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Girl Scouts in uniform gather around the refreshment table after the 100 year celebration of Girl Scouts at the Cannon County Senior Center Community Room. Every variety of cookie was available with Samoa being the crowd favorite.
Our special guests were recognized by Carla Bush, Troop 331 Leader. They were Mike Gannon, County Executive and Catherine Knowles from the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, Murfreesboro Office. The following are our local troop leader who without their leadership we would not have Girl Scouts here in Cannon County: Emily Tate, Service Unit 158 Coordinator, Troop Leader for Ambassadors 1407, Brownies 253 & Daisies 253; Mary Allocco, Junior Troop 259 Leader; Louise Acuna, Ambassadors 1407 & Junior Troop 259 Leader; Darlene Poppele, Juniors Troop 323 Leader; Lisa Wisdom, Juniors Troop 323 Leader; Rhonda Floyd, Junior Troop 5044 Leader; Julie Morton, Junior Troop 5044 Leader; Lynann Campbell, Cadette Troop 236 Leader; Chassity Burks, Cadette Troop 236 Leader; Jamie Hibdon, Brownie/Daisy Troop 331 Leader; Carla Bush, Brownie/Daisy Troop 331 Leader; and Rachel Taylor, Daisy/Brownie Troop 253 Leader.
Katie Marrisa Pack, Junior Girl Scout from Troop 5044, shared with the audience about Juliette Gordon Low, founder, and how Girl Scouts was formed in Savannah, Georgia with the mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
Angela Acuna, Senior Girl Scout from Troop 1407 gave a timeline of Girl Scout accomplishments through the years. For example during World War I, girls sold war bonds, worked in hospitals, and collected peach pits for use in gas mask filters. Girl Scouts led community relief efforts during the Great Depression by collecting clothing, making quilts, carving wood toys, gathering food for the poor, assisting in hospitals, participating in food drives, and providing meals to undernourished children.
Julie Ann Bush, Brownie Troop 331 reported that today, there are 3.2 million Girl Scouts. In Cannon County there are seven troops with 50 members in five age levels: Daisies - kindergarten & 1st grades, Brownies – 2nd & 3rd grades, Juniors - 4th & 5th grades, Cadettes - 6th through 8th grades, Seniors - 9th & 10th grades, and Ambassadors - 11th & 12th grades.
Local service learning projects were reported by Chelsea Simpson, Senior Troop 1407, like Keep America Beautiful, Pinwheels for Peace, Soles for Souls and more. Troops also enjoy enriching experiences, like field trips to the Nashville Zoo, Discovery Center, Cumberland Caverns, and Chattanooga Aquarium.
World Thinking Day was just completed for 2012. Jade Barrett, Caddette Troop 1407 told the audience how each troop selects and learns about a country and presents a booth for all of the members to visit. With a World Thinking Day passport individuals see how girl scouts from that country live, what they wear, what they eat, and play.
Megan Alviar, Cadette Troop 1407 had bad news for the audience about the time capsule buried in Auburntown 20-30 years ago. Cookie Ganoe was a troop leader for a junior troop then and they buried it “just to remember what had gone on in our lives at that time.” With the cooperation of Roger Turney, Mayor of Auburntown, they buried their capsule at the front of the sign at C.S. Hawkins Park in Auburntown. With the permission of Mrs. Ganoe and Mr. Turney, we attempted to exhume their capsule and share its contents.
Unfortunately, after two hours of digging a good Samaritan arrived on the scene to report that the area had been landscaped at least twice in that amount of time and that their time capsule was likely disposed of. Rebecca Bryan Tate, was one of the members who remembered burying it and she recalled that they included a M.C. Hammer doll, a cassette tape, and newspaper from that time.
We have learned from this experience and have made plans for our commemorative time capsule to have bit more permanence. Sam Newman, Senior Troop 1407 explained our plan for a 6 inch PVC pipe that is 12 inches long with caps that will be sealed. Included in our capsule will be the centennial patch, a cookie order form, the sign-in sheet and a CD of pictures from the celebration event. We will also be including an envelope from each troop in the county that will include letters and drawings from the girls, and whatever their troop deems significant to their group, as long as it fits.
We thank Mr. Mike Gannon, County Executive, for allowing the Girl Scouts of Service Unit 158 to place this on the courthouse lawn and being very generous by offering to place a stone over the location so that it will be marked to be opened in 25 years.
We took this opportunity to show our appreciation to several people in our community who have cooperated with and supported Girl Scouts through the years. Lynann Campbell, Girl Scout Volunteer Leader, recognized the following people to receive a certificate of appreciation and a box of our Savannah Smiles cookies: Roger Turney, Mayor Auburntown; Dr. Robert Sain, West Side School Principal; Arna Smithson, Retired Owner Piggly Wiggly; Bro. John W. Hembree, First United Methodist Church in Woodbury; Catherine Fowler, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, Murfreesboro Office; Cookie Ganoe, past troop leader and Daryl Fisher, County Maintenance.
There were two gentlemen receiving very special awards from our Service Unit, the Green Knight Award recognizes excellence as a male Girl Scout volunteer. This honor went to Mr. Mike Gannon, County Executive and Estel Parker, Community Center Director. At this time Mr. Gannon presented a proclamation regarding Girl Scouts celebrating 100 years. Our service unit also presented Emily Tate with a Green Angel patch for all of efforts as our service unit leader who keeps things going in our county.
The closing ceremony consisted of retiring the colors, singing Taps as the all of the current and former Girl Scout members joined hands in the Friendship Squeeze. We then adjourned to enjoy lots of Girl Scout cookies and a Girl Scout cookie cake provided by Hibdon’s Body Shop.
