By Lori BODNAR, intern

Over 250 girls and their families gathered, albeit virtually, to celebrate summer and community by attending a “Songs and S’mores” campfire sing-a-long, hosted by the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles via Zoom. The event was held on July 18 and was organized by Haley Tilson, the Community Outreach Specialist for GSGLA. Tilson emailed the campfire songbook, which included a yummy how-to s’mores recipe, so all participants could ahead of time be prepared for songs and snacks.

The Girl Scout song leaders used their camp names during the meeting.  “Cricket,” Lynn Marie Costello, was a song leader who led the group in several songs, including “Taps.” Costello earned her Girl Scout Gold Award and is a lifetime Girl Scout member and national volunteer partner of Girl Scouts USA. 

Other song leaders included Robyn Ratcliffe Manzini, another Gold Award Girl Scout and former president of the Girl Scouts of southern Nevada. Song leader Linda has been an adult Girl Scout volunteer for 36 years, leading over six troops and a service unit! Song leader “Strings” played guitar for the group; she has been playing guitar since she was 12 years old and has now been a Girl Scout for 60 years!  “Rabbit” has been a Girl Scout for 45 years in GSGLA and its legacy councils.  “Flicker” is also a 45-year lifetime member and a Girl Scouts USA national song leader. Song leader “Island Rainbow,” aka Lauren, is a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient who recently graduated from Barnard College. “Roadrunner” is also a Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award Girl Scout who represented GSGLA at the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women in 2019.

Several song leaders and participants had a fire crackling in their fireplace or fire pit to lend to the atmosphere of the campfire song circle while others brought along their guitars to strum during the group sing.   

The Girl Scout songs included “Make New Friends,” “Rise up O’ Flame,” and “Girl Scout Spirit.” Some songs were fast and upbeat, others were “repeat-after-me” songs, and others were more somber and soulful. One of the leaders used American Sign Language during the “Make New Friends” song. Another song leader sang “On My Honor” and played the guitar in front of a flickering fire in her fireplace. 

Most of the song leaders were exuberant and enthusiastic when leading the singing, including hand and body motions during the song. During “The Bear Song,” one of the song leaders even had a huge giant teddy bear that she moved to “dance” along to the songs, and many of the participants also grabbed their own stuffed animal bears to dance, jump and jive to the music.

The girls enjoyed singing campfire songs, eating s’mores, and using the chat box to socialize and talk to other Girl Scouts, make new friends and catching up with old friends. Some of the girls made s’mores by roasting marshmallows over a roaring fire in their fireplace or fire pit while others simply melted the entire treat for 15 seconds in the microwave. Some participants also followed instructions of how to broil s’mores in the oven or on a grill. Others made variations by using Girl Scout cookies such as Thin Mints, while others used Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups instead of the standard Hershey’s chocolate bar pieces.

GSGLA is sponsoring another “Songs and S’mores” virtual event on Saturday, Aug. 15 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. for girls of all ages and their families. This second event will feature different songs than the first campfire sing-a-long, so a new campfire songbook (complete with a s’more recipe) will be emailed out to participants. The meeting is free and is open to all girls and their families, whether or not they are Girl Scouts. Those interested can register for the Zoom link for the “Songs and S’mores” campfire singing event on the GSGLA website. Usually this event is held in-person at the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles Montrose Program Center using the large fire pit and campfire circle in the backyard area but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than cancel the event, GSGLA pivoted to offer the fun virtual community event to allow hundreds of girls and Girl Scouts to “get-together” online to sing around the campfire.   

The Verdugo Hills Council Scouts BSA also moved its traditional summer camps to a virtual format due to COVID-19.  A “Cyber Cub Scout Day Camp Down on the Farm” was held from July 13-17. Included each day were three live Zoom sessions at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. when participants would do crafts, skits and songs, host guest speakers, conduct planting projects, and enjoy other fun. The Verdugo Hills Council provided a “camp-in-a-box” to all participants for $60, which included markers, paper, crayons, soil, seeds, songbook, camper patches and T-shirts.

  Lori BODNAR