A Note From the Founder – 2019 – A Year to Collect Experiences
by Kerry Cordy
For those of you who did not know, my mother, Sandra Yearwood, passed away on December 8. “Grandma Sandy” to many of our members was the inspiration behind Quest Clubs as she was my Girl Scout leader growing up and did so well that she got 7 of us to our Gold Award. She was the one who gave me my passion for scouting as well as the courage to homeschool my kids and it was through these two passions that Quest was born.
My mother loved to collect experiences instead of things. She surfed in Hawaii, ziplined in Yellowstone, sang at Carnegie Hall, ATVed across the desert, flew to London just to have lunch (while a flight attendant for American Airlines), owned a pet skunk as well as two monkeys and a bobcat, snorkeled in the Turks and Caicos, kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland and so much more. She was an elementary school teacher, a flight attendant, a travel agent, a Mary Kay consultant, a real estate agent, and the top trainer for American Airlines by the time she finally retired.
For Mom, collecting experiences didn’t have to be grand however. Learning to play the clarinet, singing with a choir, sewing a wedding dress, or attending a local rodeo was just as exciting for her as her world travels. In her honor, I am setting a challenge for all of our members. In 2019, see how many new experiences you can collect. You can learn a new skill, visit a new place, make a new friend. It doesn’t matter what you choose as long as the experience adds something new to your life. Share your experiences on our Facebook group or on your own social media with #questclubsexperience so that we can find and share in your fun!
Our annual badge sale is here! All badges are $.99 through January 31st!
2019 S.W.A.P.S. Sign Up
Every year Quest Clubs and their sister program, Frontier Girls, hold an annual SWAPS event as part of our March 4th holiday. March 4th each year is a day of action when Quest members “March Forth” across the nation to spread the word about our program and learn about other Quest participants around the country. Members participate in activities and projects with national themes to honor Quest members in other regions and states. March 4th (Forth!) not only gives members a chance to celebrate inter-state or country friendships, but is also a reminder that they are part of a world wide community. The date March 4th was chosen as it is also the date that the first American Congress convened, marking the beginning of America as we know it today as they prepared to “march forth” as a nation.
SWAPS are small craft items that can be pinned for display somewhere on a jacket, a backpack, a sash, or a scarf and is a perfect way for kids’s to meet each other and promote friendship. Each SWAP item is a memory of a special event or friend and stands for “Souvenir With A Purpose”, ” Some Whatchamacallit Pinned Somewhere”, “Switch With A Pal”, or any other acronym you can come up with. Each swap should have a safety pin on the item to attach to your display. Search for “SWAPS” images and ideas on the Internet or Pinterest to get ideas for your club/family. SWAPS should represent your club, family, or geographical area in some way.
Each year we match Quest Clubs, Frontier Girls troops and Pioneers from across the country with other members and arrange for them to send SWAPS to each other along with penpal style letters introducing their club so they can get to know each other.
To sign up for the 2019 SWAPS event, click here.
New Resource Website
The Frontier Girls and Quest Clubs websites are becoming too unwieldy as we continue to add more and more resources for our members. As a result, beginning January 1, 2019 we will be restructuring the websites so that only program materials are on the main websites such as badge and award requirements, forms, handbooks, etc. All resources such as crafts, meeting plans, songs, games, ceremonies, etc. will be moved to a new website called Curiosity Untamed to make them easier to find and access.
Curiosity Untamed will allow members of both Quest and Frontier Girls to access a variety of resources to help with both troop/club meetings as well as working on badges and awards at home. Since both programs use the same badge and award requirements, it is more efficient to combine the efforts and submissions from both groups into a single resource site for everyone to use.
The Curiosity Untamed website is still under construction, but links will be available from both the Frontier Girls and Quest Clubs main website menus. The web address is www.curiosityuntamed.net. Please check back frequently as we will be adding new materials constantly.
New Forum for Frontier Girls and Quest Clubs
While our Facebook group provides a great place to connect with other members and share our experiences, it has not proven to be an efficient way in which to answer questions, discuss the Frontier Girls or Quest Club programs, or share ideas. With Facebook being in the news so much lately in a negative light, many members are also choosing not to participate due to the Facebook platform.
As a result, we have launched a brand new forum on our Curiosity Untamed website to discuss all things related to Frontier Girls, Quest or Curiosity Untamed. This forum is specifically designed to answer questions, share ideas and files, collaborate on new badges and more.
Since the forum is just getting off the ground it will be awhile before it becomes a valuable resource, but I encourage all members to join and help us build it up. If you are a veteran leader or parent who has been using either program for awhile, I encourage you to visit the forum frequently and help to answer questions for others.
You can find the forum at www.forum.curiosityuntamed.net.
New Badges Added
