Girl Scouts Now and Then

I've had Girl Scouts on the brain lately. When a topic pops up randomly three times in a row, it must be something I need to talk about.

First, Kimberly Ann was working towards earning Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badges. Think Girl Scout badges for big girls. I thought it was an excellent program, but sadly, there were no actual badges for the effort. So I designed some just for fun for the projects KA was working on. (Designs here.) The white border is beginner level, yellow border is intermediate level, and green border is expert level. I tried to match the graphic to the requirements for each level.

I think earning adult merit badges is a fun and fabulous idea. I could come up with a whole bunch of others like Car Maintenance and Repair, Budgeting and Money Management, Plumbing, Lawn Care, Top-Shelf Margarita Making and other basic stuff adults need to learn to be grown-ups. Plus, we could go camping some too.

Second, Hat and I had a long conversation about Girl Scouts when we were growing up. Mainly I ranted a lot and Hat listened, but still, there it was.

Then the next evening CBS News had a story "Girl Scouts Get Makeover." They are now getting into things like robotics, environmental issues, techno-recycling and other more urbanized pursuits. Sigh. The whole point of Girl Scouts was to get girls into the great outdoors. The new techie-ness doesn't sound very outdoorsy.

I once overheard a scout's mom lament that Girl Scouts weren't allowed to go camping anymore because it was too dangerous. So her daughter's troop "camped out" in the school gymnasium with their hair dryers and iPods. Sheesh. A Girl Scout should to learn to pee in the woods like God intended without getting snake bitten or picking up chiggers. A girl needs to know these things.

The reporter in the news program asked the girls why they weren't in uniforms. They replied that they didn't like uniforms; freedom of expression and all. The reporter told the girl she was a radical girl scout and the girl said, "Thank you." I don't think the reporter meant that as a compliment.

The "we don't like uniforms" comment set my teeth on edge. Part of being a scout is belonging to the group and doing things as a group. A uniform shows membership in the group and reinforces the sense of belonging to something larger than yourself you little spoiled, self-centered, egotistical brat. Grrrrrr.

An interesting factoid in the news story was that only one in ten girls was a Girl Scout, but 70% of American congresswomen and 80% of American businesswomen were Girl Scouts. See what learning to pee in the woods will lead to?

(Warning: long rambling walk down memory lane coming.)

I was, of course, a Girl Scout and remained in scouting for as long as possible. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED being a Girl Scout and everything about scouting (except selling cookies). Meetings were the highlight of my week during the school year, and the summer campouts and jamborees were heaven on earth.

I was fortunate to have an energetic, creative troop leader who stayed with our troop throughout our scouting career. She was *the* Girl Scout lady for our county and stayed in scouting long after all her daughters were grown and gone. I still call her every now and then and keep in touch.

I started as a Brownie in second grade (they didn't have Daisy Scouts back then) and kept at it until ninth grade. After that, nobody wanted to be a Senior Scout but me. All the other girls got interested in boys and makeup and stuff and dropped out.

And for the record, I LOVED wearing the uniform with all the pins and badges and googahs on it. I was PROUD to wear it. Here I am as a Brownie. Woo Hoo! Front page news, lead story! Look at those white gloves!


We wore our uniforms to school on meeting days. It's hard to see in this picture, but the Brownie uniform had a long orange tie. Daddy taught me to tie a Half-Windsor knot for neckties when I was in second grade and I had to tie all my boyfriend's ties all my life. I still tie Hubby's to this day.

If it happened to be soup day at school when we were wearing our uniforms, the lunch lady who handed out the greasy homemade yeast rolls (Yum!) and milk would lean over and carefully tuck our ties into the front placket of the uniform so they wouldn't drag in the soup. I would just beam when she did that. I thought it was sooooo cool.

Here I am at an awards ceremony as a Junior Scout. See all my badges? Yes, I loved earning badges. I loved the uniform beret too. I thought that was a cool hat.


And here I am as a Cadette at a campout.


The Cadettes were the workhorses at campouts. We had to set up all the tents, dig the la-las, and raise the flagpole. We also helped the troop leaders who had the little Brownies. Those tents were a mother to set up too. They were huge heavy canvas things that required at least four people to get them up. I still remember how to set one up, but that knowledge is archaic now with the new-fangled lightweight springpole numbers.

We lashed together tables, made sit-upons, pressed wildflowers, and cooked bacon and eggs on top of a tin can. We sang songs around the campfire. One I still hum to myself called "Barges." It was a round. Do Girl Scouts still sing rounds??

We whittled stuff too. Every Girl Scout was required to carry a pocket knife at all times. Would you let your second-grader carry a pocketknife? No? I didn't think so. We swatted skeeters and squealed at snakes and learned to pee in the woods. It was a magical time in my life.

I still want to be a Girl Scout. Do they have Brownies for big girls? I'll wear the beanie and everything...