As a girl, Jeanne Rexroad listened to the leaders who ran the Girl Scout Council of the Nations Capital (GSCNC) camp at Fort Hunt Park. Now she is one of those leaders.
"As soon as I had a Girl Scout-aged child, I became a leader," said Rexroad.
Her daughters are now 25 and 29, but she just completed a week at camp and plans to keep participating as one of the camp directors. That is, if there is a camp.
Rexroad is concerned that the 40-year tradition may be in jeopardy. The park officials have started making changes to the camp which the scouts traditionally run at Fort Hunt Park the week after the girls get out of school. At first, there were minor changes, like not being able to string rope on the trees to mark off their area and use as drip lines. Then they were told by park officials that, due to security concerns, they would not be able to leave their supply bins in the park overnight.
The day camp requires a large amount of supplies and materials for the many arts & crafts projects done during the week. In the past, those supplies were stored in large bins and left overnight in the park. This year, the group had to rent a U-Haul trailer and tote the supplies back and forth for each day's activities.
While they don't understand the rationale behind the changes, they are adjustments that the scouts can deal with. The one that they're not sure that they will be able to overcome was the announcement by park officials that they will require the camp to use a rental space and secure a business permit even though they're a volunteer group and not for profit.
With the exception of the early years of the camp, the scouts have used Area E, an unreserved picnic area in the park which works on a first come-first served basis. While people occasionally stop and picnic there, the scouts have had sole use of the space every year. The requirement to reserve a space not only requires money that they don't have, but it would also require them to use an area like the pavilion which is not nearly as desirable as the location that they are used to.
"AREA E IS SO MUCH more remote and primitive. It works better and there's more shade. Area E allows the flavor of the camp we're attempting to present without having to drive to a Girl Scout camp, which would be at least 45 minutes away," said Camp Leader Irene DiGravio.
"We were told by one of the rangers that we are denying access to the public, because this is the only area that is not reserved, yet, we do it so early in the year that we never felt that we imposed on anybody. We checked and none of the other areas were reserved for that week, so there was plenty of space for people to go in the park. We certainly don't prevent anybody from using the bathrooms [located in Area E]."
DiGravio, an instructional assistant at Waynewood Elementary School, has been a registered Girl Scout for 37 years and has taught brownies, juniors, cadettes and seniors. She is now one of the camp directors. "We have always had a wonderful relationship with the Park Police and the Park Rangers," she said. "This year, every little rule is being enforced."
The problem doesn't appear to be with the Park Police, one of whom said that there was some difference of opinion between themselves and the rangers. Other than a little bit of traffic on the first day, he didn't see any problem with the camp. "They [Park Rangers] just want to meddle," he said.
"What happens next year is anybody's guess," said Rexroad, who was very clear that she would be disappointed if the camp couldn't continue.
"I enjoyed it as a girl and I participate in it to make sure that girls continue to have a chance to enjoy it," she said.
Even when Nancy Jackson, the woman who coordinated the camp for 15 years, died a week before last summer's camp, the camp still went on. Rexroad and DiGravio stepped up to the plate and continued the tradition.
ABOUT 250 GIRLS attend this camp, from rising first graders to rising eighth graders. Many of the older girls come back as aides. Jessica Watson was one of those aides.
"I've been coming here since I was in second grade. It's tiring, but I love it," she said. "I like making new friends and meeting new people."
Watson was working in the unit run by Dale O'Neil and Linda Jemison. The girls had been kept busy during the week making wind spirals, picture frames, squash books, stenciled bags and much more.
Another group was having fun making solar símores. This fun, but messy activity, involved large amounts of melted chocolate, requiring a complete wash-up when the activity ended. Some of the older scouts were stamping; others were doing music. Girls were broken into groups based on their age and rank and distinguished by different color bandanas.
They had been lucky with the weather this year, but the camp broke up early on the last day due when a fast-moving storm passed through.
Rexroad said, "We got halfway through our closing and had to cancel the rest because of the thunderstorm and extremely heavy downpour. Fortunately many parents had come for the program and got to their cars with campers before the rain came."
DOTTIE MARSHALL, Deputy Superintendent, George Washington Memorial Parkway, said, "The activity of the Girl Scout camp is larger than we would expect in an unreserved part of the park. The area they are using is not large enough to accommodate them and they spill over into other reserved areas. They're also not environmental friendly, using ropes on trees."
Marshall said that she would like to work with the group and has advised them that after this year, that they would talk with them about securing an area, possibly even Area E, although it's typically unreserved. The Scouts will also need an incidental business permit, which covers them and the park for liability. Marshall said that the need for a business permit came about because of new legislation requiring anybody who‚s charging for an activity to have.
"We are being challenged to improve the business practices in the park," said Marshall. "But we want to work with them."
Rexroad and DiGravio are hoping that they will resolve the situation before September, which is when they have to submit next year's brochure to the council.