Senior Girl Scout Roundup 1962

July 19, 1962 - July 31, 1962

Button Bay State Park, VT

Theme: Honor the Past, Serve the Future

1962 was a a banner year for Girl Scouting. The program was 50 years old and still going strong.

Planning, planning, planning - there's a lot of work going into the planning of huge camp event.

Note that this posed picture of Senior Girl Scouts (in the alternate uniform) even have Girl Scout Fabric curtains in the background.

Sponsorship was critical in success of the Roundup. Pepsi, General Foods, Campbell Soups, AT&T were just a few companies absorbing the cost of the Roundup.

How you got to the Roundup was all part of the adventure!

International Girl Guides and Girl Scouts actually were arriving up to 3 weeks prior to the Roundup. Their time was spent being hosted by GS councils and seeing the sights. Special trains, buses and other modes of transportation were organized.

The US Army provided support - setting up a 100-bed hospital and providing security - to name a couple of their many tasks.

They also had to be transported, housed and fed.

Cuff links

This long sleeved green shirt was official for the 1959, 1962 & 1965 Roundups, and was likely official for the 1956 Roundup too.

The short-sleeved white blouse - with the unique buttoned pockets was also official for the Roundups.

Too much food was a complaint!

Postcards were popular souvenirs of the Roundup!

The original design that was announced WAS of a Senior Girl Scout on a 5 cent stamp! When it changed to a 4 cent Intermediate Girl Scout happened after the March 12, 1962 announcement and the July's Roundup.

See my page "What Have You Done For Me Philately?" for a picture of the original design.

The white blouse & dark green Bermuda shorts was standard wear for the Roundup

Souvenir Roundup Necklace

Religious Services were an active part of all the Roundups, come rain or shine. This picture of Roman Catholic Senior Girl Scouts receiving Communion in the rain was republished in several newspapers. Confessional time was also offered. Scouts were reminded to bring something to kneel on. Jewish services were offered on Fridays and the different Protestant services were also offered.

The weather played havoc with the Roundup. Over 2" of rain fell during the event, often with high winds.

Other problems included weasels - unhappy with the intrusion of so many campers, ran wild. A protected animal - campers could do little to protect against it's burrows and visits.

Senior Girl Scouts also suffered from the heat. Girls were warned that their over-crowded hats covered with Swaps could lead to overheating. The warning came after several girls fainted.

Senior Girl Scouts were also reminded that the public was watching every day. Girls were admonished to:

Hang any laundry on clothes lines out of view of the public and to NOT use tent lines for laundry.
Not to wear hair curlers to meals.
Bathrobes could only be worn to the latrines early in the morning or at night. Girl Scouts were expected to wear their uniforms at all other times.

As in the other two Roundups, there were 3 Pageant Days of organized, all-encampment evening campfires that allowed guests to attended.

The first pageant was on July 20. The highlights included a reading of a letter written by President Kennedy challenging Girl Scouts to engage their skills and talents for the future, and a taped messaged from Lady Baden-Powell was heard.

July 24 brought out the Girl Scout 50th Birthday Cake, 18 feet long and 4,000 lbs.

Speakers included:

Jerrie Cobb - a woman of the "Mercury 13" who trained along with the famous Mercury 7 (male) astronauts. They hoped to also go into space someday. Jerrie passed all the testing first, and is therefore remembered as the 1st qualified female for space.
Sally Bowles - one of the three editors of the newly formed Peace Corps magazine, The Volunteer. She was also part of the recruitment team.

The final campfire was on July 28 brought a parade of flags and lots of singing. The highlight was the Senior Girl Scouts answers to President Kennedy's challenge: