Girl Scout Council Will Honor

Fairfield County Couples At Annual Gala

STAMFORD — At the fifth annual Gala Dinner Dance & Community Awards Ceremony at The Italian Center on November 18, the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut will honor three couples who are outstanding volunteers and contribute in myriad ways to make Girl Scouting more accessible and more rewarding for both girls and volunteers in Fairfield County.

The 2006 awardees are Donna and Dr Paul Mangiafico of Newtown, Peggy and Bob Moore of Greenwich, and Cathy and Richard Townsend of New Canaan.

Donna and Paul Mangiafico are a Scouting team in a Scouting family that brings the best to both boys and girls — and adults — involved in Scouting in Newtown and empowers everyone to learn and enjoy the process and the out-of-doors.

Following her mother and grandmother, Donna is the third generation to lead a Girl Scout troop (actually two troops now that she retired from four years as service unit manager). She also co-manages the Newtown cookie sale and council’s Northern Cookie Cupboard.

She is a council trainer providing Leader Basics, Brownie Level, and Junior Level trainings. She is also a Girlz RULE and Low Ropes facilitator and volunteers as a delegate for the Newtown “Policy” unit.

She and her husband, whose medical background made him a natural as a longtime encampment physician and whose love of the outdoors and young people makes him a natural with badges, hikes, and as archery instructor and Low Ropes facilitator, complement each other. Immersed in both realism and idealism, the Mangiaficos make Scouting values and skills relevant, human, and powerful.

Peggy and Bob Moore, once active Scouts themselves, firmly believe in the principles of Scouting and its benefits to young people. Despite two demanding careers and other community volunteer work, over the years the Moores have consistently stepped up to the plate to provide necessary leadership so their son and two daughters, as well as a host of other young people in Greenwich, could participate in the Scouting experience and develop the personal skills and character strengths which camping and outdoor adventures help instill.

From the first moment she could become a Girl Scout until her senior year of high school, Cathy Townsend has been immersed in Girl Scouting. She remembers going to meetings with her mother, who was a neighborhood chairman (as service unit managers were called then), long before she could go to school.

A former delegate and service unit manager and present member of the Merrie Bee Cabin Committee and member of the New Canaan Capital Campaign Committee, Cathy — with quiet, steady support from her husband, Rich, who helps with driving, packing up camping supplies, and doing general repairs at the Merrie Bee Cabin — is a reliable advocate for the council and Girl Scouting.

Friends and supporters are invited to join the ceremonial Girl Scout evening of fun and fundraising to acknowledge the tremendous generosity of these individuals and other Girl Scout volunteers who are giving back both to the Girl Scouts and to their communities. Guests are encouraged to come in their best “camp chic” clothes; to earn mock Girl Scout “badges,” to bid on silent and live auction items, and to enjoy an entertaining evening of dining and dancing to a live band to benefit a most important cause.

Last-minute tickets are still available by contacting Roseanne Shegirian at the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut. Call her at 203-762-5557, extension 29, or send email to Roseanne.Shegirian@gscswct.org as soon as possible to purchase a ticket and support Girl Scouting in the community.