Lafayette County WI Archives History - Books .....Girl Scouts 1976 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 29, 2008, 6:52 pm Book Title: A History Of Blanchardville, Gem Of The Pecatonica Girl Scouts In the early 1940's Mrs. Stella Skaife began working with the girls in the village. This continued for a period of time with help from many mothers. Mrs. Arleigh Olson, Mrs. William Weaver, Mrs. Ted Tollackson, Mrs. Glenn Syse, and Mrs. Earl Barber are some of the mothers who gave of their time and talent. For the older girls, scouting became a reality for them because some girl assisting her mother with the evening dishes expressed a desire to the Scouts. So in the spring of 1944, Mrs. L. J. Unterholzner, in response to her daughter Mitzie's wish, searched for a source of material about the Girl Scouts and she organized the intermediate scouts. The meetings were held at the Unterholzner home. To help with the earning of badges, Stella Skaife, Ellen Weaver, Olga Tollackson, Eva Olson, Inez Barber and Tena Syse worked with this group of girls too. In 1947 Mrs. Francis Kingeter returned from Quincy, Mass., to make her home in Blanchardville. She had training and had worked extensively with scouting in the East. Her daughter, Karen, had been a Brownie and to continue her daughter's experience with the group, she reactivated the Brownie troop in the village. The opportunity to enjoy camp life was given the girls in the form of a day camp in McKellar Park in 1948. Many people worked to make this experience possible. The camp lasted a week with the day beginning at 9:30 a.m. with group singing, led by Esther Johnson and Susan Barber and swimming classes with Eloise Marshall as instructor. Mrs. Frank Mason, Jr. was the story hour "lady". Folk dances and games were a part of the afternoon fun. Handicrafts were taught by Muriel Unterholzner and daughter Mitzie, Lavina Johnson, May Schiesser, Ellen Weaver and Geneva Lien. The days had varied programs; a song period, special talks of interest to the scouts as one by Miss Beulah Folkedahl on the "Early History of Blanchardville". Mrs. William Mullen and Mrs. Stella Skaife taught the girls how to paint on various materials such as plaster pins. Mrs. Herman Lehnherr taught textile painting. This "day camp" continued for a number of years under the direction of Mrs. Kingeter and with Mrs. M. Schiesser as the craft counselor. New Glarus and Argyle were invited to participate in this camp. Mrs. Schiesser became the Brownie leader in 1948 and served for seven years with Mrs. Kingeter continuing with the intermediate group. Mrs. Fred Gempler, Mrs. Julia Lyngaas, Mrs. Tollackson and Mrs. Lyall Cowley worked with the girls teaching their own special skills. There were many social events for the scouts. One such event was held on December 20, 1949 and included the Girl Scouts, Brownies, and their mothers. The event was held in the high school auditorium. Two films of "Birds" from the Wisconsin Department of Conservation were shown. A play, directed by Norma Johnson, was given and singing was led by Patty Olson and Karen Kingeter. Gifts were exchanged and presented by John Schiesser who played the part of Santa. Refreshments were served by the troop committee members: Mmes. Glenn Syse, Arleigh Olson and Ted Tollackson. Cakes were donated by Mmes. Ercil Skaife, Orville Engstad, F. L. Kingeter and Kay Stekette. Mr. F. L. Kingeter was a valuable assistant at this party, helping with the many jobs requiring a male "know-how". At a later period, Mrs. Howard Roemer and Mrs. Robert Watrud, Sr. organized a senior group. During the 1960's the Girl Scouts were very active with many mothers involved. The girls had many opportunities to work on badges of their choice. The dressmaker badge was under the direction of Mrs. Stoffell, the Home Economics teacher and Mrs. Ed Swanson was working with the girls to earn the Sign of the Star. Miss Elta Bertalot was a leader for Troop 566 for two years while living here as a teacher. She was honored at a supper and social evening by the Girl Scouts before leaving to teach at Pearl City, Ill. Suzanne Skaife, Girl Scout president, presented Miss Bertalot with a token of appreciation for her work with the girls. Adults who assisted with the arrangements were Inez Watrud, Jane Gallagher, Eva Kingeter and Marge Roemer. In 1964 at a Girl Scout Fly-Up ceremony, Brownie Scouts, Agnes Novinski, Kathy Lien, Marita Hughes, Mary Olson and Julie Erickson; Junior Girl Scouts, Nancy Olson, Deanna Vick, Julie Paulson, Patti Ann Dobson, Karen Erickson and Linda Murphy advanced in rank. Mrs. Ed Swanson was the leader. In 1965 Mrs. Robert Haldiman was the Brownie leader assisted by Anna Marie Watrud. The second grade girls who were members were Christine McGowan, Debra Larson, Barbara Hanson, Patty Ann Sherman, Jane Hird, Karen Thompson, Cathy Gifford, Linda Berg, Nancy Hanson, Susan Granberg, Cathy Hall and Judy Parkinson. In Brownie Troop No. 47, 1972-73, the leaders were Mrs. Duane Hanson and Mrs. Terry Will-born. The girls who were members of this troop were Beth Ann Hanson, Dawn Jeglum, Kelli Hutton, Patti Hughes, Tina Watrud, Debbie Meyer, Rhonda Meyer, Shari Lunda, Lori McGowan and Lynn Eaton. Mrs. Schiesser Visits International Girl Scout Chalet at Adelboden, Switzerland The following was taken from an article pertaining to a European trip taken in 1954 by Mr. and Mrs. M. Schiesser and son, John. "After bidding farewell to our relatives in Zurich, we traveled to Adelboden, Switzerland, where we spent three days. We had the thrilling experience of climbing the steep mountain slope to our International Girl Scout Chalet. As we stopped from time to time to rest on the rustic benches, we had the glorious view of our Girl Scout flag fluttering in the breeze high above us. It was heart warming to see a familiar symbol so far from home. We were met by a leader from Denmark, who immediately called Miss Patricia Bloomfield of New Jersey, one of the participants in the conference of trainers from 17 countries in progress at that time. Miss Bloomfield introduced us to Mrs. Penelope Woodhill of England, our present director of the Chalet. The Chalet was donated to the Girl Scout organization by Mrs. Helen Storrow of Mass. Carved into a beam in the dining room ceiling was the following inscription: "To Helen Storrow, Our World Sisterhood Gives This Chalet for the Promotion of Guiding and Good Will Between Nations, 31, July, 1932." I presented an aluminum tray which was to be used as permanent equipment in our "Chalet". Upon it was engraved our Girl Scout insignia and greetings from the Girl Scouts of Blanchardville, Wisconsin, U.S.A." Additional Comments: Extracted from A History of Blanchardville, Gem of the Pecatonica File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/lafayette/history/1976/ahistory/girlscou274gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 7.3 Kb