Happy Birthday GS

March 12th is National Girl Scouts Day. This day in 1912 Juliette Gordon Low organized the first troop in Savanna, Georgia.  According to the Girl Scouts official web page the Girl Scout mission is to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. As a former Brownie who climbed the ranks of Scouting in the 1970's I decided to reminisce a bit on my journey.

Being passionate about textiles, of course first and foremost, for me is the memory of the uniform. The short sleeve white printed pixie shirt, the neck tie, the jumper dress, the beanie (and later beret) and of course the sash. This was the uniform we wore to elementary school on the noted date of our afterschool troop meeting. As young girls our first introduction to a society of sisterhood, with no thought of the negativities and exclusion as to why some were in uniforms and others were not we were just proudly a pack. My personal troop was in a community small enough we only had one in each age group so there were no rival gang battles on who had the stronger troop or better cookie sales. 

I can recall our Brownie meetings were held in the basement of the Methodist Church. Giggling little girls all with orange neck ties and bobby pins holding on our brown beanies seated around folding tables merrily working on craft projects and taking in our next mission of collecting can goods. I sadly can't recall our troop leaders name or even whose Mom it was but I do remember that their husband worked for the Pepsi Cola Company and we were treated each meeting to small paper cups of Pepsi Light, undoubtedly due to its low sales. 

At the end of my Brownie year two things happened one was super exciting and the other scared me to death!  For our final outing we traveled as a troop to St Louis where visited the Zoo and the Arch. I can remember us being packed into the trams (that were incredibly small even to a six year old) and we clunked our way to the top of the Arch where tiny small town girls looked out upon the vastness of the city.  For many of my pack members they faced their fears as we inched our way up the 630 feet incline of the Arch, but I would have to face mine at a later date. 

Next came our official Bridge Ceremony this is where we crossed a small wooden bridge to commemorate our journey from Brownies to Juniors. As our Parents and Pack Leaders packed the Elementary Cafeteria I nervously sat in my seat counting the seconds until I faced my fear. You see part of the ceremony included walking up to a lit candle, gracefully taking off our white glove licking our fingers and extinguishing the flame with a single pinch of our fingers. Except I was the daughter of a Volunteer Fire Fighter who had irreversibly put the God Loving Fear of fire into me. So as I awaited my turn I could not imagine the pain and agony each of my pack members were going though so stoically facing the pain of burning flesh. As I finally stood to take my turn I was astonished by the magic of Scouting and my ability to tame fire and with that heroic feat I had now graduated from brown to green. 

The Handbook. This was the Bible and Holy Grail of scouting. In these pages held the how to of scouting, our pledges, our expectations of conduct and our path for growth and knowledge through the earning of badges. "Worlds to Explore" was a first addition an update to the Junior Girl Scout Handbook the troop had used the year before and I stared wide eyed at the pages eager to earn my first badge. Badges were quarter sized iron on patches that were each embroidered with colorful objects that signified us fulfilling the instructions given in the handbook (and our parents buying the patch) to earn a badge that would be awarded during each club meeting so our Mom's could affix to our sash for all to see our accomplishments.  

Two things about me haven't changed since childhood first I am quietly but overly competitive and second a bit eccentric preferring to be a trend starter then trend follower. So for my very first badge I picked one that I knew no one had obtained, the "toy maker". I still recall passing out corn stalks, rubber bands, yarn and scrap material then standing in front of the troop as I instructed how to fold and fasten the materials into a cornstalk doll and with that I had checked the boxes to earning my first badge. It was the first of many to fill the blank space and boost my ego and confidence as a successful scout. 

For the years I was in scouting Mrs. Pam Skeene stands out as the leader I remember most, she opened her house and her hearts to us. We would gather in her living room or around campfires at her house, she would invite us for sleep overs as we would Tetris our sleeping bags throughout the house, singing and laughing until late into the night, waking to steaming bowls of oatmeal and pancakes. She took us on outings and we gathered with other troops at Camp Tuckaho at the Sacajawea Lodge. She joyfully handed out permission slips, birthday cards and of course cookie forms. She would mentor us in our sales pitch and send us out with a quota for cookie orders. Then she would show up Scout Wagoneer filled to the top with Thin Mints, Samoas and Savannahs.  

Later I would hang up my jumper and leave the scouts only to return in Junior High when our Science Teacher Mrs. Caroline Schlimme would ask a select group to become Cadets in her Columbia Troop. She also would go out of her way to drive us to her house after school, take us to meetings and then safely return us to our homes. She arranged weekend camping trips and outings to amusement parks and other venues throughout the state, where this time we gathered with girls we hadn't known our entire lives to learn through the world of scouting. 

Looking back were we building courage, confidence and character? Notably so thanks to strong Moms, Leaders and Mentors who gave their valuable time to lead our packs. As we were clearing my Mother's house after her death I found neatly folded my scouting uniforms intact with all my earned badges and pins, it was there beside my High School Letterman's Jacket, notable certificates and letters of accomplishments and my diploma a true time table of my growth. So cheers to the pack leaders of the past and of today. Thank you Juliette Gordon Low for being the first to see the potential in little girls, thank you to those who I can not name and to Pam Skeene and Caroline Schlimme for being influential leaders in my childhood and teens.  Happy Birthday to the Girl Scouts and (with 3 fingers up on my right hand) " On my honor I will try to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times and to obey the Girl Scout laws."  The world can always use more of that.