A Response to David Crary's Article entitled "Girl Scouts Under Scrutiny from Catholic Bishops"

Before I begin, I would like to say that I deeply respect David Creery and appreciate this article in that it was written without bais and clearly explained the sides of both parties involved.

As many may know, I am a ataunch Catholic, and have been a Girl Scout since I was ten, so articles such as this hold an interest for me and often cause me to look back at my Girl Scout career. I think at first it surprised to find that Girl Scouting was under question / under fire at all because I never, not even once, was exposed to anything that countered the beliefs of my faith or my practices. My troop, which was comprised on girls of multiple faiths, but all Christian, learned and grew together and never once touched any socially hot topics.

I firmly believe that Girl Scouting helped me grow up to be a strong, independent and morally-centered young woman.

Thinking about it, I have to say it makes sense to me that so many of our top Girl Scout supporters are liberal, and gay, and left wing feminists. This is because Girl Scouting accepted them.

Girl Scouting accepts everyone equally, yes, but most young girls feel accepted immediately by their church groups, sporting teams, peer groups, etc. Those girls that don't only have Girl Scouts. Those girls become extremely passionate about and dedicated to Girl Scouting because it lets them be themselves without shame. they grow up to be strong, courageous, outspoken, successful women who want nothing more than to give back to the one and only organization who told them they could do anything.

You take a upper class, straight, white girl from the suburbs who becomes successful, and she can thank her sports team, her church, her family, her community service club, NHS, and, yes Girl Scouting. It's not the same PR. It's not the same story. And it's not the same level of passion.

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David Crary can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

The Camp Director of Rocky Brook Day camp asked me to make a short for-youtube-only video to advertise her day camp. With only about 20 pictures to choose from and limited working time, this was the result: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzKQvsP6_iY Music is "Year of the Girl" from GSUSA.

haikus

Doors
unpredictable
what if somebody answers?
what if no one does?

Life
there are no set rules
it's okay to get messy
perfect is boring

Death
no it's not the end
to find your place in the sky
it's the beginning

Five
We grow old so fast
losing faith, sparkle, wonder
I liked being five...

Camp Brochure 2012

Created this year's summer camp brochure for Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson: http://www.girlscoutshh.org/documents/?doc=40

Actually, there were two versions because the one that went to print had a slightly different color scheme.

It was a long and tedious process, but it was completed 3 days ahead of schedule.