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Independent Voice

Meggie Huvar Earns Silver Award

Oct 30, 2024 09:53AM ● By Kendall Brown

Meggie Huvar poses alongside the 75th Military Airlift Squadron Memorial, which she restored to earn her Silver Award. Photo courtesy of Hollis Huvar


DIXON, CA (MPG) - Dixon resident and Girl Scout Cadette Meggie Huvar was awarded the coveted Silver Award for working to make her community a better place.

The Silver Award, a silver badge earned after completing a Silver Award Take Action Project, gauges applicants based on three factors: does the project show leadership, does it address the root cause of a prevalent issue in the community and does it have sustainability?

Earning the Silver Award, the highest award a Cadette can achieve, is no small feat. Huvar was required to identify an issue within her community, explore her community to learn more about that issue and conceptualize, plan and propose her Silver Award Take Action Project to her council, the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California.

Huvar has been a Girl Scout since she was five years old and completed two Cadet Journeys within three years. Cadet Journeys are another necessary prerequisite before a Cadette can pursue their Silver Award. Huvar was only required to do one to be considered eligible.

“My mom, our current registered troop leader, enrolled me into Girl Scouts in kindergarten and I just really loved it,” Huvar said. “I like the service and selling cookies.”

Huvar’s project focuses on the restoration of a memorial at Travis Airforce Base, honoring the men and women who served in the 75th Military Airlift Squadron. Due to many of the 75th Military Airlift Squadron moving out of California, there was a lack of upkeep or regular maintenance of the memorial, allowing it to fall into disarray.

“There were weeds coming up through the 30-year-old block which covered the names of all the members who purchased bricks. Plants had died, bushes were overgrown, floodlights were inoperable and there was some trash stuck in between the bricks. The monument itself, as well as the bricks, were covered with bird droppings and dirt all over the area,” Huvar wrote in her project proposal.

While Huvar could have worked with a team of her peers, she chose to take on this challenging endeavor alone, supported by Travis Airforce Base Alumni. One of these alumni, Hollis Huvar, could not be prouder.

“She had some big ideas but we had to temper them a little bit for a 13-year-old,” chuckled Hollis when asked about his daughter’s accomplishments.

“No other girls in my troop had the same connection to the project that I had,” Meggie Huvar said, “especially considering that my dad was linked to this monument, as it was his Air Force flying squadron’s memorial.”

Her father, who acted as Maggie’s adult Girl Scout supervisor, supported her by speaking to other alumni, many of his friends. In this role, he was responsible for supervising the project, managing safety and ensuring proper procedures were followed.

After a collective 55 hours of hard work, from conception, to contact, collaboration to conclusion, Meggie Huvar earned this honor. Due to her efforts, Huvar has been invited to participate in the June 2025 Highest Awards Ceremony, a prestigious annual event, where her accomplishments will be celebrated. Until then, the Huvars have a celebration of their own in mind.

“To celebrate the achievement of my Silver Award, the highest award a Cadette can achieve, we are planning a get-together on Nov. 9,” Huvar said. “The event is for all of the former members and family of the 75th Military Airlift Squadron (MAS) still in the local area, and those who are willing to come from further places. This get-together is for the men and women to see the refreshed memorial and talk with old friends whom most of them have not seen in years.”

Huvar intends to continue striving for her community. Her main focus at the moment is keeping up with her schoolwork at Dixon High School and furthering her love of dance as a Dixon Dance Studio member. And she remains focused on the future.

“My next step is to begin brainstorming ideas for my Gold Award, which I would like to start working on sometime in the first few months of 2025 with a goal of giving back to the community,” Huvar said.