Adventures in Girl Scouting

I want to start off by explaining that I was never a girl scout.  I wanted to be, but I wasn't.  Now, if you ask my mom, she'll say she did put me into Brownies, and I didn't like it, so that was that.  I have no recollection of this at all.  I do remember my sister being a Girl Scout, and my brother being a Boy Scout.  So I guess they wouldn't have any real reason for me not to have attended a meeting or two.  It's not like my parents were against the institution or anything, but again, I have no memory of any girl scout experiences.  And it seems like it might have been something I would have remembered, doesn't it?  At any rate, Bunny is very nicely allowing me to live vicariously through her by being in Girl Scouts herself.  Isn't she sweet?  And the Girl Scouts (not her troop specifically but the group as a whole) invited girls to go on down to the Rose Bowl to talk with some Rose Parade experts, see some floats up close and personal, and design one of their own.

So last Friday, I bundled up Bunny and together with two other girls in her troop and their Moms we all met up at the Rose Bowl for a Rose Parade Girl Scout Adventure.  We got into the last of two Girl Scout events taking place that night.  And for as late as it was (7:30-9pm) the place was pretty packed with Girl Scouts and their parents. And even though we were in tents, all the kids were bundled up tight.  It's cold out there people!

This year's Rose Parade Theme is "Oh The Places You'll Go"

And the girls got to listen to several former girl scouts who have not only walked in the parade but are still involved with the event talk about volunteering to help, earning their Gold award so they could be part of the Tournament of Roses Troop and one of the former Girl Scouts was even a Rose Princess.  If that's not enough to get a bunch of girls excited about the parade, I don't know what is.

They got to listen as Nicki Miller and John Ramirez from Artistic Entertainment Services explained how they take a float from design to completion and even got to see a short video about how it all comes together.  Their example was Jack In The Box's Samba Carnival float (design pictured above).  Then several of the girls got a chance to ask questions about floats, the parade, volunteers and participation.  All in all, I say it was very well done.  Then they broke the girls up into two different groups so go on a Scavenger Hunt and design their own floats.  Meanwhile, the parents were shuffled off to go on a tour of their own.

We got to have a close-up look at some of the VIP cars that will be used in the parade.  Many of which are still being decorated for the big day.

We also learned that Jane Goodall is going to be the Parade's Grand Marshall of this year's parade.  The renowned chimpanzee researcher and environmentalist - yes, that Jane Goodall.  And they're decorating a carriage up perfectly just for her with a few chimps! 

In another tent we got to see lots of volunteers hard at work putting contact cement on the backs of flower heads.

And watch as they put the flowers onto various aspects of the floats.

It's not all flowers of course, some of the coverings are seeds as seen in this beautiful butterfly.

And while they weren't attached yet, one of the floats is adding Cherries!

We also got to see the blenders grinding up all the seeds.

And then? Then I saw it.  My heart skipped a beat and happiness was mine, as this incredible John Deer float came into view.  This better win a prize!

We got back to the girls just in time for them two wrap the whole event up with one giant Friendship Circle where a hand squeeze is passed from one girl to the next until the circle is complete and they sing the Friendship song.  All in all, a pretty amazing night for girls and parents alike!

Seriously.. Thoughts?