Awesome and Amazing - OHFH
I just had the very best experience this weekend with 20,000 of my closest friends. It was AMAZING!! It's the Girl Scout's 100th anniversary this year, and my old High School troop decided to hold a reunion 2-night camping trip at the One Hundred Fun Hundred event.
The event was extremely well planned, down to every last detail -- the restroom signs were redecorated to show a girl with a badge sash on, the weekend on which it was held was a full moon so it was much harder to get lost in the dark on the way to your campsite, they had extra bins of TP for when the biffys ran out. 4000+ people camped in a very organized way in huge grass parking lots at the fair. The event sold out, and they stopped letting people in so that it wouldn't be too crowded. It was extremely crowded, but there were enough activities that it only required a little patience to get to the front of the line (under 5 minutes for most things, up to 30 for some things, and 2+ hrs for the climbing wall, gift shop, and zip line.)
Once you got in ($30 early bird) everything except food was free, including the crafts and adventure activities. My kids earned 3 patches, did spin art, touched a smelly dissected squid, and got glow necklaces.
The best part though was hanging out with old friends. It was also neat to see the girl scout troop camping next to us -- they ran things so well, lined up to clean their dishes, sang their grace, talked about expectations and plans; it was awesome to watch. Apparently 3 of us independently went over to their camp and told them how nice it was to watch. They said that it was great for them too, to see alums still hanging out together as adults and bringing our own children along. There is a future to look forward to. Four of us on the trip will be leading troops next fall.
Girl Scouts meant a lot to me as a kid, and it's clear that it wasn't just me. Lots of people have formational experiences through this organization. I know sometimes it goes badly for some kids, which is a shame, but when it works, the world becomes a better place.
--Beth / A.K.A. Strawberry
The event was extremely well planned, down to every last detail -- the restroom signs were redecorated to show a girl with a badge sash on, the weekend on which it was held was a full moon so it was much harder to get lost in the dark on the way to your campsite, they had extra bins of TP for when the biffys ran out. 4000+ people camped in a very organized way in huge grass parking lots at the fair. The event sold out, and they stopped letting people in so that it wouldn't be too crowded. It was extremely crowded, but there were enough activities that it only required a little patience to get to the front of the line (under 5 minutes for most things, up to 30 for some things, and 2+ hrs for the climbing wall, gift shop, and zip line.)
Once you got in ($30 early bird) everything except food was free, including the crafts and adventure activities. My kids earned 3 patches, did spin art, touched a smelly dissected squid, and got glow necklaces.
The best part though was hanging out with old friends. It was also neat to see the girl scout troop camping next to us -- they ran things so well, lined up to clean their dishes, sang their grace, talked about expectations and plans; it was awesome to watch. Apparently 3 of us independently went over to their camp and told them how nice it was to watch. They said that it was great for them too, to see alums still hanging out together as adults and bringing our own children along. There is a future to look forward to. Four of us on the trip will be leading troops next fall.
Girl Scouts meant a lot to me as a kid, and it's clear that it wasn't just me. Lots of people have formational experiences through this organization. I know sometimes it goes badly for some kids, which is a shame, but when it works, the world becomes a better place.
--Beth / A.K.A. Strawberry