POULSBO — A group of growing young minds was growing a future for one local waterway last week.

Brownie Troop 144 of Poulsbo, led by Pam Debnekoff and Diana Lasater, planted trees along Poulsbo Creek last week as part of the Girl Scout Totem Council’s annual Save Our Waves project. Each October, Girl Scouts and Brownies set out on projects to protect local waterways.

“Basically, we do things to make sure people don’t litter in the streams and things like that,” explained Brownie Mara Debnekoff of the event. She added that last year, the troop stenciled “dump no waste, drains to stream” on local storm drains.

On Friday, the local second and third graders planted several trees along the stream off Harrison Street in Poulsbo. Although it was hard work, the girls didn’t mind getting their hands dirty.

At first, Sarah Debnekoff said, “Eww, there’s worms in there,” when she saw the creatures wiggling at the bottom of the planting containers. But when she was told that worms help create healthy soil, Sarah took it upon herself to make sure the worms made it into the holes.

“If you see any worms, give them to me,” she yelled to the rest of the group. “I don’t mind.”

The event also included an educational component from members of the Kitsap County Stream Team, who talked about the importance of keeping pollutants out of the waterways.

Pam Debnekoff said the troop has been involved in many projects around North Kitsap including a swim party to raise money for the Breidablik library after a fire, an annual Easter egg hunt for friends and family and a quilt donation. But she said she gets most excited seeing the enthusiasm the troop shows for the Save the Waves project each year.

“When we did the storm drains last year, any time we’d drive by them they’d say, ‘Can we stop and see how our stencils are doing,’” she said. “It’s great to see them really get into it.”