Carolynne Hugins

Girl Scout Volunteer, Yorba Linda,
Girl Scout Council of Orange County
Died, October 23, 2006

Autobiographical Information
By
Carolynne Hugins

Prepared for the Girl Scout Council of Orange County Recognition Dinner, April 22, 2005 by Carolynne Hugins for her 40th Girl Scout Anniversary

I was first introduced to Girl Scouting in the 1960's in Fair Oaks, California when I was approached by a Girl Scout Senior Advisor who heard I was working a boating program with a Boy Scout troop and asked if I could also work with her Girl Scouts. Within a week she had me working with her girls, found out I wrote a little for a small local paper, so had me doing the troop's publicity and registered with her troop. As I had been a Blue Bird (Camp Fire Program) back in the Midwest as a child, I did not at this time realize what a great large organization I had joined.

A couple of years later my only daughter came home from school saying she wanted to join the Brownies along with all her little friends. At the first parents' meeting I found myself the school organizer, probably because I was the only one already registered with the Girl Scouts. Within the year the Brownie Leader for my daughter's troop had to move away and I found myself the leader of twenty four wonderful little girls.

Four and a half years later we were transferred to Southern California and could not find a Junior troop in Yorba Linda where we had moved or even a waiting list to get on. At a large organizational meeting for Girls Scouts in October, 1971 for Fairmont Elementary School in Yorba Linda I first met Jackie Self. That night people were leaving the meeting and nothing was getting done, so I stood up and asked the woman in charge if I might organize things a bit and she said, "be her guest." I directed every person interested in different levels to go to different corners of the room where we got to know each other. Before the evening was over we had formed several new troops, one being a Brownie Troop with Jackie Self as leader. I was a Junior leader with 32 Juniors.

Some of the various positions I have held since then are as follow:
Leader of all five levels
Helped to pilot the Mini-Scout Program later to became the Daisy Program
School organizer and level consultant
Service Unit Chairman
Community Association Chairman
Council Board of Directors
Finance Committee
Delegate to National Council Meeting
Community Product Sales Chairman for about 10 years, with CeCe Sanders
Two week day camp unit leader
Day Camp Director
Advanced First Aider
Publicity Chairman

My entire family were registered with Girl Scouts and all loved the program. My husband, who was a Boy Scout almost all his life spent much time telling others how great the Girl Scout Program was. Both of my boys were Boy Scouts. The eldest helped me often when I was teaching anything new to the girls such as boating, ice skating or snow skiing. The youngest son spent much time teaching his whole troop all our Girl Scout camping and cooking methods. His scout master would call me to ask how we did things. I have probably forgotten to list many other jobs I've done in Girl Scouting. At my age the memory gets shorter.

I have been blessed with five granddaughters, all Girl Scouts. The oldest is in her second year of college; the next graduating from high school next month. The third is a Senior Scout, another a Junior for whom I have been an assistant leader for several years. Last is my little Brownie whom I take to and from her meetings.

In forty years I've found that girls have not changed that much inwardly. The changes are all on the outside with the little things that make them feel modern. People often ask me what level I enjoyed working with the most and that I cannot answer. I did stay with the Junior and senior troops the longest number of years. At least once or twice a year I get a request to come to a troop meeting to share with them Scouting in the "olden days." That's always fun!

I still go to the Yorba Linda Day Camp each year. It's such a great program and I can spot the leaders who will be here working with Scouts far into the future. Scouting has given me rewards I never dreamed of receiving and so many happy memories such as a small scout standing with her mother at my front door, pulling on her mother's skirt and asking , "Is that Juliette Low?" (That was twenty years ago!)

A few week ago I was helping a Junior troop with a cookie booth outside a market. I had come from a meeting and had my Scout blouse, pins and nametag on. We were selling well when a lady rushed out of the store and announced to all of us that she was a Girl Scout and needed to buy some cookies. She made her choices, got out her money and looked at me in shock and said, "Carolynne Hugins? Are you Carolynne Hugins???" Guess I'd changed a little in thirty five years. I wouldn't have recognized her either, but remembered the name and her from my first Junior troop in Yorba Linda. Sales stopped as she told all within ear-shot what a great troop we had and how much fun we had and all the camping she had learned that she passed on to her sons. Then she told me to not leave as she wanted her son to meet me. She brought back a very nice young man of approximately twenty years of age who was very gracious and said his mother took him camping and that he knew all about our troop. I've learned more from Scouting than I could have taught, but I never realized how far reaching what I taught would be.

I'm reminded every year of girls who were in my troops with notes, letters and holiday cards. Many are also Girl Scout leaders living all over the country and beyond. How blessed I am.