Bridging Leaders

What a wonderful memory.

Today we had a combined Daisy/Brownie Think Like a Programmer event. These girls are from a Girl Scouts Nation's Capital troop in Herndon.

For one activity we worked from oldest to youngest. Later in the day, during snack, the youngest was able to show the oldest how to open her water bottle.

It would have been very easy to open the bottle myself when the Brownie Girl Scout asked me to open it.

This is one of the benefits of a Bridging Leaders event. We have crafted our facilitation methods to allow even the youngest Girl Scouts to teach and lead. That sweet 5 year old holding her troop’s sign in this picture was SO proud of her achievement.

Senior Sow What today in Prince William County

If you are in the DC area, a trip to Thanksgiving Farms with your troop should definitely be on your list if you are earning the Junior Gardener or Cadette Trees badges. Or, if you simply want to celebrate a woman owned business. 👱‍♀️👩👩🏻‍🦱👧🏼

They have a very powerful story.

Today is International Women’s Day!
Did you know that Thanksgiving Farms is a woman owned and operated farm and garden center?
Our mother, Timothea, was one of the first women in Frederick County to receive a business loan in the late 70’s. She received the loan as a minority. A woman, at the time, was a minority. To give a loan to a woman was rare. To give a loan to a woman to start a farm was unheard of. However, she was extremely thankful. That is why she named her business, Thanksgiving Farms.
Her loan was 1/10th the size of her fellow male farmer friends. When she went with Horace Jackson, the only male who believed in our mom and also happened to have been African American, to an auction to buy farm equipment, the other guys thought it was funny to run up the price of the archaic equipment she could afford.
Long story short. We still use the equipment and her fellow male farmers went bankrupt.
Growing up on a farm was not for the weak.
My sisters and I undertook tremendous responsibility uncommon for our young age and s*x.
Darby being the oldest, has been in the store since she was 16 years old. For those that remember our first tiny farm stand, will also remember her taking care of our five younger sisters and brothers too. To this day, the store is more than a brick and mortar, it is her life. Thankfully, she also manages the dreaded paperwork too! 😘
Melanie and I had a childhood unlike most. It was labor intensive and a thrilling ride at the same time.
You see, in 1983 we almost lost the farm due to a horrible drought. Our mother decided we needed to buy wholesale vegetables and fruit to resell if we were going to keep the farm.
At 13, my sister Melanie got up at 2am, went to Jessup, a huge wholesale vegetable depot. This is where she bought a load, came home by 7am and then went to school. This was every Thursday night/Friday morning for years. Our dad drove the box truck over, then slept in the cab while she bought the load. He had to go to his job at Geico, in the morning too. I stayed home from school most Fridays to pick vegetables for market.
We had 2 farmer’s markets in Baltimore and 3 farmer’s markets in Dc.
We were on the road 4 days a weeks. I missed 80 days in Fourth grade because I had to go to market or pick vegetables.
At 13, I received my own farmer’s market in Silver Spring. I was given a driver, truck and load with instructions of what I needed to make.
The biggest farmer’s market that had the greatest affect on Mel and I was RFK. RFK was in DC in parking lot 6 at the stadium. This was not the feel-good markets most think of today. This was a dangerous, exciting place. This was a year round market. It didn’t matter if it was raining, snowing or a hundred degrees. You went. It didn’t matter.
We took 2 box trucks (over)loaded with produce. We were on the street by 5am and got the hell off the street by the time it was dark. I checked everyone out myself. I had a line at least 20 deep. All I saw for hours was black hands and money. It was insane. I had a knife in my back pocket, a knife on my table, a knife on the running board where the scale hung from the truck’s mirror and several knives in the side door. Our mother stood at the side door and just looked for thieves.
At 14, this was the most awesome and exhausting experience ever.
We worked all day selling over a tractor trailer of produce, then packed up, drove home in the dark, unloaded 3 truck, our dad was at a different market in Baltimore, unto one truck. We were usually done by 9pm. Then get up at 3am to go to a farmer’s market in Baltimore to do it again.
Melanie and I have been robbed.
I’ve been punched in the stomach by a homeless man.
We seen dead bodies pulled from the river.
Mel has been threaten with death by a few drug addicts.
Melanie once caught a thief trying to steal our mom’s pocketbook from the cab of the truck. She grabbed him, brought him around to the selling area, threw him on the ground then stood on him until the police arrive.
To say we were tender sweet children would be a lie.
We were rough around the edges. Lol
However, I would never trade this experience for anything. It taught us so much. We witnessed so much. The vibe was incredible.
Because we were the only women doing this, we were were treated well by our loyal African American customers. They called us “Mamma and her girls!”.
Honestly we would be nowhere without our loving African American women customers who understood the battle we were fighting.
Our fellow male farmers went to great lengths to try to put us down, tell us girls couldn’t do what we were doing. Some tried diligently to get us kicked out of markets. It was fun to watch them try and then crush them at market by selling the most. Good times.
We took all the profit from the Market Days and built the Thanksgiving Farms everyone is familiar with.
We have mellowed A LOT.
But we never lost that drive. The drive that pushes us to never settle. We are constantly looking to improve.
We are so happy we no longer have to go to Farmer’s market. Ugh! We’re not young any more. Plus those days are gone. Sadly.

Stefanie has been an honorary sister for almost 25 years. She is the most reliable, hard working woman. She is truly family!

We still have some hustle left. We use that energy to grow our CSA and garden center and brewery and........and...lol. Who knows what we’re going to do next.
A big thank you for our mother for giving us this awesome opportunity.
Happy International Women’s Day.
❤️

Junior Agent of Change Journey Workshop

Contact us today if you are interested in a custom event for your troop.

Nothing like being greeted by peacocks at .

It was a beautiful drive and a beautiful day to have a Journey Workshop.

It’s been quiet. Because Covid. But we are back. It’s been great working with Girl Scouts the last few weeks. Today: Junior Agent of Change Journey Workshop.

Protect the Planet Virtual Event 🌎 12/3, 6pm ET

This looks like a fantastic virtual event.

goto.webcasts.com Calling all girls in grades 6-12!

During covid, Girl Scouting is outside. Yesterday was a beautiful day for the Junior Get Moving Journey in Bethesda, Maryland.

We are scheduling zoom events and a limited number of outdoor events.

Wolftrap has a new digital Girl Scout program. Check it out whether you are local or not!!

CALLING ALL GIRL SCOUTS: young and seasoned, future scouts and alumni, leaders and troops! We are very excited to announce our new *digital* Girl Scout Ranger Program. This month marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Celebrate this groundbreaking win for women's rights and earn a commemorative 19th Amendment patch with a virtual dive into Wolf Trap's unique place in women's history. You will learn about the park's founder Mrs. Catherine Filene Shouse and her tireless efforts throughout the 20th century to empower women, and hopefully have some fun along the way🙂 Follow the link below to get started!

https://www.nps.gov/wotr/learn/kidsyouth/girl-scout-ranger.htm

Took some time today to get additional first aid training. The provider Campaign Pay it Forward also offers a free training monthly called Stop the Bleed. Stop the Bleed teaches us how to respond to emergency injuries based upon data from the Boston Bombing and Sandy Hook.

For any troops that want to go beyond basic first aid, this is a wonderful opportunity.

SignUp

Loudoun County Public Library and the Society of Women Engineers are hosting a Q&A with an aerospace engineer tomorrow. This event is being hosted for middle and high school girls.

For more information, visit their website at http://loudouncountypubliclibrary.evanced.info/msignup/Details.

loudouncountypubliclibrary.evanced.info

Clorox names Linda Rendle as its next CEO, bringing the number of Fortune 500 women leaders to a record 38

This is something wonderful to share at your next virtual meeting.

https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/08/03/cloroxs-new-ceo-will-increase-the-number-of-fortune-500-women-to-38.html

cnbc.com Clorox announced Linda Rendle as its next CEO effective Sept. 14. With this appointment, Rendle will increase the number of Fortune 500 women CEOs to 38.

We are hosting virtual workshops. We would love to hear from you. ☺️

If you are in Loudoun County, troop 1420 is working hard to help out local families.

Any Maryland troops looking for a project once in person meetings are allowed?

Do you have a scout troop that's in need of a service project? We're looking to partner with a troop who can build and install a Little Free Library at the shelter. If you're interested in tackling this project, email our volunteer coordinator, Katie, at [email protected].

A friend shared this. It made me think of the lessons we share with our Girl Scouts.

This is a great opportunity for troops working on the Citizen Science Journey.

Here's your chance to count fireflies and contribute to science. Anyone in North America can participate in Firefly Watch! You just need to spend 10 minutes once a week during firefly season observing fireflies in one location, and report your data.

http://ow.ly/HXRG50zX1AH

We have definitely upped our zoom game. Reach out to schedule your troop’s custom zoom Badge or Journey Workshop.

Even though Bridging Leaders has been closed due to covid-19, we have been spending the time learning in order to improve our programming.

Today I spent some time with Bull Run Mountain Conservancy hiking with their Naturalist. We learned some great things including that foresters use tangent and co-tangent in forest planning.

You don’t have to be a Texas Girl Scout to particulate in this event.

Prepping for our very first VIRTUAL workshop.
If all goes well, we may be back in business. Fingers crossed.

My good friend, Larissa Symbouras is a very talented face painter. If you have Daisies or Brownies, check out her giraffe paint along on April 22 at 3 pm. See the link below for more information.

https://facebook.com/events/s/giraffe-live-paint-along/531747010817769/?ti=icl

All-women honor flight to celebrate the service of female veterans

If you are already planning for next year, there will be an all women honor flight coming into DC from Chicago in October.

https://wgntv.com/news/all-women-honor-flight-to-celebrate-the-service-of-female-veterans/

wgntv.com Over the last 12 years, Honor Flight Chicago has flown nearly 9,000 veterans to visit the war memorials in Washington, D.C., and this fall they hope to add 100 more. Of the more than 7,000 senior w…

Flare gun with one flare
Tarp
Twine
Pair of eyeglasses
Umbrella
Pantyhose
Hunting knife

What do these items have to do with babysitting? We use this list in our babysitting badge workshop.

From Bridging Leaders, Happy Valentine’s Day! We are spending the evening hosting the Cadette Babysitter’s Badge Workshop!

Negativity online is contagious. So is kindness.

February 13 is International Day of Self Love because
“[e]very young person deserves an online community of supporters who make them feel safe and included.”

Kindness is contagious.

medium.com This week I joined a group of amazing education leaders and student activists to host a worldwide online event on rethinking digital…

A group of innovative Junior Girl Scouts created this newly discovered solar system complete with constellations, planets, moons, and more!

Using these supplies, create your own Mars Rover.

Check this out!

Update: Unfortunately the launch will not take place as planned due to a technical issue.

Looking for an activity on this beautiful Sunday afternoon? How about watching a rocket as it flies through the atmosphere above on its trip to the International Space Station!

This evening, at approximately 5:39 p.m., an Antares rocket, carrying supplies, will lift off from a small launch facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. Residents of Loudoun will be able to see the rocket approximately 90-120 seconds after launch.

Keep your eyes on the skies this evening!

https://bit.ly/2OzWigP

We’ve got no cookies in our house so far this season.

Our Cadette Animal Helper Badge Workshop was very popular. In fact, we are still hearing what great fun girls had. 🐕☺️🐶

We would love to have your troop for our next workshop.

We had a last minute cancellation for February 23. So we are hosting a combo journey event at a reduced price of $15 per girl. Junior aMuse, Cadette MEdia, and Senior Mission: Sisterhood, the It's Your Story Tell it Journeys! Link in the comments.

During December, we had some fun cookie decorating workshops. We would love to plan a cookie decorating event for your troop.