Community Corner
Girl Scout Anniversary Tea Party Turns Into History Lesson
As the Girl Scouts of New Canaan celebrated their 100th anniversary earlier this month, they also heard some interesting stories about the organization's connection to the town.
What started out as a tea party to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts recently became something much more at the .
As Girl Scouts from troops 50164 and 50175 started talking with former Scouts from years gone by the atmosphere around the living room became reminiscent of girls gathered around the campfire sharing stores and experiences. New Canaan Inn resident Margaret Sherry recalled swinging across a river on a rope as a young Scout. Golden Eaglet recipient Marion Hazlehurst of New Norwalk Road recalled curtsying and meeting Lady Baden Powell, on one of her visits through Maryland.
According to the organizers of the event Troop Leaders Naida Leslie, Kathy Morley and Maryalice Gelhaus, the tea party allowed the Girls in their troops to see the lasting impact Scouting has even decades later and gave former Scouts an opportunity to see the kinds of activities Scouts are doing now.
The tea party was not only a celebration of Girl Scouting history, it was also a celebration of New Canaan Inn resident Barbara Bacon, 95, who has preserved much of New Canaan’s Girl Scouting history. The idea to recognize Bacon in front of her peers was the suggestion of New Canaan’s Service Unit Leader Margaret Pastel. Attending the tea party were Girl Scouts, members of the Merrie Bee Cabin Committee and Lifetime Girl Scouts, as well as residents of the New Canaan Inn.
Bacon was in charge of publicity for Girl Scouts in the 1940’s. While she was writing up press releases, her path crossed with photographer EJ Cyr, who took photos for the local newspaper in addition to running a photography shop in New Canaan. Cyr thought the New Canaan Girl Scout program was a strong one and suggested they write a book together to serve as a model for scouting program in remote areas. Their book “Come Along With Us, A Year of Scouting in a Big, Little Town” was published in 1949. Bacon also wrote a manuscript of the history of Girl Scouting in New Canaan in 1972, which is now at the . The book and the manuscript provide a treasure trove of information about the history of Scouting from the days when a young girl named Jeanette St. John Alexander who lived at the corner of Weed and Wahackme first knocked on the Park Street home of Elsie Faas, a young woman with Girl Scouting experience from Brooklyn, N.Y. and asked her to become a Girl Scout leader back in 1922.
Bacon and her daughter Susan attended the tea party. Also attending were Elsie Cyr, 90, widow of EJ Cyr, who was a Girl Scout in New Canaan in the 1930’s, and her daughter Judy Cody of Main Street. Chief Operating Officer of Girls Scouts of Connecticut Margaret Hansen Kaplan, as well as Director of Member Services Kari Kaplan and Membership and Marketing Manager Rebecca Rende from Girl Scout Council in Wilton attended the event. Also attending was Cheryl McGuff from the Historic Committee of Girl Scouts of Connecticut. They were on hand to thank Bacon for her contributions. McGuff said that Girl Scouts are creating an interactive Girl Scout Museum in Hartford. They plan to have stories about Girl Scouting from each of the cities and towns in New Canaan.
Barbara Bacon’s story will be showcased. McGuff had come across the book several years ago and was captivated enough to put requests for more information about the book in the Girl Scout newsletter as well as local church bulletins.
One of the Senior Scouts from Troop 50164 Abby Morley of South Avenue had worked on her Silver Award over the summer. Morley created a program in a box so that girls in town could learn more about the history of Scouting to earn Girl Scout badges including the Treasure the Past badge. Morley spent over 50 hours researching Girl Scout history and had come across the manuscript in a file on Girl Scouting at the New Canaan Historical Society. Morley sent a letter to Barbara Bacon after looking up her name in the phone book. They met last summer. One of the first things Morley did was ask Bacon to autograph a copy of Bacon’s book that Morley had purchased on Amazon.com. Morley said other troops have loved Bacon’s book, which 60 years later, has a whole new generation of fans. Bacon surprised Morley at the Tea last week. She presented Morley with her Silver Award. “I was speechless,” Morley said adding that she has visited Bacon a few times and has enjoyed reading other books that Bacon has written. “She is really nice and vibrant,” Morley said.
The Girl Scouts attending the tea also put on a fashion show modeling different uniforms from the different generations of Girl Scouting. Girl Scout Troop 50164 also presented New Canaan Historical director Janet Lindstrom with brochures they made about Girl Scout landmarks in New Canaan based on Bacon’s manuscript.
“It was fun listening to all of the Scouting stories,” Morley said. “It made me realize that we will never forget the fun we are having now in Girl Scouts. The memories will last a lifetime.”
