April 8, 2005

Former Evergreen Girl Scout earns Gold Award

Melanie Nimori, a senior at Leland High School, recently reached the highest level of achievement in Girl Scouts as an independent scout.

To earn her Gold Award, Melanie spent about 65 hours preparing for and instructing an after-school art class in the homework center for elementary school children in the Franklin-McKinley School District. As a Cadette Girl Scout, Melanie also earned a Silver Award by collecting clothing and items for battered and homeless women.

Melanie Nimori recently earned her Gold Award in Girl Scouts.

11 years
Melanie entered Girl Scouts as a Daisy Scout in kindergarten in 1992, joined some other youth programs and returned as a Brownie in Barbara Giusti’s Troop #226. She has spent a total of 11 years in Girl Scouting. 

“Our troop was obsessed with food and we were probably the only troop that continued with snack time until the very end,” recalls Melanie, who originally lived in Evergreen and continued to meet with her troop even when she moved to Almaden Valley.

“We stayed with our troop in Evergreen as our troop was close, and so there was no interest in switching troops,” says Sandra Winkler, Melanie’s mom, who purposely chose a location that would permit her to drive back and forth to Evergreen so Melanie could stay with the troop. 

Melanie still maintains friendships with girls from her original troop, even though it technically disbanded when leader Giusti moved to Virginia. This is why Melanie earned her Gold Award as an independent scout without a troop. 

Activities
Before the troop dissolved, however, it was very active, holding regular meetings and attending generally one fun activity per month, often on the weekends.

In later years, the girls rotated running the meetings and organizing events under Giusti’s supervision. This not only helped build leadership skills, but ensured that the activities were of interest to the group.

Activities included horseback riding, a tour of a lighthouse in Half Moon Bay, a flashlight tour to the Winchester Mystery House on Friday the 13, making pottery in Willow Glen, ice skating, days at Raging Waters, etc. 

Trips together ranged from camping excursions to treks to Disneyland and the Gold Country. They also held annual mother/daughter bunko games that awarded prizes, which was always a big hit. 

“I think all the girls enjoyed the arts and crafts projects done at the regular meetings the most,” says Winkler. “This brought out their creativity while allowing them time to just chat and be girls while doing their projects.”

Winkler attributes the troop’s cohesiveness to Guisti’s amazing ability to manage the girls and activities in a way that kept them all together and interested. The girls learned to take responsibility as Guisti minimized the number of adults who came along on the outings. The girls had to tow the line in terms of organizing and doing chores such as cooking and cleaning while camping.

Car Sense Badge
Melanie earned more than 90 badges over the years, but her favorite one was the Car Sense Badge.

“Not only were we given the opportunity to talk about our favorite cars, but we also were tested for drunk driving and most of us would have failed,” joked Melanie.

She explained that when given the drunk-driving test of balancing while looking up and touching their noses, many of the girls failed, even though they obviously had not been drinking. It was a very funny moment.

Juggling act
“Melanie juggled a lot of activities in addition to Girl Scouting, so it did take a lot of commitment on her part to stay in the troop, especially after we moved to Almaden,” said Winkler. 

“Melanie also juggled cross country, drama, cheer leading and lacrosse, all of which took a lot of her time. Getting her Gold Award on top of all that, plus helping out around the house and yard and taking as many difficult classes at Leland High School as she did and having a healthy and active social life outside of all these activities took a lot on her part.  Obviously, I am very proud of her!” concluded Winkler.

When asked to sum up the value of her years in scouting, Melanie says, “I have the ability to lead the community just as any man.”