100th Anniversary - Guest Blog: Doruska

We welcome Molly Doruska as our guest blogger this week.  She is an active Girl Scout and has a great connection with our 100th Anniversary... read on...

If you'd like to be our next guest blogger, please let us know by emailing us your story!

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Molly with Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds

My life has always been a busy one. There never really was or are any dull moments. Joining Girl Scouts in fifth grade, after finding time, has created so many more amazing moments for me. I have attended camp at Camp Tanglefoot and Camp Sacajawea. There, I have learned so many skills. But more important than all the things I have learned, is all the people I have met. I have made so many friends and met so many amazing role models at camp since I have entered the world of Girl Scouting. They have inspired me to go back to my community and influence it. 

I have assisted those with brain injuries for my Bronze Award. Then I made over twenty lap blankets for the nursing home patients as my Silver Award. I asked for help in carrying my work on, and the Ankeny Girl Scouts made fifty-six blankets for the local nursing homes to hand out while caroling. These have all been great moments that Girl Scouts have implanted in my life.

Recently, I was asked in my extended learning class to take on a project to challenge myself. I knew immediately I wanted to enter the Write Women Back into History Essay Contest. My topic would be Juliette Gordon Low as we entered into the 100th anniversary year.  Little did I know that the theme was women’s education and women’s empowerment!  I did my research and learned so much about how Juliette Gordon Low battled not only the social norms of the time, but also hearing loss in order to found the Girl Scouts. My essay on her accomplishments and their impacts on my life won first place in the 8th-9th grade division. It was my little way to add to the celebration of Girl Scouts 100th year celebration.

This celebration should inspire us all to go back into our communities and create lasting moments with others. Juliette Gordon Low’s gathering of eighteen girls in Savannah, Georgia allows us to be part of the wonderful organization she created. If she created so many waves in 1912, why can’t we keep the ripples alive? 

I believe there are two reasons for this celebration: to look back, and to look forward. We look back on the history of Girl Scouts and see many amazing accomplishments of women and girls everywhere. As we look ahead, ask yourself, what do I want my world to look like? Whatever your issue is, face it head on. Use the courage and confidence of Juliette Gordon Low as your own. Let’s make the celebration of 100 years an inspiration to impact the future. You, too, can create moments to remember.

- Molly Doruska

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100th Anniversary - Guest Blog: Lunde

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.

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My Girl Scout story, by Karen Lunde

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.

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..."

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 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. 

Me getting my
First Class Award

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.

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 was a Campus Girl Scout in about September, 1983, to May, 1984, at the University of Iowa, after which there didn’t seem to be any Campus Girl Scouts there anymore.  We camped out at a Girl Scout camp near Iowa City, and made lasagna over the campfire.  Later, I made lasagna for the first time at home.

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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100th Anniversary - Guest Blog: Murphy

We welcome Diane Murphy, Girl Services Director for the Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa as our guest blogger.  We are grateful for her memories of Girl Scouting and the contribution to help girls succeed.  

If you would like to be our next guest blogger, email us and tell us your story!

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Diane Murphy and
daughter Megan
Girl Services Director
Mason City and Fort Dodge Area
Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa

Although I was a Girl Scout growing up through 6th grade, the greatest impact as a Girl Scout has come to me as an adult.  First as a troop leader; Service Unit Manager; a volunteer member of my council’s Product Sale Team; and now as a professional Girl Scout staff.  My story begins the same as many of you.  When my daughter, Megan, was in first grade there was a registration night at school.  Megan was shy and quiet so I was happy when she wanted to go see what it was about.  What happened next set the stage for my future as much as it did hers.  Megan looked up at me and said she would only be a Girl Scout if I were her leader.  As I looked down into her longing eyes I knew there was only one answer. I believed in the mission of Girl Scouting and knew it was something I wanted her to be a part of; little did I know that I would be just as impacted by that decision as she was.

Although I have memories of my girl years my adult years are even more vivid with memories and new experiences.  My best friendships are with people I met as a Girl Scout volunteer.  My first airplane flight was as a Girl Scout Staff.  Just as our girls have these experiences, so can we as adult Girl Scouts.

When I was a volunteer, I portrayed Juliette Gordon Low for my Service Unit each October at our Juliette Low birthday party.  I gathered lots of stories about our founder so I would be able to bring her to life for the girls.  The more I read the more I appreciated all that she had been through and how her life experiences had impacted her and would come to impact girls and women for years to come.

I often wonder if she thought we would still be here 100 years later and what we would look like.  I was fascinated by her years while she was starting the organization; she was determined and stubborn and dedicated to helping girls develop the skills to succeed in life.  She wanted girls to see the possibilities that were available to them.  I knew I had succeeded in bringing her to life when one little girl asked me if I was really Juliette Low.  To me that was huge compliment.  If you have not spent time reading about our founder, I suggest that you do, it will give you a deeper appreciation for what she accomplished and what our mission is all about.

When I became a staff member with the Girl Scout Council of North Iowa I continued my role as Juliette Low. In one day the membership department traveled to four different locations with a special event for girls who had registered through the early-bird program.  Each troop in attendance had their picture taken with Juliette Low.  At the Mason City location my daughter had her picture taken with Juliette (aka Mom).  Looking through old pictures at the office recently I came across a set of those pictures and the memories flooded back.  The eyes of those young girls reminded me why I became involved in the first place.  Those eyes reminded me of my daughter’s eyes so many years earlier.  Twelve years later I still see those eyes when I meet new Girl Scouts and their leaders.  Sometimes those leaders are moms, but sometimes they are women who had a positive experience as a Girl Scout and want to bring that experience to the next generation.  I feel blessed to be part of this organization and look forward to the next 100 years.


- Diane Murphy

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100th Anniversary - Guest Blog: Bonner/Byers

This week’s guest blog entry is brought to us by Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa Girl Services Manager Joyce Bonner who writes about her long time friend 97-year-old Dorothy Byers of Ottumwa. Byers was recently featured in the Des Moines Register as the oldest Girl Scout in Iowa. What an accomplishment!

If you'd like to be our next guest blogger, email us and tell us your story.

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Dorothy Byers
Ottumwa, IA

recently featured by the
Des Moines Registeras the oldest Girl Scout in Iowa

A Friendship Made to Last (by Joyce Bonner):  I first met Dorothy Byers when I went to Summer Day camp offered in the local park.  The days were filled with fun activities, singing, and giggles, and after the first day we cooked our own lunch.  Cooking was done on open fire, in pots and pans, or the stove we made using coffee and tuna cans.  I knew it was great then but it wasn’t until I was I became a volunteer Day Camp Director for the girls in town did I really appreciate the experience she had given us.      

When I went as a girl there was no storage space, so everything was hauled in daily and the park shelter became our supply depot.  At the end of the day as we waited for our pickups we would help carry things to be loaded in the car.  Never giving it a thought that when we got there the next morning it would all be back in the park shelter ready to start the day when we arrived the next day.

When I was leading day camp we had a building, refrigerator, and a place to store all of our cooking equipment, and all of the other activity and cooking supplies we would need for the week.  It was then that I came to realize all the work that she did to get ready for our day camp.  It was then that I realized how much she gave for all the girls to have the experience.  At that time, she was still helping with Day camp as a unit leader, and I could thank her for the experience.  The day camp girls are now grown, with children of their own, and tell me how much fun they had at day camp, “the highlights of my summer” or “remember when we..."  Although they are now giving me credit, it is really a legacy of Dorothy’s that I have the privilege of passing on to the next generation.

Dorothy always showed her faith in you that you could do whatever was in question at the time; I remember her encouragement coming with the phrase “Shall we give it a try?”  

Going to Dorothy’s house to see her doll collection was a field trip for every troop in the area - for many it was an annual tradition.   The special Girl Scout dolls always came out and she had stories about all of them, and her Girl Scout paper dolls had real hair.

While in college, I needed to do a presentation for Cross Culture Communication class.   I didn’t believe I could do it; I definitely did not do public speaking, let alone a 30 minute presentation on another culture.  When I voiced my doubts, she said “Of course you can!  You know all the stories about my American Indian Dolls.”   I had used some of the stories to help girls earn the Folk Lore badge during ‘established’ camp, were I worked for Dorothy as a camp counselor.  As I began the presentation, the first sentence came out totally mixed up, it wasn’t a planned part of the presentation but my next statement was to tell the group I was horribly nervous but I could get through the presentation.  I used the dolls and told their stories for my presentation, it was a success.  After this I could take the speech class I needed to graduate without so much dread.  

Dorothy has never stopped giving to others.  Just a few years ago a group of Juniors wanted her to be their guest at a Mother and Daughter Tea.  Part of the activities was to make festive place mats to decorate the tables for our tea.  Girls offered to make one for Dorothy, but she said she would be glad to join them in doing the activity.  While creating the place mats, Dorothy suggested that they all make an extra one to share with elderly people who were shut in, to receive one of the place mats would brighten their day.   This was such a typical remark from her.  Even though Dorothy arrived at the tea via a wheelchair, physically not able to walk from parking lot into church, needing assistance to be out of her home, a shut in herself.  We presented her with her 80 years membership pin guard at this tea.

Thank you Dorothy for all you have done for Girl Scouting.  You have left a lifetime legacy.

- Joyce Bonner

To read the Des Moines Register’s Article about Dorothy, click here.

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100th Anniversary - Guest Blog: Olson

Jeannette Olson has written some of her Girl Scout story relating to the celebration of our 100th Anniversary for all of us to enjoy this week.  Thank you, Jeannette, for sharing your first hand experience!

If you'd like to be our next guest blogger, we'd love to hear your story - just email us!

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Jeannette Olson
former Service Unit Volunteer
Ames, IA

I have many things to be grateful for. One of them is that my mother took the time to be my Brownie leader in the 1960s. She introduced me to a wonderful organization that has had an untold influence on my life, and now I am able to share this experience with my daughter and her friends in Senior Troop 601.

This Spring Break, while half of our troop was in Orlando for Band trip and the other half went to the 100th Anniversary Celebration at the Mall of America, my spouse and I traveled to Savannah to celebrate my birthday and Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary.  (Yes, I was born on March 12th.)

Savannah was teeming with Girl Scouts everywhere we went. It was delightful to see Girl Scouts, young and old, exploring the town where Juliette Gordon Low started this organization a century ago. Sure there were lines as we waited to see the first headquarters of Girl Scouts and Juliette’s birthplace, but we were able to meet girls and women from across the country who had gathered to celebrate this special occasion and we heard their stories about how they worked to be able to participate in this once in a lifetime adventure.

It was fun to see how the local businesses joined in the centennial celebration. For example, Leopold’s, an ice cream parlor that has been around almost as long as the Girl Scouts (It opened in 1919), had Savannah Smiles ice cream as one of their flavors.

Candle Lighting Ceremony
Anna Maria Chavez

On the 12th, there was a Sunrise Ceremony at Forsyth Park. The color guard dressed in uniforms from different time periods.  Two members of a Savannah Girl Scout troop from the 1940s led us as we said the Promise, and Anna Maria Chavez, the current CEO of Girl Scouts, spoke about Juliette’s legacy and the call to continue the work to develop girls who become women who work to make the world a better place. The event closed with a candle lighting ceremony as we sang some traditional, as well as some new Girl Scout songs.

That evening several women from the Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana Council sponsored a “Promise Circle.” At 1912 military time, we made a circle of girls and women from different corners of the United States to say the Promise and sing some favorite songs. This was followed by a reception with juice and Girl Scout cookies, of course!
 

- Jeannette Olson

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