We have a new Girl Scout history museum in our Tucson Resource Center. Please stop by and take a look! We have a fun B&W silent movie “the golden eaglet” as well as hands on activities for girls. In our displays right now we are featuring items from Girl Scout Senior Roundups. Gypsy Barker Lysle and Mary Ann Dobras attended roundups each representing their Council. Now these women live in Arizona and have shared their collectibles with the Council for others to enjoy. Mary Ann went on in her life to be president of the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council board of directors. The next several blogs will feature the Roundups and give you a fun look back at this treasured time in Girl Scout History.
There have been several Girl Scout Senior Roundups held by GSUSA, gatherings meant to show off the best of Girl Scouting. They were held every 3 years from 1956-1965. These Roundups were considered to be the highlight of a Girl Scouts career, and included many requirements to apply for a slot and stiff competition for them. Generally, eight girls were chosen to represent each Girl Scout Council. Those eight girls formed a single patrol, which would join three other partrols intentionally chosen from other geographical areas to form one troop. All attendees had to attend training and regional encampments to prepare. Roundup Camp uniforms were required, and girls often traveled to the Roundup in full Senior dress uniform.
This fun 10 minute newsreel video features the Roundup in the Rockies:
