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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Influential Women Leaders Share Their Favorite Camp Memories


Happy National CampRocks Day! What does camp mean to some of the most influential women in Northern California? We asked our Top 100 Women "Greening" the Future 2012 awardees about their favorite Girl Scout memory. Not surprising, camp was top on their list of memorable and impactful Girl Scout experiences! Learn more about the power of camp at CampRocks.org!

Eva Patterson
Eva Patterson – president, Equal Justice Society – “As a young girl, I felt unworthy … Going to Girl Scout camp gave me the feeling for the first time that I was a good person who was liked and loved. This changed my life.”

Heather Young, partner, Fergus Garber Young Architects – “My first Girl Scout camping trip. Who can forget singing by the campfire as we toasted marshmallows for s’mores and the smell of smoke that lingers on your clothes.”

Melissa L. Bradley, managing director, New Capitalist – “As a Brownie growing up in an urban environment, my first camping trip and campfire exposed me to a whole new world.”

Julie Castro Abrams
Julie Castro Abrams, board director, Women’s Funding Network – “Being sunburned and exhausted from a day outside at camp activities and laying on my bunk bed talking with the girls in my cabin about our dreams before falling into a deep, refreshing sleep where it was forever imprinted on my brain that girls can do anything.”

Mitchell Baker, chair, Mozilla Foundation – “My first adventure traveling alone and seeing what developed was in 4th grade when I signed up for a Girl Scout summer camp based on the brochures and not where my friends were going.”

Peggy Furth, managing partner, SonomaCeuticals – “Going camping as a 10-year-old Girl Scout and attempting to cook beef stew in a coffee can over an open fire. We were more successful with the s’mores for dessert.”

Jan Yanehiro
Jan Yanehiro, broadcast journalist and media consultant, Yanehiro Inc. – “Learning to start a fire on a camping trip as a Brownie! Sticks, twigs, sparks from the rocks … and a lot of puffing!”

Barbara Banke, proprietor, Jackson Family Wines and co-founder, SonomaCeuticals – “Camping and hiking with all my friends.”

Regina Jackson, president and CEO, East Oakland Youth Development Center – “I remember an overnight outdoor adventure … It rained and everyone was trying to get out of the rain. We shared a very tight space and everyone had so much more fun working as one unit.”

Vanessa Robledo
Vanessa Robledo, owner and CEO, Black Coyote Wines – “At Camp CEO last summer. I was a mentor and it was amazing to watch the girls begin to come together as a team in just a few days. Some changed from negative to positive thinking. Others were motivated by future possibilities.”

Liz Ellis, president, Green Valley Consulting Engineers – “Without a doubt, the camping trips we would take to all the different places we have available to us in California.”    

Annette Russ, founder, Just One Person – “My most memorable Girl Scout memory was frying an egg on a hot rock at Girl Scout camp and eating it for breakfast.”  

Radha Basu
Radha Basu, co-founder and advisor, Anudip Foundation – “The adventure of getting lost in the woods and reluctantly being ‘found.’”

Judge Joyce Hinrichs, Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt – “I loved day camp every summer. My camp name was ‘Snoopy.’”   

Debra Pryor – former fire chief, Berkeley Fire Department - “Attending Girl Scout Camp during summer vacation. The songs we sang, the arts and crafts projects and learning how to saddle and ride a horse.”

Colleen McCreary
Colleen McCreary, chief people officer, Reputation.com – “Summer Girl Scout Camp in Massachusetts, mid ‘80s. I made two lifelong friends that I keep in touch with despite the distance.”

Cathy Corison, winemaker/proprietor, Corison Winery – “Learning how to tie a square knot in Brownies.”

Lynda Pearson – co-founder/CCO, Amazon Advertising – “Summer camp: rewriting lyrics to camp songs and winning a prize for creating a sculpture out of mud.”

Marcy Smothers
Marcy Smothers, host/producer, At the Table Radio “As a Cadette, learning to make a pineapple upside down cake in a camp fire.”

Pamela F. Service, author/curator – “After years of attending camp, becoming a camp nature counselor and showing girls constellations at night and snakes during the day.”

Kirsten Tobey, founder, Revolution Foods – “My most memorable experience was my first camping trip. We went to Angel Island and it was so much fun.”

Ginger Wadsworth, author, First Girl Scout: The Life of Juliette Low – “A five week-long bicycling and camping trip with my troop from San Diego to Canada back in my teens.”

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Cookie Customer Praises the Selfless Character Shown by Santa Clara Girl Scout


This wonderful letter was sent to a troop leader in Santa Clara by a cookie customer who was so impressed with the Girl Scout Cadette who knocked on her door that she wanted to share her story about Kylie. Cheers for Kylie for living the Girl Scout Law and being "a sister to every Girl Scout" - and thanks to the thousands of other Girl Scouts who are making positive impressions in your communities!

Do you have a great Girl Scout story? You can share your good news about Girl Scouts by emailing social@girlscoutsnorcal.org. And remember, you can find cookies from Girl Scouts of Northern California girls until March 16, 2014 using our Online Cookie Locator at iLoveCookies.org.

Dear Troop Leader 60110,

I would like to share an encounter I recently had with one of the young ladies in your troop. Let me start off by saying that I have been buying Girl Scout cookies for several years. The girls I interact with are daughters of friends, nearby neighbors and some are complete strangers, but all are very friendly. However, I have never come across a Girl Scout more deserving of my support until this week.

Kylie is a young lady who always greets you with a smile on her face and is usually bestowing a positive attitude. She and a fellow Girl Scout came to my house this past week to sell your beloved cookies. My doorway brightened up with Kylie’s smile and I really did not want to turn her down, but I had bought some cookies a few days prior and had promised to purchase more from another friend’s daughter. I explained this to Kylie and although her smile diminished (understandably so), her reply was, “That’s okay. I understand. Thanks for supporting US.” I closed the door, thought a moment about how she was spending her weekend evening going door-to-door selling cookies and about her response to me and went out to find her. I ended up buying some cookies from her that night and again a few days later.

I understand the goal of Girl Scouts of the USA is to build young ladies with courage, confidence and character to make the world a better place, and that each girl is to live by the Girl Scout Law. With the guidance of her parents and the troop leaders, I feel Kylie encompasses the qualities the organization wants to instill in every young lady. It takes courage and confidence to go selling cookies without your parent by your side and it takes someone (especially a pre-teen) with character to think about someone other than herself, or in this case, her troop. Kylie was thinking of the rest of her “sisters” with her response about “supporting us.” Kudos to Kylie ...

Warm regards,
A Girl Scouts of the USA Supporter