By Eilene Lyon
This one goes waaaaay back to the early 1970s. I was surprised to find this in my “vault.” I started out in Brownies, as signified by the wing badge on this sash. This was during the years we lived near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I may have been in Girl Scouts for a year before we moved. Troop 10577 still exists in Mechanicsburg.
After scoping out our family photos for one of me in my uniform (Brownies or Scouts) I came up empty. I did find an image of my brothers in Boy Scouts while we were living in Guatemala. I guess they did not have a girls program there, or I had lost interest.
My memory banks are pretty overdrawn when it comes to scouting activities. I can recall a session where we did some candle making, which I enjoyed and continued doing on my own. Then those dang cookie sales! I wonder how many boxes my parents bought? I was good with eating them, for sure.
Not a lot of merit badges here.
Top row: Dancer, Troop Dramatics, Dabbler
Bottom row: Health Aid, Home Health & Safety, Personal Health (guess that made me a pretty healthy gal!)
What do you remember about scouting? Fill me in!
Myricopia 
I was a Brownie until my Mom found out they held camps. I had too many environmental allergies to be allowed to camp. I do remember being excited about earning badges.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Aw that is sad.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I can’t recall ever camping with my troop. That was something I did with family. Did you get over the allergies or did they get worse?
LikeLike
Worse. I developed asthma in my teens. Now it has expanded to foods and medications. Sigh
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved Being a Brownie and Guide. I havd my old badges too.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I wish I could remember more. Makes me wonder if I did not have a good time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a Brownie, but we country girls were expected to join 4-H while the town girls became Girl Scouts. My granddaughter, age 6, is just starting through the Scouting program.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I thought 4-H sounded more my style, but we were too suburban for that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
But I was a Den Mom for our son several years, and stayed on with the Pack an extra year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a Brownie in the 1960s (I’m old!) and my mom was our troop leader. She hated every second of it so we didn’t last long in the Brownies! My mom didn’t like confrontation or telling other people what to do. Plus there were one or two kids in the troop who often misbehaved. Also I recall that there were moms who didn’t pick their kids up on time. Of course it was always moms back in those days!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can hardly imagine my mom hosting a scout meeting, but I think she actually may have done Cub Scouts for a time. A room full of girls – not likely. I think we met in a community room of some sort. Like I said, fuzzy memory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I actually still have my sash…I had a lot of badges because my bff in elementary school was sort of like I am now about goals…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Having a friend who participates is probably a key to success. My sash is pretty pathetic!
LikeLiked by 1 person
An I clean out my storage locker I will try to remember to take a picture
LikeLiked by 2 people
At least let me know the count!
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a Brownie and a Girl Guide. I don’t think I lasted at the Girl Guides very long. I became a Brown Owl. I volunteered to find out if I liked working with kids enough to become a teacher. I guess I did. Thirty years later I’m coming to the end of my teaching career.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s cool that you found a path in life through those early activities! Congratulations on your impending retirement.
LikeLike
I made it through Brownies but that was it. I did have a great time though and so became a GS leader for both my girls for years. I don’t know how thrilled the girls were- although they have good memories when we talk about it! Vivid memories of cookie sales time- not just our troop but my garage was a storehouse for local troops. I always thought I should have gone into logistics after sorting, and managing my own cookie warehouse 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good on you for being a scout leader! That has got to be an enormous amount of work. I’d almost rather ask for donations than sell cookies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Eilene! It was a lot of fun and I sort of got to live all the things I missed out on after leaving scouting after Brownies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, that would be a real benefit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I may have one of those, mine, in the basement. I haven’t thought about scouting in years. I was a Brownie then a Girl Scout, but it ended for me in 6th grade. No more troops to join, plus my interest in getting badges had waned. Too much effort for something that meant little to me. An early life lesson I suppose.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s probably about when I quit. We moved in the middle of my 6th grade year. Yep, know when to fold ‘em! But trying lots of things is good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a Brownie and a Girl Guide. Somewhere I think I still have my Guide sash – not a lot of badges there, though. I still have my uniform top as well. I really loved Brownies – learning semaphore and braille were two of the coolest things I remember. Guides was fun too, though I got bored of at after one leader didn’t seem to want to give us any freedom at all and kept us doing things most of us considered way too “babyish”. Guide camp was lots of fun, though winter camping did lose its charm by day 3!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Semaphore and braille – very cool! I am NOT a fan of winter camping at all. That scout leader really seemed to be missing the point, huh?
LikeLike
I think I have some badges in a box with medals and other sports paraphernalia. I was in Brownies for a short time and Guides for not much more. I was not big on getting badges… But, like I said, I wasn’t around for long for either!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s funny the things we decide to save. I can’t imagine why I have this sash when I hardly recall being in scouts. I remember finally letting go of my high school letter jacket – and that actually did mean something to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tell me about it. I honestly cannot ever remember sewing any onto a sash! LOL. Oh well now… it must have been hard to let go of the letter jacket!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Might have been different if I could either 1) wear it 🤣 or 2) had a family member who would want it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! There is that…. 😏
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a stickler for not hoarding stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel you. I’ve been getting rid of stuff, myself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout, but I stopped going because it was way too girlie for me. Our “camp outs” were really just a bunch of chatty girls, singing stupid songs, sleeping in a large barrack-like structure. My idea of camping was pitching a tent and sitting around a campfire. I guess they thought we were too delicate to actually sleep outdoors. I imagine the scouting experience is much better and evolved nowadays.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe that was my problem with it, too. I think that may be where I was taught embroidery. Ugh. I can’t recall that we did any camping.
LikeLike
I was a Bluebird for one year. When it was time to sell two cases of Camp Fire Mints, my mom thought it was wrong. She bought them all and pulled me out. Sadly, I was looking forward to selling them door to door.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s too bad. I never really enjoyed selling stuff, but I did it from a very early age, mostly for myself. I sold painted rocks, sold stationary products to get “prizes” from the back of comic books (that’s how I got my first stereo). I still hate sales, but did it in my career, too: real estate, promotional products, etc. It’s not a bad skill to develop.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s so true. It is a skill that can be used in so many ways. It doesn’t hurt to get started young.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Probably doesn’t hurt, but some children maybe shouldn’t be pushed in that direction. Not a one size fits all thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. But my opinionated mom rarely gave me a choice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Although to give her credit, she believed she was acting in my best interest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a shame. Choice is good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved being in Brownies, Girl Scouts not so much. I got a spider bite on my EAR the first night at Girl Scout camp. It went downhill from there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m betting that camp horror stories are the reason so many people left scouting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That could very well be!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Eilene – well that was a big part of a girl growing up back then wasn’t it? I was a Brownie and had just become a Girl Guide when I lived in Canada – we moved here when I was 10. We called them “Girl Guides” in Canada, so when we moved here my mom tried to get me in with a local Girl Scout troop and they said they were not taking on new girls which my mom thought was odd. Mom offered to help out, though she didn’t drive, but said she would bake for events if need be, but it was a firm “no” and I was not even wait-listed to get in. I was disappointed. I loved my time in Brownies and did a post which I mentioned being a Brownie and had photos of my uniform, badge and books. I’ll put it in a separate comment so you can just delete it after you see the pics which are about one quarter way down the post.
LikeLike
Here you are Eileen … also reaching back in the vault for me.
LikeLike
We didn’t have that kind of thing for girls in our town, I don’t think. Only boy stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s too bad. I think my mom was in Blue Birds. There’s a variety of names. But sometimes there isn’t anyone to organize a group.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I was from a small rural town. We didn’t have a lot of stuff!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Small towns have open spaces and exploring opportunities for kids – probably the best thing. I loved to roam as a kid.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The only reason I joined the Cub Scouts is because I had a major crush on the den mother. Once she skipped on the troop, so did I. The ’70’s!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You naughty boy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember someone trying to teach me to knit, unsuccessfully I might add. 🙂 I remember more about being a Campfire leader for my daughter and her friends which included a lot of camping and cooking over an open fire. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ack, knitting! I never could get the hang of that. My mom was really into camping, so we did that as a family activity. Good for you doing the leadership stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout until 8th grade. Damn, I wish I had my sash with my merit badges! Those were sweet and innocent days.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You probably have lots of memories about those times. It was too short and too distant for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My mother was our troop leader for one of the years. I also went to Girl Scout camp one summer. But my best memory is a trip to DC in seventh grade.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those sound like great memories. We lived near D.C. for about a year. So much history there!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was never in Scouts. In my rural area, 4-H was more popular and the scout troop was quite small. I did neither for some reason. I guess I have never been much of a joiner!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s understandable. I suspect it has to be hard to run a group that would hold the interest of a diverse group of children.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It certainly would be. I cannot imagine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My worst nightmare, really!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol. I’m not a kid person at all. Sounds horrible.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this “secret life of objects” post! I was also in Scouts. I loved Brownies. Then went to a new school and was in Scouts. The new scout leader was mean. She accused me of taking money from a collection (I did not do it!!!) and kicked me out of the Scouts. There was no recourse, no anybody else involved, nothing. Just her and me. It was beyond upsetting. Later I went to high school with her daughter. Created from that mold of a mother.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds like just an awful experience. Reminds me of the only job I ever got fired from. It was a family-run business and the daughter was jealous of her fiancé being nice to me. So she and her mother watched me like a hawk (I was a bartender) and then started accusing me of stealing. It was awful!! Glad to be out of there, for sure. Then they didn’t pay me right away as required by law – really ticked me off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh wow. I feel like what happened to me was child abuse. I feel like what happened to you could have really messed up your adult future! Yes, very similar situation though. What is wrong with people anyway? (A question I ask myself daily)
LikeLiked by 1 person
As someone shared with me recently: Hurt people hurt people.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True.
LikeLiked by 1 person