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Tri-Counties Genealogy &
History by Joyce M. Tice
Tri-County Organizations
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Bradford County PA
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Chemung County NY
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Tioga County PA
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Canton's Girl Scouts, Canton,
Bradford County PA
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| Article - Girl Scouts of Canton |
| Township: Canton Borough, Bradford County
PA |
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| Year: 1960s |
| Postcard from Collection of Janet PETERS Ordway |
| Article by Eleanor Keagle submitted by Don
Stanton |
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EARLY HISTORY OF CANTON GIRL SCOUTS
The Canton Girl Scouts were organized in September or October 1928,
and members of Troop 1 registered on November 14 of that year with Alwyn
Wyle as Captain and Harriet Bullock as Lieutenant. The troop expanded rapidly
until it included as members: Margaret Allen, Helen Bird, Nellie Bolt,
Mary Bullock, Laura Bohlayer, Henrietta Bohlayer, Laura Biddle, Elizabeth
Cole, Gertrude Coons, Mary Crist, Laura Farmer, Ruth Foster, Elizabeth
Foust, Mary Huntley, Mary Hackett, Lillian Johonnis, Emma Keltz, Phyllis
Keagle, Katherine Keagle, Marion Kilmer, Winifred Kilmer, Bertha Mae Kilmer,
Fanny Kraiss, Virginia Owen, Dorothy Owen, Mary Purvis, Beatrice Rockwell,
Jennie Rockwell, Cora Helen Pealer, Neva Scott, Emily Smith, Helen Smith,
Marjorie Tripp, Marion Tripp, Lois Terry, Dorothea Williams and Florence
Wright.
Meetings were held in a room of the Church of Christ, and Lafey Bates,
janitor of the church was an interested spectator at most of the meetings.
The Campfire Ceremony was held at every meeting, the fire being small logs
and an electric light.
On April 4, 1929 a Girl Scout Night was held to raise money for Troop
1, called the Wild Rose Troop. The affair was quite elaborate with printed
programs and included a pageant, a play and several musical numbers, tenderfoot,
second class and life saving demonstrations. Prior to this time, Miss Kathryn
McCurdy, Latin teacher at Canton High School, also became a lieutenant
of the Wild Rose Troop.
Canton Girl Scouts had their first camping experience at Camp Seneca,
on the east side of lake Seneca in New York State. Camp Brule was being
established in Sullivan County for Boy Scouts but was considered too primitive
to meet Girl Scout standards for the first two years.
The road into Camp Seneca ended at the top of a steep hill, nearly one
half mile from the lake-side camp, so everything the girls took for their
week’s stay had to be carried down this hill which was supplied at intervals
with long steps guarded by a rickety hand-rail. The camp was a collection
of wooden cabins, each of which would accommodate six or eight girls on
built-in bunks. The water of the lake was very cold and swimming time necessarily
short. Scouts from Sayre and other Bradford County towns shared the camp
with Canton. Among the Girl Scouts attending Camp Seneca in 1929 were;
Marjorie and Marion Tripp, Winifred and Marion Kilmer, Mary Crist, Phyllis
and Katherine Keagle and Mary Hackett.
After Alwyn Wyle left Canton, Miss McCurdy assumed her place as leader
of the troop. Of the early girl scouts, Golden Eaglet badges were earned
by Dorothy Russell and Phyllis Keagle. Phyllis also attended Camp Andree
on an Abigail Morris Scholarship, being chosen with Miss Eleanor Diehl
of Scranton as the two highest ranking scouts in the region, which then
included four states.
Camp Brule was well organized for the reception of the girls of the
Susquehanna Valley Council in the summer of 1931. Bloomers, middies and
broad heeled shoes were listed as proper outfit for camp. Shorts, knickers,
sailor pants and pajamas (except for sleeping) were taboo.
At first, each town in Bradford County was a separate scout unit. Later,
an organization which ultimately became known as the Pennamite Girl Scout
Council was formed. This is now merged into the Penn-York Scout Council
and comprises several counties in both New York and Pennsylvania. The head
office and professional Girl Scout personnel are located in Elmira, New
York.
Eleanor P. Keagle (1896-1971)
