NETHER PROVIDENCE – Seventy-eight years ago, Wallingford Presbyterian Church served as the charter organization for Boy Scout Troop 277.
Five years ago, WPC did the same for Scouts BSA Troop 2019.
The newer troop, formed in its namesake year, is the second largest among 27 Scouts BSA girl troops in the Cradle of Liberty Council, which serves youth in Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Members and leaders past and present celebrated their quinquennial recently with a meeting that morphed into a party.
“The program is a unique space where the girls get to learn and practice leadership,” said troop Committee Chair Sue Fee. “There are few spaces where this is available and they are all really attracted to that.”
Incorporated in 1910 “to teach [boys] patriotism, courage, self-reliance and kindred values,” the all-male Boy Scouts of America subsequently changed its name and mission, emerging as Scouts BSA and welcoming girls into the program.
Troop 2019, one of two girl troops in Delaware County and the only one in the Minquas District — Chester-Upland, Chichester, Garnet Valley, Penn-Delco, Rose Tree Media and Wallingford Swarthmore school districts — began with 12 members. It currently numbers 22 girls ages 11-17.
The troop is an active one. Meeting Thursday nights at the church, the girls camp approximately once a month and annually travel to Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation in southern Schuylkill County for backpacking/hiking trips. It also completes service projects, such as Scouting for Food, cleanups of Chester Creek and improvements to the campgrounds.
The girls also have bragging rights with their first-place finish in the 2024 Minquas District Klondike Derby, held in in January at Clayton Park in Garnet Valley.
Competing with nine other troops, they excelled in wood chopping, first aid, search and rescue, tug of war, fire starting, cooking and obstacle course, culminating in a race of sleds which they made and pulled.
“The troop has a fantastic dynamic,” said Fee. “There is such diversity among the girls. They come from different schools and have different interests, like academics, athletics and theater.”
While Scoutmasters Mia Painter and (Assistant) Curt Lehman provide guidance and guard rails, it’s the girls who head the troop. In roles such as patrol leaders, they plan meetings and projects, ensure events run smoothly and represent the patrol at different sessions. The roles are ones they may not find in other activities, providing a sense of ownership.
Amelie Turmel, a senior at Penncrest High School, demonstrated the maturity evident in the members.
After accompanying her brother, Alex, to Cub Scouts, she learned about a troop forming exclusively for girls. Amelie attended the first meeting, deciding it seemed “like something I really wanted to be part of.”
“We are really a close-knit group and it has taught me leadership skills,” she said. “People say they see a difference in me and I realize I wouldn’t be the person I am without scouts.”
The girls advance through the various ranks, from Tenderfoot to Life, with two achieving Eagle and two in the process of attaining it. The highest rank requires them to plan, manage and execute a project, secure funding and schedule materials and labor.
Amanda Chung, a senior at Penncrest, created oversized lawn games for the memory care unit at Brookdale Senior Living, her grandmother’s residence in Orlando. The items were built in Pennsylvania, then transported to Florida.
Erin Burrows, a sophomore at Merion Mercy Academy, developed an outdoor picnic area with BBQ pit and eating space at Bethany Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Havertown. The space is used by the youth group, where she is a member.
“It was my first time directing a project, such as time management and preparing for safety precautions,” said Burrows. “I learned new things and it made me feel very confident.”
