Don't forget to sign up for the world's biggest sleepover, also known as the GSOSW cookie rally!

It's almost here! The BIGGEST, MOST EXCITING cookie rally & sleepover you've ever seen!

Join us at Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, OR
Friday, January 11 OR Saturday, January 12
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (almost overnight)  $10
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m. (overnight) $27
6:00 p.m. - 10:00 a.m. (overnight with optional water park admission) $27 + $18 water park*

*Water park option includes two hours of exclusive use of the water park, 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. before it opens to the public AND all day admission during the public swim time.
 The rally will include: fun activities, sample cookies, goodie bags with patches and water bottles, lot of prize drawings, 3-D cookie movie, sleeping in the museum under planes or spacecraft, "midnight" snack and continental breakfast.

Older girl troops who run a booth at the rally will get a special late-night movie and a 10% discount on admission. Those troops will have a briefing and run-through on January 5, 2013. Details will be sent separately. If you can't attend the briefing, contact Melissa at mstanley@girlscoutsosw.org.
 
Register online using Personify.

Help Girl Scouts Feed Families on Christmas Morning

Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington is holding a canned food, winter clothing and toy drive for the Washington County Girl Scouts Christmas Breakfast for the homeless.

The community is encouraged to drop off donations at:
• Girl Scouts OSW Portland Service Center, 9620 SW Barbur Blvd, Portland, Monday-
Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. through December 21, 2012
• Grocery Outlet in Hillsboro, 354 South First Ave.,
Hillsboro, Saturday, December 15, 2012

Items needed include:
• Canned food
• Winter clothing items (such as: coats, hats, gloves,
scarves, etc)
• New toys

The Washington County Girl Scouts Christmas Breakfast for the Homeless is coordinated by volunteers. The event was started by a Girl Scout in 2000 when she and other local girls recognized a growing need among their community’s low-income population. More than ten years later, local Girl Scouts, families and community volunteers still gather at the Hillsboro Senior Center to provide Washington County residents with a hot breakfast, clothing and food boxes. Last year, the event served 400-500 people.

This year, the breakfast will be a one-day event held on December 25. A hot breakfast is served Christmas morning from 7:00 a.m.- 10:00 a.m. at the Hillsboro Senior Center. Toys and food boxes will be distributed during that time; availability is first come, first served. The Senior Center is located at 750 SE 8th, Hillsboro (in Shute Park behind the old library).

To volunteer for the event or for more information, visit www.Christmas-breakfast.org or call
Bernice at (503) 977-6851.

Talking to Girls About Violence

Our hearts go out to all involved in the Clackamas Town Center shooting that took place just outside of Portland, Oregon yesterday, December 11. As you and your family process this event, we encourage you to review the “Talking to Children about Violence” resource from the National Association of School Psychologists. This resource has helpful tips for talking to children of all ages about high profile acts of violence. 

http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/talkingviolence.pdf

Dalles Girl Scouts win First Place in Starlight Parade

Thanks to Judy Richardson for this blog post!

I am so proud of our girls - they built this float from a flatbed. The theme for the Starlight Parade in The Dalles was "A Storybook Christmas" - the girls chose the theme, "The Story of 100 Years of Girl Scouting" They were all in their jammies, gathered around a real fireplace with our troop leader, Sommer Lucas, reading to them. They won first place in the parade!