I joined Girl Scouts in the late 60’s as a Brownie and continued to
Juniors. I was one of those little sisters where the leader is your Mom
and you get to be a Brownie a few extra years. My own daughter Katy
was a Daisy for four years because I was her older sister’s troop leader.
I was that painfully shy introvert who was never sure of her place
in her World. While Girl Scouts was fun, there were aspects of it that
were just plain difficult especially selling cookies door-to-door. Perhaps if
my parents had been more hands on, things would be have been
different and I would have stayed in it longer. I know that things are
different now, especially for those shy introverts that are out there.
When my girls were babies, I knew they were going to be Girl Scouts and they were to do great things. Well, of course, I was right about both of those things. When Katy was just entering Juniors and Abby was in her second year as a Junior, we moved to Woodbury which is where I became more involved in the service unit. The first position I took on was the Cookie Director. At that time the cookies were delivered to different homes and storage units and separated at that point for the troops to pick up. I had come from the Minneapolis Council where all of the cookies were brought to one central location using semi-trucks and then the troops picked up their cookies from there. With much push back from the rest of the service unit members and help from the baker we found a central location for all of the troops to pick up the cookies and it has been done that way ever since.
Years later, I was at a leader open house in Woodbury and overheard a leader who had moved from California talking about selling nuts and cookies in the fall as an extra fund raiser. I spent some time talking to her and getting as much information from her as possible. I jumped on that band wagon, did the research, met with the council and met with Gail Sederski from Ashton Farms to find out how we could bring this to Minnesota. From all of those meetings, the Fall Product Sale Program came to be.
I was instrumental in bringing both of those two programs to the Woodbury Service Unit and eventually the Council. While I am proud of having done that, I am most proud of my time as a Day Camp Director for the Woodbury Service Unit. For a shy girl from Inver Grove Heights, this was truly a huge step and a great opportunity for me. But more than that, we had some really good program, I know I helped some of those girls learn skills they wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else and I have made lasting friendship with three of the best women ever. The picture is from day camp at Camp Lakamaga
Now-a-days, I volunteer as the finance person on the Lakamaga Adult Conference Committee. While there may be other places better suited to where I am at in my life, I am content with what I am doing until I figure out what that may be.
Throughout my adult career as a Girl Scout volunteer, I have met some really great women and feel honored to be able to name them friend. The experiences I have had with Girl Scouts, I could have not have found anywhere else and I wouldn’t change a single thing. Thank you to the program and thank you to all of those great women (past, present and future) who continue to make Girl Scouts such a fantastic place for girls and women.