Apalachin Girl Scouts go for silver

Two Apalachin Girl Scouts have been busy working toward their Silver Awards by taking on projects that benefit Riverside Cemetery, located on Marshland Road.

The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest award a scout can achieve as a Cadette, whereas the Gold Award is the highest achievement earned by Senior Girl Scouts.

Sierra Rogers, an eighth grade student at Owego-Apalachin Middle School (OAMS) and Grace Parsons-Remmler, an OAMS seventh grader, have been working diligently to fulfill requirements for their Silver Awards.  Both are Cadettes with NYPenn Pathways Girl Scout Troop 40514.

Sierra and Grace took on projects at Riverside Cemetery that have improved the cemetery’s landscape, and in turn, helps benefit the community overall.  

The Scouts chose to revamp the front garden area near the east side entrance that features a flagpole and monument. In addition, the Scouts took on cleaning upwards of forty headstones to date and as a third element are collecting funds to purchase new flag holders for the hundreds of veterans buried at the cemetery.

Silver Award recipients must complete a minimum of 50 hours. The duo received help from other scouts, parents, and one of the cemetery’s groundskeepers.

The Girl Scouts remarked, “We wanted to do something permanent and sustainable.”

Part of the project planning was deciding what to plant in the garden, so a trip to Farmer Brown’s Marketplace in Apalachin proved to be a fruitful endeavor. Their expertise helped the Scouts choose deer-resistant and drought-resistant plants, as well as plants that are considered pollinators.

The Scouts were thrilled when Farmer Brown’s donated a majority of the plants.  In turn, the creation of a pollinator garden is a win-win for sustainability and happy bees.

Ground was broken on May 22. Most of the plants have been placed, however the scouts are waiting on a few additional plants to be delivered before a load of mulch is spread. Scout families donated mulch, dirt, fertilizer, and a handful of other plants.

Sierra and Grace explained that abiding by the Girl Scout motto to leave no trace behind and respect the environment was factored in, too, and part of that contribution was utilizing newspaper and cardboard boxes as a weed barrier. A few chuckles were heard when they shared that they had saved up a few empty Girl Scout cookie boxes for the task.

Once the garden is complete, Sierra and Grace will team up with other troop members to continue efforts on cleaning several more headstones. Professional grave stone cleaners recommended for use at Arlington National Cemetery were used on a few gravestones, along with other environmentally safe solutions. Soft brushes and plenty of elbow grease were part of the process, too. 

One particular headstone that caught Sierra and Grace’s attention was a young woman named Vienna Jane, the daughter of early Tioga County settlers, Uriah and Mary Ann Short. Vienna Jane lost her life from a lightning strike in June of 1865; she was just 21. The stone, located a few rows behind the garden, has been restored to its crisp white surface and where visitors can more easily read the inscription.

Profits from cookie sales earlier this year at the V.F.W. in Owego are being set aside to purchase flag holders for veteran graves at Riverside. The V.F.W. welcomed the Scouts to sell their cookies there since other options were not appropriate due to the pandemic.    

To donate to the veteran portion of the project, call (607) 240-6482 or email troop40514@gmail.com.

Looking ahead a few years, Grace indicated that she is considering her future Gold Award project to benefit Riverside Cemetery. The cemetery will benefit again this summer from a bench project being designed and constructed by an Apalachin Boy Scout who is working on his Eagle Scout Award.