Thanksgiving Week

I know this is a busy week for most of us - if we are not cooking, we are probably traveling some where.  So, I thought maybe we could chime in a bit early to say that one of the things we are grateful for is Girl Scouts and the friends we have made - and that's what Great Escape is all about! 

(Are you cooking your turkey in a trash can outdoors, as we did at GE?  If so, let us know in the comment section, below....) 

Out of Doors!

Lest you think GE is only about the "Gracious Living" part of our motto, here's a photo of the 'Out of Doors' portion of the weekend.  Intrepid committee member Laura leads hikers on Mt. Kearsage.

Gracious Living in the Out of Doors

The Great Escape's motto is "Gracious Living in the Out of Doors," sometimes abbreviated a bit to just "Outdoors."  I was at GSEM's Cedar Hill camp yesterday for a Girl Scout Alumnae service project event, so I wandered down to the new brick maze that was installed last spring.  I took a few photos of some of the bricks that have particular meaning to Great Escapers.  I hope you enjoy seeing them.

This one expresses what GE is about even though that may not have been the donor's intent!

Here's one that reminds us of a friend who's with us always even if it's only in our hearts these days.

And lastly, a picture from yesterday's service event which brought together Girl Scout adults and girl members to make blankets for Project Sweet Peas - and yes, there were some Great Escapers there, doing good, having fun!  If you would like to make some blankets there's an event next Sunday, November17th from 2 - 3:30 at Camp Rice Moody.  RSVP to events@girlscoutseasternmass.org so we will have enough blanket materials.  Oh, and snacks too!

Having Fun, Doing Good - Part 3

Here's another way that Great Escape (and Girl Scouts!) helps to make the world a better place.  As everyone who plans meals for families and/or large events knows, it's hard to estimate how much food you need.  When you try to plan meals for a weekend for 80+ people, you have a large margin of error.  Our kitchen crew does a great job estimating and planning quantities to the ounce, but if we have last minute cancellations or weather conditions change, we might have left over food.

Luckily kitchen crew members Fluke and Crunch, wearing their other hats as directors of Camp Runels, have established a relationship with Anne-Marie House in Nashua, New Hampshire.  This organization for homeless families transitioning to permanent housing serves meals to its patrons. If we have significant leftovers, we donate them to this organization.  See their website for more about their work: http://annemariehouse.org/

Somehow, though, there's never any leftover cocoa.  It seems that Great Escapers have hollow legs when it comes to hot chocolate - and bacon! 

Having Fun, Doing Good - Part 2

Here are some more photos of the awesome Project Linus quilts.  Note workshop presenter Bandit in the background of one of the pictures.

Having Fun, Doing Good - Part 1

We have a lot of fun at the Great Escape, but since we are Girl Scouts, we like to do good things (make the world a better place) too!  Over the next few months, I'm going to tell you a little bit about how we do that.  At the last event, some workshop participants made quilts for Project Linus, an organization that donates quilts to critically ill children.  http://www.projectlinus.org/

 Here's one of our very talented quilters, working on a baby quilt - and the (almost) finished product. 

Hard at work....

But long hours at the sewing machine paid off!

Birthday Girl

If you are reading this, you probably know who the birthday girl is; yes, Juliette Gordon Low's birthday is next Thursday.  In honor of her, and in preparation for a couple of celebrations I'm attending this week, here's a picture of a poster I made using a bunch of old Girl Scout books.