Publisher’s Note: Patches

Growing up a Girl Scout makes me proud to share a story (page 66) about their 100th birthday. Girl Scouts have touched so many lives—including mine.

In scouting, we learned to be creative, resourceful, independent and so much more. Lessons learned around a Jamboree campfire are still important. We focused on a goal and figured out the steps needed for success. Working towards big goals—as a team sometimes and independently when necessary—helped prepare us to be good spouses, employees, friends and mothers. When we reached a goal, we got a patch. Proudly displayed on our sash, our patches identified issues and activities that were important to us. I wonder what my sash might look like today.

Aunt Jane was my first Girl Scout leader. She and her dear friend, Phyllis Dusang, led our troop at Atonement Lutheran in Metairie. I am happy to say that I still know many of the girls who said the pledge with me every week when I was 8. We sang about the smile hidden in our pockets, made sit-upons and learned to cook pancakes on the top of an upturned coffee can. Great life skills! My cousin Kelly had the best Indian name—Tippie Canoe and Kelly, too!—adopted for a camping trip to the cabin in City Park, one of our favorite places to go. My moniker was not memorable, but the fun and friendship certainly are.

I could not wait to get my daughters involved in scouting, but I had no idea how much I would enjoy it as an adult. First Donna Blossman and I established a Daisy troop at St. Timothy with our daughters Amber and Lauren. Those girls are now freshmen in college, but I can still feel their pride of earning a pin. It wasn’t long before I was helping to lead the Pontchartrain Elementary Brownie Troop 379. My co-leader was a girl from the neighborhood named Jane. It was our first cooperative endeavor, but certainly not our last! Today, we work together every day at Inside Northside—she’s our business manager. You never know where working together on a cookie sale might lead! Angie Naden and Louise Bairnsfather also helped with the troop. Though they’ve both moved away, they remain dear friends to Jane and me—and their daughters to our daughters. That’s just one of Girl Scouting’s many gifts.

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts! And, thank you.