Girl Scouts to host fall festival

Being unable to make Girl Scouts of Western Ohio's presence known in area schools, Community Development Manager Lisa Canales-Smith had to shift to Plan B.The result is a Fostoria Fall Festival planned for 10:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, at the downtown green space at the intersection of Main and Tiffin streets. The event is open to the public.Mayor Eric Keckler will dedicate the day to the Girl Scouts with a proclamation, with representatives of the city's police and fire divisions participating. Then it's on to family-oriented fun that will include a live disc jockey, dancing, pumpkin paining and games. An actual campsite will be set up for visitors to explore, with marshmallows, and possibly hot dogs, being available for roasting over a fire."The interesting thing is with the COVID(-19) and everything that's been going on, it's made it really difficult for us to get into the schools," Canales-Smith said. "A lot of what we do is recruit during the new school year, and a lot of time the Girl Scouts meet at the schools."With us not allowed to be in the schools and everything that's been going on, it's made it really tough for all of that. I was just kind of looking at the bigger picture, so I called the mayor and said, 'Hey, mayor, we need your help,'" she said with a laugh.She said she explained her situation to Keckler and asked him for a proclamation."He was wonderful about it," Canales-Smith said. "We just decided what we were going to do is not only invite girls but make this a fall fest for all of Fostoria. Yes, we are trying to attract girls, we're trying to allow them to get together, but really, it's to bring in the families in Fostoria and embrace all of them and enjoy the day and certainly be safe. With the distance and being outside, that makes it easier."And here's the cool thing: Girl Scouts has loved this idea. Many of our community development managers are reaching out to their mayors and there are already about three or four that are going to be going on after Fostoria. We kind of started something in Fostoria."The mayor expressed enthusiasm for the fall festival."Girl Scouts helps to shape leadership skills by building confidence and character in young future leaders," Keckler said. "This is an opportunity to introduce, or in some cases, welcome back girls to the Girl Scouts program while celebrating the community."Girl Scouts, founded in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, includes youngsters from pre-kindergarten through senior status in high school. The total involvement includes 17 million girls and 750,000 adults.Girl Scouts of Western Ohio has a membership of 39,000 in a 32-county area of western Ohio and southeastern Indiana. Canales-Smith said the organization has evolved over time."The thing about Girl Scouts is that it is not just about Girl Scouting and going to camp," she said. "They have taken this to where it's really an entrepreneurship. When you think of Girl Scouts, everyone thinks of cookies. And that's wonderful, but there's much more to it. So, what the girls do is, yes, they're selling cookies, but what they teach them is, 'Why are we selling cookies and what does this mean to your troop?' They show them the business side of selling and actually producing a product for people. So, by the end of that, the girls learn about how much the cookies are, the importance of selling them. "As you get older, there's, obviously, more responsibility. Basically, Girl Scouts is the largest entrepreneurship for strong girls. It's really a business of not just selling cookies, but teaching them the process of a business. So, they understand what the troops get, how much profit you get, what they can do with that."Girl Scouting has become a really big stance for strong women and for leadership for community involvement. They don't just do a project. They will go into a community and think of their own project to do, but they will involve the community. And that project is not a project that just happens for a week. The project has to stay focused and it has to stay in that community, meaning that project, whatever they come up with, has to continue after they're gone. So, they leave a legacy of many things. They've come up with gardens, they've come up with certain proclamations, they've helped change laws. They've done a ton of things. "There's so much more to Girl Scouting than cookies, for sure."More information is available by contacting Canales-Smith at 419-917-5289 or LisaCanales@gswo.org or by emailing to abbomer@gmail.com.