Zoe B. 

Girl Reporter

Who loves Big Bear? There’s all that beautiful white snow in the cold winter and a large lake in the warm summer. Last winter, troop 1663, sub-troop to super-troop 1661-1663, took a trip to a cozy, wood-cabin. At the cabin, each Cadette – 7 girls in total participated in earning 4 different badges. The badges each girl earned were New Cuisines, Trail-Blazing, Digital Movie Making, and Woodworking. A fun but challenging event took place to complete each badge. Every troop member had their own responsibility each day whether they were to cook meals or clean up after meals and activities.

A pair of girls took charge of one of the badges that needed to be completed during the weekend. Ava and Zoe where in charge of the New Cuisines badge while Annabelle and Emily in charge of the Trailblazing badge. Emily and Zoe also worked on the Woodworking badge and Digital Movie Making which was also worked on by Julian. Ava and Zoe made chili to complete one of the requirement for the New Cuisines badge. Annabelle and Emily led a nature walk on one of Big Bear’s many trails and we learned different fun facts to complete one of the Trail Blazing requirements. Movies were made by each girl to complete the requirements of the Digital Movie Making badge. They took about 2 minute and had a lot of fun showing their videos to all their fellow scouts that came on the trip.

Emily and Zoe had to come up with a fun and creative plan to complete the Woodworking badge. They knew exactly what they were going to do to get the badge. They decided to have everyone create a string art design on wood. They had everyone go outside and choose a piece of wood. The wood was carved by Emily’s grandfather the day before they arrived at the cabin. It was a very fun idea and it gave everyone a chance to express themselves through art.Each Girl Scout in the troop would receive two pieces of
wood which meant that they were able to create to pieces of art. They would then choose two designs, one for each piece of wood. After that, Emily and Zoe passed around nails and each girl would have a hammer so they could hammer the nails in the pattern they desired. When they finished hammering in the nails, they chose the color string they wanted and tied it in a knot around one of the nails. The girls then looped the string around every nail until they were happy with what their art looked like. They all had so much fun with this project and made sure to go home and put it up on their wall, show their friends and family, or even give it as a gift. This completed the badge with not just hard work and determination but also fun and creativity.

Emily and Annabelle also worked on a badge with Annabelle called the Trailblazing badge. They decided to go on a cool and fun nature hike through the woods of Big Bear. They talked about how important it is to stay on the trail and to always stay safe. Each girl made sure to bring a jacket and a water bottle so they could stay warm and hydrated. Not only did they discuss trail safety but they also did research about how and when Big Bear was founded. It was pretty cool how it was founded. They discussed any tactics that might help if you ever got lost or needed to find a way out if you didn’t know. They made arrows pointing the direction they would need to go if they were lost. Using the buddy system, they made sure to stay with a partner so they would stay safe. This completed the requirements of the badge in a fun way that made everyone happy.

To complete the New Cuisines badge, Ava and Zoe had the idea of making chili to represent a cuisine from a different culture. They chopped, cooked, and prepared all the vegetables by themselves. They added ground meat to a pan, cooked it, and added it into the chili along with the vegetables. They made corn bread that was gluten free so they could serve it to the gluten free guests as well. The chili was cooked inside of a crockpot and each person served themselves as much as they wanted. Everyone enjoyed this idea and it completed one of the requirements of the New Cuisines badge. They will definitely be making chili and cornbread for dinner again.

This was probably the best weekend ever and the entire troop agrees that they should do this again. They had fun and received badges during all the fun which gave them all a chance to do some troop bonding. All they needed was a weekend to relax, have fun, and not stress about the days that where coming when the weekend was over. If they did this again, they would change nothing but the badges they were working to earn as a troop. They all had fun and would definitely do it again if they ever had the chance to go up to Big Bear again as a troop.