Carol J. (Troop Leader, Life Time Girl Scout)

Carol grew up on a farm in a place that no Girl Scout troops existed, but when she had children of her own both her daughters became Girl Scouts. She has been actively involved in Girl Scouts for about 50 years now.

One of the big changes she has seen in Girl Scouts during her time is the way that girls progress through the program and the order they do things in. It used to be that you would start by “gaining steps” at the time you were a Daisy to Brownie. You would cook simple things like bugs in a log and the first overnight camp out would start at the end of Brownie year. For Carol’s troop’s first overnight, they camped out in Sycamore Canyon Park (California).  Later, they went to the Spanish Trails Girl Scout conference. As a Junior, a girl would go both scout house camping and open camping. Carol’s troop went to Mt. Palomar in San Diego to see the observatory and camp out. Cadets could go even farther on trips.  For example, Carol’s troop went to the state capital as their Cadet trip.  They also went to Sea World. As a Senior Girl you would run and direct the camps with adults, teaching cooking and songs like Something In My Pocket (AKA Brownie Smile Song) (most songs were found in a small grey book called “The Girl Scout Song Book”).

Back in the day, leaders - not only Girl Scouts - had to wear uniforms. Carol has three different Girl Scout leader uniforms hanging in her closet. As Carol worked closely with her daughter’s troop, she made friends with many fellow leaders along the way.

Carol’s Girl Scout troop did many crafts and projects:  they wrote letters and made Care Packages for the returning Vietnam veterans, they cleaned up hiking trails, they helped out at hospitals and they won their “First Class” Award. Carol has never been that much of an artsy person, so when she was running activities with her fellow leaders, she was the person who taught the girls respect, the flag ceremony and all the outdoorsy things. She also helped run many Girl Scout camps and mini camps.

Carol really enjoyed watching her daughters grow up and learn how to accomplish anything they wanted in life. Carol holds the Girl Scout values of respect, honor and care of the nature close to her heart. She really believes in what the motivational speakers that she used to bring in to her Girl Scout troop said about how a strong woman can accomplish anything.