Before we could begin our Silver Award journey, we first had to earn our Girl Scout Cadette Program Aide Award. Over several weeks, we got to know a Daisy troop, learned how to plan age-appropriate activities and practiced leading younger Girl Scouts. For our final project, we designed and led an entire troop meeting, helping the Daisies earn one of their petals. It was a fun experience that taught us how to lead with patience, confidence and encouragement—skills that will help us throughout the Pollinator Sanctuary project. 

This was our first official working meeting for the Bay Village Pollinator Sanctuary! We organized our shared Google Drive so everyone could collaborate easily and talked through how we wanted to present our project to Bay Village City Council. We divided research topics among us, such as the challenges facing pollinators, the benefits of native gardens and ideas for our sanctuary design. By the end of the meeting, everyone had contributed research and we had a much clearer vision for the project ahead. 

As our planning continued, we realized our idea had grown into something much larger than a traditional Silver Award project. Creating a lasting pollinator sanctuary would require working with city leaders, educating the community, building a website, fundraising and creating a long-term plan for caring for the garden.

After talking through the opportunities and challenges, we decided that our Silver Award would focus on laying the foundation for the sanctuary by building partnerships with the city, creating educational resources and developing a sustainability plan. We also realized that future phases of the project could become individual Gold Award projects, giving each troop member the chance to lead a different aspect of the sanctuary's future.

We also prepared for one of our biggest milestones yet: presenting our proposal to Bay Village City Council. We are especially grateful to Ward 1 Councilman Steve Swidarski for introducing us to Mary Kay Costello, the city's Director of Public Services & Properties, and helping make this project possible.

Tonight we officially introduced the Bay Village Pollinator Sanctuary to Bay Village City Council during the public comment portion of the meeting. We shared why pollinators are so important, explained our vision for the sanctuary and asked for the city's partnership as we moved forward.

We received an incredibly warm welcome. Council President Dwight Clark thanked us for our work and called us the future leaders of our community. It was exciting to see our project receive such enthusiastic support, and it gave us even more motivation to keep moving forward.

We spent the afternoon learning from Tim Becker, Education Program Manager with the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District. Tim taught us the fundamentals of designing a successful pollinator garden, including how to choose native plants that bloom throughout the growing season and thrive in the conditions of our future garden site.

One of the highlights of the workshop was using a special deck of plant cards. Each card represented a native plant and included information about bloom times, sunlight and water needs, mature size and the pollinators it supports. We spread the cards across the table, compared different combinations and worked together to create a garden that would provide food and habitat from spring through fall.

By the end of the workshop, we had selected 11 native plants that fit both our design goals and the expected conditions of the sanctuary.

After a busy summer filled with camps, vacations and sports, everyone was excited to get back together and continue working on the Bay Village Pollinator Sanctuary.

During this meeting, we finished much of our educational website and created a community interest form so residents, volunteers and potential partners can get involved. We also received encouraging updates from the city and are now waiting to hear which location has been selected for the sanctuary and what final approvals may still be needed.

We're also beginning to acquire plants for our future garden! We purchased a native plant kit through the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District's native plant sale, with delivery expected in September. If everything stays on schedule, we're hoping to get our first plants in the ground this fall!