On My Honor

on

Girl Scout Mission
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

America is celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouting this month.

The Longmont Museum is observing this anniversary with a show of uniforms, hand books, and merit badges.  Jesse and I were fascinated with the 1918 silent film promoting the Girl Scouts--Juliet Gordon Low was not only a visionary with regard to scouting, she seized on the cutting edge technology of the day to get the word out.  I didn't realize that the early Girl Scouts wore bloomers when camping in the woods.  They also had to learn to swim a mile in their full clothes, and "Scout speed" was a cross country method of running 10 steps, walking 10 steps.

Juliet Lowe Day
I remember my Brownie Scout troup vividly, looking in the mirror to find the elf.  I remember the flying up ceremony, to become a real Girl Scout, getting my "wings."  I remember the solemnity with which I recited the promise, "On my honor I will try to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, and to obey the Girl Scout law." I remember  pulling a wagon down the sidewalk delivering my Girl Scout cookies to the neighbors.   I especially remember campfire and flag ceremonies at Camp Sacajawea, how proud I was to be part of the troop.  I remember fulfilling the requirements for earning merit badges, the sense of accomplishment.

Back in 1912, outside the church there were fewer opportunities for girls to be trained in leadership, physical education, and myriad skills, but it was a time of greater participation of women in public life. This wasn't addressed in the exhibit, but I can only think Girl Scouting was an idea whose time had come, during the struggle for votes for women.  Women got the vote in 1920 after more than 50 years of political agitation.  

My girls didn't cotton to Girl Scouts like I did, and looking back, I know I didn't  provide the support--I was working.  My girls had church, softball, art lessons, many activities.   I still occasionally find merit badges stuck away to be sewn on a sash "one of these days."  Mea culpa.

I am, however, reliable for buying Girl Scout cookies every year, even when I'm on a diet.