Girl Scouts celebrate 95th anniversary

By Janet Hefler - March 15, 2007

"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." Most Girl Scouts will recognize those familiar words from a favorite song sung at meetings or around the campfire. This week, as the Girl Scouts of America celebrate their organization's 95th anniversary, those words ring especially true.

Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouting in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, with a troop of 18 girls. She wanted girls to prepare not only for homemaking, but also for future roles as involved citizens and professional women in the arts, sciences, and business.

Scouting arrived on the Island in 1920 with the formation of the first Girl Scout troop in Tisbury by Mrs. Donald Tilton, followed by troops organized in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs.

Island Girl Scouts wave goodbye from the Vineyard Haven dock in April 1957 before heading to Camp Hoffman in West Kingston, R.I. In front, from left, Carol Duarte, Margaret Tilton, Carol Ward, and Martha McDonough, Troop 12, and Leah Perlstein and Judith Snowden, Troop 34. In back, from left, Maryann Sylvia, Diane Sylvia, Margaret Whittemore, and Emily Rabello, Troop 12, and Ruth Nason, Carol Hall, and Judith Cryer, Troop 34. Photos courtesy of Martha's Vineyard Girl Scouts

A look at Girl Scouting then and now on the organization's website reveals an organization that has weathered changing times and remained appealing to increasingly sophisticated generations of girls and young women. Today, Girl Scouts number 3.6 million worldwide, about 100 on the Island.

Girl Scouts have moved from selling war bonds, working in hospitals, and collecting peach pits for use in gas mask filters during World War I to performing community services in response to disasters such as the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and Hurricane Katrina.

In the first decade of scouting, girls could earn up to 25 badges, including one for child nurse. Today's badges include ones for global awareness, adventure sports, and environmental health.

In many Island families, more than one generation of women has shared the bond of Girl Scouting.

Alice Robinson, co-director of the day camp program at the Girl Scout's Camp Wampanoag in Chilmark, represents her family's third generation in scouting. Her great aunt, Dorris Hough, worked with Ms. Low when the Girl Scout program began, and enjoyed a career as a scout executive. Ms. Robinson's mother and grandmothers also were Girl Scouts.

Girl Scouts Sandy Maseda, Susan Pereira, and Sally Leslie, from left, present smiles along with the flag during a ceremony in 1962.

Carrie Welch started as a Brownie on the Island and stepped in when her younger sister was in 7th grade and her troop needed a leader. Her sister will graduate from college in May, and Ms. Welch continues to lead not one, but two troops. Similarly, Dukes County Veteran's agent Jo Ann Murphy became involved with the Island scouting program when her daughters Kimberly and Amanda were young, and continues to remain active after 22 years.

This year marks an exciting time for Island Girl Scouts and the Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts, with the construction of a new facility at Camp Wampanoag, located on 3.5 acres off Middle Road. The 900-square-foot existing building will be replaced by a year-round 1,990-square-foot facility with a kitchen, fireplace, infirmary and office, as well as storage space for a collection of mementos.

Island Girl Scouts will enjoy a special anniversary celebration on March 24 at the Chilmark Community Center from 1 to 3 pm.