How long have you been a Girl Scout?
I have been a Girl Scout for 47 years. Some of those were girl years, but most of them are adult years. I have been a leader of every level except Girl Scout Daisies. My favorites were 30+ years as an older girl leader/advisor. Those were great years and I have kept in touch with many of “my girls.” It is wonderful to see how they have changed from girl to woman.
How long have you been on MCC?
This will be my second time to be on the MCC. My first time was in 2012 for two terms, I think.
What inspired you to join MCC?
I love Girl Scouts and I want as many girls as possible to get to be a Girl Scout. My part of Colorado covers lots of miles and there are very few girls who participate in Girl Scouting in this area. I want to make Girl Scouting available to girls in small towns. I want to be able to help them achieve Highest Awards, travel abroad, and go on Destinations. I also want to show girls and leaders that they can lead and that their dreams and goals can be met through Girl Scouting. Lack of communication is a real problem here because so many do not have internet access and, since so much of Girls Scouting is now online, I would like to see more communications through other ways. I hope that progress can be made through MCC to help GSCO realize that there are big gaps in online communications that is not the girls’ faults. There has to be another way to deliver program.
What have you learned through being part of this committee?
The more people work together to achieve a common goal, the better the experience and the outcome. Working together is also a great example for girls to learn. When they see what can happen with a group working together for a common goal, they will be more likely to use that in their lives, too. Usually, the more people that share a goal and are willing to work for it, the better the committee will be in the future and the more likely that they will share their skills in team building with their troops who, in turn, will use it as they work for a girl-led troop and the more confidence that they will have to achieve it.
Why would you recommend being a member of MCC to other volunteers?
I have noticed, when I do trainings, that most of the leaders have no idea as to how GSCO works, how decisions are made, and what it takes to make Girl Scouting possible. MCC is a good way to “get your feet wet.” It does a lot of it’s work by phone, isn’t so expensive that most people could handle it. You don’t have to travel a long way several times a year. An MCC member gets to know a lot of people in her territory as she talks to them about various concerns. I like it because I get to talk face-to-face with them and can answer questions, and, most of all, establish and a network of people who want to help the troop and the girl and the adult succeed, a relationship that can lead to better understanding of how GSCO works and they have someone they have met who is an person who really cares about girls and the Girl Scout program.
Tell us about yourself.
I am 71-years-old and my husband, Wayne, and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this summer. I was born in Texas, went to school in Texas, married in Texas, lived for 2 1/2 years in Canada teaching in a coed boarding school while my husband was in Vietnam. We have two children, a son, Terry (he and his wife Heather live in Broomfield) and a daughter, Beth (she and her husband Todd, live in Fort Worth and they have our three grandsons, Justyn, Jaxson, and Joshua. Beth is a Gold Award recipient and Lifetime Girl Scout and is the principal of an elementary school. Terry will be starting a new job in June.
Wayne and I love to travel. We have been to almost all 50 states, all but two of the Canadian provinces, Europe, Africa, Ukraine, Vietnam, Ireland, and Central America. Both of us are now retired and we were in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China in January and our anniversary gift to each other will be a trip to England and Scotland in August.
My Girl Scout experience began as a Brownie in Texas when cookies were around $1 a package. I earned my First Class Award in high school. I have been a day camp director, took girls to Macy Conference Center in New York, attended the WAGGGS international conference the year it was held at Macy. I was an alternate to the Vermont Round-Up and, as an adult was on the program staff twice for a Wider Opportunity with 1,200 girls in Tennessee. One year I was the music leader and another year I was the ceremonies director. I was elected for two terms as the president of the Board of Directors for the Columbine Girl Scout region here in southeastern Colorado. I am currently a trainer, program resource person, on three different Gold Award Mentors committees right now, the GSCO History Committee, GSCO Global Girl Scouting committee, and will begin my second time to be on MCC. I am also a Lifetime member of GSUSA and I am looking forward to 2020 to celebrate 50 years as a Girl Scout. I was on the 100th GSUSA celebration state committee in 2012. I coordinated the library display here in Pueblo and did the Flat Juliette activities for the state event. AND…I love being a Girl Scout!
I am the youth ministry leader at our church. One of my duties with that is Vacation Bible School. This is my 5th year to write my own curriculum and it’s a lot of fun! I am responsible for the children’s classes at our church and I teach two classes every week. I am retired from Dillards. My favorite hobbies are reading and music. I am currently trying to declutter our house and it should be finished some time in the next century! I love romance books and historical books and my favorite book is the Bible. I have an Associate of Arts degree from Lubbock Christian University (College back then) and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Abilene Christian University (College back then). I also did some post -graduate work at ACC, but, I never finished it.
I may have left something out, but, this is MORE than enough!
Girl Scouts of Colorado is lucky to have a unique governance system with the Membership Connection Committee as the centerpiece of our democratic process and a way to give our members a strong voice in the issues they care most about. Would you like to be a voice for Girl Scouts of Colorado? Speak up and contribute our success together! To reach the MCC, e-mail GSCO.MCC@gscolorado.org
