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Girl Scouts get taste, feel for different cultures
The girls of Girl Scout Troop 334 made 350 barrettes decorated with Austrian crystals to sell for $1 apiece at the Feb. 2 International Festival in Loveland. They didn’t get a moment’s rest while selling the hair decorations either as girls from troops across Northern Colorado lined up to purchase the clips and get their passports stamped.
The 43rd annual International Festival, sponsored by Girl Scouts of Colorado, attracted about 700 Girl Scouts, troop leaders and family members to the The Ranch Complex, north of Loveland, said Girl Scout volunteer and committee member Jo Ann B. This was the first year the event was at The Ranch rather than on the campus of Colorado State University and organizers and attendees alike said the new location worked out well.
“Girls came from Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland, Kersey, Tri-town and all over, making this truly a Northern Colorado event,” Jo Ann said.
Troop 334 is becoming known for their hair clips. Last year, the girls chose the Bahamas and made flower hair clips.
Katie L., 10, and Rachel M., 10, said the troop chose Austria because Katie’s mom went on a trip there and “had a really good experience.” And, “we had a good idea of what to sell,” Rachel said.
As they deftly handled the steady stream of customers ready to spend $1 on a handmade clip, greeting their customers with smiles and making accurate change, the girls said they’d had fun making the clips and were having even more fun selling them.
They had a goal of donating at least $100 to the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund and by the looks of their small amount of remaining inventory, reaching that goal seemed likely. Each of the booths at the event sold food or crafts from 25 cents to a dollar and the proceeds go to the Friendship Fund, which supports girls’ international travel and the World Thinking Day Fund. Jo Ann said about $2,000 was raised for the fund.
The girls from Troop 334 also learned quite a bit about their country of choice and had the opportunity to check out the 24 other booths representing one of 144 countries in which the World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides have members. The International Festival gives girls a chance to learn about different cultures and countries in honor of World Thinking Day, when girls worldwide celebrate international friendships and cultural understanding.
It was the dancing that attracted Ginny C.’s Troop 534 to Spain this year.
“We thought about all the cool countries,” she said. “We’ve done Sweden and France for Thinking Day before, so we picked Spain this time.”
She said she learned about all different types of dancing popular in Spain and about the Spaniards’ love of soccer, but the “coolest” thing she learned about the countries represented on Saturday was how each one is unique.
“I liked learning about the differences between the different countries – their uniqueness,” she said.
The girls from Troop 66, who worked the Poland booth, felt a special connection to their country with their Polish friends Grazyna B. and her daughter Julia helping out.
“I made a presentation to the troop two weeks ago and I was so proud to share my culture with these girls,” said Grazyna, who became a U.S. citizen five years ago. “I taught them about Polish history from 1,000 years ago to today …. and that the Polish word for ‘brother’ is ‘brat’ – they liked that.”
They tried Polish food, and for the International Festival, made pigs in a blanket and a Polish salad, which proved popular with attendees.
“I’m so proud about it,” Grazyna said. “It’s like magic that they can spread something so special. I love America. We can all share in these cultures.”
All day, Girl Scouts hurried from one country to the next, collecting passport stamps from Costa Rica, Egypt, Kenya, Germany and more. They lined up to buy a bindi (a forehead decoration worn by women) from India and baked potatoes from Ireland. They participated in an art project in Taiwan and watched a multimedia presentation about Zambia.
The energy in the room was palpable as the girls expanded their horizons and celebrated cultural understanding.
“It is exciting to see that girls have had a chance to learn about and celebrate many cultures of the world,” Jo Ann said. “They are reminded that Girl Scouts of the USA is a part of a global community, one of 144 countries where Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting exist. Their next step, if they haven’t already, is to become familiar with the local and global issues that face the world and see how they can take action to help solve them.”