Girl Scouts Earn Montana Badge

Local Girl Scout Brownies (ages 8-9) from Troop 2244 sought to broaden their understanding of their home state by earning the State of Montana Badge over the past few weeks. The endeavor included studying up on the states geography by reading maps and identifying places such as the State Capital, Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks and even the Continental Divide. The girls familiarized themselves with the State's many symbols ranging from the state bird, the Western Meadowlark, to the state flower, the wild prairie rose amongst other symbols of the Treasure State.

To further their understanding of the place they call home, and its importance to their lives the girls delved into the history of Montana, and what being a citizen of the state means. To top off their Big Sky based education the Scouts participated in a practical service project to reinforce the importance of keeping their home state clean and beautiful. To complete this project eight of the girl scouts set out the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 3, orange vests and all, to clean the Valley Event Center parking lot of trash and debris either deposited by past guests or blown in off the adjacent highway.

The intent, of course, was to combine stewardship, citizenship and service with what being a Montanan is all about, and by the end of the day the Scouts had carried away 11 grocery sacks of a wide assortment of trash and one abandoned scooter left at the skate park. According to Scout Leader Mellisa Anderson the event was an eye opener for the participating youth, "We discussed how these items left behind make our town look dirty, but can also hurt birds and other animals that might come around," explained Anderson who also stressed the girls learned, "the girls learned the importance of keeping Montana beautiful."