Danielle Otey part of West Seattle Service Unit 550 for Girl Scouts was asked this year to come together with other troops and host an event at Camp Long June 10 called the Chinook Pot Luck and Bridging ceremony.

What that means is that members of different levels of girl scouts are recognized for their achievements and move on to the next level. Otey (and her husband Dan who believe it or not is a Girl Scout too) lead Troop 43034. "We have 16 girls in our Troop of Daisys who are bridging to Brownies this year. They are really great girls, all in first grade going into second. We have seven of about forty troops here tonight that are bridging."

The levels, as explained by Otey are, "They start at Daisies, Brownie, Junior, Cadet, Senior and Ambassador and they are all the way up to 11th and 12th graders. I myself was a girl scout for ten years. I went from Brownie all the way to Senior, and grew up right here in West Seattle so this is truly my home service unit."

The event featured lots of skits, silly songs that everybody sang along with, and of course the bridging ceremonies which called for the girls to walk over a small bridge symbolic of their changing to a new status. They were given badges and recognized.

Approximately 250 people took part in the event. "We're hoping to make this an annual event," said Otey. John Otey for his part said, "It's really important for guys to understand the importance of Girl Scouts. I as a father am supporting my daughter in this. Girl Scouts is a stepping stone to get a foothold in exploring the world and understanding it better. It's really important for men to support that."

You can learn more about Scouting for girls at www.Girlscouts.org .