Leader Laughs

It's probably not true everywhere, but around here there are quite a number of leaders who have allowed our svelte young figures to, uh, blossom, shall we say?

Three of us met and joined Guiding 7 years ago through our Brownie daughters. We are now great personal friends, and while we've gone our own ways as leaders in Guiding, we are still in the same Trefoil Guild together.

When Janice told her family she was becoming a Guide leader "just like Barb and Sue," her 3rd year Brownie pictured the three of us together and asked (not so innocently):  "Mom, do you HAVE to be fat to be a Guider?"

So much for the Active Living side of Guiding among us, eh!?!

Barb Wright
Southern Vancouver Island Area
Victoria, B.C. Canada

My daughter is four now and will be going to school next year. So of course, we try to teach her things like her address, her phone number etc. Yesterday, in an effort to get her to remember my first name, I said, "And what is Mommy's name?" Of course, the answer was "Mommy." Again, "No, what is my other name?"

Her answer?  "Brown Owl."

Marie Mallay
Brown Owl, 4th Marystown Brownies
Newfoundland, Canada

I was just talking to a trainer friend of mine this morning about my most favorite meeting of my 5 years in Girl Scouts.  The girls were at the end of their 1st grade year and were planning for their 2nd grade year.  I put up posters with these titles 1) field trips; 2) over nights; 3) crafts; 4) service; 5) anything you want.  I told the girls to each take a marker and go around and fill in what they wanted to do for the following year.

Besides the "normal" stuff we had suggestions of taking a trip around the world, a two week camping trip to Canada (we're in Florida), trips to Disney's Magic Kingdom and Epcot, a trip to Sarah Soda (Sarasota, FL is just south of us) and learning to drive a car.

The Sarah Soda got me - I had to read it out loud to figure it out and thus began the biting down on the inside of my mouth.

I got out my Safety-Wise (the gospel book of safety in US Girl Scouting) and explained that we had to go by the rules in that book and the first rule is that we couldn't break the law.  I asked the girls how old you had to be to drive a car.  This extremely bright group of 7 year olds proudly stated that you had to be 15.  I asked if any of them were 15 and as they each said "No, no" they looked around to see if any other 1st grader was indeed the required 15 years of age.  The inside of my mouth was really getting sore about this time from my biting down to keep from laughing.  I asked if any of them expected to turn 15 during the following year and again, they each said "No, no" they looked around to see if any other 1st grader would turn 15 the following year.  I chomped down on my cheek again and explained that we would have to wait to learn to drive a car!

We had also figured out how much income we were going to have for the year with dues, cookies, etc. and figured on about $800.  I had them figure out the expenses for the activities that they wished to do and it was about $250,000.  I sat back and waited while they looked at the totals.  One girl finally said "I guess we'll have to up the dues."

Laura Welborn
Junior Troop Leader, or head fool, Suncoast Girl Scout Council, Tampa, FL, USA.

We had a District Skating Party with about 60 to 70 girls involved.  The Sparks, Brownies and Guides all skated for an hour and then had a hot dog and pop afterwards.  It was an informal event so we told the girls they didn't have to wear their uniforms.  While we were waiting for the parents to arrive I positioned myself at the door to be certain that none of the younger girls left without an adult.  I happened to recognize two of our Sparks across the ice rink swinging on bars practicing some gymnastic maneuvers hanging upside down by their toes.  I immediately got someone else to watch the door and went over, brought both of them back with me and told them both they were not to leave this spot until their parents came and got them.  Of course, a few minutes
later they need to use the washroom.  In their absence, the Dad shows up asks for his daughter by name.  I said you're taking both of them?  No, he was just picking up his own daughter.  So, I'm left with just this one girl.  5 minutes pass, 10 minutes pass then I finally ask, "So is your Mom or Dad coming to pick you up?"  The reply … "Oh no, my parents are already here and they're not leaving until after the hockey game!"  I'm not sure when I picked her up but I wouldn't forget that bright polar fleece sweater anywhere and I definitely remember feeding her a hot-dog!

Karen D. Ramsey
Spark Leader & Brown Owl
Brasd'Or Sydney Mines District, Northside Division, Cape Breton East Area, Nova Scotia Council, Canada

Several years ago, I took a group of Brownies to camp. This camp had "outdoor" washroom facilities. On one occasion when I had the need to use these facilities, I was sitting with my drawers around my ankles when the door to the outhouse was suddenly opened by two giggling twin Brownies, with a camera. They took my picture and much to my dismay I found out later that they entered the picture in the local fair and won first prize for their efforts. They were ecstatic, I was the laugh of the neighbourhood for a while, as well as the local Guiding Community. Oh the life of a Brown Owl!!!!

Sheila Watson, Brown Owl
Thamesford, Ontario, Canada.

I co-ordinate an Area Singing Challenge, whereby Units of all Branches and adults are encouraged to learn a group of songs and sing them onto a tape for me to enjoy, give positive feedback, and bestow crests. To prepare, many Guiders like to hear the songs sung onto a tape, so I make several copies of all the songs for our library. Naturally I make a master copy, and simply dub away until I have enough tapes. Well, I don't trust the machine, so I keep the volume up while it is high speed dubbing. The listen-and-learn technique must work very well, because I noticed a funny noise coming from my 10 year old Cub Scout at dinner one night. When I listened closely I could hear he was singing, "We'retheBrownieshere'souraimlendahandandplaythegame!" at top speed in a Mickey Mouse voice!

Shelagh Walsh
Pathfinder Guider, District Guider, District Program Advisor, Area Arts Trainer, Area Web Site Manager, member BC Council Web Site Task Force,
Canada

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This page last updated March 20th, 2000