Submitted by Dee Sabol
Colorado Springs
Pikes Peak
I’ve been thinking about my wonderful experiences with Girl Scouts growing up and found this piece from a “Then and Now” promotion that ran a few years ago. We are lucky to have such a strong, vibrant and historic organization serving Colorado.
“I joined Brownies in 1973 in north central Minnesota – in a little town of about 1,100 people and I stayed in Girl Scouts until I started Junior High and we moved away.
“Scouting was a family thing for us. My mother had been a Girl Scout. She got us excited about Girl Scouting and led our troop off and on over the years. This was a rural area and there were other opportunities for kids, such as 4-H, but they seemed so mundane to me. I loved adventure! I wanted to become an explorer or a voyager in the great northern wilderness and Girl Scouts fostered that dream.
“For me, the most memorable Girl Scouting experiences involve pine trees and the sound of water lapping gently against canoes in the dark – Girl Scout Camp in the north woods. I can remember every scent and sound: cooking fires, dish soap, bug spray, damp moss, wet sand, the call of loons, rain on canvas, comfortable voices laughing and singing. Did I mention bug spray? Camp was mystical and we campers were charmed. All of the activities and all of the people were magic.
“We traveled a great deal when I was growing up, but Girl Scout Camp was different. It filled me with a sense of independence and made me feel strong and capable. Camp was where I discovered I could rely on myself because there was this wonderful force behind me, supporting and encouraging me. Girl Scouting taught me to set and reach goals, to challenge myself. Girl Scouting also taught me to invest in things I care about and care about things that I invest myself in.
“I still love adventure. I still enjoy challenging myself and am enchanted by discovery. I still feel an aching fondness for those deep, silent twilights in a strange and exhilarating place, surrounded by other little people happily daring and dreaming of great things.
“I sponsored a Girl Scout for the Gold Award a couple of years ago. It was an exciting way to reawaken that sense of invisible connectivity that Girl Scouts promotes. There is always so much more that can be done! I donate as I am able and I coordinate cookie sales for Troops at our local library facilities. Supporting Girl Scouts is a sure way to keep the magic alive in your heart and to give every girl the opportunity to discover it for herself.”
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