Celebrate Girl Scouts Past And Present

During Girl Scout Week — March 6-12, 2005 — the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut is asking all current and former Girl Scouts to wear a pearl necklace in honor of the pearl necklace that Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts, sold in order to fund Girl Scouting in the early days of the organization.

The purpose of asking present and former Girl Scouts to participate in this tribute is to demonstrate to girls currently in the Girl Scout Program and to the community at large just how much the powerful Girl Scout influence pervades community life. Present girls should get a positive vision of their own future through seeing the many outstanding women in their local community who were once a Girl Scout just like them.

The Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut hopes the pearl campaign will catch on, call attention to the positive power of Girl Scouting, and create a new national tradition that honors a long-standing Mission that continues to inspire women all over the world.

Present and past members are invited to send to the Council pictures of members in pearls and submit statements about the impact of the Girl Scout experience on their lives. They can mail material to GSCSWCT, 529 Danbury Road, Wilton CT 06897, or email it to info@gscswct.org.

In the 15 towns the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut serves, which includes Newtown, there are almost 9,300 girls ages 5 to 17 who are members of Girl Scouts – making one out of every five girls in that age group a Girl Scout.  There are also over 5,300 adults, many of whom serve at the Council or service-unit level in support positions or as leaders or trainers.

The Council encourages anyone who sees a woman wearing pearls during Girl Scout Week to ask her if she was or is a Girl Scout and how Girl Scouting affected her life. Chances are she’ll be someone who has positively impacted the lives of others and the community in which she lives.