A promise is a promise.
Leanne Haynes made one to a bunch of second-grade girls years ago. They were her Girl Scout troop, they were at their regular meeting at the Arlington Public Library Southwest Branch, and the topic was travel.
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“I remember this vividly,” she said. “We were doing a World of Girls Journey, which is a badge, and the girls were talking about where they wanted to travel when they got older. Every single one of them – we had about 14 girls – said the Eiffel Tower.”
The troop leader thought quickly.
“I said, ‘Okay, well, we’re not doing that right now. However, if you guys make it all the way through, if we’re still together in 12th grade, we’ll go see the Eiffel Tower.’ Like, that was my wording.”
It could have been her Michael Scott moment. But unlike the boss from The Office, who promised to fund the college education of an entire elementary school classroom and instead had to offer a cringy and hilarious apology, the leader of Girl Scout Troop 3518 delivered. Six girls and three adults were scheduled to depart in July for 13 days in Europe, proudly representing Arlington.
“They never forgot,” Haynes said. “There were big trips in between – we raised funds, we made it to DC, we made it to the Grand Canyon – so they knew we were going to make it to Europe, it was going to happen.”
In true Girl Scout tradition, everyone pitched in to make it happen.
There were cookie sales (of course), bake sales, rummage sales, and seasonal fundraisers like gift wrapping during Christmas and ‘Ghost Booing’ in the fall, which is where a person pays to have someone else’s lawn decorated for Halloween. Similarly, in the spring, people could sponsor the Easter Bunny (one of the girls in costume) to visit friends’ homes and deliver treats.
“Having to brainstorm at meetings, trying to find effective ways to fundraise, was a challenge,” said Savannah Haynes, one of the original scouts. “We didn’t want to copy what other people did. Our rummage sale and the Easter Bunny fundraiser were really, really good for us.”
No surprise there. It was a can-do troop.
The girls of 3518 volunteered four times a year at Mission Arlington, conducted an annual canned food drive, devoted hundreds of service hours to community projects, and retired American flags. They built a Little Free Library at South Davis Elementary, earned the Girl Scouts organization’s Silver Award for a teen suicide prevention and awareness program, and a Bronze Award for a Community Career Day project focused on women’s equality in the workforce.
Service matters in Girl Scouts.
“She really was proud of herself for the things that they did,” Karla Dearston said of her daughter, Chase Sweat, also an original member. “The service work meant something to her.”
The troop held 296 meetings over their 13 years together. They earned 478 badges. They were in 10 parades, took 13 camping trips and six out-of-town trips (totaling 10,006.8 miles – yes, they logged it) and sold 114,447 boxes of cookies.
“They were forgoing prizes they normally collect for selling cookies,” said Dearston. “At a certain point, they said instead of giving us the Teddy bear and the T-shirt and all the stuff that you can get, let that money go toward the trip.”
Making the trip were scouts Lilly David, Shyann Wilson, Paige Kern, Charlie Kelly, Chase and Savannah. The chaperones were Haynes (Savannah’s mother), Dearston, and Natalie Montgomery (Lilly’s mother).
“These are my oldest friends,” said Chase. “We’re all really close. Leanne has been like a second mother to me. All the girls are really close, and I’m really excited my mom’s going.”
A highlight of the trip promised to be a visit to Our Chalet, the Switzerland headquarters of
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, located 4,430 feet above sea level in the Bernese Alps.
“Little Savannah is probably most excited for the Eiffel Tower, but I would have to say I’m really excited for the Chalet,” Savannah Haynes said. “We get to see a pinning ceremony, and it’s just going to be really cool.”
The scouts would also visit Germany and Italy.
“Just being able to experience that with people my age, my friends, and seeing the beauty of older things you don’t get to see here,” Kern said, asked what she’s looking forward to most.
The trip organizer, Haynes, anticipated seeing the world through her troop’s eyes.
“When we finally make it to the Eiffel Tower, that will be a big deal to the girls who remember it,” she said. “It will be kind of a sendoff for them, something they can have as a lasting memory together.”
She promised.
