Thanks I am!



Daddy's Girl Forever! I will miss you!

Jackie

Daisy Leader

Clinton Area










[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Look at the website. It says inside the box that in geocaching "stakes
for treasure are higher."

Hmm. Some folks may argue with that text. Maybe the website editor
isn't aware of the $100 bill letterbox.

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "apriliz" wrote:
> http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/gs_stuff/ip_tech.asp

Pungent Bob
Lottery numbers for today: 1,7,23,25,29

I was in Girl Scouts for 9 years and, after receiving my Gold Award, am
currently involved in speaking to troops about how they can get theirs as
well. The Gold Award is the Girl Scout equivalent to the rank of Eagle in
Boy Scouts. It's good to know that GSUSA is keeping the outdoors-oriented
spirit of Girl Scouting alive while acknowledging all the technological
advances of the past few years. I'll be sure to incorporate my letterboxing
experiences into my discussion and promote the new IP.

^_^
Mystique


>From: "apriliz"
>Reply-To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
>To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [LbNA] Girl Scouts now offer Letterboxing/geocaching badge
>Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 20:49:31 -0000
>
>GSUSA has recently created some new "Interest Projects." (IP's are
>the 'badges' that older Girl Scouts/Studio 2B groups can earn.)
>
>One is called "Hi-Tech Hide and Seek" and focuses on letterboxing and
>geocaching. I thought some folks here might be interested since the
>info is all online.
>
>http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/gs_stuff/ip_tech.asp
>
>
>
>
>

Greetings,

I was introduced to Letterboxing at a Girl Scouts leader training weekend
this Fall. The Spar and Spindle council (which covers Merrimack Valley and
North Shore of Massachusetts) is aware of letterboxing and beginning to
promote it within it's council. I have found through this group and the
girl scout groups that there are some of us who are girl
scouts/letterboxers. It is a great way to get our girls hiking and to teach
them about problem solving. I will be working on letterboxing with my troop
this year. I have a troop of 8 + 9 year old girls.


regards,
oldpatterns
--
*****************************************************
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx

Michelle Lee misch@pobox.com
Patterns from the Past http://www.oldpatterns.com
*****************************************************

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "apriliz" wrote:
>
> GSUSA has recently created some new "Interest Projects." (IP's are
> the 'badges' that older Girl Scouts/Studio 2B groups can earn.)
>
> One is called "Hi-Tech Hide and Seek" and focuses on letterboxing and
> geocaching. I thought some folks here might be interested since the
> info is all online.
>
> http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/gs_stuff/ip_tech.asp
>

Hello all from a new (so new we've not actually done it yet)
letterboxer and leader of a Cadette troop. The badge mentioned above
is what got me interested and we have found one listed that is only
about 20 minutes from us that I'll use to introduce the girls to. I'm
always looking for new things to get my 8th graders out of the house
and away from their cell phones, gameboys, tvs, and ipods and I hope
this goes over well!

I'll be searching the archives for a while to ensure I don't ask
questions that have been asked dozens of times and I hope our first
search is as fun as it sounds.

*waves*

Elaine

GS Troop 172
Prattville, AL

Welcome to letterboxing, Elaine. You would probably do well to poke
about the archives of the "new boxers" yahoogroup. Here is a link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newboxers/

Newboxers group is the place to ask ANY of those 'newbie' questions
without fear of being thought of as an annoyance.

Also.. I wanted to thank you for your responsible attitude with regard
to finding out more info before you begin. It's really important that
you understand some of the guidelines for this activity ... to help
preserve not only the hiding place of the letterboxes, but to
appreciate the effort it took to place and maintain boxes.

Enjoy!
---PJ
aka Bindle Babe

As a former Girl Scout leader and Cub scout den
mother, a few words of caution when boxing with
scouts. You might want to find the box you speak of on
your own first. Being discrete is part of boxing and
somtimes kids don't get that. I do think 8th graders
just might. I also wounldn't take more than 4 or 5
girls at a time, stamping in with a group can be
chaotic. One stamp for the troop might be an idea.
Before you turn them lose on a box you might want to
plant one just for them to find for practice. When you
create your own box you find the care you take in
preparing the box makes you more repectful of the time
and care taken by others when they plant. Letterboxing
is a great activity for scouts when done with care.
Have fun!

--- Elaine Schmeck wrote:

> --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "apriliz"
> wrote:
> >
> > GSUSA has recently created some new "Interest
> Projects." (IP's are
> > the 'badges' that older Girl Scouts/Studio 2B
> groups can earn.)
> >
> > One is called "Hi-Tech Hide and Seek" and focuses
> on letterboxing and
> > geocaching. I thought some folks here might be
> interested since the
> > info is all online.
> >
> >
> http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/gs_stuff/ip_tech.asp
> >
>
> Hello all from a new (so new we've not actually done
> it yet)
> letterboxer and leader of a Cadette troop. The badge
> mentioned above
> is what got me interested and we have found one
> listed that is only
> about 20 minutes from us that I'll use to introduce
> the girls to. I'm
> always looking for new things to get my 8th graders
> out of the house
> and away from their cell phones, gameboys, tvs, and
> ipods and I hope
> this goes over well!
>
> I'll be searching the archives for a while to ensure
> I don't ask
> questions that have been asked dozens of times and I
> hope our first
> search is as fun as it sounds.
>
> *waves*
>
> Elaine
>
> GS Troop 172
> Prattville, AL
>
>
>
>
>
>
>





__________________________________
Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year.
http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/

--- MaryAnn Lockard wrote:

> Before you turn them lose on a box you might want to
> plant one just for them to find for practice. When
> you create your own box you find the care you take
in
> preparing the box makes you more repectful of the
> time and care taken by others when they plant.


************I would like to second this idea - and
tell you how I'm handling it.

There have been several discussions over the last
couple years about scouts who letterbox in numbers.
Sometimes boxers get frustrated by problems with
scouts failing to replace properly or taking up the
whole logbook or leaving litter about or leaving a
telltale trail to the box. Personally, I think these
problems reflect more on leaders than on the scouts,
who take their cue from their leaders. Elaine, since
you are being diligent in doing your homework in
advance, I doubt seriously you will fall into that
category and you can be instrumental in creating
goodwill between scouts and letterboxers by teaching
your scouts to be responsible and respectful with the
creations of others.

As a Cub Scout leader myself and a letterboxer, I've
always hated to read those threads about other boxers'
bad experiences with scout groups. I've also had a
fair number of scout leaders in my local area express
interest in letterboxing. I think letterboxing has a
lot to offer scouts and vice versa, but I think it's
important that scouts get the right framework before
they ever hit a box in the wild, so I'm in the process
of planting a "Scout Training Series" in a park near
me. I've got the stamps carved and the boxes made and
I plan to plant them next week while I'm off work.
I'm going to test the series with my Webelos den next
month before I open it up to other scout groups. In
preparation we just carved personal stamps as part of
our Artist activity pin to help them understand some
of the work that goes into a box.

The box stamps are simple versions of six Cub Scout
icons and the boxes will be planted with compass
readings and paces and visual landmarks, and will be
Leave No Trace-friendly. The clue pages will also
emphasize to observe good letterboxing practices by
giving them specifics on how to replant and leave
hiding places undetectible. Hopefully by the time
they finish the series, they will be capable of
exploring other boxes and representing the scouting
community proudly to letterboxers whose boxes they
find.

All of this to say, I really think it's a good idea
for you to try planting a box of your own. Aside from
it giving you an idea of the sense of pride in
creation that letterboxers feel about their boxes, you
can exert some control over your group's first boxing
experience by providing clues that will give them a
wide range of outdoor skills in searching and will
demonstrate good scout principles like LNT.

Good luck in your first endeavors and I hope your
girls get hooked on letterboxing!

Lucy




__________________________________
Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year.
http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/

My own experience -- letterboxing has been popular with Connecticut
Trails Council girls since 2000 (thanks to Annie B) -- kids get caught
up in the excitement and they tend not clean up or re-hide boxes well.
Excitement breeds excitement, and larger groups of girls can get very
enthusiastic, but smaller groups do this too. I have followed troops
on trails to find they have left the box were they were stamping, not
remembering even to put it back in its hiding spot, or recovering it
so poorly it may as well not be.

An experienced adult MUST fall back from the group and tidy up and
make sure the box is properly covered (no peeking corners!!!) after a
troop has done their thing. It is best to appoint a "sweeper" for
this so responsibilities are clear. Leaders can forget or not notice
when their primary concern is accounting for all the scouts.

Thanks all!
Aili, Bruce & Erin
(all Girl Scouts in CT Trails, central CT)