Alumnae Story
Finding Harmony in Girl Scouting for More Than 40 Years

	Gail Herring of Greensboro, working on a Scout's Own.

By Lynn Burnette

For 40 years, the original members of Girl Scout Troop 75 in Tarheel Triad Council have met with each other—not as registered girls, but as adults who were sisters in the troop formed in 1957. They don't meet weekly anymore to work on badges—just every five years or so for dinner, conversation and memories.

Their leader, Eppie Turner of Greensboro, N.C., is absolutely delighted by their dedication.

Troop members have laughed, cried, loved, complained, and cared from childhood through adulthood. "We've always said that we would share all the happy things and some of the sad things in our lives—because you can't get to this stage in life without both," Mrs. Turner says.

Troop 75 witnessed the 50th anniversary of the Girl Scouts in 1962, celebrating it with other girls in Greensboro. They hope to witness the 100th anniversary in 2012 together, as well.

Theirs was a troop that made beautiful music, and they loved to camp and hike. In 1964, for their big trip between their junior and senior years in high school, they canoed in the Canadian wilderness for a week. Their seven canoes glided for six of those days through the clear glacier waters, and they saw wildlife at every bend, including bears. The girls had worked together and individually for about two years to earn the money to go, and each earned badges related to first aid, swimming, canoeing and camping to prepare for the trip.

The troop earned their Canoeing badge in preparation for their trip to the Canadian wilderness in 1964.

For eight years, the girls operated as a team, meeting at the same house in which Mrs. Turner and her husband, Remus, still live. "We always had 16 members," she says, adding that was the maximum number allowed by the Girl Scouts organization at that time. "We had a waiting list. If two dropped out, two more girls came in. It made a nice, diversified group of girls. Not all were from the same economic level."

Only four still live in Greensboro, with the others scattered from coast to coast.

"So many of the core girls stayed in the whole time," says troop member Gail Herring of Greensboro. "I was in the fourth grade when I joined. I was there for the whole shebang. It was so exciting."

These days, the women who were Girl Scout Troop 75 in Greensboro still gather and sing those old camp songs, relive those old stories. Their reunion happens every few years at about the time of their high school class reunion – although some come only for the Girl Scout brunch and reunion, not for the school festivities. The last reunion, held last year, sentimentally held at Mrs. Turner's house, attracted 14 of the 16 women.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 75 of Greensboro gather every few years to reminisce and catch up with each other. Most of the women live in other states. (Eppie Turner is third from the right in the front row.)

The troop started when Eppie Turner's daughter, Janet, entered Girl Scouts in fourth grade. Janet may have had no choice; her mom volunteered as the leader. "I just always knew I wanted to be a Girl Scout leader," Mrs. Turner said. The reason: She was a Girl Scout herself in the early 1930s.

At age 10, Eppie joined the organization in her hometown in Maryland, and she continued with it through high school. Her troop enjoyed camping, as much of an adventure then as it is now. In addition to trips to local Girl Scout camps, she had the honor of going to New York one summer to attend the former national Girl Scout camp, Andree Clark, and of spending another summer at Camp Edith Macy. These days, Edith Macy is an internationally recognized conference center that holds workshops for Girl Scout staff and volunteers, as well as for business professionals. Located across the road from Macy, Camp Andree Clark is now part of the conference center, and traveling troops frequently use the two cabins there.

For Mrs. Turner's troop in Greensboro, the camp of choice was Old Mill, which stood in eastern Guilford County through the 1970s, before a reservoir was built and inundated the land. "I was in awe of Old Mill," Mrs. Herring says. "My sister—7 years older than I—was a big Girl Scout," who camped at the site for many years. Little Gail couldn't believe that she finally was old enough to attend summer sessions at the almost legendary camp. By the time she graduated from high school, Gail had become a summer counselor at Old Mill.

Gail and the others in her troop camped at Old Mill during the school year, as well. "It was something that allowed us, who were city slickers, to get out in the outdoors." It allowed them to learn skills they might never have had the opportunity to learn.

These skills gave the girls confidence, courage and strength of character. Coupled with the other values of Girl Scouting they learned, 13 members of the troop earned the Curved Bar in 1961, the highest award in Girl Scouting at the time. The summer after they graduated from high school, 11 of those girls worked as camp counselors.

Most of all, they had fun together. "We had music—we sang every song there was to sing," Gail says.

"Many of them were in the choir during high school," Mrs. Turner adds. "So we had beautiful harmony."

Lynn Burnette is the public relations director for the Girl Scouts, Tarheel Triad Council.