Alumnae Story
Girl Scout Handbook

By Linda Ettinger Lieberman
Formerly of Sussex, N.J.
Now of Scarsdale, N.Y.

To those publishers rushing to print a young girls handbook to rival the hugely successful Handbook for Boys written by Walter Dean Myers, I say stop right now! There is no need to look further than the official Girl Scout Handbook.

I joined the Girl Scouts fifty years ago in 1957, starting as a Brownie in the Sussex-North Warren Council in New Jersey. I stayed with my troop through Cadettes and then Senior Scout levels. Our troop leaders were wonderful women, some working and others retired. Some had grown children and others were single and not yet married.

Our troop met at Wantage Consolidated School in Wantage Township and St. Monica's Catholic Church in Sussex Boro. Our council leader was Marge Andrews, secretary to the Wantage Consolidated School principal. Her country home was surrounded by woods, streams and gorgeous land. It had sleeping platforms for securing tents, fire pits and other camp accoutrements.

Looking back at all the things I achieved as a young girl and mature woman, I realize that all I know and have ever needed to know in life stems back to the Girl Scout oath and its ten rules. Every time that someone asks me how come I am such a dedicated community and civic leader and volunteer, I point back to the skills, training and experiences that were provided by Girl Scouts. Early on, I gained confidence in leading a patrol, having responsibility for assisting the troop leaders, executing projects from initiation to final report, among other skills. It was there that I developed an interest in community affairs, the environment, emergency preparedness, health, first aid, social services, etc. When I see a bird in my backyard and pull out binoculars and a field guide, it is a continuation of what I learned as a Brownie.

I am proud to say that I still have my original, intact badge sash, Brownie and Girl Scout pins, attendance stars, the first piece of embroidery I ever did (a trefoil, naturally!), as well as the sewing kit that I put together and stored in a used metal candy box (and which I still use).

It was with a great deal of pride that I listed my Girl Scouts affiliation on my U.S. Peace Corps application in 1972 (I served in Liberia from 1973-74) and in my biography in Outstanding Young Women of America (1975).