Friday, March 29, 2024
 
Click HERE to sign up to receive Eye On Sun Valley's Daily News Email
 
Girl Scout’s Honor, Honoring Willa
Loading
   
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Elvis Presley was being inducted into the Army and the hula hoop was all the rage when Willa McLaughlin became a Brownie in 1958.

Her mother led the troop of 12 third-graders in her hometown of Bonner’s Ferry, which toes the Idaho-Canadian border. And come summer McLaughlin went to Girl Scout camp at Coeur d’Alene Lake where she eventually became a camp counselor.

“That’s where I learned I had a passion for working with kids. And that led to me to become a teacher working with special education students,” she said.

That also led to a 30-year stint working with Girls Scouts in Sun Valley.

“My Mom was my leader so I thought that’s what I was supposed to do,” she said. “The girls and the leaders keep me going. I can’t quit.”

About 50 Girl Scouts, Daisies and their Moms and Dads donned party dresses and tuxedos Sunday afternoon to honor McLaughlin’s commitment with a High Tea at the American Legion Hall.

McLaughlin, in her typically modest fashion, wanted no part of a party honoring her until she was told that it would be used to help launch a college scholarship fund for any Girl Scout who earns a Gold Award.

“Anything for the girls,” said McLaughlin, who serves as service unit director for local Girl Scouts.

She showed up at the Legion Hall hours before the tea to outfit it with colorful tablecloths, teapots and even a couple dozen hats that her mother and grandmother had given her.

“My Mom is 90 and in Boise—I wish she could be here to see how we’re using the hats that used to belong to her and her mother,” McLaughlin said.

Deb Santa imparted her knowledge about high tea to the youngsters at her table, including 8-year-old Sienna Brievik and her 7-year-old sister Elise.

“Clotted cream is a little different from whipped cream,” she said, as she showed them how to put a dollop of the cream and raspberry jam on their scones.

The scones were followed by finger sandwiches boasting chicken apple salad on cinnamon bread, cucumber and cream cheese, curry chicken salad and egg salad. Oh, and yes, there were Girl Scout cookies.

A handful of wide-eyed five-year-olds who are about to become Daisies--Margaret Fisher, Elizabeth Cole and Savanna McDonald--sat around one table.

“So cute. They’re having fun pouring themselves tea,” said Lois McDonald, who was accompanying her granddaughter Savanna.

“We don’t always see generations coming together,” added Gay Cole, who was with Elizabeth. “The girls are well behaved and excited to be dressed up and wearing fancy hats. I love it!”

McLaughlin, whose husband Jim McLaughlin is one of Ketchum’s top architects, hasn’t limited her volunteer work to Girl Scouts, her admirers noted.

She coached Special Olympians, taking them to the 1976 Winter Games. She served as president of the Hemingway Elementary School PTO, taught skiing to Hemingway students and taught reading readiness to handicapped and at-risk preschoolers.

She has received a lifetime achievement award from the Papoose Club and organized clothes and toy drives at Our Lady of the Snows and St. Charles Catholic churches. She’s led her Girl Scouts down the streets during Trailing of the Sheep and Wagon Days parades. And she, Carol Harlig and three others adults took a dozen Girl Scouts to Ketchum’s sister city of Tegernsee, Germany, one year.

Come Wednesdays you’ll usually find her teaching swimming to blind and deaf students in Gooding.

“She always looking for an opportunity to make things better,” said Cindy Jessinger.

The Gold Award, which the scholarship in Willa’s name is pegged to, is the highest award given by the Girl Scouts to girls who develop a sustainable solution to a cause that they’ve identified. Colleges and universities take note of applications that include a Gold Award scholarship because it shows the recipient  has the skills to take on higher education, said Jessinger.

Local Girl Scouts have received Gold Awards by staging a bone marrow drive, completing a project for The Advocates, collecting cards for soldiers in the Middle East and hosting a dinner honoring participants in the Worldwide Special Olympics held in Sun Valley several years ago.

“Girl Scouts teaches girls how to dream, set goals to get to that dream, take pride in successes and learn from mistakes,” said Jessinger.

While the Girl Scout traditions are the same, the things the girls learn have changed, McLaughlin noted. Twenty years ago, they had to learn skills to earn a set list of badges. Today they can create their own badges.

“The main idea is that you learn something and teach others,” she said. “What’s so important is they run meetings, learn leadership skills.”

WHAT THEY SAID:

“I wanted my daughter to be a Girl Scout because I hadn’t been one. Willa said I would need to be a leader to make that happen. She walked me through it all these years and I’ve learned 10 times more from the girls than the girls have learned from me.”--Aliki Russo

“Watching Willa’s enthusiasm during monthly service unit meetings keeps us all going.”—Tracey Thomas

“I got a lot of friends out of Girls Scouts.”—Maryanna Georgakopoulos

“I love Girl Scouts because I get to try things I might not have thought of.”—Maren Feltman

“Girl Scouts are 81 percent more likely to get bachelor degrees than girls who are not Girl Scouts. And 96 percent of Girl Scouts never use drugs.” – Leslie Feltman

“I’m not a person who goes by the book but Willa’s always worked so hard to support me. If everyone could spend a little time with Willa they would be so inspired.” Rain McDonald

DID YOU KNOW? There are about 5,000 Girl Scouts in Idaho and 2,300 volunteers working with them, according to High Tea participants Jennifer Spencer and Charisse Patterson, of Silver Sage Girls Scouts in Boise.

~  Today's Topics ~


Local Bands Offer New Perspective on Who's a Local

Can You Ski on Water? It’s Pond Skim Time

Jake Adicoff Wins Overall World Cup Championship while Other Skiers Do Well in SuperTour Finals
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Website problems? Contact:
Michael Hobbs
General Manager /Webmaster
Mike@EyeOnSunValley.com
 
Got a story? Contact:
Karen Bossick
Editor in Chief
(208) 578-2111
Karen@EyeOnSunValley.com
 
 
Advertising /Marketing /Public Relations
Leisa Hollister
Chief Marketing Officer
(208) 450-9993
leisahollister@gmail.com
 
Brandi Huizar
Account Executive
(208) 329-2050
brandi@eyeonsunvalley.com
 
 
ABOUT US
EyeOnSunValley.com is the largest online daily news media service in The Wood River Valley, publishing 7 days a week. Our website publication features current news articles, feature stories, local sports articles and video content articles. The Eye On Sun Valley Show is a weekly primetime television show focusing on highlighted news stories of the week airing Monday-Sunday, COX Channel 13. See our interactive Kiosks around town throughout the Wood River Valley!
 
info@eyeonsunvalley.com      Press Releases only
 
P: 208.720.8212
P.O. Box 1453 Ketchum, ID  83340
LOGIN

© Copyright 2023 Eye on Sun Valley