Missing Cookie Sale Rewards Are Here!

Phew!  I sincerely hope this is the last time I have to use this header image until 2026!

At long last, missing cookie rewards have arrived at Barbara’s house!  See the info from Barbara below:

Final cookie rewards (and some other miscellaneous patches) have been received and are ready for distribution! If your troop number is on the list pictured, please contact me at 609-320-8718 (call or text) with troop number and pick up day/time for easy porch pickup. Please have someone in your troop (leader, parent) pick up NO LATER THAN Monday, July 21 as I will be unavailable after then.

Pick up address is 502 SE Seahouse Drive

New year, new look for the Gemini Service Unit Team.  

Our current Volunteer Service Unit Manager, Robin Roberts, is officially passing the torch at the start of this new year.  A giant pile of thanks is due Robin for her service to Girl Scouts and to Gemini Service unit! She has kept us together and building things better, and she has set us up for continued success going forward!

Thanks for your work, dedication, and support – from all of us in Gemini!

Heading into the 2025 – 2025 member year,
here’s the new (and not so new) Gemini crew:

Service Unit Manager – Barbara McGrogan

Assistant Service Unit Manager – Joe Wilson

Service Unit Treasurer – Charlotte Schneider

Events and Activities – Jamie Turner

Camporee Chair – Melanie Caramma

Product Sales Lead – Danielle Wymer

Product Sales Assistant – Gioella Bonelli

Product Sales Assistant – Christina Wilson

Contact information for everyone will be on the service unit website, but as always you can reach us all at [email protected]

Important Dates to Remember

Here are some important dates to put in your calendar today!

August 18, 2025 – First official Gemini leader meeting of the year!  This will be IN PERSON at 7:00pm at Indian River State College’s McAlpin Fine Arts Center in Fort Pierce.  We are holding our opening meeting of the year a little later this year, so that we can do Sweets and Treats packet pickup and training at the same time.  This meeting will serve as our September leader meeting, as well as our Sweets and Treats training.  Please plan on attending, even if your troop does not participate in Sweets and Treats.  We will structure the meeting so that we don’t waste your time, and troops not participating in Sweets and Treats are welcome to leave early.

December 8 or 9 – Gemini Holiday Party – mark the date in pencil, we are still working on a venue but pencil it in to your social calendar now so you don’t miss the fun!

December 12 – 14 – CSA Weekend 2025 – Join us at Camp Nocatee for another relaxing and chill older-girl campout.  Meteor watching, good food, relaxation, and fun!  This exclusive event is for Cadettes and up, so if you have a newly-bridged Cadette troop this is their chance to take part in a Gemini tradition!

January 12 – February 15 – Cookie Season 2026 – Okay technically cookie season begins on Dec 1 when Digital Cookie opens up for digital sales, but this is the booth sale season.  Notice it has been moved back by two weeks.

March 27 – 29 – Gemini Ingathering 2026 – It’s happening at Welaka this year!  Gemini’s annual service unit camporee is an outdoor event not to be missed!  Theme and activities to be planned, so if you have any girls interested in being a part of the planning of this year’s festivities, keep an eye out for more info from Melanie about planning meetings and perhaps a theme survey.

Annual Leader Survey

Each year, the service unit team likes to take the temperature of our troops – we’d like to know what’s working for you and what’s not working for you, things we can do to help and things we can be doing better.  Please take and share the survey below:

Updates from Council

You might have seen an email from GSSEF last week about restructuring some of the positions at council.  The most direct way that this will impact us is the retiring of the “Community Manager” position.  Jessica Gonzalez will continue to serve our region in her new role as Business Development & Troop Formation Manager.  Her role will be focused on member and leader recruitment.  For troop support related questions or help, we are to continue to use the [email protected] email contact as normal.  And as always, you can reach out to us here at the service unit level if you need help or support.

Aside from the above, GSSEF has made some additional changes that will help support us at the troop level.

Troop Support – GSSEF is building a troop support team with a focus on mentoring / supporting new troop leaders as they find their feet.  This group will be led by Mia Ramsey.

Girl Experience – The Girl Experience team is led by Katie Buckley-Jones, with support from Kate Goosey and Madelyn Kelley.  Look for more exciting and engaging offerings from them!

Member Care and Volunteer Training – this team, lead by Lila Greenidge and Yvonne Irving will continue to support service units and volunteers through training and networking opportunities throughout the year.

Community Programs – this team, led by Monica Avellino, is working on a program to develop teacher-led troops and council-facilitated troops.

GSUSA Changes to Journeys and High Awards

You probably saw the news / email from GSSEF already, but just in case here’s the thumbnail summary.

GSUSA is retiring Journeys – they will be phased out this year.  The official end date of the Journey programming will be September 30, 2026.  All Journeys must be completed by that date to receive the relevant awards.

With the sunsetting of the Journey programming, GSUSA has released some new leadership awards and updated others.  They have also updated the prerequisites for Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards.  Existing Journeys completed on or before September 30, 2026 will STILL COUNT as a prerequisite for the high awards as before, Girl Scouts now have several options for meeting those prerequisites.  See the chart linked below for more info.

GSSEF is offering two virtual town hall meetings for leaders to get more information and ask questions about the new leadership awards and highest award prerequisites.  Leaders are strongly encouraged to sit in on one of these sessions.  Pre-registration is required – see below for information and registration links.

New Badges for 2025 – 2026

In addition to the new leadership awards and retirement of Journeys, GSUSA has released other new badges and badge series for all levels.  Check them out in Badge Explorer and find all the details in your VTK.