MEMORIES: TINA ELKINS (1965 - 1977)
I remember a big excitement when the troops rolled out a new generation of handbooks with new badges that clearly show a real expansion of interests. For example there was an ecology badge along with the traditional camping badges (that one is on my hat). Other badges encouraged curiosity in different types of technology, adventure, and career possibilities that might not have been considered female-friendly in an earlier time.
My Cadette troop in particular was an empowering experience. The leader was pretty laid back and not a “by-the’book” lady. We had an emphasis on camping, and our troop had their own very heavy (and awkward) army tents- 6-girl canvas tents with heavy wood poles and rope stretched stake downs. We lugged those things everywhere in NEO and camped out all 4 seasons. I found out that girls were not fragile and could put up with crummy weather just like the Boy Scouts. BTW, there was always a sort of sour grapes attitude towards the money and respect the Boy Scouts always had compared to what we had as GS's. Although I admit that I bought a BS handbook because it had more hard-core camping information than our GS books did. (As a side note, the library at Amity did have a complete set of Foxfire books on Appalachian lore, and much of it described outdoor survival skills. This fed a particular hunger of mine and I read them every time I could.)
The Women’s Movement and the Ecology movement really made a big impact on scouting in the 1970’s, which in turn had a big impact on me. As a child without a larger context (my tiny family moved to Cleveland in the ’50’s and we had no family at all here) scouting was the major factor in my life outside of my parents and sisters.
Coming from a working class neighborhood (old Brooklyn), Camp Julia Crowell in particular looked like fairy land. The whimsy and novelty of the Mill, the Kirby Chalet, the bouncing floor of Garfield, and Hilaka’s little castle Amity and Tudor style North House made a deep impression on me. Crowell Hilaka combined the two things I loved most- nature and the world of imagination. The imagination thing was huge- it helped foster my love of drawing and fed my fantasy life as a "girl out in the woods", often on my own, secure in the safety that the camps offered. I could never have done that in the city. I built imaginary villages out of the rocks in the little streams, and claimed obscure corners of the camps as my own special places. I escaped imaginary evil racing along the narrow water’s edge path around the lower lake to the safety of swing bridge at the mill, or tried to see how fast I could travel the woodland trails that crossed between the two camps.
Art is the extension of imagination. All of these things combined helped lead me eventually to art school and a career in the arts. My time in Crowell Hilaka was fuel for my creative fire as it also built my self confidence, curiosity and resourcefulness.
My Cadette troop in particular was an empowering experience. The leader was pretty laid back and not a “by-the’book” lady. We had an emphasis on camping, and our troop had their own very heavy (and awkward) army tents- 6-girl canvas tents with heavy wood poles and rope stretched stake downs. We lugged those things everywhere in NEO and camped out all 4 seasons. I found out that girls were not fragile and could put up with crummy weather just like the Boy Scouts. BTW, there was always a sort of sour grapes attitude towards the money and respect the Boy Scouts always had compared to what we had as GS's. Although I admit that I bought a BS handbook because it had more hard-core camping information than our GS books did. (As a side note, the library at Amity did have a complete set of Foxfire books on Appalachian lore, and much of it described outdoor survival skills. This fed a particular hunger of mine and I read them every time I could.)
The Women’s Movement and the Ecology movement really made a big impact on scouting in the 1970’s, which in turn had a big impact on me. As a child without a larger context (my tiny family moved to Cleveland in the ’50’s and we had no family at all here) scouting was the major factor in my life outside of my parents and sisters.
Coming from a working class neighborhood (old Brooklyn), Camp Julia Crowell in particular looked like fairy land. The whimsy and novelty of the Mill, the Kirby Chalet, the bouncing floor of Garfield, and Hilaka’s little castle Amity and Tudor style North House made a deep impression on me. Crowell Hilaka combined the two things I loved most- nature and the world of imagination. The imagination thing was huge- it helped foster my love of drawing and fed my fantasy life as a "girl out in the woods", often on my own, secure in the safety that the camps offered. I could never have done that in the city. I built imaginary villages out of the rocks in the little streams, and claimed obscure corners of the camps as my own special places. I escaped imaginary evil racing along the narrow water’s edge path around the lower lake to the safety of swing bridge at the mill, or tried to see how fast I could travel the woodland trails that crossed between the two camps.
Art is the extension of imagination. All of these things combined helped lead me eventually to art school and a career in the arts. My time in Crowell Hilaka was fuel for my creative fire as it also built my self confidence, curiosity and resourcefulness.