At tonight’s meeting we made steamboats. We had been learning about how steam engines were used to help power machines and boats. Mr. Jim cut some left over wood for us and Ms. Cristy got the copper tubing and candles we needed to power them.

We had a special guest come in to talk to us. Jake (not from State Farm) is an engineer who works with medical equipment. He explained how heating the copper tubing with the candle would pull water into the tubing and then push it out the other side. He also answered a lot of questions we had about a lot of science things.

This weekend we got to work on our project to build firewood sheds at Camp Caloosa. We had so much help from so many people. Kimberly Palmieri helped organize the donations of materials and even had tshirts made for us!

On Saturday, Kimberly’s husband, Michael, and his friend Ryan met us at Camp Caloosa. They brought all the tools we needed to build everything. Zoe, Danaik, and her husband Leopoldo, also showed up and they all taught us different things. We learned how to safely use power tools, how to build out the frame, and how shingles work to protect the roof.

We had to measure out our cuts and mark the wood. Then we got to take it over to the saw and cut it to the lengths we needed. Then we used drills to drive in screws to hold it together. After that, shingles went on to protect the shed’s roof. Finally we dug holes so we could cement the sheds in place.

We also had great support from our troop leaders and volunteers. Ms. Cristy and Ms. Kristen helped us build and paint the sheds. Mr. Jim cooked lunch and dinner for everyone.

Thank you so much Kimberly, Michael, Ryan, Danaik, Leopoldo, & Zoe. And thank you to these groups & companies that helped us get this project completed:
NWIR – National Women in Roofing
Ram Restoration
SPEC Building Materials Corporation
ALSTEEL Metal Roof Manufacturing
Print Spark Apparel Printing

You can see more pictures of our build event here: Photo Gallery

At tonight’s meeting we got to meet with Kimberly & Michael Palmieri. Kimberly is a member of the SWFL chapter of National Women in Roofing. They are helping us to organize supplies for our service project at Camp Caloosa. We are building sheds to store firewood at the camp sites. Kimberly told us about their company and what they do. It was great to have them at our meeting and to learn about women in business.

We also made some goodie bags for them to take back to their coworkers.

Today we visited Special Equestrians. It is a nonprofit organization that specializes in therapeutic horse riding, in Fort Myers, FL.There we met Melissa and Meredith and the horses that they care for. While we were there we learned how to take care of the saddles and other riding gear. We helped clean up some of the equipment and then we got to go pet the horses.

Today we went to the Naples Zoo to continue working on our Animal Helpers badge. We got to meet some animals and trainers and learned about the prehensile-tailed skink.

The prehensile-tailed skink is from the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It lives in the tropical forests and eats fruit, flowers, and leaves. They are the only fully herbivore of the skink family. They have great eyesight and can use their tail to grip on to branches to help them climb.

We also got to feed a giraffe. Their tongues are really rough which helps them grip leaves when they are eating them.

It was a great day to visit the Naples Zoo and we can’t wait to go back again.

As part of earning our Animal Helpers badge, we got to meet Jordan, who trains assistance animals, like Quincy. Assistance animals help people with disabilities or health conditions like visual or hearing impairment, epilepsy, or paralysis. Some animals are trained to help calm people who have anxiety or suffer from PTSD.

These assistance animals can learn how to detect when a diabetic is having an issue with their sugar levels, or when someone is about to have a seizure. Others learn how to guide around blind people, or help you move around physically.

We have been working on our Night Owl badge. Part of that was learning how people adapt to living and working during the night time. We went to the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium where we got to see a presentation about how people adapt to living and working at night time. We also hiked around the Nature Center and saw the animals on display.

We also got to meet Officer Klausner of the Cape Coral Police Dept. She explained how she had to adjust to working different shifts and how that impacted their daily routine. She took a lot of time to answer all the questions the scouts had.

Our local Girl Scout camp has an archery range, but there was no bow stand for us to use. We had to set the bows on the ground which isn’t good for them. Violet decided we needed one like they have at Camp Honi Hanta and built it. Violet worked out a budget, got the materials, and built the new stand.

Once it was completed, one of the volunteers took it out and put it in the archery shed. It is now used by all the local troops, and the leaders when teaching classes.

Our whole troop went to Camp Caloosa for a weekend camping trip. There was so much to do. Archery, kayaking, arts & crafts, and of course: S’mores!