Columnist Barb Henderson: Local Girl Scouts venture toward new horizon

Barb Henderson

Friday, March 14, 2003 | 10:11 a.m.

Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.

My outdoor journey, which began when I was 5 years old, has embarked a life-long adventure down a long-rugged trail.

As a life-member of girl scouting, I realize that many of those lessons taught in scouting gave me the confidence to be persistent when facing obstacles that I've encountered along my professional trail.

Scouting has forever sketched within me an appreciation for the solitude and serenity that one experiences while in the out-of-doors.

Because of this dedication, I'm setting my weekly topics of shooting sports, hunting and fishing aside to share important information about the Girl Scouts of Frontier Council.

In Southern Nevada, the first Girl Scout troop was organized on April 15, 1932 in Boulder City with 22 girls.

In 1961, the Girl Scout Service Center was dedicated at 2530 Stewart Ave., Las Vegas. The doors opened to the temporary facility at 2941 Harris Ave. on Feb. 26, 2001.

GSFC now covers an area of 52,000 square miles, and serves the southern Nevada counties of Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye and White Pine, and communities in southern California along the state line.

The GSFC recently broke ground for its new 19,820-square-foot Donald W. Reynolds Girl Scout Training and Service Center, at the building site of the new facility, 2941 Harris Ave., Las Vegas.

Patricia Miller, executive director of GSFC said, "Girl Scouts of all ages as well as adult volunteers are really going to benefit from the increased resource availability that we're creating through the construction of this wonderful new facility. The new building will mean more efficient and effective implementation of brand new programs for girls and young women, like Studio 2B for 11- to 17-year-olds and our Campus Girl Scout initiative for 18- to 22-year-olds.

"Families will also no longer be faced with extended exposure to extreme heat while waiting outside for the bus to take the girls to Camp Foxtail.'

By the way, don't forget the Girl Scouts will be selling their delicious GS cookies through Sunday.

For more information on the "Girl Scouts of Frontier Council," call 385-3677 or click onto the Internet at: www.frontiercouncil.org.

Outdoor briefs