Girl Scouts at Sunnyside

Scott Swanson

It was the event of the century, at least for Girl Scouts of the Pacific Northwest who swarmed into the Sweet Home area last week for the Northwest Centennial Roundup, held at Sunnyside Park and other local venues.

The roundup was pretty much anything any active, inquisitive, fun-loving teen could want and more than 300 of them spent the week learning everything from rock-climbing to semaphore (communicating with flags).

“We’ve had camps and stuff, but this is crazy,” said Melissa Tensa, 15, of Beaverton, a 10-year veteran of Girl Scouts, as she stood with friends waiting for her turn to climb a wall manned by Oregon National Guard soldiers.

The roundup was unique in that it drew a total of 385 participants, most from Oregon but some from as far away as the East Coast and Canada, plus 13 National Guard service people, to the campground, which was closed to the public for the event. In addition to providing the climbing wall, the military personnel provided a Blackhawk Medivac helicopter, medical support and meals for dozens of camp volunteers – mostly parents.

County Parks Director Brian Carroll said the Scouts were allowed to exclusively rent the park for their centennial celebration due to “unique” circumstances.

“It was their 100th anniversary and they were in a tough spot,” he said.

Carroll said parks officials were contacted last year by the Scouts, who had just lost the venue they were planning to use for the roundup.

“They were basically in a bind,” he said. “They asked if it would be possible to use Sunnyside.”

He said that after consulting with Linn County commissioners and parks board members, they decided to grant the request.

“A big part of our job is to help out people looking for places to go camping, and helping the youth of the community experience outdoors recreation,” Carroll said. “This fulfills both those criteria. I know there have been concerns that this is something we would do on a regular basis. This is a once-in-a-hundred-year event. We’re not planning to do this on a regular basis.

“People are coming from all over the Northwest for this event. It’s a way to showcase Linn County and, much like other special events, there are good spin-off benefits for the economic climate of the county.”

The lake stayed open during the roundup, though the Sunnyside boat ramp was closed until Saturday.

Roundup Chair Eileen Skidmore, of Portland, said the last such event occurred 75 years ago in Idaho. She said plans for this event were in the works for a year.

After the week’s events at Sunnyside, the Scouts left Saturday for the Linn County Fair and Expo Center, where some 7,500 Girl Scouts from the Council of Oregon and Southern Washington congregated for a giant birthday celebration. Skidmore said participants included Scouts from Lebanon and Albany, but none from Sweet Home, where there is no Girl Scout troop.

During the week youngsters had choices of some 80 workshops and activities – eight per day, ranging from traditional Girl Scout skills such as crocheting, basket making and letter boxing to contemporary subjects such as Zumba and Lego robotics. There were also trips to the South Santiam Fish Hatchery and Foster Dam, white water rafting on the North Santiam River, a wildflower hike at Echo Basin and other locations. All the girls received six hours of water safety instruction at Lewis Creek Park.

Evening programs included a concert by an all-female rock band, She’s Not Dead; a comedy night, an old-fashioned Girl Scout camp fire, motivational talks and more, Skidmore said.

She said the variety of offerings was due in part to the centennial.

“Since this is the 100th anniversary, we felt we needed to do some of these things,” she said of the traditional crafts.

Some girls sewed clothes, which will be donated to charities – possibly to Africa – while others built greenhouses that will be given to Habitat for Humanity to be sold for fund-raisers and a group did trail maintenance along Foster Lake.

“Being Girl Scouts, we had to incorporate service into this,” Skidmore said.

Claudia Andersen, 16, of Beaverton, who happens to be a Scout in one of the three troops Skidmore leads in the Portland area, said the roundup was such a unique opportunity that her troop postponed a planned trip to Australia to next year.

Her friend Brianne Merritt, 14, also of Beaverton, said she enjoyed the climbing wall the most of all the activities she’d tried midway through the week.

“It’s definitely my favorite so far,” she said. “The Army people are super nice. They’re really fun to be with. They tell stories and jokes and they encourage you up the wall.”

Tensa, who is a member of Merritt’s and Andersen’s troop, said her top pick was the white water rafting trip and she said the Girl Scouts hit it off with the rafting guides.

“They were really excited when we gave them nicknames,” she said. “They said we were better than the 50 Jewish Orthodox girls.”

Skidmore said three generations of her family were at the round-up – her daughter is a troop leader and her granddaughter, both of Washington, is a Girl Scout.

“That’s pretty special to me,” she said. “I’m a born-again Girl Scout.”

Total
0
Share