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Behind the scenes, adult scouters aren’t just about the cookies
Wm. Srite
Linda Wright (center) leads Girl Scout Troop 834 in their pledge during a troop meeting at Benton Elementry School.
April 19, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Picture a gaggle of girls, flashlights in hand, telling ghost stories in their tents. Now picture the adults, a mere 20 feet away. It’s nearing midnight. Many adults would be fast asleep, completely naive to what is going on in the surrounding tents. That’s not what happens in Girl Scout Troop 834, though. On a camping trip last year, it was the girls who fell right asleep, says troop leader Linda Wright. The adults, on the other hand, stayed up all night chatting about life and giggling at the night sounds echoing outside.
“We were the ones who should’ve gotten into trouble,” says parent Fadre Maun, laughing.
Related ArticlesMany parents sign their daughters up for Girl Scouts hoping that the kids will make some friends and learn practical skills while doing so. What the adult volunteers of Troop 834 are surprised to find is that their experiences are often similar to those of the girls.
“When you spend a week in the woods with someone, you really get to know them,” Maun says. “It’s unlike many other friendships. You really learn about trust.”
The administrator
As Wright gives the girls of Troop 834 a lesson on communication, Beth “B-Ba” Bartlett, 35, sits authoritatively at a table, a box of Caramel deLites at her side, keeping a constant smile.
After moving to Missouri eight years ago, Bartlett decided to volunteer with the local Heart of Missouri Council office. When her original troop dissolved about a year ago, she and the two remaining girls joined in with Wright and Troop 834. Although she is a co-leader, her administrative duties with the council take up most of her time. She juggles several positions including product sales coordinator, council delegate and committee member. Bartlett’s schedule is often overwhelming with paperwork and conferences, but the troop meetings give her time to have fun and escape the pressures of working two jobs on top of being an administrator.
“I’ve always been a stickler for doing things by-the-book,” says Bartlett. “Working with the girls and Linda teaches me how to be more flexible and relaxed.”
On a walk around the block during a lesson, this becomes obvious. Hanging back from the girls, Bartlett and Lianna Hibbert, an active parent and newly turned co-leader, joke about diets. Hibbert tells Bartlett that she looks like she’s lost some weight. Bartlett dramatically tugs at her jeans in response. “These used to be my fat jeans!” she says. Hibbert just shakes her head and chuckles.
“We always have a good time,” Maun says. “We all kind of meld together to make the ultimate leader.”
Bartlett’s administrative duties also allow for fun. One of her responsibilities is to help organize an adult training day every year. This includes all of the necessary topics such as new leader orientation and level training, but the committee members also get to create fun events including last year’s yoga session. Bartlett loves training because it allows her to see the women try and learn new things.
“Some of these women haven’t even been tent camping before,” she says.
Although Bartlett has a little more experience, Girl Scouting still keeps her on her toes. In 2005, she learned how to kayak on a summer trip. A few years before, she went bicycling on the outer banks of North Carolina. She survived freezing cold weather and watched her tent float away. These events are important for Bartlett, who doesn’t have a lot of time to get outside. Accomplishing physically enduring activities is very fulfilling, she says.
No matter how much training Bartlett receives, she continues to learn. When she went through training in Missouri, she was astounded to find out how to cook a pizza in a box. Although results have ranged from raw dough to “burnt beyond repair,” Bartlett says it usually tastes pretty good.
The troop leader
Although it is a casual troop meeting, 45-year-old Linda Wright, a.k.a. Big Old Scary Scout or Boss, wears her Girl Scout shirt proudly. Tonight, the girls pass a house that is being remodeled on a trek around the neighborhood. They are looking for “signs” or symbols that can show meaning such as a tricycle in the front yard and decide that the lack of siding on this house means no one lives there. One girl jokes that they should try to go inside. “What part of the Girl Scout law would that break?” asks Wright. The girls stare back at her blankly. Always prepared, Wright turns around with a smile. On the back of her lavender shirt gleams the creed. “On my honor, I will try…” The girls race to get the right answer — to respect myself and others.
Wright doesn’t classify herself as a typical Girl Scout leader. “We are not a cookies, crafts and curtsies troop,” she insists. She promotes physical activities, such as the 5-mile Human Race in which she and some of the other adults routinely participate.
After working as an assistant leader with her daughter’s Daisy and Brownie troops for four years, Wright decided to start her own. Although she is busy with two kids in sports and a full-time legal administrative assistant job, she says she enjoys time spent with the girls, both young and old.
“It’s nice to socialize and get away from the husbands for a little bit,” she says.
Being a part of the adult side to Girl Scouting has left Wright with many practical skills as well. She is trained in lifeguarding, watercraft use and first aid, which come in handy having active children. Lessons for the troop have also taught her about everything from osteoporosis to the reproduction rate of animals.
Above everything else, she has learned to be spontaneous. After an ice storm caused a planned camp out on Martin Luther King weekend to be canceled, Wright had to think fast. With $250 dollars worth of groceries bought and the girls anxious, she couldn’t cancel. Blankets substituted for tents and 17 people (along with two dogs) crammed into her family-of-four house for three days.
The co-leader
After being an active parent in Troop 834 for several years, Lianna “Task Master” Hibbert was finally wrestled down and put on paper as an official co-leader. Still, Hibbert often pays special attention to her daughter, making sure she’s always listening and participating. “I’m allowed to be mean to my daughter,” Hibbert says jokingly as she pretends to hit her girl on the behind.
In reality, Hibbert takes their relationship seriously. The pair recently decided to turn their trip to the St. Louis Butterfly House into a badge. They did research, and Hibbert was surprised to learn how easy it is to attract butterflies in a garden.
“I feel like I’m always learning,” she says. “I purposely cruise around looking for something that interests me and can be incorporated into a badge for my daughter.”
She uses the practicality of Girl Scouts as the troop strolls past a rundown house. Hibbert and Bartlett joke that they should buy the house and fix it up. Almost instinctively Hibbert follows with, “I wonder what badges that covers.”
The parent
As Wright shows the girls how to sew bean-filled neck coolies they will be sending to troops stationed in Iran, “Fearless” Fadre Maun stands at her side. During a pause, Wright leans towards Maun and quietly says that she finally got to run after her recent surgery. Fadre, who often runs with Wright, says excitedly that she got three miles in this week.
Although Maun doesn’t hold an official title in Troop 834, she and Wright have a history together. Maun was a co-leader for Wright’s previous brownie troop. She is currently busy with her own business, Columbia Printer Repair, Tae Kwon Do practices and PTA meetings, but the two try to get together as much as possible. They attend Tupperware parties, run and just hang out.
“I have four children,” Maun says. “I like the opportunity to meet some adults who have of the same interests as I do.”
Many of these interests are new to Maun, who wasn’t a Girl Scout herself. She is amazed at how useful the skills can be. For example, simple things such as learning how to tie a proper knot have really come in handy, she says. Just the other day, it helped her fix a broken clothesline. Last year, she jumped off of a diving board for the first time at a troop swim with everyone rooting her on.
As the girls grow and near teenagedom, Wright says Girl Scouting becomes more and more “uncool.” Troop 834 has managed to maintain almost all of the same faces, though. The unique relationships of the leaders create this success, says Maun.
“We all have different styles, and they see us work together,” she says. “We’re having fun and trying new things. We’re different ages, we’re different ethnicities, we have different interests, but we still have fun together.”
Although it is often difficult to get these women to talk about anything but the girls, the benefits they incur are obvious during their meeting. When a girl asks why they meet every week — a characteristic unique to Troop 834 — they rub their hands together. In unison: “More time to torture you, of course.” Bartlett plays with Wright’s daughter and yells at her dog to stay in the way only a friend could. Hibbert asks Maun about the 5-mile Human Race. The girls’ giggles, screams and chatter fill the room. The adults don’t seem to mind. They, too, have to catch up on the past week.
Return to the campfire for more scout stories.
