Girl Scouts gather for 100th anniversary event
By Kelly Corbett
Published in News on March 13, 2012 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MICHAEL BETTS
Katie Beckwith smiles at her daughter, Kayla, 8, as she makes a loop in her key chain during the Girl Scouts' 100th anniversary celebration at Herman Park.
A flower-shaped balloon in her hand, Casey Hammond stood in one of the lines that had formed at Herman Park waiting to get her face painted before taking her turn in one of the three inflatables positioned in front of her.
She had traveled from Pikeville to attend the celebration, a countywide party created to mark the Girl Scouts' 100th birthday.
But the 7-year-old was not the only member of her family in attendance Monday.
Her mother, April Beaudry, knows something about scouting, too.
"She's a third-generation Girl Scout," she said. "All the family is here."
But Casey, a member of Troop 288, was the only one of them who would get to add something to her vest for joining in the celebration.
"(I) will get a patch," the little girl said. "That's what I heard."
And for many of the girls who showed up for the event, it will go nicely with the one they received for attending another birthday party -- the one that honored the organization's founder, Juliette Gordon Low, on Oct. 31.
But inflatables, face paint and patches were only a few of the perks the girls received.
Alyssa Alfaro, 10, and Kirsten Aycock, 9, decided to color under one of the two craft shelters.
But the girls, both members of Troop 284, said their favorite part about Girl Scouts had wrapped up long before the party started -- selling cookies.
"Yesterday this guy came and bought all the boxes that we had left so we could leave," Kirsten said.
The Scouts, troop leaders and family members, though, were not the only ones who came out for a good time.
Shortly after the coals became hot enough to roast s'mores, Miss North Carolina Hailey Best made her grand appearance.
And Scottie Bryan, former Girl Scout and board member of the North Carolina Coastal Pines Council, was also on hand.
"I was a Junior Scout probably in the late '60s and then was in scouting for six or seven years," she said, adding that she still has a lot of good friends who she scouted with growing up. "It's great to celebrate the 100th and see so many girls involved. I think Goldsboro's had a really strong tradition of Girl Scouting."
Elizabeth Rowe is a good example of that tradition.
The 19-year-old, a member of Troop 290, helped fellow Girl Scouts make swaps -- small bags filled with glitter, gold stars and the Girl Scout's troop number -- for the national birthday celebration in Washington, D.C., June 9.
"That's the really big one where we have Girl Scouts from all across the nation come meet," she said.
But for her, scouting will be something worth remembering for much more than an opportunity to head to the nation's capital.
"I've grown up in Girl Scouts," Ms. Rowe said. "I've learned all survival skills and stuff through Girl Scouts."