Girl Scouts Rosie Brunner, left, and Meagan West.

SANATOGA PA – Two Pottstown area Girl Scouts, Meagan West and Rosie Brunner, are paying tribute to local veterans and active military personnel by planning and preparing meals in their honor, the second of which will be served this Sunday (Nov. 15, 2009) from 3-6 p.m. at the Colonial Room in Sanatoga’s Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA.

The meals – which bookend this week, including the annual national observance of Veterans Day – are being presented as a prime component of the girls’ attempt to earn the Scouts’ Silver Award, the second-highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Both are members of Troop 71425.

“A Dinner With The Heroes,” as the project is called, actually is two dinners, the first of which was served last Sunday (Nov. 8, 2009). A total of 50 service men and women, and their guests, were invited by West and Brunner to Sunnybrook over the two Sundays to enjoy a warm, personal meal and receive the Scouts’ accolades. “We think this (is) a great story for the community to know about,” Meagan West said, in part because “it will bring attention to the people we want to honor.”

Sanatoga developer Wil Hallman, left, and state Rep. Tom Quigley talk during the dinner.

The community has been responsive, too. Brunner and West report several local businesses donated time and items to help the girls make the dinner possible.

In addition, Pottsgrove’s Brig. Gen. Elmer S. Friedberg American Legion Post 244; its commander, Ed Clark, and adjutant, Billy Worrell; and several members helped them organize and plan the event, and contact guests. Lower Pottsgrove resident P.J. McGill relayed messages from the Scouts to the media. State Rep. Tom Quigley, who represents Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick and Pottstown, agreed to serve as the dinners’ co-sponsor. Other members of Troop 71425 pitched in to help their colleagues.

The affair has taken months of effort, according to Karen West and Marie Brunner, the girls’ mothers, and each step was approved by a Scouting Silver Award Committee to ensure it met the achievement’s standards. The award itself, when finally given, usually is presented in a day-long ceremony during the fall; the last was held in November 2008 at The Hill School in Pottstown.

Happy smiles everywhere at Sunday's dinner.

Have the scouts been kept busy with all the dinners’ details? “The girls are working so hard they are making me tired,” Karen West said. And the participants were excited to be invited, Rosie Brunner added. Smiling faces were evident everywhere in Sunnybrook last Sunday, as those in attendance were introduced and dined, the Scouts made their rounds, and Quigley offered brief remarks. Lower Pottsgrove’s state senator, John Rafferty, also made an appearance.

Up next? It seems likely that, with a Silver Award behind them, West and Brunner will try next for Girl Scouting’s top honor, The Gold Award.

Photos by Billy Worrell

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