I just completed 20 years of Girl
Scouting! I thoroughly enjoyed my girl years spent in Michigan.
I was blessed with several wonderful Brownie and Junior leaders.
One of my friend’s mothers was my Cadette and Senior leader
– she was terrific! I was a leader for two years prior
to having my first child because I wanted to provide some of
the same opportunities to other girls that I had. When my daughter
was born, I was pleased to think she’d be able to participate
in Girl Scouting as well. I became Kathy’s Daisy leader
in Louisiana and am now an upcoming Cadette leader here in Houston.
I remain involved in because I believe in the program, but especially
because my daughter wants to be a Girl Scout!
–Wendy Robbins
My Grandfather, Veselka, was in Scouting
all his life. My parents were in Scouting and then became
Boy Scout Leaders with my older brothers. My mother helped
with the Girl Scout troops that my sisters and I were
in. Even after their eight children went through Scouting
they continued and are still in Scouting today. I became
a co-leader as a young adult, then my sister Felecia and
I had a troop at the Shriners Hospital. I re-joined Girl
Scouts again with my daughters. I am anxiously awaiting
the time when my granddaughter can join. I believe in
Scouting. It is a healthy, friendly, nurturing, and educational
environment for any person to belong. I enjoy the friendships,
learning, and opportunities I get with Girl Scouts.
–Marceline Lamb |
With the way things are today our girls need a good and positive
influence. Our pledge says “...To serve God and my country,
to help people at all times...” Those things are very
important to me. I feel this is my chance to help the girls
to strive for bigger and better things. The girls really look
up to us and, for some of them, we are the only good example
they have. We carry a lot of weight, more than we know. This
has been a wonderful experience for me and I hope to do it for
many more years. I feel very blessed to have such a role. I
pray that God would guide me and help me to be the leader I
need to be.
–Charity Jermain |
It is so
neat watching the girls learn more about themselves and
what they are capable of doing with the accomplishment
of each event! It is awesome seeing them reach a little
further and try something new just because the last campout
challenged them and they made it. It is wonderful to sit
by and see a young lady appear out of the mold that once
was a little girl…a young lady with an attitude
and determination to strive for what she wants out of
life and not necessarily what others want for her. Plus,
as a leader, I get to watch my own daughter and how she
interacts with her peers. They are all special, but the
real reason I return every year is because my daughter
likes me being there when times get rough and when we
make it to the top of the mountain together. I am ever
so thankful that I have had Scouting to share with all
three of my children. It is many hours of hard work, it
is many hours of struggle with things I would like to
avoid, but then there is the chance to sit back and see
where they went and it is all worth the effort.
–Debra Vaughn |
The question was put to me, “Why do you stay in Girl Scouts
when you do not have a daughter in Girl Scouts?” Well
to me it is very simple. Where else in the world can I can have
such an impact on a girl and watch her have so much fun improving
and learning? I do it for the girls, because I was one and even
as old as I am to them now, I can still remember being a girl.
I wish that I had half the fun at learning that the girls today
have. I do it to see the light come on inside of them when they
accomplish a task. I do it in hopes that I will make a difference
in just one girl’s life. Oh yes, and I also stay in for
my granddaughter who thinks that her grandmother has the greatest
job in the world! She will be a Girl Scout one day and even
though I will not be her leader, she is going to say, “My
grandmother is a Girl Scout leader also!” and will I ever
be proud! Those are only a few of the reasons why I do what
I do for Girl Scouts. There are really just too many to tell.
So it suffices to say, “On my honor, I will try: to serve
God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live
by the Girl Scout Law.
–Martha Hanlon |
Let’s skip the impressive accumulated credentials
list of Jean Harlow, which would include,“she was a leader
for 15 years and a trainer for 23 and a coordinator and a properties
person and historian and…and…and…” Instead
there are some special moments to share about Jean. One day
about 3 or 4 years ago at Camp Arnold while walking through
the grass from the lake to the lodge, something hit Jean like
a lightning bolt. She had a sudden strong realization of how
enormously lucky she has been. Lucky to have taken Brownies
on a cookout that included making pinecone statues with discovered
bits of Mother nature’s treasures, lucky to have helped
them prepare their Mexican dance for an international festival,
lucky to have arranged and shepherded the Juniors of Troop #272
in the downtown Bicentennial Parade, lucky to share weekends
of OBIS nature games with girls around the Council, lucky to
have gone with Cadettes to National Center West in Wyoming,
lucky to have watched a blasé Senior return from a hemisphere
Cabaña event totally changed and committed to our worldwide
movement. And then there were the times she pitched her tent
on a frigid night before a training at Misty Meadows before
it became the horse camp; sang Christmas Carols into the Whispering
Pines skies in November with District 9 leaders; walked by Shadow
Lake in the snow; discovered Robinwood’s secrets with
older girls, and sang around a campfire at Silver Springs on
a moonlit night. But best of all to Jean have been her friends,
who shared it all –the sad times, the funny times, and
even the mini-moments. So for all this and more Jean wants to
express her gratitude and to let everyone know how much she
will cherish you through all her coming adventures.
–Sentiments expressed as Jean received her 60-year
numeral in April
Why am I a Girl Scout
at my age? Because it is FUN! Remember – Juliette
Low didn’t start a mother-daughter organization.
She had other aspirations for us!
–Margaret Sheriff |
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