FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2010

 
 

Cranford Girl Scouts Create Garden with an Assist from Master Gardeners of Union County
 

Cranford Girl Scout Troop 40668 celebrated their passage from Junior Girl Scouts to Cadettes with a Bridging Ceremony, conducted in a new garden they created with help from the Master Gardeners of Union County.
Cranford Girl Scout Troop 40668 celebrated their passage from Junior Girl Scouts to Cadettes with a Bridging Ceremony, conducted in a new garden they created with help from the Master Gardeners of Union County.

Union County, NJ – The members of Cranford Girl Scout Troop 40668 have created a new garden with special meaning for scouts throughout Union County.  The main feature of the garden is a bridge for use in the Bridging Ceremony, an important part of the scouting tradition that marks the passage from Junior Girl Scout to Cadette.

Union County Master Gardener President Cindy Coppa helped the troop design the garden, select plants, and install them properly. The project garnered the scouts a Bronze Award, the highest award that a Junior Girl Scout can achieve, and they inaugurated the garden with their own Bridging Ceremony.

“Cranford Troop 40668 is to be commended on a project that enhances the community and provides a lasting legacy to future Girl Scouts in Union County and beyond,” said Union County Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, a Cranford resident.  “I am very proud that the Master Gardener program helped contribute to it.”

Master Gardeners are community volunteers who receive training and certification from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County, supported by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

“The new garden is just one of many projects that the Master Gardeners have contributed to, and we are very fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated group of volunteers in Union County,” said Kowalski.

The new garden is located at the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey Council building, 201 Grove Street East, in Westfield.  The Council includes scouts from all of Union County as well as Hudson, Essex, Somerset, Hunterdon, and parts of Middlesex and Warren.

The Master Gardeners are headquartered in County offices in Westfield.  The centerpiece of the Master Gardener program is a large demonstration garden located in the County’s Watchung Reservation in Mountainside. For information on becoming a Master Gardener or to visit the Demonstration Garden, call the Union County Extension at 908-654-9854.