WOW, this year went by faster than you can say "Girl Scouts Rock!"

It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was trudging through a torrential downpour to find parking at the Tilles Center for the 2014 Cookie Kickoff ... When I got inside, it was warm, FUN and the place was hopping with displays, games, snacks, a movie and DANCING! (I can't wait for January 10, 2015 when we kick it off again with the Samoas Birthday Bash! Who knew that less than a year later we'd be adding a Digital Order Card to our Girl Scout Cookie Program?)

February was time for our FIRST Lego Teams to show their stuff, with qualifying tournaments, regional finals and another opportunity for a GSNC Team to go to the World Finals. Congrats to all, and extra kudos to The Icebreakers who capped their six years in FIRST with a third trip to the World Championships!

March was so much fun as GIRLS took the lead as presenters at the Adult Recognitions Event! We can never do or say enough to thank and honor our VOLUNTEERS who go so many extra miles to give girls the gift of Girl Scouting.

In April, we had beautiful weather and a perfect day for our "5th Annual Girls Go the Distance Walkathon and Activity Fair." Girls and their families had so much fun being active together, taking part in program activities and petting the horse! I highly recommend taking part in the 6^th Annual Girls Go the Distance Walkathon and Activity Fair.

May and June are always a whirl-wind with our Council Gold Award Event and all the local award events that our Associations host to recognize the girls in their communities who earn the Bronze Award, Silver Award and Gold Award. This year, we had 72 Girl Scouts earn their Gold Award in Nassau County and many more who earned their Silver an

d Bronze Awards. Thank you for inviting me and the members of our Board and staff leadership to join you in celebration!

Summertime in Girl Scout world means camping ... Camp Blue Bay and Summer Fun Day Camp at Wantagh Park are chockablock with FUN, nature, friendships and yummy S’mores. I love SUMMER!!!

This summer 19 high school-aged Girl Scouts took part in our inaugural Career Exploration Camp conducted by North Shore-LIJ Health System. My day to serve as staff chaperone just happened to be the day that was spent in the Operating Rooms! I still find it hard to believe that I was there with girls seeing real surgeries on real people! What an amazing opportunity these girls had!

And then it all begins again with our Girl Scout "Back to Troop" activities ... We enjoyed bowling the day away at the Bowling Bash, had a scavenger hunt at Broadway Mall, and added Memories to our Mag&Munchies Program. We made new friends and reconnected with old friends as Troops gathered again to plan, take a Journey, and have FUN!

And after working hard all year, we hosted our first GSNC STEM Conference for girls. We could not have done it without the leadership and support of our STEM Advisory Committee and Hofstra University who provided space, faculty and student volunteers! And the grant we received from ATT will continue to support the Conference and other STEM outreach to our girls.

And this month GSNC became one of the first Councils in the country to launch Digital Cookie... I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for our girls.