Encouraging Scouting

Our nephew Sammy went from a Tiger cub to a Wolf Scout last night and we got to be a part of the celebration! Since Mike and I both feel that our lives were influenced (for the better) from many years of Scouting, we do what we can to encourage ANY youth to stay on the Scouting course! :) (Even digging out those old uniforms!) :)

The night (& a short discussion with two 5th grade Junior Girl Scouts) got me reminiscing about my own fabulous opportunities made possible by Girl Scouts -- both as a girl and a leader. Growing up it was Girl Scouts that taught me how to work towards a badge/goal, prepare meals over a campfire, grocery shop, do a flag ceremony, sail, plan trips (& fundraise) to Jeff City (6th grade)/Chicago (8th grade)/FL (10th grade)/Cancun (12th grade), shadow the Chesterfield city manager, backpack, sing LOTS and LOTS of silly songs, do my very first "interview" (which resulted in a two-week canoe trip in MN with 28 girls from all over the nation), go for my Bronze & Silver Congressional medals, leave every place better than I found it, clean a smelly latrine, receive my Silver & Gold Awards (the GS equivalent to an "Eagle Scout"), go biking in the snow, put on make-up, ride a horse, sell cookies and calendars (had to put that in!), do a Ropes course, scrub grafitti off an A-frame tent, dye eggs with 1st graders (ha, that was a joke), make sit-upons with 1st graders (ha, that one too!), give a speech to Gold Awardees, be the one saying "Girls, it's time to go to sleep--everyone in the whole camp can hear you!", make up skits to put on, watch a flag retirement ceremony, lose a kid (more than once--ugh!), boil an omelette, improvise (be resourceful), recognize Girl Scouts all over the world, serenade cookie moms, and probably most importantly--make friends (and REALLY good friends), with girls and women who are different from me, but share that common bond of Girl Scouting!!

The trend is for girls to drop out of scouting when they get into Middle School...ironically, that is when (I think) Girl Scout opportunities become even better. Even I knew that it wasn't really thought of as "cool" to be in Girl Scouts in Jr. & Sr. High (why else did we tell people we were a ski team when we went to Chicago?)!! However, that is when the responsibility switches even more from leader to girl...so leadership opportunities arise, the trips get planned, and the memories are made!! Many thanks to my Girl Scouting friends in my past and present who help demonstrate the Girl Scout mission: "building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place." I would not be the same without you!

So, to wrap it up, here is Sammy with my two future Boy Scouts! :)

P.S. Fun to know that 4 of the members from my old troop (& the only ones still in St. Louis) continue to get together for monthly dinners!
P.P.S. I need to formally thank my mom on here for the leader and example she was for me and so many girls through like 60 (?) years of Girl Scouting (even "training" leaders after her girls were done), and for encouraging me to stay the course. Also, thanks to my sisters who showed me at a young age the opportunities they had because of girl scouting.