Community
Scouting It Out
Wed, 2009-04-08 15:11 — HerInteractive
The other day, we posted a new survey about activies that our fans participate in during their free time. We had a lot of fans write back and wonder, why are we asking about Girl Scouts?
Well not only do we have an ad that's currently in Girl Scout Leader magazine (has anyone seen it), but we have a lot of employees here at Her Interactive at were Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts at one time. Joining the Scouts has definitely made a difference in their lives if not some great memories at least! From selling cookies and camping trips, to the Pinewood derby and earning badges - it was fun to take a peek into the past to what everyone was doing long before they started making games at Her Interactive.
We asked everyone in the office to share some of their favorite memories from the Girl/Boy Scouts - and we received some touching touching stories that I'd like to share.
"I was a Girl Scout for six years in grade school, my mother was the leader.
I was a GS camp counselor for two summers in college, taking 10-12 year olds on two week canoe trips down the Pend Oreille river in north eastern Washington.
My oldest daughter was a Girl Scout for four years and I was the troop leader.
My favorite memories of GS were the incredible camping trips we went on when I was in 4-6 grade in the Bay Area in California. My mom was big into leadership skills, so the girls were responsible for most of the planning and preparation for the week long trips to camp at Yosemite, the Redwood forests or the beach. We planned the menus, activities, camp fires and camp skills training for the younger girls, shopped for the groceries, made chore charts, etc., and felt like we were so responsible and competent that we were practically grownups. Mom liked to say that we were so well trained that she never had to get up in the morning until the coffee was made, and that was true. We got up, started the fire and put the coffee on to perk, got the breakfast patrol to work on cooking, silently prepared our tents for daily inspection so we wouldn’t wake her, and called her when her coffee was ready. Of course, my dad was up and carefully supervising in his quiet, unobtrusive way. He taught us how to make one match fires even in the rain, and make the right kind of fire to slow cook foil dinners, bake cakes in the dutch oven, pizza or biscuits in the reflector oven, and to make a tent out of rope and a tarp that would keep us dry in a downpour. Mom was an opera singer in local opera productions, and dad competed nationally in barbershop quartet competitions, so they trained us girls to sing our campfire songs in three part harmony. We were so proud of how beautiful the music sounded that campfire sing-alongs often went on for an hour or two every night. We learned to do our part to protect and preserve the incredible parks we camped at by contributing at least one day every trip to trail building, campground maintenance projects or garbage pickup and the Hershey bar we got as a reward for all the hard work at the end of the day was the best tasting candy bar ever."
~Anne
"If it counts, I was a Brownie. Once I “crossed the rainbow bridge†to become an official girl scout, I stopped. I wasn’t terribly involved but the favorite memory was making pumpkin cookies for Halloween with the troop."
~Cathy
"I was a Brownie and than a Girl Scout many, many, many years ago. My favorite memory is of a camping trip my troop took , going on “midnight hikes†and cross a river on a rope bridge."
~Maureen
"I was a Boy Scout for 4 years. Didn’t make Eagle though."
~James S.
"I was a Girl Scout up through 8th grade. I got more proficiency badges (24) than anyone else in my troop. I remember selling cookies door to door every winter, when a box cost way less than a buck, and we had to go to each house twice – first to take the order and then to deliver the cookies. All hell broke loose one winter when my best friend’s house caught fire one night and all the cookie records for our troop were destroyed (her mom was the cookie chairwoman). So we had to try to remember which neighbor had ordered what. Not fun. But my friend was okay. Her mom was never cookie chairwoman again, though…"
~Anne L.
"I was a Cub Scout, then a Boy Scout until I was 18. I achieved the second-highest rank of Life Scout (highest being Eagle Scout).
I think my favorite memory from the scouts was a camping trip which started with us all travelling by train from San Diego to New Mexico when I was 14 or 15. The train ride took us a couple of days and was in and of itself a bit of an adventure. Once we arrived in New Mexico, we drove out to a mountain-range ranch (Philmont Scout Ranch), acres and acres large. Each of us was paired up with a horse. From there, we spent a week riding across the heavily forested Rocky Mountains. We stopped and made camp every night in a new place along the range, feeding and grooming our horses. We learned wilderness survival, horse husbandry, and some leatherworking. The view was breathtaking everywhere we went, with the wide open New Mexico skies, being surrounded by trees, and the unique and magical terrain of cliffs and mountain-top plains and groves, and valley-woods with thick branch canopies. Sunsets are altogether different in the middle of wilderness, especially on horseback."
~James C
"I was a Boy Scout for a few years. My favorite memory is camping under the stars in the Colorado mountains and waking up with a rabbit sitting on my chest. "
~Travis
"When I was 13, my girl scout troop visited Sierra studios. They were finishing up King’s Quest VII and we got to meet some of the women who worked on it (I still have the signed poster I got that day). At that visit, we were shown some of the cool, top secret stuff they were working on for their next title. The memory of seeing that kind of interactive innovation happen before my very eyes really stuck – it was amazing. Hm, maybe that helped to encourage me to get into the game industry?"
~Mari
"My favorite memory was Cub scouts=pinewood derby (got a scar on my fingers from a carving accident) and boy scouts (camping, summer camp and not getting my canoeing merit badge—flunked…)"
~Rob K.
"I liked sailing with my troop."
~Cody
"Finding a cool fossil on one of our hikes… Also doing random fun things (like riding bikes and stuff) to earn those “badge†thingies that you get to wear… "
~Melissa
"I was a “pioneer†– communist girl scout =). Now thinking back it was actually fun – we had a special program where we had to help elderly people or WWII veterans; performed for them; camped in the “wildernessâ€. But we never had to sell anything (no cookies for us!) ;)"
~Alena
"I was a boy scout. My favorite memory was building a small wooden race car with my dad and racing it in our local boy scout’s pinewood derby. I won first place in my division! :)"
~Tim
"I was a Girl Scout, and my favorite memory is of camping trips."
~Amy
"I remember I liked the badges, and I wanted a lot of them… like all of them… I did not succeed…"
~Ian
"My favorite memory was the Pine Car Derby!"
~Rob H.
If you were in Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, what were your favorite memories?
Well not only do we have an ad that's currently in Girl Scout Leader magazine (has anyone seen it), but we have a lot of employees here at Her Interactive at were Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts at one time. Joining the Scouts has definitely made a difference in their lives if not some great memories at least! From selling cookies and camping trips, to the Pinewood derby and earning badges - it was fun to take a peek into the past to what everyone was doing long before they started making games at Her Interactive.
We asked everyone in the office to share some of their favorite memories from the Girl/Boy Scouts - and we received some touching touching stories that I'd like to share.
"I was a Girl Scout for six years in grade school, my mother was the leader.
I was a GS camp counselor for two summers in college, taking 10-12 year olds on two week canoe trips down the Pend Oreille river in north eastern Washington.
My oldest daughter was a Girl Scout for four years and I was the troop leader.
My favorite memories of GS were the incredible camping trips we went on when I was in 4-6 grade in the Bay Area in California. My mom was big into leadership skills, so the girls were responsible for most of the planning and preparation for the week long trips to camp at Yosemite, the Redwood forests or the beach. We planned the menus, activities, camp fires and camp skills training for the younger girls, shopped for the groceries, made chore charts, etc., and felt like we were so responsible and competent that we were practically grownups. Mom liked to say that we were so well trained that she never had to get up in the morning until the coffee was made, and that was true. We got up, started the fire and put the coffee on to perk, got the breakfast patrol to work on cooking, silently prepared our tents for daily inspection so we wouldn’t wake her, and called her when her coffee was ready. Of course, my dad was up and carefully supervising in his quiet, unobtrusive way. He taught us how to make one match fires even in the rain, and make the right kind of fire to slow cook foil dinners, bake cakes in the dutch oven, pizza or biscuits in the reflector oven, and to make a tent out of rope and a tarp that would keep us dry in a downpour. Mom was an opera singer in local opera productions, and dad competed nationally in barbershop quartet competitions, so they trained us girls to sing our campfire songs in three part harmony. We were so proud of how beautiful the music sounded that campfire sing-alongs often went on for an hour or two every night. We learned to do our part to protect and preserve the incredible parks we camped at by contributing at least one day every trip to trail building, campground maintenance projects or garbage pickup and the Hershey bar we got as a reward for all the hard work at the end of the day was the best tasting candy bar ever."
~Anne
"If it counts, I was a Brownie. Once I “crossed the rainbow bridge†to become an official girl scout, I stopped. I wasn’t terribly involved but the favorite memory was making pumpkin cookies for Halloween with the troop."
~Cathy
"I was a Brownie and than a Girl Scout many, many, many years ago. My favorite memory is of a camping trip my troop took , going on “midnight hikes†and cross a river on a rope bridge."
~Maureen
"I was a Boy Scout for 4 years. Didn’t make Eagle though."
~James S.
"I was a Girl Scout up through 8th grade. I got more proficiency badges (24) than anyone else in my troop. I remember selling cookies door to door every winter, when a box cost way less than a buck, and we had to go to each house twice – first to take the order and then to deliver the cookies. All hell broke loose one winter when my best friend’s house caught fire one night and all the cookie records for our troop were destroyed (her mom was the cookie chairwoman). So we had to try to remember which neighbor had ordered what. Not fun. But my friend was okay. Her mom was never cookie chairwoman again, though…"
~Anne L.
"I was a Cub Scout, then a Boy Scout until I was 18. I achieved the second-highest rank of Life Scout (highest being Eagle Scout).
I think my favorite memory from the scouts was a camping trip which started with us all travelling by train from San Diego to New Mexico when I was 14 or 15. The train ride took us a couple of days and was in and of itself a bit of an adventure. Once we arrived in New Mexico, we drove out to a mountain-range ranch (Philmont Scout Ranch), acres and acres large. Each of us was paired up with a horse. From there, we spent a week riding across the heavily forested Rocky Mountains. We stopped and made camp every night in a new place along the range, feeding and grooming our horses. We learned wilderness survival, horse husbandry, and some leatherworking. The view was breathtaking everywhere we went, with the wide open New Mexico skies, being surrounded by trees, and the unique and magical terrain of cliffs and mountain-top plains and groves, and valley-woods with thick branch canopies. Sunsets are altogether different in the middle of wilderness, especially on horseback."
~James C
"I was a Boy Scout for a few years. My favorite memory is camping under the stars in the Colorado mountains and waking up with a rabbit sitting on my chest. "
~Travis
"When I was 13, my girl scout troop visited Sierra studios. They were finishing up King’s Quest VII and we got to meet some of the women who worked on it (I still have the signed poster I got that day). At that visit, we were shown some of the cool, top secret stuff they were working on for their next title. The memory of seeing that kind of interactive innovation happen before my very eyes really stuck – it was amazing. Hm, maybe that helped to encourage me to get into the game industry?"
~Mari
"My favorite memory was Cub scouts=pinewood derby (got a scar on my fingers from a carving accident) and boy scouts (camping, summer camp and not getting my canoeing merit badge—flunked…)"
~Rob K.
"I liked sailing with my troop."
~Cody
"Finding a cool fossil on one of our hikes… Also doing random fun things (like riding bikes and stuff) to earn those “badge†thingies that you get to wear… "
~Melissa
"I was a “pioneer†– communist girl scout =). Now thinking back it was actually fun – we had a special program where we had to help elderly people or WWII veterans; performed for them; camped in the “wildernessâ€. But we never had to sell anything (no cookies for us!) ;)"
~Alena
"I was a boy scout. My favorite memory was building a small wooden race car with my dad and racing it in our local boy scout’s pinewood derby. I won first place in my division! :)"
~Tim
"I was a Girl Scout, and my favorite memory is of camping trips."
~Amy
"I remember I liked the badges, and I wanted a lot of them… like all of them… I did not succeed…"
~Ian
"My favorite memory was the Pine Car Derby!"
~Rob H.
If you were in Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, what were your favorite memories?
Comments
My favorite memory of girl
My favorite memory of girl scouts is the sleepover I spent with my troup at my leader's house. It was the night before my 11th birthday. We dressed up in costumes, did a few crafts, and my leader styled our hair and colored temporary pink and blue streaks in our hair while we watched a movie. I dressed up as Pocahontas and my friends were Cinderella and Belle. We watched another movie until everyone fell asleep. My leader fell asleep before my closest troup friend and I, and we stayed up until past midnight. My friend wished me happy birthday and we eventually fell asleep. In the morning, my leader surprised me with a few gifts including a stuffed doll and a cute pillow. My mom (former troup leader) came to take me home, thus ending a very great sleepover. It was one of my last days as a Brownie. Technically, I'm practicaly done with girl scouts now even though I quit girl scouts because I moved away and didn't want to meet a new troup. I've never really took that part, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold" to heart when it comes to troups.
I am still in GS, and have
I am still in GS, and have been for almost 7 years. One of my favorite things is the end-of-the-year sleepover. Mine was yesterday. We swam, had pizza, did makeovers, and watched movies. We are saving all of our cookie money to go to Disney World after our Senior year. There are only five of us, so 50 cents a box adds up, and we still have five more years.
i've been doing girl scouts
i've been doing girl scouts for 8 years now and i have a ton of great memories from the trip we took where i accidently cut my thumb with a pocket knife (i couldn't tell which way the knife closed and tried to close it the wrong way) and a chipmunk ate the brownies that we made to the time we had a Hawiian end of the year party after school and had water balloon fights to the time where we were playing "What are you doing" (i think that's the neame of the game anyway) and i had to pretend my friends miniature town had people in it and talk to them and the leaders walked in lol. Another favorite memory is that every year we have a winter holidays inspired meeting and try to guess or act out a Christmas carol. But my favorite experience has to be the time we stayed in a townhouse in Port Townsend WA for four days and a bunch of other fun experiences.
I was a girl scout for 5-6
I was a girl scout for 5-6 years. I loved all the sleepovers and other activities that we did as a troop. Sadly, my leader moved away and the troop disbanded. Luckily, I can still get girl scout cookies from my friend's little sister. There is nothing better than gs cookies!
I am 14 and still in GS, and
I am 14 and still in GS, and my favorite thing to do are the service projects we do as a troop! In addition, it is great to meet so many great friends through scouting. The delicious cookies are an added perk, though! :) Elisabeth
My favorite memory from an
My favorite memory from an overnight was when we were all trying to fall asleep, and the other girls in my troop asked me to tell a story. I asked if they wanted a funny one or a scary one? They said scary, but changed their minds halfway. I think what I ended up with was a story about vampires stalking some girls at a camp that ended with the heroine defeating the vampire with a hitherto undiscovered allergy to poodle drool. Is there a Try-It for endings pulled out of nowhere?
That's awesome that you guys
That's awesome that you guys had those experiences! And I'm certainly glad Mari did! :D
I was in boy scouts for just a little bit. I can't remember too much about them.