And you don’t look a day over, well, something! Monday was the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of Girl Guides in the United States. Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low invited a group of girls to the Gordon home in Savannah to organize the first Girl Guide troop (the girls decided to change the name to Girl Scouts the following year). Daisy’s mother was running around the house in a frenzy saying “Daisy has the back parlor full of little girls and is insisting Morrison serve them a fussier tea than I would serve the president.” Morrison was the butler and the Gordon family had hosted the president before and Mrs. Gordon knew what she would serve a president. You had to be 11 to be a Girl Guide so the girls weren’t that little, either. Daisy’s first two troops were in Scotland and were girls who worked in factories. Because of that she insisted that every meeting include a good tea.
Katy has always been all about birthday parties. So she decided to combine her somewhat-monthly visit to the assisted-living facility with a Girl Scout birthday party and invite a few of her friends who are Girl Scouts. We had eight girls, including Katy. Usually when we go out there we have five or six residents and three or four employees to help out. We sit around the big table play Bingo, do a craft and have a snack and have a chance to relax and visit. Well, today we had 12 or 13 residents and only one employee and it was a little hectic. So the girls ended up doing more helping than anyone was planning. But I think they all had fun.
Katy and I arrived early to set up and two residents wandered into the dining room to find out what was going on. One had been a Girl Scout for 40 years and the other for 23. And neither of them ended up coming to the party! We had a few other residents who had been Girl Scouts or mothers of Girl Scouts.
We did our usual theme Bingo. The girls teamed up with the residents to play. We played two rounds and the winning team received prizes — Girl Scout cookies for the resident and Girl Scout stickers for the girls.
Michael’s Arts and Crafts is carrying a line of Girl Scout-branded craft kits. We made bracelets and foamy door hangers. The residents really enjoy the peel-and-stick foam crafts. The girls all made I *heart* Girl Scout bracelets. Although I think some of them ended up taking theirs home to do.
After games and crafts it was time for cake. A few of the residents left before the cake as they were tired and ready to take a break. The girls were ready for cake, though. They sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles.
