This afternoon, Friday, March 7, at a ceremony at the State Capitol, Gov. Hickenlooper signed in to law the claret cup as the state’s official cactus. This designation was made possible by the hard work of 6th grade Girl Scout Troop 2518 from Castle Rock. They have been working for several years with State Rep. Carole Murray to have Colorado adopt this new state symbol. The troop has learned a lot about the legislative process and even testified, along with their project consultants from the Denver Botanic Gardens and the Colorado Cactus and Succulent Society, in front a House Committee in January. Their work has also earned the girls the Girl Scout Silver Award, which is a leadership award earned by working to meet a community need. It is not the first time in recent history that Colorado Girl Scouts have worked to name a new state symbol. In 2004 a Girl Scout troop from Lakewood designated Yule Marble as the state rock.
Fox 31 and CW2 ran a story on Friday evening, March 7
(The best moments of the ceremony: The Girl Scouts brought the Governor homemade “cactus cupcakes” (a big hit) and one of the Girl Scouts also asked to take a “selfie” with the Governor after the signing (wonder if we can get retweeted 3 million times ;)).)
