More than cookies: Chapel Hill celebrates 100 years of Girl Scouts

Lofi Hirschman became a Girl Scout in 1937 during the organization’s 25th anniversary and has since then witnessed everything from World War II to desegregation.

This year, Hirschman joined Girl Scouts in Chapel Hill in celebrating the organization’s 100th anniversary — which the town honored by dedicating last week to the organization.

Girl Scouts was founded March 12, 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low and spread to North Carolina in just two years.

Local troops celebrated the centennial with special service projects, an oral history project and an event at University Mall on Saturday.

Some local troops will also participate on a larger scale with a 100th anniversary patch program, a Gold Award ceremony and a flash mob in June with more than 200,000 scouts at Rock the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Troop 741 leader Caroline Sherman, whose daughter is a Girl Scout, said her troop participated in Saturday’s event.

“I like being involved with the Girl Scouts because the mission of the organization is to build strong girl leaders,” Sherman said. “And it’s energizing being around young women who are excited and have lots of potential. It’s an empowering organization, that’s why I like it.”

And like the girls in Sherman’s troop, Hirschman said her time with Girl Scouts — 75 years — has made her a leader.

Though she started as a Girl Scout in New York, she has lived in Chapel Hill for 42 years and has put her love for the organization to work.

Hirschman has worked as a troop leader, board member, consultant and troop organizer. She now describes her position as a link from the past to the future.

Hirschman has countless stories from her years of involvement but said one of her favorite memories was when a troop that she led— which contained white and black scouts — took a trip to Washington, D.C..

She said some of the girls worried that they wouldn’t be able to stay in the same hotel because of segregation. The girls told her they wouldn’t go if the whole troop couldn’t.

“Those are the kinds of things that to me are the essence of the scouts,” she said. “They were living their Girl Scout promise.”

Going forward, Hirschman said she thinks Girl Scout troops face challenges including decreased involvement and member retention, though she said large outreach programs are working to fix that.

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said the Chapel Hill Town Council decided to dedicate the week to Girl Scouts because of the their model for developing leadership in women and inclusivity.

“It’s an outstanding program that has really just changed the lives of young girls in the last century in ways that not just our community has benefitted from,” he said. “Girl Scouts have a long history of inclusiveness, and I think it’s been to their credit and it’s been a part of why they’ve been so successful.”

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.