Last years exchange involved 500 troops from 11 countries and I hope to make it much bigger for the year 2000.  I would like to get many more countries
involved.   To save your troop/unit some time, you may want to go ahead and get started on filling out the postcards you will be exchanging.  That way, when you have made a commitment to someone you can get their card right out. Everyone please remember not to wait until the last minute to send cards out.  Everyone would appreciate the extra time to get their displays together before their events.

Joan Beitman (JBeit46774@aol.com) will be working with me - Jan McKinney (McKinneyZoo@worldnet.att.net) -  again this year to collect and distribute names from countries other than the USA.  I will compile the list of troops from the USA.

Last year on the main list we put the other countries involved in the exchange and troops had to contact Joan to make the trade.  This was done so that overseas troops were not overwhelmed with requests from the USA.  We will follow this same procedure for this year.  However, if an overseas troop wants their name on the main list for everyone to have, I will be more that happy to comply.  Each year we have had a shortage of troops from overseas so please encourage your Guiding friends to join in on the exchange.

The list of troops and their email addresses will be at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/1054 under Thinking Day Postcard Exchange. Everyone needs to go to this list and choose the troops they want to trade with, email that troop and agree to trade by exchanging mailing addresses. Postcards should be mailed out as soon as possible after making the exchange agreement.  Troops will be listed in alpha order by state.   I will also have listed at the bottom, the other countries participating so Joan may be contacted to get their email addresses. Due to the small number of overseas troops, please limit your early requests for trade to 5 troops so that everyone can get a chance to participate with them.  We will post when we have more availability with outside countries.  My email address will also be listed on this page so you can email me if you have any questions.

Joan and I will both have a full list of names and addresses of everyone involved so that we can answer questions but we WILL NOT release any mailing addresses for any reason.

Now for the dreaded guidelines:

• PLEASE DO NOT use last year's list.  We have to start fresh every year asking for troops who want to participate.  Please help us keep this project successful by following these guidelines.
• The postcard should reflect the area in which you live.
• If you agree to trade, please send the cards out within a two week time frame. This will help everyone in their bookkeeping.
• Make SURE you put your name, return address and troop number on EVERY postcard so that the troops receiving them will know where they came from. You should also have your email address on all cards so that you can be emailed when your card arrives.
• Please try to have something about your troop on the postcard and not just names.  We all love to learn about other troops. (You could type up something on labels and put a label on each card then have the girls sign the card.)
• Let's keep this project OFF the WAGGGS list.  Do not make posts to the list asking for states or troops to exchange.  I will be setting up a mailing list for us to use during the exchange so that you can post what your needs are.  The place to sign onto the mailing list will be at the bottom of the list of names on the trading page.
• Please include the ALL of the following information in your email to us (as mentioned above, all of this info will be kept confidential). Each person will be responsible for giving their mailing address to troops they choose to swap with.

-- Leader Name
-- Council Name
-- Troop Level and Number
-- Troop Mailing Address
-- City, State, Zip
-- # of troops you would like to trade with (Overseas troops only send this #)