DEBBIE MUSTIAN / L’Observateur / November 17, 1999

Nothing beats a full day of scouting, according to the young girls who belong to Brownie Girl Scouts Troop 157.

The scouts recently spent a beautiful fall Saturday in the Bonnet Carre Spillway Park and labeled their day “Fall Day Outing.” The dayrepresented the group’s first official all-day-outdoors event.

Thanks to picture-perfect fall weather, the day was filled to the brim with as many activities as possible and included everything from arts and crafts to cooking jambalaya over an open fire.

Troop leaders Tammy St. Pierre and Demetria Ray had their GirlScout manuals handy and their bases covered so the girls would be active and interactive all day long.

The day got off to a fun start. After all, what is a Girl Scout meetingwithout a fun craft to learn? They had a plan. The girls learned how tomake a “Good Deed Bead,” with a little bit of help from their leaders.

“We’re learning about sharing and doing something good,” scout Amanda Ernst explained. “When you do a good deed, you move your beaddown and begin again,” added Christine Woods.

After arts and crafts, the girls expressed interest in getting ready for lunch. But first, they had to learn how to build a fire – so they couldeat – and that included a lot of lessons about fire safety.

“We’re making a game out of getting prepared,” co-leader St. Pierreexplained. Each scout was despatched to search for small twigs and littlepieces of wood.

The girls learned that a piece or two of dryer lint is a perfect catalyst to getting a fire to fan with flame.

Once their fire was built, the girls had to get their food production line in gear. Everything was organized and every scout had an importantpart to play in the success of the day.

Once the cooking, eating and cleanup were behind them, the girls had a scavenger hunt planned for the afternoon. They were assigned the task offinding objects that were sharp, smooth, fuzzy, coarse and round, to name a few.

Besides having a good time, the girls were making memories. Thiswould be a day the Brownies would talk about for some time to come.

Young Kimmi Fritz already has memories of her favorite scouting event. “I remember going camping and a racoon got into our tent” she said,giggling with delight.

Scotti Beth Lawson also has fond memories of camping. “I liked itbecause we got to go hiking.”Some of the girls, like Sheila Hall and Christine Woods, really enjoyed selling their Girl Scout cookies. “We get to have a good time whenwe sell our cookies,” Woods said.

Nikki Grelle said she simply likes being outdoors. “I like it when wego camping or when we go to the park for the day.”And after all, that’s what scouting is all about: having fun.

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