January Leader Meeting Notes

CSA Weekend

CSA Weekend was a blast! A small but mighty crew spent a fun weekend at Camp Hidden Hammock. The campers joined IRSC Hallstrom Planetarium Director Jon Bell for an evening of stargazing and were able to observe Jupiter, Saturn, and the Pleiades through telescopes and learned to find and identify a number of celestial objects. They also brushed up on knot tying, backpacking skills and equipment, and built a new fire pit for the camp


Girl Scout Grand Prix and Cookie Rally

While we have unfortunately had to cancel this year’s Cookie Rally due to a lack of interest and volunteers to help run it, the 2nd Annual Girl Scout Grand Prix will continue at 12:00pm on Sunday, Jan 14 at the DAV Hall in Port St Lucie.  

We will accept registrations at the door if anyone still wants to join in the fun.  Contact Joe at [email protected] for more information.


World Thinking Day – Jan 20

Gemini Girl Scouts are invited to take part in the World Thinking Day event and earn their World Thinking Day 2024 award and their Global Action 2024 award (awards are not included).

January 20 at Camp Hidden Hammock from 1pm – 4pm

This year’s topic is: “Our World, Our Thriving Future: The Environment and Global Poverty” are not included).

Cost is $5 per girl.  Please contact Jamie Turner with any questions or to register your troop.  [email protected]

Registration deadline is Wednesday Jan 17. Please email Jamie Turner with your roster by then.

– Everyone needs to bring: a day bag with a refillable water bottle, sun screen, snack, chairs or sit-upons, and wear closed toe shoes (no crocs).

-Leaders need to have travel app submitted to council.

– Leaders need to also bring troop roster, Emergency medical forms for each participant with allergies hi-lighted.


GSSEF Adult Recognition

Do you know a volunteer who has gone above and beyond in their service to Girl Scouts and deserves to be recognized?  The nomination season for GSSEF’s Adult Recognition is upon us.  Before cookie season takes all the energy out of the room, take a moment to check out the Adult Recognition awards information and nomination packet, available at gssef.org or through the button below.

If you have any questions about the awards or need help writing a recommendation letter, please feel free to reach out to a member of the Service Unit team!


Cookie Sale Important Dates

Here’s a quick list of all the upcoming cookie-related deadlines and happenings that you need to know!

  • January 22 – Gemini Service Unit Cookie Booth Lottery
  • January 27 – Initial Order Delivery Day
  • February 1 – Booth Sales Begin
  • February 16 – Duffy’s Give-a-Box / Get-a-Box event
  • February 20 – First ACH Withdrawal
  • February 29 – Booth Sales End
  • March 1 – Last Day to opt out of rewards
  • March 7 – Final ACH Withdrawal
  • March 10 – Reward Selection Due

We Still Need Your Help Securing Booths

We still need your help in securing booths in order to have a successful cookie season!

As in previous years, we have a spreadsheet posted on the website with a list of all our potential cookie season host locations.  Please check with a few of the locations on the list and help us secure those spots.  

Please use the Cookie Booth Permission Form that was included in your cookie season packets, or print the one that’s linked on the webpage.  If you have questions or need help updating the spreadsheet please contact Joe at (772)940-9456 or [email protected]


Cookie Delivery Day – Jan 27

Now that your initial orders are in, make sure you go over to the “Delivery” tab in Ebudde and choose a delivery slot for our cookie mega drop on January 27.  

Our delivery location is Renaissance Charter School at Tradition, and will begin at 9:00am.  Please ignore the delivery time in Ebudde and come early.  We have a pretty efficient and practiced crew to run our delivery day, and we will take you on a first come – first served basis.  Please bring your patience as it sometimes takes a little time to get things moving, but once they are going it’s smooth sailing.

Please bring enough vehicles to carry your entire order, and if you are using multiple vehicles please wait until they have all arrived before entering the pickup line.

We still need your help!

We need both girls and adults to count, stack, and load boxes into cars and trucks.  We expect the truck to arrive between 8:30am and 9:00am, so please arrive at by 8:30am at the latest.  

Due to the physical demands of these tasks, this volunteer opportunity is appropriate for Juniors and older.  Please contact Joe at (772)940-9456 or email [email protected] with any questions.


Gemini Cookie Booth Lottery – Jan 22

Gemini’s first cookie booth lottery will take place on January 22 at 7pm.  It will take place using the OnlineDraft platform with a Zoom session running for discussion and support.

To register for the service unit cookie lottery, please send the name and email address of the person who will be picking for your troop, along with your troop number to Laurie Bannister at [email protected]

If you have not participated in this lottery before, please visit onlinedraft.com and set up an account using the same email address that you send to Laurie some time before the lottery date of January 22.

You will need a computer to effectively participate in the booth lottery.  While it is not impossible to use a phone or tablet, it does get very cumbersome so please plan to use a computer for this session.

If you have any questions about the booth lottery, please reach out to one of the Service Unit Team.  We’re here to help!

Council Ebudde Booth Lottery

The council lottery for Wal-Mart and Winn Dixie booth locations is ongoing. Beginning today, Jan 9, you may make as many booth picks within our service unit as you like. Make your selections in Ebudde in the “Booth Sales” tab.


Final Notes and Thoughts

Ebudde has an app now for iOS and Android.  It’s worth checking out!

Another inventory manager app that you might find useful is Cookie Management, also available on iOS and Android

You can use Digital Cookie (iOS / Android) or Clover Go (iOS / Android) to process credit card transactions at cookie booths.

You’ve got this!

And we’ve got your back. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of the Service Unit Team if you have any questions or need help!