Centerville Brownie troop gives a tree to park district

Trees have a great many benefits. A few are: producing oxygen, providing shade, and helping prevent soil erosion. A few more: adding beauty to the landscape, providing food for wildlife, and helping a Brownie troop earn a badge. Troop #35288 assisted the Centerville-Washington Park District by purchasing and helping to plant a red maple in Village South Park during winter break.

“Troop 35288 chose to donate a tree, because they wanted to make the world a better place by helping the environment,” said Brownie troop co-leader Amanda Venero of Washington Twp. “They wanted to make clean air and give animals a place to live.”

Venero, assisted by co-leader Erika Mullins, has a total of 10 third-graders in her troop. This is her fourth year as a troop leader. Her 8-year-old daughter, Evelyn, had been a Daisy for two years, followed by two years as a Brownie. Since the planting was done over winter break, only four Brownies were available for the planting event: Evelyn Venero, Riley Bakan, Lucy Remley and Amelia Poharski.

“This project helped the girls earn a Journey badge. We did the Brownie Quest which had a couple of different environmental concerns, so we just wrapped it all up into a tree,” said Venero. “[The park district] let the girls really participate in the process, and they really enjoyed it.”

The Centerville-Washington Park District staff plants mature size trees each year to help replace trees that have been lost due to disease or storm damage throughout the district’s 50 parks. Trees that are donated through the Tree Dedication Program are also planted at this time. This winter, 85 trees of various species are being planted. This particular red maple was planted adjacent to Centerville Primary Village North.

“Tree damage or loss directly related to storms is usually minimal, even during a year when we experience numerous severe storms,” said park operations manager Ken Carter, a 20-year employee of the Centerville-Washington Park District. “However, we have seen a significant increase of ash trees that were snapped, split or uprooted during storms. This loss is a direct result of an infestation by the Emerald Ash Borer.”

The Centerville-Washington Park District operates eight community parks, nine nature parks and 33 neighborhood parks encompassing more than 1,000 acres in Centerville and Washington Twp.

Venero is a Magsig Middle School math teacher, who used to be a Brownie herself.

“I enjoy working with the girls, and I like the things they can learn outside of school,” said Venero. “There are 600 in our Centerville service unit, and we’re very active.”

The Girl Scouts organization is divided into six major groups according to grade level: Daisies K-1, Brownies 2-3, Juniors 4-5, Cadettes 6-8, Seniors 9-10 and Ambassadors 11-12. Brownies are encouraged to expand their circle of friends in a troop, and have fun while learning new skills to earn a badge. They might also be involved in a project that makes a difference in their community like Venero’s troop did with the tree planting. And last, bond as a team while selling Girl Scout cookies. Sales of these annual sweets start early in March.

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio is the fifth largest program in the United States. The Western Ohio Council serves nearly 53,000 girls in a 32-county area throughout western Ohio, and southeast Indiana. More than 14,000 trained volunteers work to provide services and deliver the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to girls. Four regional Girl Scout Centers are located in Cincinnati, Dayton, Lima and Toledo.

Contact this contributing writer at PamDillon@woh.rr.com.

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