Wild berry tea, scones, fruit and other "high-brow" treats were on the menu at the Girl Scout Full Tea served at the O'Neill Center on Monday, as Girl Scouts of all ages gathered to honor the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts organization.
"I wanted to pay tribute and see if anything has changed in Girl Scouts since the early 1960s," said Melinda Barmann of Marietta.
Williamstown's Sally Hille, 92, wore her 80-year-old Girl Scout pin to the tea.
Article Photos
SHARON BOPP The Marietta Times
Girl Scout memorabilia brings back memories for Nancy Riley of Marietta, 73, Sandy Rexroad of Marietta, 53, and Melinda Barmann of Marietta Monday at O’Neill Center’s high tea celebrating the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts.
"I found it in an old jewelry box," she said.
Although many memories of her Girl Scouting days have faded, she easily remembered one thing.
"I wasn't too good at lighting campfires or cooking," she noted.
Fact Box
How the Girl Scouts began
Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912, for a local Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid.
Within a few years, Daisy's dream for a girl-centered organization was realized. Today, Girl Scouts of the USA has a membership of more than 3.2 million girls and adults. More than 59 million women in the U.S. today are Girl Scout alumnae.
Source: www.girlscouts.org
At one table, three friends sat together and reminisced about their longtime friendship and years of involvement with the Girl Scouts.
Peggy Huck of Lowell, 75, Shirley Abbott of Marietta, 75, and Gertie Fryman of Marietta, 76, met in second grade.
They were also in the same Girl Scout troop that met at the former Knights of Columbus Hall at 403 Scammel St. (now the location of the Ely Chapman Educational Foundation).
All three had daughters who were Girl Scouts, as is Huck's granddaughter in Cincinnati.
"It's quite a tradition," said Huck. "I think that's kind of remarkable that they've followed us."
In the 1970s, Fryman served as co-leader of a Girl Scout troop at Warren Elementary School.
"Then I decided I was too old to sleep on the ground," she said.
Elyza Hall of Marietta, 10, is a junior in Marietta's Troop 155 who likes Girl Scouts for many reasons.
"You get to meet new Girl Scouts and do new things like canoing, camping and hiking," Hall said.
Last week, she and her troop camped at Rocky Ledges Girl Scout Camp in Milton, W.Va.
"We made our own food," she said, including a combination of eggs, bacon and milk called "shipwreck."
"It was good but we kind of burned it a little bit," she noted.
Kenzley Urban, a 7-year-old brownie in Troop 5997 at St. Mary's Elementary School in Marietta, enjoys the crafting projects her troop does.
"We got to make crafts with leaves and clear sticky paper," she said.
Urban won the prize given away during the tea, a hand cross-stitched quilt.
Each Brownie or Girl Scout present will receive a Tea Party Girl Scout patch, Matheny said.
The tea was presented by the Black Diamond Girl Scout Council and the O'Neill Center.
The event was part of the center's Life Enrichment Program.
"These are intergenerational events that connect seniors with the next generation," Matheny said.
