Ruralite Cafe: Published 05/24/01

By Lisa Majors-Duff News Editor

Rookie leader takes girls to Tennessee

Words to describe the troop's weekend trip to Dollywood are easier to nail down - it was a thrilling, terrifying and exhausting adventure.

The day began at 7 a.m. as the wide-eyed girls and their half-asleep parents pulled into the Scotts Creek School parking lot. It took no time at all for the girls, ages 6 through 9, to begin swapping stories - those who had been to Dollywood told those who had not all about Blazing Fury, Daredevil Falls, the Tennessee Tornado and Thunder Road.

An important part of any Girl Scout field trip, leaders learn early on in leader training, is to make sure all the girls are involved in making plans. So the girls and I sat down and made a shopping list for a lunchtime picnic. The girls wanted sandwiches, chips, fruit and soda. Pudding was suggested for dessert, but being Girl Scouts, we settled on cookies instead.

After about half an hour in the grocery store, 12 excited girls and nine slightly-more-awake adults headed for Cherokee and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We stopped at the Tennessee state line to take advantage of the facilities and to take a group photo on the rock wall where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt deliver his park dedication speech in 1940. As the Ruralite Cafe's resident amusement park expert, I can truthfully say that Dollywood is worth at least one visit, provided you can successfully determine when the crowds won't be there. Saturday is probably not your best bet. On a less crowded day, the park would, I'm sure, provide many opportunities to see area craftspeople and artisans demonstrating blacksmithing, leather carving, lye soap making, knifemaking, woodcarving and basketmaking.

But girls between the ages of 6 and 9 are not interested in these things, trust me. They want to ride the rides, all of them as often as possible. So that's what we did, and they loved it.

The day ended with most of us heading back to the national park for a dinner of sandwiches, chips, fruit and soda, since no one wanted to stop for food at noon. We braved a rainy sky and played "Follow the Leader" on the rocks along the creek in the Chimney Picnic Area.

According to the organization's web page, Girl Scouts of the USA is an informal educational organization dedicated solely to girls. Accepting and nurturing Girl Scout environments encourage girls in small groups to build character and skills for success in the real world. In partnership with trained and dedicated volunteer leaders, girls develop qualities that will serve them all of their lives - such as strong values, a social conscience and the conviction of their own potential and self-worth.

I found these goals of Girls Scouting to be true during my years as a Brownie and Junior Girl Scout. As a child between the ages of 6 and 10, I developed my sense of patriotism, a respect for authority, a desire to learn outside the classroom, and some of the skills I needed to work both independently and in a group to solve a problem.

These are just a few of the reasons I decided to become a Girl Scout leader. Next I had to learn the secret of a successful troop experience. Simply stated it's that Girl Scout activities are based on girls' interests. Individual girls and troops do projects, take field trips and participate in events. Some of the organization's major program initiatives include the arts, the environment, global awareness, health and fitness, literacy, mentoring, and science and technology, most of which we (me and my co-leaders Christy Pannell and Debbie Hoyle) managed to work into our meetings.

I guess the words I'm looking for to describe the year are thrilling, terrifying and exhausting. And one more, worthwhile.

I enjoyed my rookie year as a Girl Scout leader, and I hope my girls did, too.

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