Two Hundred Medfield Girl Scouts Bridge to Next Level

There are more than 450 Girl Scouts registered in Medfield and, on Friday, 200 of those girls bridged to the next level of scouting. 

At an annual ceremony held at the Medfield High School, 74 Daisies bridged to Brownies, 42 Brownies bridged to Juniors, 42 Juniors bridged to Cadettes, 23 Cadettes bridged to Seniors, and 19 Seniors bridged to Ambassador scouts. 

In addition, 41 Bronze Awards were given to Juniors, 14 Silver Awards were given to Cadettes, and six Gold Awards were given to Ambassador scouts. 

Presidential Volunteer Service Awards, which are awarded by the President of the United States for Community Service, were also presented for various levels of community service including nine Bronze (age 14 and under, 50 to 74 hours of community service), one Silver (age 14 and under, 75 to 99 hours), one Silver (young adult, 175 to 249 hours), eight Gold (14 and under, 100+ hours), and five Gold (young adult, 250+ hours). 

Violet Apple, Chief Membership Services Officer at Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, attended the ceremony and said that Medfield has always had a high number of registered scouts and a large percentage of its scouts earn the highest awards afforded to their age level.

This year, Senior Scout Kara O’Connell, age 14, was recognized as the youngest scout to earn the Gold Award in Medfield.  Kara’s project focused on the issue of illiteracy in children living in the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard/Mission Hill community.  She collected over 2,000 used books and purchased over 100 new books and craft supplies for the Betty Powers Library (named for her grandmother) in Roxbury.

Cookie awards were also issued to high sellers who helped Medfield Girl Scouts sell nearly 19,000 boxes of cookies this year.   This year’s top sellers were Weslee Zinsner with 404 boxes, Gabriella Connolly with 275 boxes, and Eva O’Toole with 240 boxes.

Of the 18,874 boxes sold, 1,391 were donated to “Troops to Troops” (through which Girl Scout troops donate cookies to military troops) and 50 boxes were donated to the Medfield Food Cupboard.

Organizers thanked the Medfield School Department, Noon Hill Grill, Norfolk Arena, and Will’s Hardware for their support during the year; and to Ambassador Scout Amelia Steeger for creating the slideshow played at the ceremony (see video tape above).

Honored guests included Apple, Council Area Specialists Christeen Sears and Brenda Wheelock, Medfield Town Administrator Michael Sullivan, and the Medfield Board of Selectmen (Mark Fisher, Pete Peterson, and Girl Scout alumna Ann Thompson) which had June 15, 2012 as Girl Scout Day in the town of Medfield in recognition of Girl Scouts’ 100^thanniversary. 

In addition to having 450 Girl Scouts in town, Medfield also has 400 registered adult scouts.