WEEDVILLE — Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania recently awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award to Elodie Snyder, daughter of Denise Cuneo-Snyder and Stacey Snyder of Byrnedale.
The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, one that only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts achieve. It requires the applicant to plan and implement an individual “Take Action” project that reaches beyond the Girl Scout organization and provides a lasting benefit to the girl’s community. A minimum of 80 hours of work goes into planning, executing and completing the project.
Her project advisor, Wendy Trayer with American Legion Post 978 stated, “Elodie worked tirelessly from start to finish, ensuring veterans had all the assistance needed to get their banners. Elodie attended multiple meetings throughout the process to ensure everyone knew the status of the banners. When the banners arrived, Elodie arranged an open house at American Legion Post 978 so the banners could be viewed by veterans and family members. I cannot (adequately express) how much the veterans and their families appreciated all the work she put into this project to make it happen.”
Snyder commented that she had been part of Girl Scouts for 14 years and had always planned to do a big project to earn the Gold Award. She started in June of 2025 by brainstorming ideas of possible projects before she decided to post pictures of veterans on banners along Bennetts Valley Highway to honor and thank them for their service. “It just popped into my mind because every other town has the banners (including) Kersey, St. Marys, and Austin up in the Coudersport area, which is even smaller than Bennetts Valley. I knew that there had been interest in the project before, but it never went any further until I picked it up.”
According to a press release from GSWPA, Snyder’s project not only involved putting banners up, but writing a veteran story book with those who chose to share their experiences. Snyder noted that, “Throughout this project, I have met so many amazing veterans and I thanked every one of them for their service.”
Snyder expressed appreciation to Jay Township Supervisor Adam Barbazzeni for installing the banners, to Wendy Trayer for being her project advisor, and to her parents for all their support.
She is a 2026 graduate of St. Marys Area High School, where she participated in National Honor Society, Ecology Club, track and field, soccer, DECA, Envirothon, and Backstage Tech. She represented Bennetts Valley as their Homecoming Queen in 2025, and currently attends Juniata College and is majoring in geology while continuing her soccer career at the Division III level.