SSScout Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Girl Scouts Camp on White House Lawn, first ever? http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/girl-scouts-camp-white-house-lawn/story?id=32141434 http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/01/politics/girl-scouts-obama-white-house-evacuated-storm-dc/ Never heard of any Scout campouts like that. You? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Not on the White House lawn, but on the Mall. The 37 Jamboree was there. Few more than 50 scouts; was 25-30K if I remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blw2 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I liked how they all had very new and clean uniform vests, with patches sewn to military precision... The most uniform I've seen a group of scouts in a long while Even the tents were all new and matching, and set up with the use of a surveyor's transit! Talk about a staged photo opp! BUT what a great opportunity for those chosen few girls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoPenn Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Not unlike the pristine uniforms the youth representatives to the BSA wear when they deliver the annual report to the President/Congress. I'm just wondering, with all the Presidents we have had that have been involved in the Boy Scouts, why it took so long - and will Bob Gates contact the White House and ask for equal time for the Boy Scouts? What a great story to come out of the beltway. (as a side - why am I tempted to invoke the staged "mission accomplished" photo-op) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSScout Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Think of the great "camplantern" (no fires allowed on the WH lawn!) the POTUS can tell! "It was a dark and stormy committee meeting...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwazse Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Remember these are Webelos age girls. So the camping is at their level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 What's so great about camping on the WH lawn? No trees, no fires, no fun. Next will be a Jamboree in Central Park. Seriously? The only thing I would think is worse is a BSA STEM Jamboree in front of the Smithsonian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoPenn Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 I don't know Stosh, looked like the girls were having fun to me - and as a Boy Scout, I've camped in large fields in county forest preserves where there were no trees and no fires allowed and the separation between units might have been 5 feet, if that, and still had fun. I. for one, would have been thrilled to say, at the start of classes when the teacher asked what I did over summer vacation, that I had camped out overnight on the White House lawn and met the President and First Lady - even if that President would have been Richard Nixon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I've known kids that a day at the mall or on the couch playing video games was fun but I wouldn't call it scouting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldscout448 Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Few Girl Scout troops go camping anymore. At least the ones in central Maryland. My mother was a GS leader for over 50 years, and the one thing that drove her to tears was the fact that the adult leaders flatly refused to " camp" anyplace that didn't have hot showers, beds, heat, and a/c. A number of girls went all the way through the program, earning their Gold Award (that's the gsa eagle) and aside from summer camps never spent one night under canvas. And uniforms?! I can take you to troop meetings of 20-30 girls, and no one is wearing what we would call a uniform. Including the adults. According to gsa regs if you are wearing the gsa pin then you are in uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSScout Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 GSUSA depends more on the leader's desire than the BSA does. BSA has specific training to LEAD the leader into the outdoors, so to speak. Not so in GSUSA to my ken. If the GSUSA leader doesn't want to camp/hiked/etc., it can't happen. Gurlz who want to CHE, (especially etc.) need to join Venture Scouts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJCubScouter Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Stosh, in your first post you say "no fun" but then when Calico says the girls seemed to be having fun, you say just because it's fun doesn't mean it's Scouting. I think we get the idea that this is not your idea of a good activity, so I guess it's a good thing you weren't invited. This was a group of fourth-grade girls, about 10 years old. It seems like an appropriate activity for that group. Whether it would be an appropriate activity for another kind of group is a matter of personal opinion. And apart from the outdoors aspect, getting to meet with the President and First Lady seems like a positive activity citizenship-wise. If my troop were invited to do that, I would suggest that they go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I never said that it was not fun for the kids, I said it was not for me. That's what I have ASM's for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertrat77 Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Great public relations initiative, and more power to the folks that would enjoy such a event. Personally, I'd say "no thanks" and let someone else take my spot. Trees are nice, but I like camping in the wide open places...prairie, tundra, desert. But not under spotlights, nor with all of the PR staff, security, and extra rules/nuances of camping in such a place. Plus, I've never been drawn to "celebrity." Thankfully there are people who are, and I'm glad they will jump thru all of the hoops necessary to make the event a success. My personal feelings aside, I don't think it would be a good PR coup for the BSA to ask for equal camping time at the WH. Camping of any kind in the GSA is a big deal. If the BSA wants to pursue the outdoor adventure theme, they'll need to do something more than a staged campsite in Wash DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoPenn Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Sure - they can do staged camping at Jamborees instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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