August 2004 Volume 30 Issue 7  

Save the Date! National Public Lands Day, September 18
Girl Scouts can lend helping hand in their communities

by Kathryn Jones

The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation will host a service day to take place all over the nation. The day will be outdoors and is designed to be fun and provide a helping hand in many ways throughout local communities.

The eleventh annual Save the Date! National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is scheduled for Saturday, September 18, and it will provide Girl Scouts and others a chance to install bird boxes, paint picnic tables, weed plant nurseries, plant flowers, collect rubbish, and more. Girls can plan their own event or join one that has already been developed. See www.npld.com for a list of planned events.
Girls can work for just a few hours or all day, and will have the opportunity to give back to the community.

The deadline to register for this event is September 7. At registration leaders will receive for free the 2004 NPLD poster,

brochures, and certificates to use at a recognition ceremony.

According to the NPLD, national lands are thought of to be big and owned by all of us through the Federal Government. They can also be schools, city parks, walking trails, stream beds, and more.

There will also be an opportunity for girls to put their amateur photograph skills to use and submit their photographs in the NPLD Girl Scout Photo Contest. This is a volunteer contest for girls to show what their group has done or what they observed.

Winning photographs will be published in the winter edition of the NPLD newsletter and on its Web site. The photographs may be used in press releases, brochures, certificates, and other national publications, as well as next year’s NPLD publicity poster. A listing of all rules, guidelines, and criteria is available on the Web site. The deadline for photo entries is November 1.


Girls get ready to plant flowers at camp.

This is the first year Girl Scouts of the USA and the NPLD have had a formal partnership.

There is something for every girl to do no matter what the age. For more information, go to www.npld.com or contact Patti Pride at 202-261-6474 or e-mail pride@neetf.org.

Learn the Girl Scout Law with motions

Girls stand in a circle and do the following motions as they recite the Girl Scout Law.

I will do my best to be:

  • Honest and Fair–Put your palms out.
  • Friendly and Helpful–Pretend you are shaking someone’s hand.
  • Considerate and Caring–Give yourself a hug.
  • Courageous and Strong–Show your are muscles off like a body builder.
  • Responsible for what I say and do–Do the Girl Scout sign.

And to

  • Respect myself and others–Put your thumb to self and then hand out, palm up, as though presenting something.
  • Respect authority–Salute.
  • Use resources wisely–Rub fingertips back and forth like while moving arms back and forth in front of you.
  • Make the world a better place–Sweep arms in front of self and up to shoulder level.

And, be a sister to every Girl Scout–Put arms around shoulders of the girls on either side of you in the circle.
Cadette Girl Scout Murphy G. from Troop #11334 led the Pledge of Allegiance at the reopening of Houston Fire Station #3 in May. Fire Station #3 is located near the Girl Scout Center at 3735 W. Alabama. It has a community room which is available for Girl Scout activities.