PG. 2-3
SPRING 2014 EDITION
Connections
A Quarterly Newsletter from Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania
• Leadership Updates • Pencil Us In • Not Just A Dining Hall
PG. 4-5 • A 365 Day Girl Scout Journey • A Peek Into the Past
PG. 6-7 • Fork it Over Event • Circle of Friends
GIrl Scout Camp
Kindling Friendships to be River Rats (Adventure Bound trip), and activities like collage, astronomy and canoeing. From that moment, they decided to camp
Gretchen Ludwig,left (of Dallastown) together every year. Gretchen was with Lyn Lyn Mendlowitz,right (of York) when she overcame her fear of heights at When Gretchen Ludwig (Dallastown) and Lyn Mendlowitz (York) first sat down to talk about their Girl Scout camp experience they seemed so different, but then they howled with laughter as they finished each other’s camp stories, inside jokes, and memories. Their reasons for going might have been different. Gretchen, who loves the outdoors, had a sister who attended camp and she couldn’t wait to go. Lyn, who loves the arts, had parents that wanted her to go. Just thinking about going to camp made her nervous, but she said “after the first couple days, I didn’t want to leave!” The girls met during a meal in the dining hall where they became fast friends that bonded over common interests, a desire
the Leap of Faith. Lyn laughed as Gretchen explained the ‘end of camp skit’ where the girls lovingly teased their counselors. They giggled as they talked about their 2013 Boats and Boots Adventure Bound experience as if it had just happened yesterday. They remembered everything: the adventures, canoeing, food, pranks, counselors, miles hiked and of course the friendships made. “I cried because I was going to miss it,” Lyn said about leaving camp. “We got so close within a week. We wrote letters to each other for a year until we saw each other at camp again,” Gretchen chimed in.
Now, at 15 years old, Gretchen and Lyn are looking forward to experiencing camp in a whole new way as Counselors-In-Training (CIT). The girls look forward to making a dif-
“We got so close within a week. We wrote letters to each other for a year until we saw each other at camp again.” — Gretchen
Ludwig,
of Dallastown, PA
ference like their camp counselors did! “All the CITs and the counselors did all these things and made me look at things differently and I want to do that for younger girls” said Lyn. Gretchen, who wants to be a camp counselor someday, said that she hopes she can encourage girls to “Meet new people and try new things that they wouldn’t try before without the encouragement from friends.” Gretchen and Lyn, who said they couldn’t even remember a time when they weren’t Girl Scouts, have made the full circle journey from campers to CITs. Now they will use their unforgettable camp experiences to give back to this year’s Girl Scout campers and provide them a summer that will change their lives too!