Friends: Old and New

“Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold …” is a recurring theme in Girl Scout land, and a pretty good motto for any of us who don’t want to go it alone in the world. In March and April we have been out and about keeping the Girl Scouts name in front, and having a great time connecting with some terrific people. Some are proven friends and supporters of the Girl Scout family, and others are great new people that I am anxious to get to know better, for work and for play!

So, Hear! Hear! To making and keeping our friends …

Over the past few weeks Girl Scouts has re-connected with all our Congressional Representatives that are part of Nassau County – Gary Ackerman, Steve Irael, Peter King, and Carolyn McCarthy! We thank each of them and their staff for making time for us.

To Town of Oyster Bay Councilman Anthony Macagnone, and Council Woman Rebecca Alesia – Both of these hardworking elected officials got right to business helping the Girl Scouts make connections, through a grass planting on the beach in Oyster Bay, as part of their Women of Distinction event where our own Council Historian, Carol Gorst, was recognized. Mr. Macagnone came out to support our Walkathon and moving forward we hope to do a Town Meeting in Oyster Bay on the problems of social bullying and cyber-bullying!

We also met with elected Nassau County Legislators David Denenberg, Judy Jacobs, Rose Walker and Diane Yaturo. They continue to support our Girl Scout events and want to be more involved in our work on the critical issues facing girls.

GSNC will be presenting Constance Fratianni Wysota with the 2010 Juliette Low Award of Distinction. Connie is a terrific Girl Scout Leader, mom and supporter of the Girl Scout movement. We’ve known one another for years through Girl Scouts, but it is going to be so much FUN to work together on our Annual Luncheon … She just might just be our new BFF!

Girl Scout volunteer Natalie Borneo invited me to be a guest of her and her company, Marsh USA, at the annual Dress for Success gala in Manhattan! Wow! There were over 1,000 people there and they raised over a million dollars, but the best part for me was sharing the evening with Natalie and new friends … women I hope to get to know better. It was like a girls night out, and for a very good cause!

I’ve also been back to Chicago this month to see my good friend Jeanne and Steve, where I reconnected with their three daughters and got to meet their two new granddaughters. It doesn’t get much better than that!

And the GSNC Girls Go the Distance Walkathon brought over 700 people – Girl Scouts, their families, plus many new friends – to our website to register and show their support for our Healthy Living Programs. The Walkathon Committee was lead by our friends and Board Members, Allison Kasson and Melissa Connolly, who told their friends, and then Bonnie Porzio and Domenique Moran agreed to lead the Walkathon Corporate Committee, and they told their friends … and with the Committees alone we had over 50 Girl Scout friends, old and new! We can’t wait to see how many friends we can find for this event next year.

For May and June, Diane McFarlane, our President and Chief Volunteer Officer, has scheduled time to meet informally with each of our candidates for the Board of Directors and Council Nominating Committee. And we will be seeing so many of our Girl Scout family at the Annual Meeting on May 24, and at literally a dozen or more Association and Community events!

We hope that you will tell all of your friends about the fun you have with your other friends and see all the connections that you can make.