Alumnae Story
Please, Not a Leader!

By Lisa Cotten Allen
Saraland, Ala.
Junior Troop 8247, Council of Southern Alabama

I was never a Brownie or Junior due to all the hurricanes in southern Louisiana when I was growing up, but when I was 12 we moved to Alabama and I became a Cadette Girl Scout (and then Senior). My greatest memory was of the sacrifices that my leader and all of our parents made in getting us to a week-long trip to Washington, D.C. It was in the early 1970's.

My leader was Mrs. Pearl Alford and she had a Cadette Troop and a Junior Troop. It was decided that we would work together to earn money to go to Washington, D.C. We sold cookies, had bake sales, and car washes. Our greatest fundraiser was an Arts and Crafts fair. We "rented" booth space to crafters and artisans, sold Girl Scout cookies, bake sale items, popcorn, hot dogs, raffles for several items (like an outdoor patio grill) and you could get your picture taken with Santa (my dad).

It took us two years of hard work. Our parents worked hard with us for all of this. Our Cadette troop spent the night at Mrs. Alford's house the night before we left. We chartered a bus, drove the first night to South Carolina and spent the night in a church meeting hall. We got to Washington, D.C and began a whirlwind of activities including the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonian, meeting our State Representative and Senator and having our picture taken with them, and many other sites. On our way home, we stopped at Six Flags over Georgia for a day of fun with all the amusement park rides.

The day after we got home, we found out that Mrs. Alford had gone directly to the hospital and had gall bladder surgery. It wasn't until I had my pictures developed that I realized, looking at her face in all the pictures, how much pain she had been in that week. That, more than anything else, showed me the amount of dedication she had to all of "her girls."

Now, over 30 years later, I am a leader. I remember a couple of weeks before signing my daughter up for Brownies, I woke up one morning remembering my dream (I never remember by dreams). I looked up and prayed "Lord, PLEASE, I'll be the best Girl Scout MOM, but please, not the leader!" You guessed it, I got there to register her and they had five girls on the waiting list and no leader! This is now my fourth year as a leader, our first year as Juniors.

My father ran into Mrs. Alford last year. He told her that I was a Girl Scout leader. He said that she smiled and told him "I'm not surprised!" (I was!)

I have been so amazed at watching all "my" girls growing up. At one of our last meetings as a Brownie Troop, I stopped about halfway through the meeting and just started at them. "Okay, what did you do with them?" I asked the girls. They all looked surprised and said "do with what?" I said, "What did you do with my girls?" They still looked confused. I smiled at them and said, "Who are these girls in here? My girls hardly raise their hands or stay in their seats!" They all laughed along with me. I've seen one very shy girl end up leading a discussion, watched the smiles on their faces from their accomplishments, the excitement on their faces from events and camporees we have gone to, and most of all, I'm looking forward to watching them grow even more as a Junior Troop. They are so excited about getting to do "Big Girl" stuff!