Thanks to Karen Lunde for contributing her Girl Scout story
to our guest blog. We appreciate
this walk back in time and all the positive impact that Girl Scouting had on
her life. Read on…
If you’d like to become our next guest blogger, email us and tell us your story.
If you’d like to become our next guest blogger, email us and tell us your story.
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My Girl Scout story, by Karen Lunde
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| Karen Lunde Lifetime Member |
Girl Scouting has had such a positive impact on my life that
it would be impossible to imagine my upbringing without it. I would love to connect with anyone who
shares my story, worked at Camp Sacajawea at the same time, or is interested in hearing more! You can contact me directly by email. Here are some of my
memories of Girl Scouting and how they affected my life.
By selling Girl Scout cookies, I got “camp credit,” even enough to attend twelve-day sessions at Camp Sacajawea for free. Starting at age 14, I was a Counselor-in-Training using the camp name of Linus - as a kid, I had identified with the this character in the Peanuts comic strip. He carried a blanket, and so did I. He was of good character. I was a CIT for three summers at Camp Sac, and at 18, I was an Assistant Unit Leader at Camp Sac. At 19, I was an Assistant Unit Leader at Camp Togowoods near Wasilla, Alaska. At 21, I was a Unit Leader at Camp Lachenwald in the middle of Germany. These experiences were pretty incredible. By working at Girl Scout camps, and then taking a few more weeks to travel in both Alaska and Europe, I created my own opportunity and adventure.
I now live in the small town of Maulburg (pop. about 3,000), in southwest Germany with my German husband, Ingo, and almost six-year old daughter Marie. It seems like my experience as a Girl Scout camp counselor in Germany may have had something to do with my ability and willingness to move here to work as a postdoc in Developmental Biology at the University of Freiburg.
My journey started in Ames, IA as I became a Girl Scout when I was 6-1/2 years old. When I was 18, I paid $100 to become a Lifetime Member through the historic Moingona council.
By selling Girl Scout cookies, I got “camp credit,” even enough to attend twelve-day sessions at Camp Sacajawea for free. Starting at age 14, I was a Counselor-in-Training using the camp name of Linus - as a kid, I had identified with the this character in the Peanuts comic strip. He carried a blanket, and so did I. He was of good character. I was a CIT for three summers at Camp Sac, and at 18, I was an Assistant Unit Leader at Camp Sac. At 19, I was an Assistant Unit Leader at Camp Togowoods near Wasilla, Alaska. At 21, I was a Unit Leader at Camp Lachenwald in the middle of Germany. These experiences were pretty incredible. By working at Girl Scout camps, and then taking a few more weeks to travel in both Alaska and Europe, I created my own opportunity and adventure.
I now live in the small town of Maulburg (pop. about 3,000), in southwest Germany with my German husband, Ingo, and almost six-year old daughter Marie. It seems like my experience as a Girl Scout camp counselor in Germany may have had something to do with my ability and willingness to move here to work as a postdoc in Developmental Biology at the University of Freiburg.
My journey started in Ames, IA as I became a Girl Scout when I was 6-1/2 years old. When I was 18, I paid $100 to become a Lifetime Member through the historic Moingona council.
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| Me as a Brownie |
As a Brownie, from 1971-1973, at the end of each meeting, we stood in
two lines and formed a tunnel with our hands over to the other side. One by one, we each ran through the tunnel,
as we sang, “Merrily, we roll along …”
Girl Scout summer camp Camp Sacajawea in Boone, Iowa, had a major impact upon my growing up. In the summer of 1973, I went to Camp Sacajawea for the first time. I was a Rambler, for a six-day session. Geri and Sandy were in my tent, and Kermit, HoHo, and Chipper were my counselors. I learned the song, “Once upon a time, in a wee little cottage, there were three bears, cha, cha, cha..."
Girl Scout summer camp Camp Sacajawea in Boone, Iowa, had a major impact upon my growing up. In the summer of 1973, I went to Camp Sacajawea for the first time. I was a Rambler, for a six-day session. Geri and Sandy were in my tent, and Kermit, HoHo, and Chipper were my counselors. I learned the song, “Once upon a time, in a wee little cottage, there were three bears, cha, cha, cha..."
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| Me ready for the parade |
As a Junior, we put on a play for Dad-Daughter Date Night
and we learned to roller skate at the J4-Rollaway. I think of this now, while I teach my daughter to inline
skate outside in our cul-de-sac.
Our troop sang songs like, “When ‘ere you make a promise, consider well
its importance... “ Ames has very active Girl Scouts. I remember marching with the Girl Scouts in the Ames
Memorial Day parade, and going to Day.
I sold hundreds of dollars worth of Girl Scout cookies and nuts over the years and when I learned I could get “camp credit”, I sold even more. The fraternities at Iowa State University were my favorite place to sell Girl Scout cookies.
Every summer, I went back to Camp Sacajawea. We sang, and sang, and sang! I remember a camp counselor named “Teach” (a fifth grade teacher in real life) who took us on “teach hikes” helping us learn along the way. I also took my first (and only) horse-riding lessons at camp. We went rappelling on the tower at the 4-H camp, and scuba diving in the pool. Little did I know that I would go on to get my advanced scuba license and love the whole new world under the water. Two other camp counselors, Flicker and Teddy, helped me even beyond camp as they wrote me letters during my transition to Ankeny.
I sold hundreds of dollars worth of Girl Scout cookies and nuts over the years and when I learned I could get “camp credit”, I sold even more. The fraternities at Iowa State University were my favorite place to sell Girl Scout cookies.
Every summer, I went back to Camp Sacajawea. We sang, and sang, and sang! I remember a camp counselor named “Teach” (a fifth grade teacher in real life) who took us on “teach hikes” helping us learn along the way. I also took my first (and only) horse-riding lessons at camp. We went rappelling on the tower at the 4-H camp, and scuba diving in the pool. Little did I know that I would go on to get my advanced scuba license and love the whole new world under the water. Two other camp counselors, Flicker and Teddy, helped me even beyond camp as they wrote me letters during my transition to Ankeny.
I also traveled with Girl Scouts as a Cadette to Mackinac
Island in summer 1978, and to the Ozarks in summer 1979. The trips were great. The most important thing that I did on
the first trip was to meet a girl from rural Nevada named Robin Richards. She later participated in a successful
sit-in in the executive offices of the University of Iowa to convince them to
sell their investments that they had made in South Africa, as long as South
Africa maintained apartheid.
On May 13, 1979, I participated in Memories Alive, the 50th
Anniversary of Moingona Council, at Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines. Thanks to our mothers, who patiently
sewed our 1929 Girl Scout uniform replicas. We did both the 1929 opening, and the contemporary closing
flag ceremonies. They had me stand up, as a recipient of the First Class
award that year.
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| Me getting my First Class Award |
In 1979, 1980, and 1981, I was a Counselor-in-Training at Camp Sacajawea.
I received the Gold Award in fall, 1981, after volunteering an hour or so per week during the fall semester to help a man from China learn English, at the University of Iowa.
After spending so much quality time there, the physical layout of Camp Sacajawea has a special place in my mind. The camp units themselves were fine. I lived in Mayea Meadow, Windy Ridge, Whistling Oaks, and Rainbow Ridge, but not in Shoshonie Villiage. As a CIT, I lived in Carpenter Lodge, and the Knoll. We took hikes to the river by both day and night. We had hayrack rides to Tip’s Point. We went inner-tubing in the Des Moines River and canoeing on Don Williams Lake. The Ranger Trail led around the whole camp.
Camp Sacajawea was not only open in the summer. We had Fall Frolics, resulting in a camp clean-up to end the season. Winter Frolics were great there too. Once, we even had a CIT reunion in the Mayea lodge. Camp Sac is a great place to get together with good friends.
In 1983, I was an Assistant Unit Leader at Camp Sacajawea. I worked with some wonderful people there.
I received the Gold Award in fall, 1981, after volunteering an hour or so per week during the fall semester to help a man from China learn English, at the University of Iowa.
After spending so much quality time there, the physical layout of Camp Sacajawea has a special place in my mind. The camp units themselves were fine. I lived in Mayea Meadow, Windy Ridge, Whistling Oaks, and Rainbow Ridge, but not in Shoshonie Villiage. As a CIT, I lived in Carpenter Lodge, and the Knoll. We took hikes to the river by both day and night. We had hayrack rides to Tip’s Point. We went inner-tubing in the Des Moines River and canoeing on Don Williams Lake. The Ranger Trail led around the whole camp.
Camp Sacajawea was not only open in the summer. We had Fall Frolics, resulting in a camp clean-up to end the season. Winter Frolics were great there too. Once, we even had a CIT reunion in the Mayea lodge. Camp Sac is a great place to get together with good friends.
In 1983, I was an Assistant Unit Leader at Camp Sacajawea. I worked with some wonderful people there.
In 1984, I worked as an Assistant Unit Leader at Girl Scout Camp Togowoods, near Wasilla, Alaska. Since this is so far north, when I led “Teach” hikes, there were not as many species of plants to teach about. The website says that Camp Togowoods is now hiring for the summer of 2012.
I enjoy singing and playing my guitar with Girl Scouts. At Camp Togowoods, I met a woman who spoke of her time at Camp Lachenwald in Germany where they sang great songs. So, in 1986, I worked at Camp Lachenwald, in Germany for about six weeks. I was also able to travel with my bicycle (and trains) in Europe for the three weeks ahead of the camp season (Brussels, Paris, Marseille, Menton, Antibes, Rome, Florence, Innsbruck, Munich), and for three weeks after it (Koblenz, Mainz, Speyer, Strasbourg, Hornberg, Triberg, Basel, Adelboden (Our Chalet), Amsterdam, and London).
To provide an example of what can happen to a Girl Scout when she grows up, my education includes a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa. To round out the liberal arts side of me, I got a Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) there too. Before this, I had seen signs up on bulletin boards around campus about the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Program. I lived in the Foreign Language House (FLH, highly recommendable!), took a year of college Japanese, a semester of linguistics, and audited a course in “Teaching English as a Second Language.” In November, 1989, I applied with the JET Program. In April, 1990, I traveled to Chicago to interview at the Japanese Embassy in Chicago. I got in!
From July, 1990, to July, 1992, I lived in Ichikawadaimon-cho in Yamanashi prefecture in Japan. Yamanashi is the sister state of Iowa. Kofu is the sister city of Des Moines. I “team-taught” English in the junior high schools in my small town, through the JET Program. It was great!
I got a BA in Biochemistry in May, 1993. There, I met Professor Pamela Geyer who does research in molecular genetics using Drosophila (fruit flies). I was excited to learn that you can put genes (DNA) into live Drosophila and use this as a research technique. I developed an interest in studying animal development using Drosophila.
I then worked as a laboratory technician in Biology at John Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, then I worked as a Technician, and then as a “Junior Scientist” studying animal development in a Drosophila lab at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota.
I did my Ph.D. work in Biology at the University of California at San Diego. From there, I moved to Freiburg, Germany, and worked as a postdoc in Developmental. I married Ingo Buschke (keeping my same name) and then our daughter Marie came along. For a couple of years, I taught and tutored English as a second language here in Germany. I now work as a Research Associate with CERES, Clinical Evaluation and Research, in Loerrach, Germany.
Our daughter Marie speaks English with me, and German with Ingo. I didn’t anticipate that I would be teaching my daughter to speak, read, and write in English. On the other hand, living in Germany, I did expect to do the lion’s share of teaching Marie about the U.S.A. So, I have begun homeschooling Marie in the evening.
Back in 1983, my Lifetime Membership cost $100. Today, the cost is $300. At High School Graduation, a reduced cost is offered at $156. Do you know a teenage Girl Scout who you would like to sponsor to become a Lifetime Member?
I wish you much success in Girl Scouts, and in life!
- Karen Lunde (Ph.D., Biology; Lifetime Member, Girl Scouting)
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