Cheryl Steele

My baby sister (Melanie) was a Brownie back in the early eighties. I was about 17 years old and I joined girl scouts to help her troop. Her troop sold the most cookies in our council and they took a trip to Wildwood afterwards. That was the beginning of my Girl Scout experience. We had so much fun. None of the girls had ever been “away” camping and some of the volunteers had not either. That was a very special time in their lives and mine. It is something I remember fondly even now some 26 years later. I went on hiatus from Girl Scouts until my first daughter joined 7 years ago and I have been volunteering in various ways every since. I believe that Girl Scouts offers so many opportunities not only for our daughters but us volunteers as well. My husband says next to our family that Girl Scouts is the most important thing in my life and he may well be right. Girl Scouts offers me time with the daughters, friends and extended family and has taught me respect, compasion, acceptance, the ability to grow and so much more. A great big thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Kim Higgins

I was a Brownie in the mid to late 1970’s. It was my first sleep-over at the Girl Scout House. I remember being excited and anxious at the same time. Would I be able to fall asleep? Would anyone see my Teddy Bear?

It was in the fall and we made s’mores out back. There was a camping circle of sorts. We all sat on old railroad ties that were our benches. We all told scary stories, we used our metal plates and forks and had our canteens (Mom took me to Sears for all this! We didn’t have much money and I was so proud to have new gear!!)

I don’t remember what we had for dinner, but I know we made something called GORP. I think GORP might have been like trail mix.

We headed back inside to get ready for bed and to play games. Our scout house doubled as the local theatre, so we had lots of room to run around and play. We made braided bracelets out of thin, plastic strips that were different colors. I think they were called gimp, but I’m not sure.

We all unrolled our sleeping bags and modeled our jammies and slippers. Those hardwood floors get cold on those fall nights up North. It turned out I wasn’t the only one that was afraid of the dark and had brought a “friend” to keep me company when I slept.

I don’t remember much else, except waking up with Dorito breath and not quite re-packing my sleeping as tight as Mom had done.

My daughter Hannah is 8 now. She’ll be a 3rd year Brownie. Hannah’s first year was in Lakeland with Troop 479. She’s now in Troop 350 in Fort Myers for her 2nd year. I’m joining Hannah this year as her leader.

It’s going to be a great year. Thank you Girl Scouts!

Kim Higgins, age 38, Fort Myers, FL

Lisa Brody

Many of the leadership skills that I have developed were instilled in me at a early age through my Girl Scouts experience. Girl Scouts provided me with opportunites to develop courage and confidence. Needless to say as a Girl Scouts who was VERY VERY scared of snakes it was always a challenge for me to go camping. My leaders new of my fears and always made sure that I was fully educated about snakes and were always very understanding about my fears and did not push me to hard to move out of my comfort zone. They taught me that it is ok to have “fears” but we cannot let our “fears” hold us back from enjoying life and facing new challenges!!
Now almost thirty years later…..still VERY VERY scared of snakes I found myself enjoying camping with my Junior Girl Scout troop that I have has since they were Daisy’s. Today, I try and instill the same foundation in my girls that my leaders instilled in me over 30 years ago.
As a third generation Girl Scout, I could not think of anywhere else I would rather be then spending time camping with my girl scout troop…snakes and all (smile) !!