Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts

Our Lady of Lourdes Grade School

Philadelphia, PA

1964-1967

I was in the girl scouts in 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade and I loved it. We met every Thursday after school in our little basement cafeteria of my elementary school.  We were allowed to wear our green uniforms, which was a welcomed relief from the mandated plaid uniform we wore every other day.

Mostly, we played.  We ran around in the courtyard and chased each other and screeched and yelled to each other. Sometimes we had a few projects to do.  I did earn three badges: hospitality, trees and sewing.  I never did get around to sewing my sewing patch on my sash.  I can still identify a Sycamore leaf and I always tell people which forks to use when we are in a fancy resultant.  So all was not a waste of time.

I was the high cookie sales person in my troop.  I sold 120 boxes of cookies each year and I only had to go, literally, door to door.  I went next door to Mr. Treresey”s house and he bought 100 boxes for the local orphanage.  He paid for all of these cookies in rolls of nickels which he thought was hysterical.  A box cost 45 cents back when I sold them.

Then my mother bought 20 boxes and ten minutes into this effort, I was finished with my obligation to sell those cookies.  While the rest of my scouting friends spent their afternoons going door to door to try to beat my records, I sat on the couch and watched Merv Griffin.