Girl Scout Camp Guided My Life
Camp Alice Chester is turning 100 this year, and we’re inviting you to join us in celebrating 100 years of Girl Scout camp in southeastern Wisconsin!
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Today, we’re throwing it back to hear from Deb “EDDEE” Sullivan, a camper, CIT, and counselor in the 1970s and 1980s.
In the midst of the Vietnam War, Girl Scout troops and camps provided my stability.
While my dad was overseas, my mom was a Brownie leader and Cookie Coordinator. She was a great role model for me, forming a support group for wives of servicemen away from home. I focused my energy on following the Brownie and Junior handbooks and earning badges for my sash (not to mention the number of sit-upons and ditty bags involved). I enjoyed school, but I loved my Girl Scout day camps and troop activities. My mom – my hero! – even went above and beyond casual investigation and found an overnight Girl Scout camp for me with horses in southeastern Wisconsin!
When we moved to Milwaukee in the early 1970s, I went to Girl Scout camp on Booth Lake near East Troy for two full weeks. I was a camper for three years before becoming a CIT. Our team of CITs were the ones that worked strenuously to build the Golden Road through camp for wheelchairs and accessibility in 1975!
My family moved every school year, making my life unsettled. I lived for camp and the connections there. The memories carried me to Christmas, looking forward to cards and gatherings. By February, I would start packing for my return.
Every year, I told my family the wrong time to pick me up, so I could cling to a few more hours on the last day. I probably drove the staff crazy!
I loved tie-dye, peace signs, writing poetry, camp songs, and collecting twist ties (because you never know when you might need one!). I have such fond memories of monkey fists, signing pillowcases, fireside guitars, and snacks.
I eventually worked on summer staff at Day Camp, and after one summer, I was lucky enough to be hired by Camp Alice Chester (where Sioux and Timber were among the staff) as a Cindy in 1977 and then as a counselor between 1978-1981. For the first time, I was at camp with girls I knew from high school and from serving on the Senior Scout Board activities at Mayfair Mall.
My experiences at Camp Alice Chester shaped me, helped me mature, and to this day, continue to guide me. My supreme skill at filling out the weekly plan with campers helped me provide great lesson plans as a teacher. The creativity of Singing Steps and weekly skits serves me well as an actor, comic, and singer. Tenting, biking, and backpacking prepared me for Mexico, Europe, and Africa. I learned about leadership, teamwork, camaraderie, systems, routines, problem solving, consensus, and trust.
The 100th anniversary celebration has me thanking my dad and letting him know that camp was the best thing he and my mom could have ever done for me.
I dedicate this writing, and my love, to Spookie.
May the road rise to meet you, and the wind always be at your back. -EDDEE
Join us on Saturday, October 5 for our very own anniversary celebration! Celebrate Camp Alice Chester’s 100th birthday with friends, family, alum, and former and current staff. Current members can register here today. Alum and community members can register here.
