What Do You Learn from Selling Girl Scout Cookies?

The announcement on the radio about the arrival of Girl Scout Cookies  in our community brought a smile on my face and a flood of memories of my own Girl Scout experience. Troop 150 formed when we were in the second grade.  Our Troop leaders mentored us from the second grade until we graduated in 1973. I cherish the memories of our Girl Scout years and I'm grateful for the many lessons we were taught about making our world a better place by caring for each other and our community.  Here are the Girl Scout Laws as we knew them in 1963:

1. A Girl Scout's honor is to be trusted.
2. A Girl Scout is loyal.
3. A Girl Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others.
4. A Girl Scout is a friend to all and a sister to every other Girl Scout.
5. A Girl Scout is courteous.
6. A Girl Scout is a friend to animals.
7. A Girl Scout obeys orders.
8. A Girl Scout is cheerful.
9. A Girl Scout is thrifty.
10. A Girl Scout is clean in thought,word, and deed.

Money made from cookie sales is used to support troop activiites. Even though it's been forty years since I sold my last box of Girl Scout cookies, the skills that I learned are still part of my daily life on the dairy farm--goal setting,decision making,money management, people skills, and business ethics.
You can find more information about Girl Scouts at http://www.girlscouts.org/.

I hope you'll join me in supporting the Girl Scouts this year by buying cookies. I'll be having milk with my cookies.  How about you?

4-H--Makes the Best Better

I pledge : My Head to clearer thinking, My Heart to greater loyalty, My Hands to larger service,My Health to better living for my club, my community,my country and my world.

4-H members recite this pledge at the beginning of every club meeting. It  describes the purpose of 4-H perfectly. October is 4-H promotion month and even though my boys are no longer in 4-H, I will always be a strong advocate for the 4-H program because I have witnessed first hand how involvement in 4-H helps to nurture and teach children how to develop into model citizens while learning life skills.

As I looked through several stacks of pictures of the many 4-H activities that Cody and Casey were involved in over a ten year period of membership, I realized how thankful I am for the privilege I have had to see their growth and development in a unique way while being involved as a family in every activity.

Even though  my sons'  main 4-H projects were related to dairy and agriculture, each enjoyed learning a variety of skills like cooking and sewing. We still laugh about the largest cookie baked by Cody and the cake batter that was spattered all over the walls of our county extension office during a cake baking demonstration activity by Casey and friend Beau. One of my favorite activities was helping our club members sew Christmas stockings each year  for a local children's shelter and then filling them with gifts.

I look forward to attending  the  annual Benton County 4-H Achievement Banquet in just a couple of weeks to celebrate the successes of  4-H members. It is a rewarding experience to see the difference 4-H is making for the future of our community and fulfilling the motto to "make the best better".You can find  information about 4-H in Arkansas at http://www.kidsarus.org/go4it/4HArkansas.