A Salute to Girl Scout Leaders!

I had 2 Girl Scout troops for 6 years apiece--14 girls per troop. The time overlapped for 9 years of every Thursday night (DH @ gun club) and lots of Saturday outings. I also led a week at Girl Scout camp for 12 years. Some girls came for a year, some for the whole enchilada. I miss them.

It's fun to see how many girls in the 2003 and 2005 graduating class were once my girls. I have plenty of blackmail photos on them all.

I applaud all of you who lead the Girl Scouts now. It's a tough job, but worth every minute! I wish I had the energy to do it all again....

Wanda, I helped with a Girl Scout Troop in WV a long time ago. Then I became a 4-H leader for some years in Va. Beach.

I have a question that I was just going to "google" to find the answer.

I understand that an Eagle Scout who joins the Military, can jump one rank after completing Basic Training. Now...do we have an equivelient rank for Girl Scouts? None of ours ever reached that pinnacle.

Since this was on my list to research today...I will leave it to you...LOL and Thanks. Jo

Hey, don't ask me! The girls burned me out before I reached their "Silver Star" award age. Maybe another DG Leader knows.

I started all the girls in Kindergarten as Daisies and took them thru 6 th grade Cadets.The girls would have like to go on, but I was toasted after so many years of leading so many girls. Have you ever had 14 girls overnight in your living room? Sardines??? LOL Or 14 girls making pizza from scratch in your kitchen? The dogs really appreciated the mess on the floor...

Wanda, have you ever had 14 boys and girls, with all their Square Dancing costumes in tow, driving over 100 miles to perform at the State Fair? LOL I know what it is!

P.S. AND ...I was already in my mid-forties! Menapause madness.

My friend just took her daughter's girl scout troop to Cuernavaca, Mexico! They had a great time and spent time with some family that they had outside of Cuernavaca. Now that's a trip!

Heck, I wanted to go!!!

roadrunner--Square dancing? You brave woman! No, but I once dressed the older girls in gowns & hats & gloves from our dressup collection & took them to a Civil War ball! The enactors were in town. We learned the Virgina Reel and waltzes and how hot long dresses could be on an August night!

Wow! Washington to Mexico? What a neat trip! Seniors , I assume? the paperwork can KILL you if you take them across a national border...

I went ahead and researched this a little.

Girl Scouts are also eligable for the Rank increase when they join the Military...It was either a Gold StAr (or Silver Star ??) Girl Scout that was the same as a Eagle Scout. So...now we know. Jo

Wandas: They were all 13 years old! 7 girls. My friend and another mother accompanied them.

I really give her a lot of credit for that. Talk about a summer vacation essay! I know they planned the trip for months, and a few of the girls already had passports etc from traveling with their families.

Hey, a message on DG that I'm an "expert" on! Yipee!! My daughter is a Junior in high school and has been in Girl Scouting since kindergarten. I've been her leader for 6 of those years.

Roadrunner, there is an award in Girl Scouting equivalent to the Eagle Scout. It is the Gold Award. Girls begin earning it in 9th grade and complete it in 11th or 12th grade. To earn it a girl must earn 4 Interest Project Awards, a Senior Career Exploration Award, a Senior Challenge Award (just one of the steps is 15 hours of community service), a Leadership Award (involves 30 hours of leadership), and after all those awards are earned she can begin her Gold Award Project that must reach out into the community and she must spend at least 50 hours on it.

Girl Scouting teaches girls to be leaders and to do for themselves. Because of Girl Scouting my daughter, who is learning disabled and has a speech problem, was Sophmore class president at her high school and then go re-elected for this coming year as a Junior. Leadership is in her blood (which runs green from time to time).

And Wanda, thanks for your salute! We all appreciate it.

Carmen



This message was edited Aug 5, 2004 5:04 PM

Wanda I was a GS leader also. For my daughter from Daisy through Jr.s there where 28 girls in the troop. Most of the girls dropped out after that. But 3 went on get the gold award. Boy some of the trips and fun we had. You are right it's allot of work. But worth it. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. One of those years I also had another Dasiy troop. My daughter helped with it. I think every girl needs to be a girl scout.

Not to mention their cookies.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Good

Paul

I'm just glad they didn't leave the Girls out of the Military rank thing...that would have been awful.

Mystic...you raised one nice Girl Scout!! Heather is a lovely person...not only in looks but in actions!

Paul, I have bought SOOOOO many Girl Scout Cookies in my life...and still look forward to the fund drive each year...

My Grandson who is a Cub Scout...will be a Webelo this year...sells popcorn each year.
Keep up the good work to all the leaders and other volunteers! Jo

See, I suspected there were alot of Girl Scout Leaders in our midst! I'm Queen of creek stomping & midnight walks by the light of the lightening bugs... I can make 300 Smores in the dark and rain without blinking...I can identify wild hemp (marijuana) at 50 feet--whoops left over from another life. LOL

Wanda, honey...I'll bring the "fixins" to the KY RU...and you can fix the 'Smores!! We've learned todo dthem in foil wrap....saves time and mess...but not as much fun. Jo

Hey, we cheated. Take 2 Girl Scout choclate covered mint cookies & slide the marshmellows off the stick & in between the cookies. Presto--Smore. Quick. Not too messy!

Roadrunner, you world traveler, you! Are you coming up to the Kentucky Round Up too? I'm coming with TwinLakeschef.

Wanda...you think they would have it with out me??? NO WAY...the only reason I wouldn't be there was if I was DEAD...then I'd be there in spirit.

I knew you were coming...I learned that at the Iowa RU.....SO...I will still bring the "fixin's"...like I do each year...and you can FIX them...LOL Jo

Ha Ha ! Love it! You haven't lived until you've made Smores for 100+ girls in the rain & dark by the light of a lantern...

But, first I make them hike thru the woods in the dark. No flashlights. We play "Pooh Sticks" on a wooden bridge in the dark with the rushing water barely visible. We walk thru a tall Walnut nursery that is strung with the lights of thousands of fireflies. We stop to listen to the calling of bullfrogs & an occasional coyote. It's a whole different world from the snug homes the girls come from. Then we build a big bonfire, tell stories, sing songs & eat SMORES!

Oh, y'all bring back lots of memories for me! I was a Girl Scout leader for a couple of years when I lived on a peninsula called Wilson Point in Maryland.

I loved doing it, but when the girls hit Junior Hi, Scouts became passeé and they dropped out. I always laugh about one girl who ALWAYS voluntered paper goods for whatever cookout we had. Her family must have had a dry goods store!

It was a sweet time in my life.

My father was an Eagle Scout and I still have his badge and certificate, from the 1930's.

This message was edited Aug 6, 2004 1:46 PM

Wanda, I'll meet you back at the fire ring!!! That'll be me eating all the chocolates! LOL Jo

Jo--You are tooo funny! My DH gets to go on all his hunting trips all fall. I'm pleased that I get to go chase my hobby in another state too. Or is it obsession?

Darius --have you ever checked? Many of our Presidents & Senators are former Eagle Scouts. You Dad's badge is a real treasure!

I have my Dad's favorite ugly tie, his embroidered Polka Band vest and the hat he wore for 30 years as a sousaphone player in the city band. Mom & Dad spent summer evenings at band concerts with my family when the girls were young. I now take my Mom every week so she can enjoy the music and memories. In one of the parks, I watch children roll down the same hill I rooled down as a child and my daughters after me. Life can be very comforting in its repetition sometimes.

Here's a link to famous boy scouts (some Eagle Scouts):

http://users.aol.com/randywoo/bsahis/famous.htm

Here's a link to former Girl Scouts (it doesn't mention awards earned):

http://www.ptgirlscouts.org/famousalums.shtml

How about a link to not-so-famous worn out Scout Leaders???

I was a Girl Scout leader for 9 years. Also involved with registration and recuitment and training of new leaders for even longer. Girl Scouts will always have a special spot in my heart. We did many things that normally I wouldn't have done like canoing for days in remote areas and cook a full meal over the campfire for 30 people. I met some amazing people. I still have the Girl Scout cookies delivered yearly to our extra garage where they are counted and sorted and all the local troops pick them up. "My girls" (those girls will always have a special spot in my heart) earned their silver award. For part of earning their silver award they contacted famous people and asked for comments about scouting in their lives. They received something from Elizabeth Dole and Hilary Rodham Clinton. The gold award was a little too hard for what the girls had going on in their lives, so didn't earn it. Unfortunately, in my own personal opinion there isn't the same appreciation of the gold award in the general community as their is for boy scout equivalent, the eagle award. We still have work to do. Great topic to bring up Wanda! Good memories for me.

No appreciation of Girl Scouts? Listen to this.

Our local United Way did not fund our Girl Scouts one year.They gave Campfire Girls & Boys $40,000. They gave Boy Scouts a BIG reward. I asked them why Girl Scouts did not deserve ANY of the charity money when we run on a string & have only ONE paid employee in town & Boy Scouts have a huge building. "Because the Boy Scouts raise Leaders for tommorrow" was the answer. "And I'm raising Kumquats????" I stormed out & have not given a penny to United Way since!

Boys earning their Eagle Scout get a pic & blurb in the newspaper. Girl Scouts get nothing.

I'm raising the future LEADERS & MOTHERS of all those little Boy Scouts they so treasure. My girls are intelligent, curious and wonderful ! They can do anything boys can do with more imagination and style. You know, we can make babies without men. Can they raise babies without us?

Wanda, after the Boy Scouts issued their ban on gays, the United Way has stopped funding them. They do fund the Girl Scouts now in a number of areas. The Girl Scouts are not pro-gay, they have just not been as political as the Boy Scouts.

I too quit giving to the United Way due to the fact that they didn't support the Girl Scouts...but that was WAAAAY back there...Jo

I give directly to the charities I support. Girl Scouts is one of them. I don't need United Way telling me who they think is deserving. I think I can figure that out myself. And I buy from all the neighborhood kids to fund everything from pee wee Tball to Senior trips. that keeps me busy enough.