The Key West Citizen Newspaper, November 2, 1951, Page 7

(AEC REI OR Island City Sconting From Beginning To Present Is Told : Our history of Gir} Scouting in Key West is a collection of memories dating back over a Period of thirty-four years and is hot information obtained trom written records. Some facts have been unearthed, but of far great- er value has been the enjoyment of many former scouts in recall- ing fergotten names, faces, good times. : An old charter was which had been Branted to the Local Council of Girl Scouts Oc- tober 8, 1920, naming Mrs. Allan B. Cleare, Sr., the Jate Mrs. C. R. D. Crittenton the late Mrs. Ste- Phen Lowe, and Mrs. G. E. Mc- Kay! as members. We contacted Mrs. Cieare who well remembers the very day that Elizabeth Eakins (Singleton) and another girl came to her and | asked why there couldn't be Girl gp al as Boy Scouts in | Elizabeth's father was a Boy Scout Leader and, Elizabeth wanted to Scout. A Mrs. Cleare was interested, and alter further discussion with other interested women ordered | and naturally, | be a Girl @ book of instructions and other | necessary material to organize a | Girl Scout Troop. | In 1917, Troop 1, Girl Scouts | of Kiey West Florida, was started | with a Mrs. Decker as leader. | (Refer to Mrs. S. H. Drudge’s ar- | ticle on “Organization of Troop | 1 in 1918” for members and ac- | tivities). Soon afterward Troop | 2 was formed. No additional in-| formation has been obtained | about this troop, except that | Mrs. Doris Waite was the leader. | In 1919, girls of the seventh | and eighth grades at Harris | School asked their teacher, Miss | Emmie Curry (now Mrs. Gould | of Jacksonville, Florida) to form | a Girl Scout Troop. | Under the sponsorship of St. | Paul's Church, Troop 3 came in- to existence. Some of the origin. } al members of that troop were| Elizabeth Sharpley, Florine | Knowles, Mary Louise Pinder,, Martha Hertell, Eleanor Rich- ards, Violet. McNamara, Eulalie| Matthews... ...(Jonas), .... Charlotte; Lunn (Haskins), Dessie Skelton, Mizpah Saunders, Georgia Saun-: ders (Thompson), Maiveen Sawyer (Meador), Larama) Adams, Lulu Hamlin, and Muri-! el Thompson (Begelman). In 19- 20, Miss Curry married and} moved away. j The late Mrs. James Adams was the Leader until 1923 when Mrs. George Archer became the! leader and continued with the| troop until 1931. Girls who were| in Troop 3, in addition to the} original ‘members, were Virginia} Sands (Key), Betty Boyden (Di- namick), Eloise Lowe (Reid). Scoutin - found { | prepare our meals. g In City ‘Memories ‘Of Troop 3 In the Spring of 1923, Troop 3, which had been struggling |along without a leader, asked Mrs. George Archer whether she would be interested in reactivat- ing the troop. The formalities of reorganiza- tion were completed just in time! for us to accept an invitation of} some Cuban Officials to visit Cuba. Troop », along with the active members of Troop 1, em- barked upon one of the regular) P. and O. passenger boats, “Cuba”, which sailed daily from Key West at that time. When we arrived at the dock in Ha-! vana, some five hours tater, we were greeted royally by a band and presented with bouquets. | The barracks at Marriam, | twenty miles from Havana, were placed at our disposal with cooks and additional servants to The Cubans were our hosts at) dinners and dances. At one par- icular banquet at an orphanage, we were told to stand up, one at! |@ time, with a glass of water in| awaits you as a jour hands and give our names, ages and addresses. It did not! occur to us until much later that,! since our host could not under-! ciously toasting him. After our trip to Cuba, we set-! tled down to serious Girl Scout-! ing. Mrs. Archer decided that) we should fearn all that we | could about — seouting. Merit| badges were earned, and the va- | rious tests learned. | The next summer we again] took a boat trip. This time, how-| ever, our destination was Tampa and an organized official Girl) Scout camp with trained leaders, and counselors. There, we learn- ed photography, signalling, folk dancing, etc., and earned addi-| tional. merit badges. From then) on, our summer trips were to of-| ficial state Girl Scout camps. { The troop raised money by! having bazaars, cake and -candy | sales, plays, musicals, and some- times an operetta. These provid- ed wholesome fun. for the girls, and offered entertainment to the} public as well. At this time, Key West the people of} celebrated October 10th, Cuba’s Day of Indepen- dence, as much, if not more, than the Fourth of July. Cuban! Boy Scouts, Soldiers, and Sail-| ors came to Key West, and a large celebration was held. Of course, the Girl Scouts marched in all the parades and occasion- ally had floats. After parades on} Armistice Day to the old Army! Barracks Parade Ground; Boy) and Girl Scout Troops demon-| strated some phase of scouting) | | bers of the Girl Scouts of the | acter building program ; she must be a woman or integri- |mothers; church workers; | { | | | Serving their country, more than a million and a half mem- U. S. A. proudly salute their flag and promise to do their duty to God and their country. Appeal Here For Leaders in a dis- and Are interested tinguished position cf bility in your community; which respect which receives remuneration ex- you commands ceeding that offered by many vocations; a position in which; you would be assisting in a char- among the youth of your community? If you can spare a few hours of your time each week, a position Girl Scout or Brownie Leader of Committee Member in Key West. What are the qualifications for | stand English, we had been gra-|a leader or a committee member; in this important work? First, | ty, one who can be recommend-/ ed to National Girl Scout Head- quarters as one whose character is above reproach and who respected within the community. She must be willing to follow Girl Scout policy and procedure! as outlined by National Girl) Scout Headquarters for the safe-/ ty and protection of the girls) who have been entrusted to her} guidance. She must have a de- sire to serve, a well-rounded personality, and a knowledge and understanding of the needs and problems of young people.| She must be able to work har-| moniously with adults and with the girls. ' Who may become Girl Scout! leaders? Business women, pro-| fessional women such as nurses| and teachers; homemakers and| elvic leaders; college students and) young women in other occupa-! tions over 21 years of age for is leaders, and over 18 years of| age for assistant leaders. In; short, Girl Scouts need women) | representing a variety of occupa-! tions in order to provide a welll balanced program of _activity,| Each worker contributes ac-; cording to her ability and train-; ing, and the result is a harmon-: ious integration of talent. ! Training courses in Girl Scout| policy and procedure, Nellie Russell (Curry), and Doro-| and completed with each other) program | thy Archer (Knowles). {in signalling or First Aid con- Meetings were held in the old) tests: planning, handicrafts, etc., are) offered for leaders and prospec- tive leaders. Knights of the Golden Eagle Hall at the corner of Fleming and Grinnell streets until that} buliding was torn down. After the new Knights of the Golden Eagle Hall was completed on' Petronia Street, the tréop met there. Also in. 1919, the late Mrs.’ Sarah Ann McInnis organized Troop. 4 and served as its leader} with the late Mts. Reba Sawyer as co-leader. Many scouts of for- mer years can recall the yearly| camping trips on Long Key, where they went by train. Also,) they remember wonderful Hal- lowe’en parties held in Mrs. Mc- Innis’ yard on North Beach. There the girls met Rluebeard and his Seven Wives in the, House of Horrors and thorough- ly enjoyed an old-fashioned party. Some ot the members of Troop 4 were Ethelind Sawyer (Duane), Louise Ketchum, Flora Russell, Wilhelmina Goehring (Harvey), and Josephine Parks (Doughtry). Mrs. McInnis worked with the troop until her death in 1929. In fact, it was during a troop sup- per, that she suffered a stroke from which she never regained consciousness. After Mrs. McInnis’ death, Mrs, Sue «Elwood, and Mrs. Sweeting became leaders. Other members of the troop were: Mary Gardner (Bailey), Marian Russell (Pritchard) Eva Mae Ketchum (Yates), Norma Yates (Dopp). There are others whose names were not available. During the years 1930 to 1940, Girl Scouting was continued due to the efforts of Judge Eva War- ner, Gibson and Mary Gibson (Milner). In 1942, new Girl Scout troops were organized as the result of increased interest in Girl Scout- ing. Since that time the troops have been very active. Due to the fact that most of the background material for this article is based upon recollec- | They were happy, busy days At the present time a course in swimming and lifesaving is} |being conducted for Girl Scout} |}leaders and prospective feaders| ! in Key West through the’ coop-; jeration of the U.S, Navy and| jthe American Red Cross. Mrs.| | asty. Degtoff, American Red) |Cross Life Saving Instructor and | Assistant Leader of Mariner| | Troop 8 is giving her time each) |Saturday morning from 10 a. ‘m.! for the girls of Troop 3. Today, we are working toward the same well-rounded program of work and play for our Girl Scouts in Key West, ever at- tempting to broaden and enlarge the scope of their activities. ee Newspaper . 4 {until 12 a. m. to conduct the Ipping | course. { Mrs. Neil Saunders, Leader of (Key West Citizen, 1923) Troop 5, who attended the Re-| Troop 1 and 3, Girl Scouts, gional Girl Scout Leadership will leave here Monday morn-/Training Camp Juliette Low, at | ing on the P. & O. Steamer Cuba} Cloudland, Georgia, in June,| at 10:30 o'clock for an encamp-|jtaught a ‘Leaders’ Training | ment of five days in the Island Republic. Mrs. George Archer will be in charge of the girls, assisted by Lieutenants Miss Adeline Mul- berg and Miss Flo Knowles. Captain Arthur Sheppard will) also make the trip as drillmas- ter, Mrs. C. R. D, Crittenton, girl scouts commissioner; Mrs. J. W. Leon, Mrs. Edward B. Wharton and Mrs. J. G. Kantor are the chaperones for the camp. Will March To Boat | The girls will assemble at the! Shriners Club on Duval street at 9 o'clock Monday morning and march in a body to the boat. Reports received by Lieuten- ant Adeline Mulberg from Hava- na are to the effect that elabo- rate preparations are being made for the entertaining of the girls during their stay in Cuba. The girls who will make the trip are: First Lieutenant Atie- line Mulberg; Second Lieutenant Flo Knowles. Scouts: Anita Wil+ son, Mildred Brown, Adela Kir- chik, Gladys Abromoviez, Ange- la Baldwin, Charlotte Lunn, Mary Louise Pinder, Martha Hertell, Eleanor Richards, Des- sie Shelton, Violet McNamara, Mizpah Saunders, Celeste Arch- er, Dorothy Archer, Ada Milli- gan, Eulale Matthews, Grace Course in Key West during the | summer and will conduct a sim- ilar course for leaders, prospec- | tive leaders and committee mem- | bers later in the fall. | Leaders and committee mem-} bers having had ‘no previous) Girl Scout experience find .work-| ing with a Girl Scout troop aj fascinating adventure after at-| tending one of these training courses and applying the infor-| mation received to the program! of the troop. | Many women who have given! of their ‘time to work with the! Girl Scout program have discov-| ered rewarding experiences, which have caused them to say,} “Tam so glad I became a Girl Scout leader. I had no experience, when I began, but I learned with) the girls. I know I have benefit-' ed as much as they”. | The Girl Scout program in Key West is growing. It has pro-| gressed rapidly in the past ‘few years. It now neds a Community Committee, composed of repre-| sentatives of civic organizations and people in the community in-| terested in youth, to relieve the; Monroe County Council. program needs your support and ions of former Girl Scouts, (Continued On Page Eleven> | Thompson and Eloise Lowe. Lowe, Edna / Knowles, Muriel] assistance. Will you accept the (Continued On Page Eleven? Prince Believes In Scouts Vol. Trainer Vice-Admiral Prince Bernhard of the Netherlancs was in Key West recently on a short visit. Having our “Scouting Around” newspaper on her mind, one of our reporters requested informa tion about the Girl Scouts in the Netherlands. Prince Bern- hard promised to furnish us in- formation about the Girl Guides, as they are called in the Nether- lands, as soon as he returned home. Queen = Juliana, as you ali know, is head of the Girl Guides in the Netherlands. Three their four daughters have had active part in the Girl Guide program. Princess Beatrix, the eldest, 1s i3 and has completed her Girl Guide program: Princess Irene is 1] and is an Intermediate Guide: Princess Margriet is active in the Brownie program. In 3 more years Princess Mar- vke will be eligible to be a Brownie and will keep alive the Girl Guide program in the Roy- of al family for some years to come. We lock forward with great interest to further information about the Girl Guides of the Netherlands. The Girl Scouts of Key West saulte them! History Of Girl Scouts By Mrs. Lila Pierce Drudge (Mrs. S. H. Drudge) Troop No. 1, organized the latter part of theyear 1918, thir- ty three years ago, just as World War 1 ended. Mrs. William Deck- er was our Scout Mistress. It was at Mrs. Decker’s home, corner of South and Whitehead Streets, where we held our meetings. Un- til the group grew larger we held our meetings in the P. O. S. of A. Building near the foot of Duval Street We had cake and candy sales ete. We all worked hard togeth- er, knowing we would all go on a trip when we had sufficient funds. So in July, 1920, the Troop. No. .1_ joined Mrs. Doris Waite’ troop, which I think was No. 2,,and hired a P. C. ment boat to go to Dry Tortugas for the best part of a week. was the only scout that didn’t make the trip. My parents were afraid of my crossing the water, claiming it was too rough. The late Mrs. Wil- liam Graham, Mrs. Eakins, and ts. Waite were chaperones along with Mrs. Decker. The scouts also learned ~ signalling and did a lot of drilling. Some of the names of members of the troop who can be recalled are: Florence Graham (Ardagh). Mable Decker. Dorothy Decker. Hazel Pierce (Burgstrom) Gladys Pierce (Currie) Lila Pierce (Drudge). Louise Falk (Auxier). Louise Cremata (Roberts). Gladys Abramovitz Mulberg. Rosalie Warren. Erma Curry. Eloise lowe. Elizabeth Eakins Singleton. Adella Davis. Adeline Mulberg. Mildred Brown. Anita Wilson. Annie Kirchick Angela Baldwin. Edith Hilton (Ladd) a Newspaper Clipping Of 1924 (Key West Citizen, 1924) The entertainment given evening by the Owl Patrol of Troop 3, Girl Scouts, at the H. ris School auditorium, was a! grand uccess throughout. | Those having the affair in} charge wish to extend thanks to} all who helped in making the} entertainment the success that it} proved to be. | There were a large number in attendance, with’ an excellent program carried on on the occa- sion, and all present thoroughly | enjoyed the evening's entertain-| 11-39 a. m. to 4:00 p. m,, at: Mon- 3 |roe County Beach. Ever y Girl The Ow! Patrol is composed of/ Scout Leader hears this at least ; once a month, | picnic,” so all ment. the following: Lieutenants Flor- inne Knowles and Mary L. Pin- der, Patrol Leader Charlotte! Lunn, and Scouts Violet McNa-} mara, Maiveen Sawyer, Lillian Gwynn, Nell Johnson and Muri-| el Thompson. } The funds derived from at Eustis, Fla. The following was the (Continued On Page Ten) Scouting Around i | Leaders Association who attend- } Girl How I Happen ToBeA Leadership of Girl Scouts is a volunteer job, presumably. Here! f in,.Key West it has been a mat- ter of “blood, sw and tears, usually to get anyone to volun- teer. The main excuse being, “We know nothing about Leading ai Girl Scout Troop.” Thinking that, if we had someone here qualified | to give training to Leaders we} might have more success, the Leaders Association of Key West voted to send one Leader to take! § the Course. As I remember, I was as an- xious to have a Volunteer Train- er here as Could hardly wait until me went up and took the and come back prepared to teach, Think I made! * the first nomination of a Leader) = who had all the qualifications for a Trainer, only to find out that I, was “it.” Naturally, it was impossible for me to go, too much to do; I never met Juliette Low, but right here, what would happen to! I wish I had. From all accounts Troop Five ?, and my family, written and oral she was quite needed me, ete., etc. That is how, , peson. Her frineds and con- an Islander and a very small as four cylinder car, who had never! *emporaries in writing about her gone over anything higher than’ could never disguise the strength the Bahia Honda Bridge. found)of purpose or the warmness of themselves up on Bear Mountain her in Georgia. . course eoegess85808e heart. Prince or President, Reine the he we ctored lawyer or Lord, politician or too. From then: on. until, we) Peasant were all grist to her reached Windward Inn in Men-| Mill when it came to getting tone, Alabama we traveled more something for her Girl Scouts. up and down than we did for-; We have Camp Juliette Low vee a Rosie Pear ganic hers men- made a lot of friends and influ- . enced people, too. Every time we tioned he had some land mn the stopped the bonnet had to be lift- | northeast section of Georgia that ed and the surrounding crowd; was wonderful for hunting and shown there was a motor under camping, primitive and unspoil- there. Believe they thought I ed by civlization. pushed it with my feet, like the; She talked him into letting her old “Irish Mails” of my child- have some of this land for a hood. camping place for Girl Arrived a day and a half be-| He introduced her to his care- fore the beginning of the course,' taker and told him to take. her planning on resting. on a trip around the land. Be- It was a nice thought, but after fore leaving he called Tommy Katherine Park gave me, a ‘what aside and cautioned him not to i nthe world are’you doing hee’ show her the far side of the so sooon’, look, she forgave me‘! mountain as he wanted that him- (Continued On Page Eleven) self. = = So the guide and the middle aged lady started on an explor- ing trip. If you are familiar with that section of the country no need, ton te "yoo how: beautiful it, is or how rugged it ‘Though her health was not too good and her hearing was: grow- ing dim, nothing fazed her. because a frined of mountains, the genuine interest people they met turned Tommy into a friend and conspirator. mountain, forded a stream, Juli- ette riding vick-a-back on Tom- | grin of some of her friends, Tom- my declared when her feet \s.ruck the ground she said, “This Girl . | one or more of the nine troops in | Key West in the last year. MRE DULTETTE TOW | Scouts. , 5 we can be. Her courage, her love of the; in the things they saw and the] They went to the far side of the! ‘my’s shoulders. Much to the cha-|; ’ Friday, November 2, 1951 a Girl Scouts =| times Display Handicraft During this, Girl Scout. Week, each Brownie and Girl Scout Troop in Key West.is displaying et in various store windows. thru- ae — -— i, en OS 0 help his men how to get ae the city, a part of their Pro-| along in the out-of. -doors, Rc. jects of the past year. In review-j ert Baden-Powell made up a se- ing the window displays of each’ ries of games he \called. “Stunts troop, it is interesting to note jin Scouting.” The men were di- ‘that every one of the Scout week vided into. patrols with leaders activites has been covered by War and men for vigorous life in the open was what Robert Baden-Powell, British officer, found when he ; Was sent to South Africa to de- fend Mafeking from assault dur- ing the Boer war. From out of this a great movement for young formed. of their own choosing. The games were fun and it was not long before these games were retold to their sons in Eng- land who took them for their !own, When. Robert Baden-Pow- ell returned to England he wrote | The displays may be seen in | the following store windows: S. H. Kress & Co., Chappel’s Vari- % ¢; his games into a program for ety Store, Children’s Corner,! - ae | *| bovs, ind Boy Scouting be; i | Southernmost City | Pharmacy 1908, . . % — jInc., Joe Allen's, Castro's food Store, Paul J. Sher’s, Eisner’s Nearly Nu Furniture, Noble's Art |Center, and Beldner’s Women’s | Apparel, The first Boy Scout Rally was ‘held at Crystal Palace in London in 1909. Not wanting to be left out of anything so exciting a group of their. sisters dressed ‘themselves up in khaki shirts | We wish to thank the above] and ‘wide-awake” hats and at- | mentioned stores for the use of! tended the rally. They called | this space; also Beldner’s Wo- themselves Girl Seouts. Later ; men’s Apparel, and Bond’s Book Rese ae reps Gia | Store for space offered but not} Toward the end of 1909, after | used. some 6,000 girls ‘had taken, up | The Mariners’ exhibit for Girl be Mies fase, he oe Buide ‘ vement jaunch: wit! jesus Week can be seen in S. H. ‘Agnes Baden-Powell as its ress window on Duval and first president. From England | Fleming Streets. | Girl Guiding spread to Scotland , One of the first things a Mari-| Wales, Australia, South Afric: [ner learns, Water Safety, is the 8nd Canada; then to Finland, | backgro! of their exhibit. Be-|Sweden, Denmark, Poland, and in bosting but news| the Netherlands. In some coun. jat this sport they are starting, tries they called themselves Girl | with small craft hope. to go} Guides. in others Girl Scouts. on to larger boats as their inow-| Through the tireless energy ledge and skills develop. and. boundless enthusiasm of one ' From this phase they have a Very handicapped woman, Gir! sense set showing proper| Scouting came to the United , intermediate swimming. They have displayed this part of their program very well. Brownie represen- Girl Scout Mrs. Neil under tative of Key West | is Hit.” When it came to taking, no, for an answer her deafness be- ame more noticeable and her » friend gave the land to the | Scouts. Her love for animals was exceeded only by her love of alli people. Everyone whose — orbit touched hers found themselves advocate of Scouting. ed Regional Girl Scout Leaders Training Camp Juliette Low at) Cloudland, Georgia in June. Mrs. Saunders has been a Girl Scout leader since 1943. She or-| ganized Troop 5, Key West Girl) 8" Scouts, at that time, and has re-|_ mained the leader of Troop 5 a ‘period of 8 years. More than 250! | timeunder Mrs. Saunders’ girls have received Girl Scout; training during that period guid-| ance. The service which she has ren- | dered to the Community, and to jit has ben a the girls, is inestimable. To her | happy experience, | which she has enjoyed. Mrs.’ Saunders has brought to the girls | a broad’ program of activity, in-) | living, |}some time in troop meetings, if i i thei not a paper bag or lunch box} present Leader's Association of a) entertainment will be used to} will do, but bring plenty to eat! part of the administration work.| help defray the expenses of the) Don’t worry about being thirsty From. a Community Commit-| troop on their proposed summer] for the Girl Scout Leaders Asso- tee the next step may well be a!encampment which wili be held/ ciation of Key West will furnis! The! at Camp Anthbny, training camp) cold drinks. cluding camping and out-of-door) handicraft, | community/ service, program planning, lead- ership training, games and other! recreational activity, and charac-) ter building. During National Girl Scout; last) Week special honor is+given Mrs. Neil Saunders, leader oldest in} service in Key West in 1951. Nose Bag ta Picnic All Girl Scouts, Brownies, In- | termediate’, Mariners, and adult Scouts, are having picnic Saturday, November 3rd, “Let’s go on a Girl Scouts will have one huge picnic. What is a Nosebag Picnic, very simple, you bring your own lunch | tiwa sae held in jof the class to write a short lon why they were interested in a nosebag if you've made one {Continued On Page Eleven) Ae Asif ie of | Scout Leaders. Surely she must , Scouting | wrote My Prayer. | should have written this. One of ‘her girls who grew with Scout- | ing, who sat with her on the | who watched her stand on her ‘head on | when she was sixty. I never met. | Juliette Lowe, but I do wish I @ nosebag | jad.—Mrs. Neil Saunders. pss vented ‘Why TAmA |The Girl Scout Program. I glected having the notes but you will notice though | underlying motive of all is a There will be lots of fun for | of girls and the desire to be pro-| all, with games, relays, and sing- | services. And that, friends, Her frined, Birdsall Otis Edey, a poet and writer of some re-} nown ‘set up a fund to be used for: Volunteer Trainers of Girl had Juliette Lowe and in mind when she have T pray that we may never be | so blind That one small) world is all i the world we see; Or so supremely satisfied that ‘where we are Is all we feel we even want) to be. Grant us the joy someone's need Make of us gracious followers, The while we are not meant to lead, . But more than all) I pray that down the years We will remember there are always new frontiers. Someone ho knew her of filling posters tivities of Girl Si follows: , Week the A 5 First , “Soft Rocks”, at the camp site or top of the mountain i ? E lis i g ifferent reasons are given wae {Continued On Page Eleven) ae i } . from a Girl Girl Scout Leader | s+, i nappy toox | On the first day of the first] they have done they are planning. HEE