70 Years Of Girl Scouting In Newtown

By Jan Howard

Newtown’s first Girl Scout Troop listed only eight girls on its official roster when it was registered on April 1, 1930, but by March of 1962, the 50th anniversary of Girl Scouting, Newtown’s lone troop had increased to 11 troops with 225 girls and 45 adults.

Agnes Cullens, wife of the then new minister of the Congregational Church, Paul A. Cullens, organized the town’s first Girl Scout troop in 1929. Without official status, the group followed the Girl Scout program for about a year before registering with the Bridgeport Council and receiving the designation of Troop 37. In those early years, it operated as a “lone troop” since it was somewhat isolated from council headquarters.

Emily Leahy was Mrs Cullens’ assistant, and the members of the troop were Grace E. Burr, Lillian M. Canfield, Eleanor D. Carlson, Marjorie C. Conway, Eleanor M. Holcomb, Eleanor E. Ingram, Julia E. Stowe, and Mary Van Valkenburg.

The first committee of women who assisted Mrs Cullens consisted of Mrs Charles Peale, Mrs George Canfield, Mrs Sarah Mitchell, Mrs Harold Smith, Mrs Charles Cavanaugh, Mrs George Stuart, Mrs Wyman Parker Smith, and Mrs Walter Hickman. Later, Mrs Cullens became chairman of the troop committee, with which she was affiliated until 1952. Succeeding Mrs Cullens as troop leaders were Mrs Henry Taylor and Marion Blackledge, followed by Mrs R.M. Leonard, who was in charge of the troop until 1941. Mrs Edward Wight took over the troop in 1941, and there is a long list of leaders and assistants that followed.

In 1936, Mrs Charles Goodsell formed the first Brownie troop for girls 7 to 9 years old. Mrs Robert Leahy organized the first senior troop about ten years later.

 During the last years of World War II, Mrs Cullens, Harrie Wood, and Harold F. Smith served on a building committee that supervised a fund-raising effort and erection of a Girl Scout and Boy Scout cabin on property between the railroad and the property of St Rose Church.

“We had some great times there,” former Girl Scout leader Vern Knapp said recently.

Girl Scouts took care of cabin clean-ups, and in 1961 Mrs Knapp’s Troop 215 made curtains for the windows, on which they painted a design of yellow daisies and four Girl Scout emblems in green. The troop members were Cathy Murphy, Kathy Stickles, Anita Shankman, Joan Honan, Carol Anderson, Colleen Adams, Margaret Fazzino, Susan Murray, Patricia Bennett, Catherine Urbanovsky, Mary Herling, Karen Knapp, Anne Cole, and Ruth Ann Collins.

 Girl Scouts often helped out with chores during the work weekend at Camp Francis in Kent, painting, splitting wood, moving beds and mattresses, housecleaning, doing minor repairs, and cutting the grass.

Girl Scout activities were many of those still enjoyed by Girl Scouts today. These included courts of awards, camping, hikes, bicycle trips, puppet shows, trips to museums, annual parents’ nights, marching in local parades, and International Day rallies, during which the girls participated in native dances in costumes of different countries.

The Girl Scout Roundup was an annual event, and in 1959 Sheila Rafferty and Anne McGlinchy of Newtown were among local scouts who traveled by train to Colorado for it.

In December 1941, local scouts were involved in the traditional skills of learning how to do square and bowline knots. They also were learning first aid with Miss Barbara Gratto, such as ankle bandages. On December 5, The Bee said the girls had formed a color guard that was practicing for the Court of Awards ceremony. Badges were earned in childcare, hospitality, interior decorating, arts and crafts, literature and drama, music and dance, nature, sports and games, agriculture, health and safety, homemaking, and cooking, among others.

 One of the parents’ nights, reported in the April 15, 1932, Bee, included a candlelight service for admission of tenderfoot Scouts Marion Honan, Ruth Hydricks, Betty Hodge, Anne Hillhouse, Ruth Leibold, Laura Gower, Jean Smith, and Rose Pallocovitch. Second class badges were awarded to Susan Cole, Eleanor Carlson, Ruth Burr, Ruth Peale, Emily Young, Shirley Kiernan, Katherine Cole, Barbara Mitchell, and Beatrice Downs. The girls performed a three-act play, “Johnny,” under the direction of Mrs Wyman Smith, assistant leader.

In July of 1932, 17 girls attended Camp Frances in Kent and participated in nature study classes. They were Ruth Peale, Martha Rockwell, Mary Siler, Rose Pallocovitch, Betty Burr, Clara Ruffles, Ann Hillhouse, Emily Young, Susan Cole, Katherine Cole, Shirley Canfield, Marion Honan, Marion Reynolds, Barbara Mitchell, Beatrice Downs, Lucille Williams, and Nancy Naramore.

Camping out with a group of young girls was not an easy task. It involved lots of planning regarding supplies and the girls’ duties during the campout, as evidenced by a long to-do list Mrs Knapp still retains from camping with her troop.

Girl Scouts Marion Honan, Eleanor Honan, Dorothy Main, Priscilla Carmody, Dorothy Morgan, Clare Randall, Edith and Helen Berglund, Grayce Sherman, Lucille Williams, and Barbara Leonard enjoyed a week’s outing in July 1936 at Mrs R.M. Leonard’s cottage at Fairfield Beach. They did their own cooking and housekeeping, The Bee reported. Swimming and playing basketball on the beach were enjoyed as well as hamburger and hot dog roasts. They went to a show in Fairfield, and every night gathered around a campfire to sing songs and play games.

Cookouts were a favorite. In November 1960, members of Mrs Knapp’s Troop 215 learned how to select tinder, kindling, and fuel before building a fire for cooking.

In May 1945, members of the local Girl Scout Troop 37 went on an overnight bicycle trip. They were also learning a dance, “The Little Red Handkerchief,” under the direction of Mrs Paul Cavanaugh. Badge classes had been formed, and the girls were learning the use of a compass and studying trees and birds.

Mr and Mrs Robert Stokes, Mr and Mrs Robert Leahy, and Miss Jeanne Smith were chaperones for a Girl Scout hayride in November 1946 that was enjoyed by all.

Girl Scouts were also involved in community service. Four senior scouts, Joan Pelletier, Joan Glover, Audrey Wood, and Jean Taylor ushered for the Town Players, and Doris Janoscko and Joan Pelletier represented their troop in a choir that sang at hospitals and nursing homes. Troops would often sing Christmas carols for patients in the hospital.

Between November 1, 1947, and December 1, 1948, Intermediate Girl Scouts completed sewing four kits of clothing for children in other countries. Some of the girls were pictured in The Bee on April 16, 1948. Each kit contained a complete outfit for one child. One kit, a layette for a new baby, was completed by scouts working on their clothing badge, under the direction of Mrs Knapp and Mrs Hoyt Johnson. The completed layette was later displayed in the window of the Flagpole Fountain.

For some of the girls it was their first sewing venture, The Bee noted. The other three kits were for girls the same age as the scouts. Each girl had donated something of her own to complete a wardrobe for an overseas child. Inside each kit, the girls placed a card with a few words of greeting, and a pencil and writing paper in the hope they would hear from someone receiving the clothing.

Recruiting blood donors was a project sponsored by the Girl Scouts. In May 1953 Arnold Hill of South Main Street was pictured in The Bee signing a pledge to donate blood during a Red Cross recruitment manned by Sandra Downs and June Meyers, members of Girl Scout Troop 37.

Girl Scouts made stuffed toys for the Crippled Children’s Society and planted bulbs at Hawley School. In December 1941, they prepared a Christmas basket for a needy family and knitted caps for the Red Cross.

Those early Scouts also participated in fund-raising events for their troop, such as food sales and selling Girl Scout calendars and, of course, cookies.

There were joint social activities with the Boy Scouts. In November 1936 the Boy Scouts of Troop 70 and Girl Scouts held a party at St Rose’s Casino with their parents and members of troop committees. There were dances at the scout cabin.

 Environmental concerns were also among Girl Scout activities. In 1934 Newtown Girl Scouts took part in a contest to collect tent caterpillar egg masses. The contest began during the Christmas holidays and ended on April 3. On April 6 The Newtown Bee reported on the winners of that contest and their prizes. Anne Hillhouse won first prize, collecting 15,122 egg masses and winning a complete set of signaling flags. Shirley Wakelee won second place, with 7,941, to take home a Girl Scout Handbook. Lucille Williams took third place with 7,830, winning a Girl Scout sampler. Eighteen girls were involved in collecting the egg masses. Those collecting over 1,000 were Emily Young, Florence Kayfus, Nelda Eaton, Catherine Carmody, Frances Smith, and Ruth Burr.

A grand total of 46,786 egg masses were collected. The paper noted that taking 350 as an average number of eggs in each egg mass, “the population of tent caterpillars for this spring decreased by 16,373,100.”

In a photograph in the March 9, 1962 Newtown Bee, Intermediate Girl Scout Susan Huhtala and Brownie Scout Marilyn McCarthy represented the 225 girls in the 11 troops in Newtown. Susan had prepared the proclamation in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Girl Scouts and Girl Scout Week, which was on display in the lobby of Edmond Town Hall.

Marilyn’s mother was one of the eight girls in the original Girl Scout troop founded by Mrs Cullens.

Area Girl Scouts celebrated their 50th anniversary with a district-wide celebration at Longmeadow Hill Junior High in Brookfield (now Brookfield High School). The celebration opened with a flag ceremony, followed by a Juliette Low pageant, international dances, a skit on Girl Scouting, and a “maori” stick game.

On Sunday, March 11, 1962, the first day of Girl Scout Week and the scouts’ Golden Anniversary, Karen Knapp and Nancy Stokes recited the Girl Scout Promise at services of the Congregational Church.

Today, Newtown has 51 Girl Scout troops with a total of 577 girls and 389 adults, according to Betsy Keefer, executive director of the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut.

Ms Keefer said the program has grown significantly over the last four or five years. Growth in this council has risen by 30 percent, she said, compared to a national growth of eight percent.

“This shows the dedication of a lot of volunteers,” she said.

When Juliette Low founded the Girl Scouts in Savannah, Ga., in 1912, there were 12 members in her first troop. Today, Ms Keefer said, there are 230,000 troops nationwide, with 2.75 million girls and 881,000 adults.