Girl Scout Troop to Donate Permanent Trappe Christmas Tree

When local residents purchase Girls Scout Cookies from Troop 7254, they are getting a lot more than Thin Mints and Samoas.

The troop, from South Elementary, is using the profits of this year’s cookie sales to purchase a new, permanent Christmas Tree for Trappe, which will live at the Speaker’s House on Main Street and be used for the annual tree lighting.

Troop 7254, comprised of fourth and fifth graders, has been involved in the tree lighting since it began in 2011 by providing refreshments to residents who come out for the festivities.

“We, as a troop, are ‘green,’” said Norma Grosick, Troop Leader. “We thought it would be nice to plant a tree at the Speaker’s House, so that each year a tree doesn’t have to be cut down.”

Grosick brought the troop’s idea to Lynn Fleisher, board member of Trappe, Today and Tomorrow and chairperson of the annual tree lighting, and Susan Stevens of the Speaker’s House Historical Society. The Speaker's House board approved the idea.

"We are so delighted to have a planted tree for our annual Tree Lighting Ceremony," said Fleisher.  "Thanks to the hard work of Girl Scout Troop 7254, and their leader Norma Grosick, we now have a lovely and permanent tree to decorate. Trappe will be able to enjoy this tree for years to come."

Previously, Justin Bartolloci of Edward Jones in Trappe had donated the tree.

The troop hopes to plant the tree – a 15 to 20 foot spruce – in late March or early April, and is currently looking for a tree provider.

“As the community grows, as our children grow, so does the tree,” said Grosick.

The tree will also honor the four children who lost their lives on the grounds of the Speaker’s House.

According to Lisa Minardi, president of the Speaker's House, the children who died while living in the Speaker's House were those of Frederick Muhlenberg's sister, Mary Swaine. The children died in the 1790's, an are buried at Augustus Lutheran Church.

The donation of this tree will fulfill the requirements for Troop 7254’s Bronze Award, which is the “highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can achieve.”

The troop meets every Friday at the South Elementary Art Room, and will be selling cookies at the following locations:

Feb. 8 at Chiaro's in Skippack 4:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 9 at Redners in Collegeville 9:00 a.m. - 11:00a.m.
Feb. 10 at Wawa in Skippack 2:00 p.m.  - 4:00 p.m.
Feb. 16 at Landis in Schwenksville 9:00 a.m. - 11:00a.m.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to contain additional information regarding the death of the Muhlenberg children at the request of the Speaker's House, to clarify that no lives were lost recently lost on the Speaker's House property.