Girl Scout Week Day 2: Live By the Girl Scout Law

 


I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.

One hundred years ago today, Juliette Gordon Low held the very first Girl Scout meeting in Savannah, Georgia. At that first gathering, the girls were taught the Girl Scout Laws (although slightly different than what we follow today), how to tie knots, and some of the requirements of the Tenderfoot badge. They played a game of tennis and enjoyed a snack. By the following week, 108 girls had registered as members.

By 1918, there were 8,400 Girl Scouts and 1,314 officers registered.

By 1921, there were 88,000 Girl Scouts and 7,350 officers registered.

In 2012, there are 3.2 million Girl Scouts registered.

To say Juliette, or Daisy as her friends called her, knew a good thing when she saw it, is an understatement. Her accomplishment is so far reaching, it's really hard to fathom. Today, Girl Scouts as an organization is fighting to remain relevant in a culture where girls have so many choices, but the irony of it is that those choices are available to girls in part because of the success of Girl Scouts.

 

Our Service Unit, the Shaler Area Girl Scouts, assembled an awesome display of Girl Scout memorabilia at our local library. Here's some vintage camping gear.



This one goes out to Mel C - SIT-UPON!!!



Here's my favorite - check out those uniforms back in 1965. I WOULD TOTALLY WEAR THE LEADER UNIFORMS! I might have to track one down in time for Halloween. And isn't the Brownie uniform adorable? I so wish they still wore the beanies (They are still available through the Girl Scout store, but I've never actually seen a scout wearing one). In fact, Lauren has already deemed her Daisy tunic uncool and wants a Brownie sash ASAP. Thankfully, she'll be bridging to Brownies during the summer, so she'll only have to endure her current uniform for a few more months. How fast they learn...

Lastly, I wanted to share an article that appeared in our local paper a few weeks back that features some of the wonderful ladies in our Service Unit. We are very fortunate to have access to their knowledge and experience. Judy Becki, who is featured in the article, was instrumental in helping my co-leader and I start up our troop last year. We couldn't have done it without her.