WELCOME to the Valley Lake WEBSITE!

NEW: Annual Holiday Craft and Bake Sale - Valley Middle 6th grade Troop 784 will be organizing and hosting this year's holiday craft and bake sale on Sat., Nov 18 at Falcon Ridge Middle School. The registration form contains many important details about this year's event, so please read through and contact Lisa Fix with any questions. 2006 Craft and Bake Sale Registration form

SUMMER FUN! - We were fortunate to have two AWESOME DAY CAMPS at Camp Sacajawea for Apple Valley and all our Girl Scout neighbors! Enthusiasm and attendance was high at Valley Adventures Day Camp - Minnesota Bound in June and the Fantasy, Myths and Legends Day Camp in August. Thanks to all the volunteers who made it another great summer of day camp fun!

NEW:LOOKING FOR NEW IDEAS for TROOP PLANNING? CHECK OUT THE COUNCIL GUIDE! - Yes, Valley Lake Volunteers, it is Back to School and that means Back to GIRL SCOUTS! Let the 2006-2007 Council Guide be a resource for your troop planning. Copies will be available at the monthly leaders' meetings. They may also be picked up from Pam Troje's front porch. The Council Guide is an invaluable resource full of activities, programs, badge kits, nature kits, etc. We encourage you and your GIRLS to use this wonderful resource. Check out all that has been prepared and waiting for your troop to use!

LEADERS' MEETINGS - Want to know what events are being planned for troops? Looking for leadership opportunities for girls? Want to get some training or learn new things to use with your troop? Want to be ready for cookie sales? All of that and so much more will be covered at monthly leaders' meetings.

• First Thursday of the month
• 6:30p.m. - 7:30p.m. (sometimes 8:00p.m. with guest speakers or special topics)
• Apple Valley Community Center (main building)
• 14603 Hayes Road, Apple Valley, 55124

NEW: ORIENTATION to GIRL SCOUTING for New Volunteers

New volunteers should attend Orientation training prior to holding their first troop meeting. There will be two group sessions, as well as, an online version available at council's website

Saturday, September 23, 9:00a.m. - 11:00a.m., Apple Valley Community Center, Hayes Bldg, Dakota Room

Monday, September 25, 6:00p.m. - 8:00p.m., Apple Valley Community Center, Main Bldg, Arts & Crafts Room

For more information contact Teresa Stepka, Valley Lake Orientation Specialist, via our e-mail address Contact Us NEW: FALL PREVIEW OF EVENTS & TROOP OPPORTUNITIES!

BLACK CAT ROLL - Monday, October 30 is the date of interest for a roller skating party. More details to be announced.

TROOP TALENTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS! Bring your girls to a leaders' meeting to teach us a song or proudly announce their latest accomplishments. We want to APPLAUD our Girl Scouts, so there will be time at leaders' meetings for girl participation. Contact Pam Troje to get your troop on the meeting's agenda!

WINTER ENCAMPMENT - Girls and Volunteers are needed to help plan a winter week-end wonderland for Girl Scouts 5th grade and older at Camp Lakamaga Feb 9-11. More details to come!

FREE Field Trips - Our Terri McArthur has pulled together a listing of succesful field trips that troops in our area have recommended - and they all are FREE! Free Field Trips Listing (an MS Word document).

Don't Want To Wait For A Leaders' Meeting To Find Out What's New?? - Consider subscribing to an electronic newsletter from the council. The newsletter will provide information on council activities, programs and events. It's a great way to receive information without having to wait on a copy to be brought to you at a meeting. We hope everyone finds this helpful for receiving information and staying current with the latest Girl Scout news and programs. To register for the council's electronic newsletter, go to the council's website and click on the space to "register" under the heading SUBSCRIBE on the right hand side of the homepage.

NEW: Service Unit Team has openings - Looking for a way to meet some great people, network with other Girl Scout parents, contribute to Girl Scouting other than as a leader? Our Valley Lake Service Unit team is looking for a few friendly faces to help us out through the 2006-2007 school year. We have openings in the following areas:

• Cookie Team Members
• Girl Recognition Coordinator
• Adult Recognition Coordinator
• District Chair and Delegates (if interested check out the ONLINE training on the council's website

Check out the Contact Us page for a list of current Service Unit Team members. You don't have to be a leader to join the Team! Any of these roles can be filled by an individual or by a small team (2 or 3 people). Contact the team's email, info@valleylakegirlscouts.org , or Pam Troje, Service Unit Manager, with any questions you may have. Thanks for considering these roles!

Easy Access To Council Forms Online - Our Council has put most of it's forms online over the past few years. Now our Valley Lake web site has a link directly to these forms. Try the "Council Forms" link on the upper left side of this page. It will open a new browser window listing zillions of Council forms that you'll likely need at one time or another. Included are girl & adult registration, program registration, training registration, troop finance reports, etc. All forms are PDF format; if your computer needs help reading that format, click the yellow "Get Adobe Reader" link at the bottom right corner of this page.

Minutes from monthly Leaders Meetings - Not able to attend a Leaders Meeting, or need to double check something you heard at the meeting? We have the minutes from each meeting posted on our web site, on the Info for Leaders page.

Can We Talk? - We have three main avenues of communication within our Service Unit:

• This Web Site - It's always available and it's updated at least once a month. Check here regularly for a repository of announcements, Leader Meeting minutes and informational flyers.
• Leaders Email List - See the "Idea Incubator" page of this web site for details.
• Leaders Meetings - Held the first Thursday of each month, Sept. through May, at the Apple Valley Community Center. Usually they start at 6:30pm and last one hour. These meetings are a great way to meet and learn from other leaders in our area, ask questions, get answers first hand, and often there is some small bit of training available to help you become a better Girl Scout leader.

Be sure to check out the Idea Incubator, Calendar, and Info for Leaders links on the left for more news & ideas ....