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.

Marcy R. (Current Leader)

When Marcy’s daughter joined the Girl Scouts in first grade, Marcy didn’t know that it wasn’t only the start of her daughter’s Girl Scouting experience. It was also the start of her own.

She started out as a parent volunteer in her daughter’s troop. She remembers when they did an activity with jellybeans and the girls thought it was the coolest thing. They used to get so excited over everything when they were younger.

Around 2003, the troop leaders of her daughter’s Girl Scout troop ceased being leaders, and Marcy and a few other parents took over as the leaders.

Marcy has led her troop as they have earned numerous patches along with Journeys and awards. For their Bronze Award they gathered materials which they placed into tubs called “troop tubs” for new troops. For their Silver Award they redecorated and restored the Habitat for Humanity mural in Oxnard. A lot of the girls in her troop are currently working on their Gold Awards.

Though camping is a huge Girl Scout tradition, Marcy calls her troop “the Urban Troop” since they are more at home in a mall than in the woods. They have camped a bit at Kaleidoscope and in other places, but not much elsewhere.

At Kaleidoscope, they have directed the games workshop, and they enjoy doing the one pot cook-off there every time.

Marcy’s troop loves to cook. Besides the cook-off they have also completed a badge about cooking around the world. They learned to cook Dutch-oven style and participated in something called “Thinking Day”. During this Girl Scout tradition of “Thinking Day” girls explore different cultures and their cuisines. Sometimes, her troop also has the urge to spontaneously whip up baked goods like fresh brownies and cookies for their meetings.

Besides being adept at edible crafts, they are also good at handicrafts. They have done many over the years, including making newspaper beads and inventive S.W.A.P.S (Small Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere).

As Marcy and her troop have changed and passed through the different stages of Girl Scouts, Girl Scouts has also changed. The Journeys have evolved to help girls explore the world as they follow a story arc that is concluded with an award at the end instead of a "scatter-shot" of badges. The Journeys are much deeper compared to what they used to be.

Marcy and her troop are also interested in the state of the world. They recently went on a field trip to see an exhibit for the documentary Half the Sky. She believes that Girl Scouts has been in sync with the Women’s Rights Movement all along. Juliette Lowe was pretty radical in her day about what equals women’s rights and what women ought to be.

Marcy states that what she mostly sees in girls that come out of Girl Scouts is confidence. Confidence in the way they handle themselves and how they live. "It doesn’t matter how many badges or how much experience they have had, above all, they exude confidence."

She says that part of what drew her to Girl Scouts are the character vows of being honest and being a sister to every Girl Scout (as part of the Girl Scout Promise and Law states).

Marcy has been with her daughter’s troop since the Brownie days and has helped them along starting as a parent volunteer and then being a leader through out the years, in addition she also holds a position in the Girl Scout Organization as a Learning Facilitator and Gold Award Committee Chair.