One day not long after her arrival in Savannah, [Juliette Gordon Lowe aka Daisy] called her cousin, Nina Anderson Pape. “Come right over,” she shouted into the telephone. “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah and all America and all the world, and we are going to start it tonight!”
from First Girl Scout: The Life of Juliette Gordon Low
written by Ginger Wadsworth
Clarion Books, 2012
Last week, Boy Scouts of America announced it is changing its name. Soon it will be called Scouts BSA. I can only wonder what prompted the change.
My mom was a Campfire Girl when she was growing up. I was a Brownie.
Mom said Girl Scouts were more modern, more in tune with current affairs. She beaded a beautiful bracelet and a pair of moccasins when she was a Campfire Girl. She wanted me to learn how to take care of myself and others. She wanted to help me become independent.
Our troop started out as Brownies in 1959. We were in 2nd grade.
We moved up to Juniors in 4th grade, then Cadettes in 6th.
We did all the Girl Scout things: sang campfire songs in our meeting room (the basement of our suburban Cape Cod home), earned badges, sold cookies (door to door in those days), and learned to be an important part of a whole. We worked together, friends helping friends.
Thinking Day, February 22, is the one day each year set aside for all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to think of each other. The event began as a way for girls to nurture new friendships. In 1926, girls came from all over the world and spent a week at Camp Macy in upstate New York. Since then, Thinking Day has evolved into a world exploration. Girls research the culture of different countries and share the information with other troops in their area.
Always an independent thinker herself, one time, Mom chose Suriname. In 1954, the South American colony began negotiations with the Dutch government that would lead to its independence. Suriname was younger than we were.
Another time it was Sierra Leone, an African country that achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, the same year we became Junior Girl Scouts.
I’d like to say that I kept in touch with all, or even some, or even one of the girls in my troop, but I did not. In all fairness to me, though, neither did they. After 6th grade we went our separate ways. Our different focuses had changed to reflect our own changing selves and our roles in the vast social strata of Junior High School and beyond.
My older daughter was a Girl Scout for one school year. My younger daughter started as a Brownie and went all through high school with her troop. As Seniors, they earned their Gold Award, the highest Girl Scout honor, by completing a nature trail for the local elementary school.
Now my older granddaughter is a Brownie. She goes to her meetings, sells cookies, and just completed her first Girl Scout camping experience.
And now the boys are inviting girls to join them. They’ve even changed their name. To make it more palatable? Some girls have already joined. The full change will be implemented in February, 2019.
According to MetroNews.com, the Girl Scouts has no plans to start accepting boys into their organization.
I’m glad about that.
I’m reading Origin by Dan Brown. Plot driven. Fast paced. Intriguing premise. Feeling a little manipulated by the ongoing mystery, though.
--stay curious!
from First Girl Scout: The Life of Juliette Gordon Low
written by Ginger Wadsworth
Clarion Books, 2012
Last week, Boy Scouts of America announced it is changing its name. Soon it will be called Scouts BSA. I can only wonder what prompted the change.
My mom was a Campfire Girl when she was growing up. I was a Brownie.
Mom said Girl Scouts were more modern, more in tune with current affairs. She beaded a beautiful bracelet and a pair of moccasins when she was a Campfire Girl. She wanted me to learn how to take care of myself and others. She wanted to help me become independent.
Our troop started out as Brownies in 1959. We were in 2nd grade.
We moved up to Juniors in 4th grade, then Cadettes in 6th.
We did all the Girl Scout things: sang campfire songs in our meeting room (the basement of our suburban Cape Cod home), earned badges, sold cookies (door to door in those days), and learned to be an important part of a whole. We worked together, friends helping friends.
Thinking Day, February 22, is the one day each year set aside for all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to think of each other. The event began as a way for girls to nurture new friendships. In 1926, girls came from all over the world and spent a week at Camp Macy in upstate New York. Since then, Thinking Day has evolved into a world exploration. Girls research the culture of different countries and share the information with other troops in their area.
Always an independent thinker herself, one time, Mom chose Suriname. In 1954, the South American colony began negotiations with the Dutch government that would lead to its independence. Suriname was younger than we were.
Another time it was Sierra Leone, an African country that achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, the same year we became Junior Girl Scouts.
I’d like to say that I kept in touch with all, or even some, or even one of the girls in my troop, but I did not. In all fairness to me, though, neither did they. After 6th grade we went our separate ways. Our different focuses had changed to reflect our own changing selves and our roles in the vast social strata of Junior High School and beyond.
My older daughter was a Girl Scout for one school year. My younger daughter started as a Brownie and went all through high school with her troop. As Seniors, they earned their Gold Award, the highest Girl Scout honor, by completing a nature trail for the local elementary school.
Now my older granddaughter is a Brownie. She goes to her meetings, sells cookies, and just completed her first Girl Scout camping experience.
And now the boys are inviting girls to join them. They’ve even changed their name. To make it more palatable? Some girls have already joined. The full change will be implemented in February, 2019.
According to MetroNews.com, the Girl Scouts has no plans to start accepting boys into their organization.
I’m glad about that.
I’m reading Origin by Dan Brown. Plot driven. Fast paced. Intriguing premise. Feeling a little manipulated by the ongoing mystery, though.
--stay curious!
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