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Community Corner

Franklin Lakes Scouts Reach Highest Level

7 Girl Scouts are given prestigious Gold Award

It’s a fact of life that friends come and go. But for seven Franklin Lakes girls, friendships that were formed in kindergarten have not only lasted, but have grown richly and have worked together to make the community a better place.

The borough teens, who initially became involved with Girl Scouts in 1999 when attending High Mountain Road School, recently were awarded the highest honor given by the organization – the Gold Award – in a joint ceremony on Sunday.

“We started as Daisies so this is really an honor to reach this level [in Girl Scouts] but it’s also so special because we did this together,” said Katherine Riccobene, one of the recipients. Daisy scout troops are for girls in kindergarten and first grade, and levels progress as the girls get older.

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Six of the honorees are seniors at Indian Hills High School, and one attends Saddle River Day School.

In addition to their Gold Award projects, which are listed below, the girls participated in many community service projects such as lemonade stands for the American Red Cross, sporting goods drives, community cleanup days, collections for Center for Food Action, making dinners for a local resident's family which was in need, and organizing the annual Girl Scout Thinking Day for all the girl scouts in town. 

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The recipients and their Girl Scout Gold Awards projects are:

Morgan Amiaga interviewed three longtime residents of her town and created a Franklin Lakes Oral History CD, which will be in circulation at the Franklin Lakes Public Library.

Rebecca Dalton planned, organized and led volunteer firefighters and others to renovate and paint the community room at the Bender Court Fire House, which is used by many groups in Franklin Lakes.

Anna Gebhardt created a Self Image and Inner Beauty Workshop at the Franklin Avenue Middle School, which helped girls deal with self-esteem and self image as they transition into high school.

Margaux Holloschutz encouraged her school, Saddle River Day, to “go green” through a blog and recycling programs.  Margaux also collected sporting goods, stuffed animals and magazines and distributed them to The Boys and Girls Club, Oasis and Veterans Hospital.

Megan Meyer created a presentation at the Franklin Lakes Public Library for children to learn about the responsibilities of owning a pet, about spaying and neutering animals so that the number of homeless animals in shelters will decrease.

Katherine Riccobene created a bat awareness program for visitors to Lorrimer Sanctuary in Franklin Lakes in response to the loss of 90 percent of New Jersey’s bats and the negative effect of this on the local environment.

Sarah Villano tutored elementary school children at the Franklin Lakes Public Library in order to raise money to buy toys and games for Tomorrow's Children Outpatient ward at Hackensack Hospital.

The troop leader is Vanessa Holloschutz.

 

 

 

 

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