three weekends in a row for about 34 hours to accomplish this project and subsequently made a presentation to the Groton Village Board. They shared their thoughts about the project over emails.

Earning the Bronze Award involves the time it takes to complete a Girl Scout Junior journey and a suggested minimum of 20 hours to build their team, explore their community, choose and plan their project, put their plan in motion and spread the word to educate and inspire others.

“I am so incredibly proud of all of these girls and their hard work to make the park and pavilion a more appealing place to gather,” Angela said.

Angela has been a troop leader for 12 years and has been leading two troops for the past six — Troop 40011 with co-leader Seamans and Troop 41432 with Jennifer Foote-Dean. Angela said there are currently 13 girls in Troop 40011.

“We haven’t met for traditional meetings in a while due to schedules and COVID,” Angela said. “But we have gotten together to do the Bronze Award project, presenting to the Village Board and Girl Scout Service Unit, and other fun activities like Wonderworks, and a STEM badge day in Binghamton.”

Angela’s daughter, Peyton, has been in Girl Scouts since kindergarten and is now in sixth grade. She earned her Junior Journeys Summit pin prior to the Bronze Award.

“We wanted to get rid of the profanity and graffiti,” Peyton said about the project. “It was fun working together and figuring out how to problem solve and get along. I’m proud of the final result, I know the community appreciates what we did, and I hope the people who wrote on them before keep them nice.”

Peyton also said, “Girl Scouts has taught us so many great skills and I think one of the biggest is commitment and follow through, and it also teaches us empowerment and leadership.”

Cummings is in fifth grade and has been in scouting for five years. She said she has earned her Junior Journey Summit pin and many Girl Scout badges.

“Working together with my troop was very moving for me because I don’t get to see them a lot because we are in different schools,” Cummings said. “This was a time for us to hang out, bond and be together as a troop. It was very fun and taught me that even one girl can make a difference. The skills you learn can help you pursue your dreams, and it can help you see the good in others and make friendships that will last your whole life.”

Dickerson is in sixth grade and has been scouting for five years. She said she “likes what the Girl Scouts stand for and the difference we can make by modeling kindness, respect, hard work and accountability.” She also said, “It was a great project and I feel great knowing I made a difference in making our local park look great. Volunteering and helping my local community is very rewarding and any efforts to pay it forward can help create peace and a better world one act at a time.”

Also in sixth grade, Michaela Durkee has been in scouts since first grade. She explained that the project was chosen because the girls were bothered by the inappropriate writing and pictures on the benches and tables at the park pavilion.

“I think Girl Scouts will help me a lot in the future because it will always teach me to be kind and to pick up stuff even if I didn’t make the mess and to help everyone,” Durkee said.

Hillery said she has been in Girl Scouts since kindergarten and is now in sixth grade. She signed up because she thought it would be fun and said that it is.

“We decided on the project after seeing how bad our public park is treated,” Hillery said. “Working together had good and bad parts, but I feel that we did a good job. I think being in Girl Scouts will teach me the things I will need to get into college and get a good job.”

Lombardi has been a scout for six years and was one of the original four of troop 40011. Her perspective on the project is that it was hard, sweaty, dirty work to do and sometimes kind of stressful.

“When it was finished, I felt proud of myself, and proud that I helped the community,” Lombardi said. “We learn a lot of different things in Girl Scouts like leadership, teamwork, empowerment, running a business, our futures and much more. Earning the different Girl Scout awards shows dedication and may help me get jobs later in life.”

Mejia is another five-year scout who is in fifth grade. She also reiterated the decision to paint the pavilion and tables at the park would be the best thing to do because of their condition.

“We’ve all had family events and parties there and it’s hard to cover things up with just tablecloths,” Mejia said. “It was a lot of work and we all worked really hard to get it done in a short amount of time. I feel like the end result is great. It looks so nice, and people say that it’s a much better place because there is no profanity or nasty drawing all over. Girls Scouts will help me in my life now and in the future because I will always remember to do the right thing and to leave places better than I found it.”

Shaff is in sixth grade and has been in scouts for three years. She said she heard about all the fun things Girl Scouts do, and that’s why she joined.

“It was nice to work together and a good experience,” Shaff said about the project. “It showed me how to work an electric sander. The end result turned out really nice.”

She added that Girl Scouts teaches her responsibility and social skills “and how to be a good person.”

Van Etten is in sixth grade and has been part of the troop for one year. She said she joined because she likes that the troop spends a lot of time to plan what they want to do together and that they earn the money for the things they do.

“We earn the money, so we appreciate what we do more,” Van Etten said. “Our troop chose this project because there was a lot of unwanted graffiti on the tables and posts. I like the transformation because the red was also peeling off from the wood. I think that Girls Scouts has, and will, help me in the long run because it has helped me with money management.”

The project cost the troop around $450, and they used cookie and fall product money they had raised. They did not need to do any other fundraising or ask for donations.

“I can’t wait to finish this time with the girls that I currently have in my troops and see what new amazing things we can do together and for the community,” Angela said. “I love all the fun things that we have gotten to do with the girls, the experiences they wouldn’t necessarily have had without Girl Scouts. Just getting to watch them grow up into amazing young ladies has been a real pleasure. When the girls get older it’s harder to keep them engaged and interested with so many other things offered and peer pressure. We try to make it as fun as possible while still teaching them new skills and things, so they want to stay with us!”

Based on what these girls have said, it would appear they will want to stay as long as possible!

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com or text or call Linda at (607) 227-4922.

In brief:

Groton American Legion news

The Groton American Legion Post 800 will offer a chicken barbecue beginning at 10 a.m. Nov. 5. Dinners are $11 each, and halves are $9 each. Call ahead to reserve at (607) 898-3837.

Thursday Grill Night will return Nov. 3 following a brief pause these past few weeks while renovations were being done.

Grill nights are from 5 to 7 p.m. and are open to everyone. It’s a nice way to get out and enjoy a reasonably priced meal, prepared and served by volunteers, with all of the profits going to the Post.

Regular menu items include Hofmann’s hot dogs, hot or sweet Italian sausage with peppers and onions, and Angus sirloin hamburgers or cheeseburgers. Other offerings, such as chicken or pork sliders, rotate on different weeks, as do side dishes. These might be French fries, salt potatoes, casseroles, soups and more. Desserts are also available and are different each week. Main dishes range from $3 to $6; desserts and sides range from $2 to $3 each.

Student music awards

Groton students Ethan Besler, Noble Snyder and Brooklan Strange have all been selected to participate in the Area All-State Festival this year, based on their evaluations from their New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) solos.

They competed with students from Broome, Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Seneca, Tompkins and Tioga counties who are in sixth through ninth grades. Besler will play Trumpet 1 in the band. Snyder and Strange will sing in the mixed chorus.

For those who would like to hear them, the concerts will take place at 2 p.m. Nov. 5 at Fayetteville-Manlius High School.

Village leaf pickup reminder

Residents of the village of Groton may have their raked leaves picked up and taken away from Nov. 1 through Dec. 2. Department of Public Works Supervisor Chad Shurtleff reminds everyone that leaves should be raked to the curb or street side for pickup. They will not accept plastic bags, brush or vines. They are happy to provide this service and appreciate your cooperation and understanding that it is for leaves only.