Blackie's Grand Adventure
News from Gulf Breeze, Florida from Dina
On Monday, Blackie came to school with Mrs. Milliken to visit the first grade classes at Holley-Navarre Primary School. All the kids enjoyed meeting Blackie and spoke of the beanie friends they have at home. They also very much enjoyed hearing about all the wonderful adventures Blackie has seen so far around this country and the few other countries he's visited so far. Then he was all packed up to make his journey on to Washington. We enjoyed having him and hope he has a wonderful time seeing all the wonderful things this country has to offer, as well as experiencing different cultures around the world. What a unique experience!
-Dina
Gulf Breeze, Florida
Wonderful package from Brownie Troop 1414 in Zion, Illinois
Linda just received a wonderful package from Teri and Courtney who live in Zion, Illinois. The package contained a beautiful booklet prepared by the Zion Brownie Troop 1414 with 17 pictures at different locations in and around Zion where Blackie traveled with the Troop and Courtney as well as Coca, a friend of Courtneys that was Blackie's constant companion during the visit.
There is a group picture of 12 Brownie scouts and their leader Diane as they went on a hike in the great outdoors and visit Lake Michigan. It was very windy and the white caps were quite large so they made Blackie and the others nervous, but they still enjoyed the view.
Beside the pictures, which were beautiful in color and clarity, they sent a Troop sash with a patch showing Troop 1414 at Zion, the Illinois Crossroads. Also attached to the sash were two interesting metals. The girl scout cookies as well as other items in the package will go over big with the children at the Center.
The Children give their thanks to Teri, Diane, Courtney, and the girls in Troop 1414 for a job well done. They really enjoyed the package and the items will take their rightful place with other items at the Center commemorating Blackie's Grand Adventure.
Pictures below scanned from the newspaper Zion-Benton News July 23 edition and we wanted to share it with you, however, the quality does not do justice to the beautiful ladies in the pictures.
ZION-BENTON NEWS JULY 23, 1998
BLACKIE'S GRAND ADVENTURE
Stuffed animal's travels educate, entertain abused children
Zion Brownie Troop 1414 and Senior Troop 273 played host to a very special guest earlier this year. Troop leader Terie Tarwood spotted a request on the Internet from Linda Ray's Children's Center seeking host to welcome Blackie the Beanie Baby The Center is home to abused children in Florida and Blackie's travels are intended to be an educational and entertaining experience for the children. Blackie has traveled to Japan for the Olympics as well as around the United States
mattress with her overnight guest,
Blackie and Coco
take a hike in the woods.
From left: Tina Benson, Jamie Moore,
Rizza Vlanueva, Diane Banks, Audrey Campbell,
Courtney Tarwood and Stephanie Lambert
Stuffed animal's travels educate, entertain abused children
Zion Brownie Troop 1414 and Senior Troop 273 played host to a very special guest earlier this year. Troop leader Teri Tarwood spotted a request on the Internet from Linda Ray's Children's Center seeking hosts to welcome "Blackie the Beanie Baby.
The Center is home to abused children in Florida and Blackie's travels are intended to be an educational and entertaining experiment for the children. Blackie has travelled to Japan for the Olympics as well as around the United States.
Blackie arrived in Zion just in time to go camping with the girls at Camp Morrison in Lake Villa over Easter weekend. He was joined by Coca, a Beanie friend of Scout Courtney Tarwood.
The girls showed thew guests how they divide the work in order to do the cooking and cleaning. The girls also took them on hikes and exploring the great outdoors.
Blackie was a bear in his environment sleeping with the girls in sleeping bags on the floor of the lodge.
The girls surprised the Beanies with an Easter Egg hunt one morning.
Blackie and Coca found an egg by themselves.
The Beanies learned that for the girls to earn badges and patches there was paperwork to do, earthworms to play with and outdoor sights and sounds to find.
Part two of Blackie's Zion adventure started after all the camping gear was packed. He was taken on a tour of Zion and had his picture taken in front of local landmarks. The pictures were compiled into a book for the children in Florida.
Later an announcement was made on the Linda Ray website about the package they received from the two troops. The package included a beautiful booklet with 17 photos prepared by the Brownies, a sash, patch and two medals.
Some Girl Scout cookies were included and were a big hit with the children at the Center.
The children sent their thanks to Troop 1414 for a job well done. They really enjoyed the package and they the items will take their rightful place at the Center commemorating Blackie's Grand Adventure.
Blackie arrived in Zion just in time to go camping with the girls at Camp Morrison in Lake Villa over Easter weekend. He was joined by Coca a Beanie friend of Scout Courtney Tarwood.
The girls showed their guest how they divide the work in order to do the cooking and cleaning. The girls also took them on hikes and exploring the great outdoors.
Blackie was a bear in his environment sleeping with the girls in sleeping bags on the floor of the lodge.
The girls surprised the Beanies with a Easter Egg hunt one morning. Blackie and Coca found an egg by themselves.
Later an announcement was made on the Linda Ray website about the package they received from the two troops. The package included a beautiful booklet with 17 photos prepared by the Brownies, a sash, patch and two medals.
The children at the Center sent their thanks to Troop 1414 for a job well done. They really enjoyed the package and they said the items will take their rightful place at the Center commemorating Blackie's Grand Adventure.
The children at the center and I thank the Tarwood family for their participation in "Blackie's Grand Adventure"
Linda
Getting ready for easter in Greenville, IN
Linda,
Blackie has had a wonderful time in Greenfield, IN. He came right before Easter. So he has helped with coloring Easter eggs and preparing for and Easter Egg Hunt for the Local Kiwanis Club. We have filled about 2,000 eggs with goodies.
He has met many people and has been to school for two days, so he is getting an education also. We are sending along some clothes for him and some of the history of Greenfield.
Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Amanda, Natalie and Tammy