Club Spotlight: Campus Girl Scouts

By Tricia Mundell
Staff Writer/ Lycourier

When one hears the term “Girl Scouts” they usually associate it with either packages of delicious cookies or memories of camping trips and other outdoor activities as a child. For the Girl Scout Club here at Lycoming, those are just a small part of the things they do each year. The Girl Scout Club is an active part of the Williamsport community, and hosts events for Girl Scout troops in the area.

The club gets Troops in the Williamsport area to come to campus for club-hosted events such as a Halloween party with snacks and games held each year in East Hall. They also work with the girls to put together a Girl Scouts World Thinking Day, which is meant to get the girls thinking about Girl Scouts in other countries, their situations, and varied cultures. This event also helps promote unity and peace.

In addition to parties, the club also sells boxes of cookies every spring, and gives the profits to the local Troops. Each spring, they hold a Rain Gutter Regatta in which the Girl Scouts build small paper boats and race them across a small body of water, such as a pond. This past year, they used their Rain Gutter Regatta event to raise money for the disaster relief after the tsunami in Japan, since the event was water related. They have also made Christmas cards for Meals on Wheels.

“We do a lot of things for the community,” Stephanie Bowen, president of the club commented, “We’re a community service based club.”

This coming school year, they are looking to get more involved on campus in addition to the community service.

The club has been in existence for four to five years. President Stephanie Bowen and Vice President Brandi Goodwin, both juniors said they have both been Girl Scouts since they were in Kindergarten. For both of them, this is their third year in the club, and their second year as President and Vice President, respectively. This year, they have Alice Elizabeth Jensen as treasurer, and Carmen Niemeyer as secretary. Their adviser, Dawn Burch, is a local troop leader who really helps them out in getting the Girl Scout troops to come to campus. Both Brandi and Stephanie agreed that this club would not be what it is without her.

Girl Scouts Club meets bi-weekly at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays in Pennington Lounge. Their first meeting is on Sept. 21. Anyone is welcome to join, and they are always looking for new members. They do accept boys as well, because they will not discriminate against anyone. If you love working with kids and helping out in the community, you should definitely join this club.