by Bea Peterson
In a ceremony on Sunday, June 2, at the First Church United, Presbyterian, Samantha Brewer received the highest award in Girl Scouting, the coveted Gold Award. Only 5.49 percent of Girl Scouts achieve this honor. Samantha was congratulated by family and friends, officers of the Fremasonry-Van Rensselaer Star Lodge #400, Hoosick Grange #1127, the Hoosick Falls Kiwanis Club, the West Hoosick Fire Department, the Town of Hoosick Lions Club, the Hoosick Falls Community Band, Rensselaer County Legislators Stan Brownell and Lester Goodermote and Hoosick Town Supervisor Keith Cipperly. She also received congratulatory letters from NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
[private]At the conclusion of the ceremony, conducted by Girl Scouts of all ages and their leaders, Samantha thanked her family and the many people who have helped in her journey through Girl Scouting. She challenged the young Scouts to do their very best and to work hard to achieve this same honor. “I want you to do it,” she said. “I want to be in the audience to see you receive this award.”
As a Girl Scout Samantha has been volunteering forever. Her mom is a dedicated volunteer, and, Samantha said, she learned by example. Her Girl Scout career began in first grade as a Daisy. Now a senior at HFCS, she is still active in Scouts. Samantha has 157 awards and insignias to her credit. To achieve the Gold Award she spent almost 150 hours putting together a brochure describing all the service organizations in the Town of Hoosick and their contact information.
On the opening page of her brochure Samantha states, “The history of Hoosick Falls cannot be told without including stories of local service organizations – organizations that have played an integral part of the history of this wonderful town. I wanted to publish this brochure to promote all these organizations as well as help them to grow and continue to prosper.”
She further states that the brochure is a guide to help a person find an organization best suited to him or her. She encourages folks to find time to volunteer. “No matter how much time you can give, both your life and the lives of others will be touched through the act of volunteerism.”
Samantha is well aware that all of these organizations have declining memberships. Through the brochure she is hoping people will once again find ways to support the groups that were so important to the lives of their parents and grandparents. She hopes it will offer newcomers to town an opportunity to meet people and to weave their way into the fabric of the community.
Challenges
Samantha said contacting the organizations and collecting the information was fairly easy. Designing the brochure was the most difficult and challenging part of the project. Actually, finding the time to complete the project was also a challenge. Samantha takes all advanced courses at HFCS. She is a member of the Drama Club, Chorus, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band and Pep Band.
Scout Steps
En route to the Gold Award Samantha had to achieve Bronze and Silver Awards. Her Bronze award was achieved through a Troop Pet Care project with the Shaftsbury Animal Shelter. For her Silver Award Samantha created a traveling Scout Program information board describing all the benefits of Girl Scouting and information on activities and where to join.
Brochures Available
Samantha’s Volunteer Opportunities brochure is available in the Village and Town Offices, Marker’s Octagon Realty, Denim and Deeds Real Estate and Team Tinkham Real Estate. It is also available as a PDF on the Village, Town and School websites.
Samantha is the daughter of Joyce and Todd Brewer. She will be attending Canisius College in the fall where she will be studying Sports Management and Business. Her younger sister, Anna, is also active in scouting and is working on her Silver Award.[/private]