100th Anniversary - Guest Blog: Emery

Lori Emery is our guest blogger this week as we continue to celebrate our 100 years of Girl Scouting.  Thank you Lori for your inspiring words. 

If you'd like to be our next guest blogger, email us and let us know!

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Lori Emery's Girl Scout Brownie Troop
1967

My name is Lori Emery and I am new to Iowa, but not new to Girl Scouts.  I am proud to say that Girl Scouts has been part of my life for more than 30 years (adding when I was a Girl Scout to my volunteer time as a leader or assistant leader for my two daughters).
 
As a young girl I grew up in Alliance, Ohio and my mother was the Girl Scout Brownie leader.  We did lots of fun activities including hiking.  Back then we felt pretty special hiking with our ‘hobo bags’ even though it was just around a four-block area of our school!
 

Lori Emery
Junior Girl Scout
1969

As a Girl Scout Junior, I earned every badge there was.  I was seldom seen without my badge book as I saw every place I went as an opportunity to be a Girl Scout in action.  Today one might call it being an over-achiever.    
 
As a Girl Scout Cadette, I became more social and we worked in a patrol system.  Each patrol picked the activities and badges they wanted to work on.  I was fortunate enough to be in a patrol in which we all loved horses and we went to the nearby Girl Scout camp every chance we got so we could ride the donkeys there.
 
When I had my first daughter, Tracy, I knew that I would be involved in Girl Scouts again when she was old enough.  I started a troop for Tracy and her friends in 1983, the first year that Girl Scout Daisies was offered.  It was a great group of girls and since all the parents worked, we ran the troop as sort of a co-op, with me as the leader and each of the parents taking a month to be the assistant leader.  This was a simple way to allow everyone to be involved without having too much on one person’s plate.  Through Tracy’s years of Girl Scouts, we moved several times, but each time found a troop to be involved with.  We enjoyed camping, badges, arts & crafts, friendships, selling cookies, and so much more. 
 
My second daughter, Andrea, was born in 1993 and once again I was lucky enough to be a leader.  We lived in Coppell, Texas from the time Andrea started as a Girl Scout Daisy through January of this year.  Our troop started off with nine bright-eyed girls and a few experienced moms.  We were lucky enough to have two assistant leaders that stuck by me through all the years.  We saw our group grow to sixteen girls as Girl Scout Juniors.  This troop, unlike my other daughter’s troops, did not like camping, so we had many “hotel” adventures and even stayed in a barn bed & breakfast one time.  By 9th grade our troop had dwindled down to six girls, four of the six had been together since Daisies.  I am proud to say that ALL six of the girls earned their Girl Scout Gold Award this past year.  But we’re not done yet!  We still have a big "end-of-scouting" trip planned this summer…we are all going to a beach house at Perdido Key near Pensacola, Florida.  As an extra bonus for these girls, we as leaders are giving each one a lifetime membership in Girl Scouts. 
 

Lori Emery
Volunteer
30 year member of Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts teaches girls so many things.  I have had the opportunity to watch my current troop grow through the years from quiet, shy young girls (well, there were a few that were out-going from the get-go) into lovely young women that are in their Senior year of high school.  These girls are leaders in their schools and in our community demonstrating confidence, caring, and courage.  Each and every one of them gives back to other organizations, going above and beyond any requirements for Girl Scouts.  They are smart, think for themselves, and are goal-oriented.  It is my hope that they will all become Girl Scout leaders themselves one day.
 
As we celebrate 100 years of Girl Scouts, I like to think about all that Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts, did and how she held true to her vision to give girls opportunities that otherwise might not have been available.  She said, "Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best."  I find this to be true and know that the values of Girl Scouts have taught not just me but generations of girls to how to make the world a better place! 
 
- Lori Emery

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