The theme in 2006 was Hats off to the Volunteers, in recognition and celebration of the many hats Girl Scout volunteers wear in delivering life-changing experiences in Girl Scouting. The meeting was a great success this year, with so many incredible people being honored for their exceptional volunteering efforts. Girl scouts shared their Gold Award achievements, and there were heartfelt goodbyes to retiring Board members and a warm welcome to new members.

Lisa Jacobs of Service Unit 36 wrote and led the ceremony to close the evening:

In life, and in our roles as Girl Scout Volunteers, we've all worn many different hats. And many of the same hats have been worn by different people and signified various roles. Some of the more distinct hats may have been:

A Cowboy Hat: Recruiting and rounding up a group making room for one more girl. Lassoing them in when they get too far out of the range, and allowing them plenty of room to run.

A Captain's Hat: Steering to sail onward, sometimes only by the stars and Safety-Wise, the Leader's Handbook and Basic Training.

A Chef's Hat: Stirring up excitement, and mixing the ingredients, over a campfire or a Service Project. Making sure nothing gets burnt, and taking most of the heat.

A Clown Hat: Juggling too many things at once, packing more clowns and activities into that once every other week meeting. Making frowns turn upside down, into great big Brownie Smiles.

A Director's Hat: Guiding girls toward the direction of their goals, not acting themselves, but teaching them how. Whether it be a cookie sale, planning for a camping trip or completing tasks for the very first try-it or Gold Award.

An Artist's Beret: Orchestrating colors, like a rainbow, taking the primary colors and blending them to make every other color in the world, and in the end having a masterpiece.

A Police Hat: Filling out reports, keeping the peace, and setting the example to follow the rules.

A Baseball Cap: Striking out against abuse and hitting home runs with favorite activities, games, building successful teams, and winning the World Series.

A Beach Hat: Like the millions of grains of sand at the beach, coming up with a million ideas for activities, badge presentations, team building and keeping the girls in Girl Scouts.

A Night Cap: Bringing peaceful nights, at sleepovers, and camp; finding amazing dreams for girls that grow and change as girls do, planting the golden seeds for a lifetime.

A Campaign Hat: Further advocating for girls, building votes to promote Girl Leadership and ideals, and instilling the girls with tools for them to lead the world one day.

A Top Hat: For a special night out, even if it is a bowling alley sleep-over, to celebrate their successes, be it the first Daisy Petal, trail hike, or completing the paperwork and achieving the Gold Award.

We take our hats off to you in salute for all the hard work you do. Although there are many different roles we assume, duties we fulfill, and various hats we wear, we know that it's about the love in your heart that brings the special magic to the girls we serve.

Our hats are off, thank you for your time, your dedication, and the many hats you wear from the rest of us, on behalf of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council.