Finding a way to bond
Many mothers get involved in Girl Scouts for their daughters' sakes, and they all find themselves taking away lifelong lessons.
Mary Beth Guynup of Clearfield Township said she tried Girl Scouts herself. “I was a Girl Scout when I was in second grade, just one year,” she said.
Guynup and her daughter, Mercedes, a seventh-grader at Butler Intermediate High School, participate in Girl Scouts together.
“When my daughter was in kindergarten, I became a leader, and we've been in it ever since,” Guynup said.
The requirements for being a Girl Scout leader played to her strengths.
“I like to plan things, and I could make sure it's something my daughter liked to do. I figured the other girls would like it, too,” she said.
“She didn't like it (Girl Scouts) in kindergarten and first grade I think. Then she realized she got to do things … we got to go up the clock tower at the (Butler County) Courthouse, behind the scenes at the zoo, something not everyone gets to do. It kind of caught on. It's not just meetings,” Guynup said.
Also for her troop, Guynup has brought in guest speakers, a florist and a baker among them, so the troop members can get insight into possible career choices.
Her troop meets twice a month at St. Wendelin Roman Catholic Church, 210 St. Wendelin Road, but Guynup said she helps organize all the trips for the troops in the Butler School District.
“It takes a lot of coordinating and emailing,” Guynup said. “I mediate if there are any issues.”
She also oversees the two fundraisers a year, “magnuts” (magazines, nuts and candy) and the cookie sale, for about 25 troops, with more than 250 members.
They've attended the ballet, an ice skating show, and musicals. “We get group rates,” Guynup pointed out. “If I do it for my troop, which is 21 girls, I may as well do it for everyone.”
Guynup also works on her parents' dairy farm and as a tax collector in addition to her time with to the Girl Scouts.
She said she envisions her daughter sticking with Girl Scouts through her school years “'cause Mom is in deep,” Guynup laughed.
“I think she likes it (her mom being involved) because she gets a say in what she gets to do,” Guynup said. “She wants to go on the Gateway Clipper. We're hoping to do that in early October.”
Planning is ongoing for that outing. “I start planning for the summer in January” along with co-leader Pam Ambrose, she said. “I like doing it, and Pam and I get along really well. I've made just as many friends as my daughter.”
Mercedes said she was excited to join Girl Scouts but did not like sharing her mother with the other Scouts at first.
“It took a while to realize that the things I would mention that I thought would be fun were the things my Mom started to plan,” Mercedes said. “It turned out to be fun to help plan things I wanted to do with my Mom.”
“I hope that she builds some friendships and she's open to new horizons,” Guynup said of Mercedes' experience in Girl Scouts. “She's being exposed to things I never would have dreamed of. She's meeting and making friendships with girls she never would have. That has been helpful.
“I hope she'll have more confidence in her leading ability, and through the Silver Award (which will be completed by the end of eighth grade) gain confidence doing a presentation,” Guynup said.
Their Mother's Day plans include breakfast in bed for Mom, and Mercedes' grandmother is taking her into Butler to buy a gift with her own money. Ice cream will wrap up the day.
Jessica Cooper of Butler Township is finishing her second year as a Girl Scout leader for her daughter, Sophia, who is a Daisy.“I was a co-leader the first year my daughter was in Girl Scouts and then her second year we branched off and started our own troop,” said Cooper.They are now completing three years together in the troop that meets once a month at Northwest Elementary School. The second meeting of the month is a field trip “that corresponds with the petal we earned at the beginning of the month,” Cooper said.For other field trips, they've gone to a fire station, Transitional Care at Butler Memorial Hospital, Butler Ambulance and Butler Public Library, among others.“Our troop has both kindergarteners and first- graders, so Sophia's group is finishing up all their Daisy petals and getting ready to bridge to Brownies,” Cooper said.She said she wanted Sophia to join Girl Scouts to be involved with peers in a setting outside of school. Cooper said Girl Scouts has helped her learn “patience and the value that these little girls have in the world.“I hope to continue to lead Sophia's troop as long as she wants to be involved, “ said Cooper.Tressa Hendrix, a 10th- grader at Butler Senior High School, and her mother, Tracey, of Butler Township have been involved in Girl Scouts for nearly a decade together.“It allows me to spend time with my friends and with my Mom, so I like that,” Tressa said. “My Mom and I get along for the most part. I feel like my friends and I are closer because they're close to my mom, too.”Tressa said her favorite part of Girl Scouts is the activities, including camping.“The past two years for Halloween we've gone to a scare house in Pittsburgh. We did Zumba once. I remember when I was younger we went to the zoo; that was fun. We had a lot more girls then,” Tressa said.Over the years, troop members have fallen off to join other activities.“There were 12 girls at first, then it doubled to around 25 at the time of Brownies and Juniors… we're down to four now. The majority of girls I've had went into sports. I've had these last four girls for a while, one girl and my daughter from the beginning,” Hendrix said.Hendrix started as a leader in Girl Scouts after her daughter's first year 8½ years ago when another leader left.
Last summer, the remaining handful of Girl Scouts in her troop got to help with canoeing and archery at Girl Scout camp. “We all had fun with that,” Tressa said.They'll get to help with those activities this year at camp too, Hendrix said, in July at Camp Redwing in Renfrew.There is one program Hendrix said she'll always remember. It was the mother/daughter event her troop members organized for their Bronze Award.“The theme, I think, was music from the past and present. They wanted to do like an 'American Idol' show,” Hendrix recalled. “Our girls were the judges on the panel. Each troop in the service area was invited. There were maybe 10 groups or more and each did a song and dance.“It was moms and daughters. The panel gave out a Best Daisy trophy, Best Brownie trophy; I think there were a first, second and third in each level. They did a good job with the awards. At that time, we had about 15 girls; all were judges. They did a really great job,” she said.Since it was Hendrix's troop hosting, she didn't compete in the contest, but she did participate. “I did dress up as Joan Jett, and my daughter had a heavy metal costume,” she said.Tressa said another part of Girl Scouts she enjoys is the opportunity for community service. “I really like the volunteer hours. We do community dinners. We've done fundraisers for Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, usually a carnival. We've done the Herman Fire Hall carnival. Sometimes we go to Sunnyview; we went and passed out gifts this past Christmas,” she noted.Tressa said she and the other Scouts have learning many camping skills, but even more “we've learned teamwork, figuring out a problem so we can fix it. We've learned to make different relationships other than in school. I feel really open to talk with these girls because we've been together so long. As you get older, you realize who your friends are and Girl Scouts helps with that. Say I needed help with something, these girls are always there for me.”Hendrix noted her position in Girl Scouts has helped her grow and be able to lead other people. “That was my first big leadership role,” she said.Perhaps more importantly, the time with Girl Scouts has helped in her mother/daughter relationship.“We have good communication, Tressa and I, and I want to keep that,” Hendrix said.
