THE BIG SING!

Wow! Girl Scouts! I've just returned from the second of my Centenary Events. The BIG SING in Washington, DC! And, guess what! There were girls from YOUR Council there! They were from Van Buren, Arkansas,With their Leader Madeline Marquette. I never had a chance to meet up with them but I was very pleased to know that they were there among the quarter of a million Girl Scouts who joined us on that VERY hot day.

DC Fire Department provides water fun for the Girl Scouts

That's right! 250,000 Girl Scouts.

Girl Scouts now hold several new Guiness World Records:

            1. Largest gathering of Girl Scouts in the world.

            2. Largest Flash Mob to dance.

            3. Largest group sing EVER!

There are several You Tube posts from the event including this one supplied by Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital:  

GSCNC Rocks the Mall!

We met Girl Scouts from across the United States including California, Nevada, Washington, Kansas, Texas, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts. We also had the pleasure of Canadian Girl Guides staying with us.

Can you find us in the picture?

Other great parts of the day included:

A new issue stamp honoring our Centenary entitled 'Celebrate Scouting Forever.' I like that idea!

The Smithsonian opened exhibits and activities for Girl Scouts to explore from home and while visiting the city. (Here is the Smithsonian's link: Girl Scouts Centenary Activities from the Smithsonian Institute

We played in the water courtesy DC Fire Department.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE adventures: Play the online game (with APPS!) to save the future by knowing the past! Agent of Change is a collaboration (joint venture) between the National Archives in Washington, DC, and GSUSA. You can play. too. Get started here: Be an agent of change!

Hard Rock Cafe made lunches for us with an special set of pins designed by girls.

We danced and sang and made new friends!

(Note: Thanks to the Washington Post for many of these pictures.)

Centenary Celebrations

                        Two years ago, I enjoyed participating in the Centenary Celebrations (100th Birthday) of the British Girl Guides.  But in my heart, I continued to look forward to my own American Girl Scout Centenary in 2012.

I’ve picked a few things that I want to do to be part of the Centenary Celebrations and thought I would share them with you:

1. This blog -

When my former Council proposed this idea, I was very excited! What a great way to share the things I’ve learned with my sisters in Guiding and Scouting while reflecting on the journey we’ve travelled as an organization. Sharing this with you kicked off my personal Centenary Celebration and it will close out the year as well.

2. Visit my former Councils -

Girl Scouts - Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas is first on the list. I hear there is a reunion this summer for participants of the WS/AOK link (West Sussex, England/Arkansas and Oklahoma) established through the legacy Council of Mt Magazine...the link that would eventually lead me to my life in Britain. I am looking forward to attending to meet old friends and new at Kelly Cabin.

Tres Condados legacy Council, now Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast, was where I grew up as a Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior Scout. I went to summer camp each year at Camp Tecuya. That is really the place I learned about international sisterhood (we had counsellors join us from other countries every summer), self-reliance, and singing. I look forward to visiting there in August as well.

3. Rock the Mall in Washington, DC -

Nation’s Capital Girl Scout Council sponsored a BIG SING this month. I picked this event to attend because it has grown to international proportions and I wanted to participate in a nation-wide celebration. It will be inter-generational, too, with daughters, mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers who are all Girl Scouts attending together!  AND the songs we will sing- many old and new favorites!

           Did you know that singing was part of the original Laws that Baden-Powell set down for girls?
                                  He wrote, "Scouts whistle and Guides sing!"

If you haven't started your own Centenary Celebrations, start thinking of what you want to do to mark this event. It might include a few of the following:

• Read and share this blog.

• Talk to your mom or grandmother about her experiences with Girl Scouts. See what was the same (new friends, loved camping and singing) and different (wearing dresses to camp, camp uniforms of white shirts and knee socks with flashes).

• Do a meeting on Girl Scout history and dress as different characters from our history.

• With your patrol or troop, try a badge from your mom or your grandmother's handbook.

• Attend a Centenary event in your Council or another Council.

What other ideas can you think of?

What did we do before Our Chalet?

 Greetings Girl Scouts!

Many of us grow up in Girl Scouts knowing that we are a world-wide movement with several international homes we call the World Centers. Visiting the World Centers, we can experience international friendships with other Scouts and Guides. These international Guiding/Scouting homes include Our Chalet in Switzerland, Pax Lodge in England, Our Cabana in Mexico and Sangam in India.  (Do you know which is the newest World Center? It may surprise you)

Our Chalet, Switzerland

Did you know: Our Chalet was the first World Center (1932), a gift to Guides and Scouts around the world from American Girl Scout Helen Storrow. No wonder she was called "a world-minded sort of woman" by English Guider Katherine Furse . Mrs Storrow organized and supported training centers at Foxlease in England and Pine Tree Camp in the United States as well as Our Chalet.

My journey to England started with dreams of visiting a World Center. But what did Guides and Scouts do before there was a World Centre? Where did they go to learn how to be Girl Scouts or Guides?

They went to Foxlease, the first home of Guiding and Scouting. It is in the New Forest area in the south of England.  (Google "Foxlease, Girl Guides" or for a map look at Lyndhurst in the New Forest)

In many ways, we should think of Foxlease as our FIRST World Center.

Princess Margaret House at Foxlease

With Girl Scouting and Guiding growing around the world, more and more members wanted training on skills needed to be a Girl Guide or Girl Scout. Since it all began in England, the world looked to England for training.

In 1922, an American heiress made a generous offer to the Girl Guides.  Ann Archbold Saunderson offered her Georgian manor house and 65 acres of land to the Girl Guides. Princess Mary, the President of the Girl Guides, endowed the property; that is, she gave enough money to support the property so the Girl Guides could afford the upkeep. It became the first international home of Guiding and Girl Scouting.

The first Guider in Charge at Foxlease, Alice Behrens, set out to make Foxlease a beacon to follow for all the Guides and Scouts of the world, a haven and a source of strength. A place for Guides and Girl Scouts to call home. She set its motto: Peace, Vision, and Power...a motto that still stands relevant today.

Our Juliette Low stayed there many times and loved Foxlease dearly. She outfitted a cottage on the property where she and other American leaders stayed when they visited Foxlease. Juliette Low's British Guides called her cottage "The Link" because Juliette Low was the link between the British Guides and their American sisters.

Did You know: At first, the Guides wanted to name The Link after Juliette Low but she said no, wanting something less focused on herself and more focused on her Girl Scouting and Guiding girls. That is when the girls decided it should be called The Link, still in her honor but respecting her wishes to remember the two branches of the Guide/Scout Movement she loved. Today, the cottage is gone but its former site is a campsite on the Foxlease estate. It is surrounded by several American trees transplanted by the American visitors. It is still called The Link.

The patch for the World Camp at Foxlease, 1999

Foxlease continues to be a retreat that welcomes Guides and Scouts from around the world to come for a visit. You can stay in the house or camp out in The Link field. They also offer summer jobs to High School and College aged Guides and Scouts from around the world. This year when I went there for a 4^th of July campout, I met a Girl Scout from Arkansas who was working there as a House Assistant for the summer. We had great fun talking about our homes!

Did you know: Juliette Low, Ann Archbold Saunderson and Helen Storrow weren't the only Americans that supported Foxlease. Senator and Mrs William Clark (Montana) outfitted the Garden Room (now the dining room in Princess Mary House at Foxlease) in honor of their daughter, Andree Clark. The Girl Scouts of Massachusetts have a long, close bond with Foxlease and still sponsor one of the bedrooms (The Massachusetts Room). I understand the Girl Scouts of Texas have recently offered to sponsor a bedroom, as well.

Since 1922, the Girl Guides have offered trainings and events to their sisters around the world at Foxlease. They us offer a place to meet Guides and Scouts from around the world. There have been two World Camps (1922 and 1999) hosted at Foxlease. It has been a shelter for Guide and Scout families and other refugees during the World Wars.  Guides and Scouts from around the world will find they have a home at Foxlease, including Girl Scouts from Arkansans, Oklahomans and Texans like you and me, a place to play, rest and live the history of the Girl Scouts and Guides. C'mon, I'll meet you in The Link field for a campfire.