Alumnae Story
Camp Manisee, Michigan

By Jeanne Meeks, Cook County, Ill.
Now a Senior leader for Troop #91, SU 10 in New Lenox, Ill. with Trailways Council, Joliet, Ill.

I stayed in Girl Scouts until eighth grade for the opportunity to attend resident camp in Manistee, Mich. The two weeks I spent in the summers of 1962 and 1963 were thrilling. I loved everything about it, the five-hour bus ride from the Chicago suburbs, my counselor named Penny, the meal hall, the singing, hiking and sleeping in the rain, and on and on.

As older girls, we were allowed to hike to a sand dune to sleep under the stars. A creek flowed at the foot of the sand dune, so the natural thing for 12-year-old girls to do is to careen down the sand hill and splash into the creek at full speed. We also took a "creek hike" by walking for a mile or so IN the creek. I can't fully explain the fun of that to my troop, but am encouraging them to try it. That evening the stars were out when we bedded down, but the clouds let loose during the night and we huddled in our wet sleeping bags until morning. Our counselors gamely lit a fire in the morning and cooked breakfast for us. I vividly remember the rain collecting in the frying pan and mixing with the scrambled eggs. They were delicious. We hiked back to camp, singing in the rain, and thinking that we were special. We were. It was. And I would love to duplicate that feeling in my girls.

When my granddaughter's troop threatened to fold seven years ago, I stepped in as leader in the hope that I could pass on my love of the outdoors to her and the troop. As it turned out, camping has just not been of much interest to them.

Finally, last spring in their freshmen year of high school, the idea caught on and we took a short backpacking hike. They screeched about spiders in the tents. The raccoons terrorized them. And they suffered when they couldn't wash their hair every morning. However, they loved making fires, outdoor cooking, night hikes, and sharing thoughts from their camp journals. I knew I had them when they dragged their cots out of the tents to sleep under the stars and ignored the raccoons to do it. My finest moment, though, was when they found a rope swing and took turns swinging out over the creek, falling in and sloshing through the mud to do it again. Mission accomplished!

When I first took over the troop, it was my goal to open doors for the girls and broaden their horizons. I thought I could help teach them to reach higher and do more than they ever expected they could or should. Along the way I have learned so much and grew to appreciate what a wonderful, accomplished group of good girls they naturally are. As sophomores in high school, these 14 girls are in so many activities at school and church, I feared they would lose interest in Girl Scouting. Instead they state that they are proud to be Girl Scouts and are having FUN. Me too!