November 15, 2000
Girl Scouts show off completed council headquarters
Open house celebrates new 8,000 square foot facility
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Shedding their cramped office space for a new, modern facility, leaders of the Girl Scout Crooked Tree Council celebrated their new digs at an open house Saturday afternoon.
Shepherding dozens of scout leaders and scouts of all ages through the sparkling offices, large meeting room and a council store, volunteers and staff from the council enthused about the new Service Center.
"We're so excited about this space," said Polly Barnes, chair of the Service Center Council and a tour guide for the afternoon. "We've been talking about moving for 10 years and two years ago began looking at every piece of commercial property in Traverse City before deciding to build just what we wanted."
Open since June, the 8,000 square foot facility has already hosted adult leadership training classes and that is just the beginning. Finally having a barrier-free facility means trainers no longer have to scrounge meeting rooms around town for programs.
The Service Center also features a Council Store, sporting all things Girl Scout. From uniforms to badges to memorabilia, the Council Store provides one-stop shopping for Girl Scouts at all levels and their leaders.
"We've never had a council store before," Barnes said. "We've rearranged our business hours so leaders can get here."
The open house also featured a display of Girl Scout uniforms from previous eras, guidebooks from the last century and photographs from recent outings. Despite having cookie blitzed the region with last year's cookie sales numbering 314,700 boxes, staff and volunteers at the open house were handing out free boxes to all comers. Proud of their scouts' showing, they were busy whetting appetites for next year's sale.
"We averaged 102 boxes per girl last year," said Barnes, who started in scouting as a brownie and declares her blood runs green after all these years.
For staff and troop leaders, their childhood memories of scouting days bring them back as adults. They want to give girls a chance to experience scouting and the positive benefits it brings, including self-esteem, confidence, leadership and teamwork.
"Some of my fondest and best experiences of childhood were in Girl Scouts," said Renee Hoenscheid, a field director with the Girl Scout Crooked Tree Council. "One of the things we strive for in our girls is self-empowerment and self-acceptance. Scouting provides the opportunity for that."
The Girl Scout Crooked Tree Council serves more than 3,000 girls from kindergarten through high school. Serving 11 counties in northwest Michigan, the council covers one of the largest geographic areas in the state. However, its membership total, divided among 400 troops, ranks it as average size.
One of the fastest growing segments of scouting is among older girls in their teen years. The Cadet and Senior programs in the council have 300 and 200 members, respectively, mimicking a growth trend nationwide.
"Girls of that age are more often left home alone as both parents are working, their parents may be less involved in their lives than when they were younger," said Denise Paxton, a regional director for the council. "Scouting gives them a place to come and something to do."