Girls Scouts make a big splash this year

PINE PLAINS — Troop 10434 had a blast last Saturday, Jan. 2, at the Pine Plains Girl Scouts’ annual pool party in Taconic Hills. And did they earn it! Although the scheduling year is only half over for the Scouts, plenty has been accomplished in the first half alone, and it looks like plenty more is on the plate.

Mary Ann Bay, leader for Troop 10434, is into her fourth year leading the 15-Scout troop, and this year was a big one, with the girls making the transition from Brownie Scouts to Juniors.

Photography missions took up a considerable amount of time in September and October, when the girls started their year. The troop traveled to Ronny Brook Farm in Ancramdale, where they took pictures that were eventually blown up and displayed at the Pine Plains Ag Fair this year. They also hosted a professional photographer who attended Scout meetings with her equipment to educate the budding artists.

Community service is also a major part of Troop 10434’s mission. As Juniors, they are working toward a required amount of community service hours to earn their Bronze Award, and multiple visits helping the local food locker are already adding up.

Thoughtfulness would be another of the troop’s virtues, like when the girls worked on “thinking of you� cards for a 10-year-old girl with terminal cancer in West Virginia.

“I’m trying to help them learn about community service and to make them more aware of the world around them,� Bay explained during a recent interview. “We need to take care of each other. There is more to life than just school life; there are people in need in the world.�

The Girl Scouts in Pine Plains have held workshops on how to handle bullying and teasing, and Seymour Smith Elementary School Principal Richard Azoff has been known to drop by meetings as well. The girls are busy now preparing for the national Scouts’ “World Thinking Day,� where among other activities each troop picks a sister troop in another country and emulates their culture, fashion and food.

“You try to make it fun for the girls,� Bay said. “You need to keep them interested, but at the same time teach them how to be a better person and how to make the world a better place.�

Pine Plains Girl Scouts who attended the pool party were Karlee Bishop, Claire and Sadie Norman, Olivia Krein, Heather and Holly Bay, Emma Grady, Kylie Gent, Rose and Angela Knapp, Molly Lacourse, Maya Tirone-Goehring, Kelsey Bowen, Juliana and Samantha Losee and Emma Hotaling. There are six Pine Plains Girl Scout troops with members ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade. Anyone interested in signing up can contact the Poughkeepsie main branch at 845-452-1810.