Girl Scouts of WNY
By Carol S. Wolf

Last year, a friend of mine, Shirley Jones suggested I do an article on the Girl Scouts. At first I told her that I didn't think that was the type of article I did. Then she went on to tell me about her still being a Girl Scout (she is over 60) and how much it has meant to her and how it has shaped her life. I had not known that there were Girl Scouts over 16 years old.

The more I thought about it and talked to other women who had been Girl Scouts, I realized it would be a great article. I was a Girl Scout as a young girl. I was in the 'Mariners" which at the time was comparable to the boy Sea Scouts. Everything we did was sailor oriented. They are no longer in existence.

History of Girl Scouts - I knew that the Boy Scouts were celebrating their 100th year, this year. When I checked when the Girl Scouts were formed I discovered that Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912, for a local Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid.

Within a few years, Daisy's dream for a girl-centered organization was realized. Today, Girl Scouts of the USA has a membership of over 3.4 million girls and 900,000 adults, a significant growth from its modest beginnings nearly a century ago. In fact, more than 50 million women in the U.S. today are Girl Scout alumnae.

Amy M. Johnson, Chief Development Officer

I met with Amy Johnson who is the Chief Development Officer here in WNY. She began by telling me she lives in Corfu, NY now and was a Brownie and a Girl Scout in the Alden community, until she was 12 years old. She went to school in Fredonia and after she graduated from college, moved to South Carolina, where she worked for five years. She said, "Then a job opportunity became available to work for the Buffalo Philharmonic as the Orchestra's public relations manager, "She told me, "I then worked for Canisus College as the annual fund manager before accepting my current position with the Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts is so important for the leadership development for young girls and now having a daughter; it is what I want to do for many years. I started here in April 2009." Amy went on to tell me she is responsible for the Council's fund raising efforts. She works with individuals, companies, special events and new programs.

She explained that in July 2008, four legacy councils (Buffalo & Erie County, Niagara, Southern Tier and Genesee Valley) merged to form Girl Scouts of WNY. Currently, there are five offices with the corporate headquarters in Buffalo and six different camp locations

I asked her about all the new programs that Girl Scouts have developed. She said, "Girl Scouts focus on girls ages 5 through 17. The current council is nine counties and serves 25,000 girls as well as 11,000 adult members. Last month we had 67 girls who achieved their Gold Award which is comparable to the Boy Scouts Eagle Award. Each girl completed more than 100 hours of volunteer service. They had to decide on a community project, plan it, implement it and then, had to ensure it was sustainable."

She went on to tell me, "For our older scouts we have a large Alumni Association that is run through Girl Scouts USA. As we move toward our 100th Anniversary in 2012 we are really looking to find more women who were Girl Scouts as young girls."

Women of Distinction

Girl Scouts of WNY is presenting its first signature fundraising event, Women of Distinction, where nine exceptional WNY women will be honored for their strength of character, dedicated community service and commitment to mentoring and encouraging girls. The event is a national, Girl Scouts of the USA program that recognized the achievements of women; provides mentoring opportunities for older Girl Scouts, and funds Girl Scout educational opportunities and programs for girls ages 5 to 17.

It will be held on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at Salvatore's Italian Gardens. This year's recipients are:

Business
Essie L. Calhoun, Global Diversity and Community Affairs Officer/VP
Eastman Kodak Company

Entrepreneur
Lauren Fix, Automotive Expert
The Car Coach

Education
Dr. Yvonne S. Ragan-Minor, Principal
Westminster Community Charter School

Healthcare
Judy Feldman, Sr. Vice President, Information Technology & Chief Information Officer
Independent Health

Sports
Jenn Stuczynski Suhr
U.S. Olympic Pole Vaulter

Arts & Humanities
Kathie Bivona, Founder
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children/New York Regional Office
Bivona Child Advocacy Center

STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
Tamara E. Brown, Project Controls Engineer
Praxair

Armed Services
Captain Gina M. Pizziconi Cupples
914th Airlift Wing (USAFR)

Girl Scout Volunteer
Bette Stonebraker, Director of Data Management
Gynecologic Oncology Group

Amy said, "This event is an opportunity for our Council to honor nine women from across our jurisdiction for their leadership, for their commitment in their community, and for their encouragement of girl leadership and mentorship." She went on to tell me, "This event is completely girl-led. Girls will serve as registrants, emcees and Mistresses of Ceremony. They will write their own speeches and will present the awards to the women honorees. The evening will show the fantastic leadership of these young women."

Amy said, "Girl Scouts today is more relevant than ever before. We are WNY's preeminent Girl leadership organization. The Girl Scout experience gives young women the confidence and the tools to lead - to find, inside the uncertain girl, the citizen who will make a difference in her world."

Life Time Girl Scouts

I had the pleasure of meeting with three life time Girl Scouts, Janet Hill, Shirley S. Jones and Elizabeth (Liz) Sayers. I was amazed to hear their stories. I never realized that Girl Scouts for adults was an option.

Janet is currently serving as the chair of the Archive Committee for WNY Girl Scouts. She told me, "I joined Girl Scouts at Philip Sheridan School when I was seven years old as a Brownie and a Girl Scout for seven years. I left Girl Scouts, went to college and taught for 15 years in Special Ed for BOCES 1. Then I had a little girl and when she got into kindergarten, I became a Girl Scout again and lead her troop until she was a Gold Award Senior in scouting and after that I wanted to stay active. I volunteered for fund raising activities and then I found out about the Archive Committee and that has always been an interest of mine, so I joined that committee and when the chair became sick and asked me to take over, I did." I asked Janet what they do on that committee and she explained, "We collect, display and explain artifacts from Girl Scouting that people give us. We would love to have more items to display with their names and their stories. When we get our new offices ready we will have a display and in two years at our 100th Anniversary we plan to have displays around WNY and on our website." Janet told me, "For me, this organization has given me the opportunity to be in community with girls and women, to support each other, and encourage people to be the best they can be."

Liz shared with me that she never was a Girl Scout, she grew up in a suburb of Toledo, Ohio and they did not have Girl Scouts, but she was a Girl Reserve with the YWCA. “When my daughter was born and she became a Brownie,” she said, “I became involved. That was 57 or 58 years ago and I have been involved ever since. My four daughters were Girl Scouts. I took the girls camping in Ohio and in 1963 we moved to Buffalo and I immediately asked if anyone needed help with Girl Scouts. I became a troop leader and one time I even had 40 girls in my troop. I was a troop leader until about 2000. In 1974 I started taking my troop to Washington, DC. It evolved into me taking girls almost every year until 2003. Some of the girls still keep in touch with me. I was also a Trainer for the Council and then went to work for the Council as head of the Training Department." She laughed as she told me even her sons were Girl Scout helpers. She said she has done the Cookie and Magazine sales and just about everything there is to do. She is now on the Archives Committee. Liz said, "Scouting has made me a better person, more outgoing and I love to work with the girls. I am 86 and I still keep working at it."

Shirley told me she grew up in Bethlehem, PA where she was a Girl Scout at the age of 12 until about 10th grade and loved selling Girl Scout cookies which were 25 cents a box and were only chocolate and vanilla. She said, "We moved and when I got married and moved back to Bethlehem, I volunteered to be a leader. Then my husband was transferred to MA and I helped a troop there. When we moved to Buffalo in 1963 I really got involved, my daughter was ready for Brownies and I had a three year old. Both my daughters became a Curved Bar/Gold Award which is the highest award. I have been in scouting ever since. In fact when I turned 70 my children gave me the gift of a life membership and that was 11 years ago. One of the things I really enjoyed was expanding my horizons and I love mentoring girl scouts and I still see many of them. I am on the Council now and also the Educational Scholarship Program which we started about eight years ago. One of our members gave a gift of $20,000. in honor of her husband and we found 20 people that each gave $1,000. and that started it off. I am a part of the Archives Committee and looking forward to our 100th year."

Scout Troop #851

This was the most fun of all to meet with my granddaughter's Girl Scout Troop. The leaders are my daughter-in-law Diane Wolf and Lynn Thomas. They shared their stories of being Girl Scouts when they were girls. Lynn said, "I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout, then when my daughter Celia became a Daisy Scout, I became an assistant leader. My mother had been my leader. I did that for four years and when the troop became too large, we divided and Diane and I became co-leaders. My favorite thing with scouts is the camping and getting the girls out-doors and all those experiences."

Diane said, "I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout for about four years. I did not become a leader until Lynn asked me if I would be a co-leader with her since both our daughters were in the troop. I have been active since Sarah was a Daisy, but only a leader since Lynn asked me two years ago. Camping is OK, I do go, even though it is not my favorite, but what I do love is seeing the excitement, joy and fun the girls get working on their badges and getting involved with projects."

Diane and Lynn both told me how there was a girl in the large troop that was very quiet but now, with our smaller group, she has blossomed. Diane said, "Each meeting one of the girls has the responsibility of the whole meeting. They explain what is going to be done, how to do it and give directions. We have seen her now, becoming more outgoing and a leader. We have seen all the girls develop leadership skills."

Lynn said, "The girls have to put in 15 hours, in a leadership position, for their Silver Award. They will be helping pre-schoolers and elementary students at a Vacation Bible School this summer. They have also done several community service projects along their theme of 'Reduce, Re Use and Recycle', Food Pantry, Neighborhood cleanup, school grounds and woods cleanup. The clean up projects were in the winter so they were out there with their rubber boots and parkas. Last year we met once a month and this year the girls asked to meet two times a month, so that is what we now do. In fact we usually stop for the summer but they wanted to continue, so we are."

I asked each of the girls what they liked best about Girl Scouts and here are their answers:

Celia Thomas said, "My favorite part of Girl Scouts is weekend camping and staying in the cabins. I love making smoors by the fire and singing. We go hiking and do crafts."

Maelyn Benfanti said, "Going to Splash Lagoon overnight with the whole troop was really fun. We went in a large van together and I got to be with my friends. I liked going to the Nursing Home and decorate the tree. We got to talk to the residents and sing and play our instruments."

Alexandra Butler said, "I love the camping part of Girl Scouts. Being outside and doing all the activities. I like making the pins for swaps. We keep trading them and meet other girls in other troops."

Lauren Perry said, "Camping is my favorite part of Girl Scouts is camping because I just love to be outdoors. I like helping bring food for the food drive and organize everything."

Sylvia Opper said, "My favorite part of Girl Scouts is camping because I like going on hikes and being with my friends. This is my first year and I really like it."

Sarah Wolf said, "My favorite thing about Girls Scouts is camping because I love going on the hikes, sitting by the camp fire and making crafts. One of the crafts is making pins that we can trade with other Girl Scouts."

As you can see everyone loves camping. Diane also told me about some of the other projects they have done:

• Planting flowers at Our Lady of Peace church in Clarence

• We worked the carnival at Sheridan Hill Elementary school in Clarence

• We also did the recycling project at Sheridan Hill Elementary

• For the past two years, we helped Clarence Co-op Preschool at their fun night and last year they organized all the games.

To volunteer (any age) long term or short term and for more information call:

Girl Scouts of Western New York, Inc.
3332 Walden Ave. Suite 106
Depew, NY 14043
(888) 837-6410 or visit the Girls Scouts of Western New York's web site at
www.gswny.org

If you know of a successful program in your community or would like more information please let me know at caroldickwolf@cs.com.