Paula's History of the Great Escape

This is a first...never wrote a "blog" before, but am taking hints from my Great Escape Committee members and my nephew, Jeremy, who was working in Belize with the Jesuit Corps for the past two years.  He's home now with lots of history and life experiences under his belt.  But I digress...

I want to tell you just how wonderful the GE Committee and how it came to be... my position as chairperson began with an idea for change...

Several years ago, Council had historically sponsored this event as a 'thank you' to adults who volunteered their time and talent to Girl Scouts across the Council.  Numbers began to dwindle...for a number of reasons -- more moms were taking on full-time jobs and crushed all their family time into the weekends and many felt that taking a weekend for themselves was stealing from that time, maybe transportation was an issue, maybe it was the money.  And face it, many adults did not want to sleep in a tent.  But, it appeared to me that changing the format of the event, and offering more varied (and warm!) accommodations might be attractive to those looking for a way to spend time away from home to enjoy themselves (you deserve it!) using quality time to learn new ideas.  I called as many of my 'do anything' friends as I could find and held a meeting.  (Most of those 'do everything' people are are still on the Committee today!)  We set out to offer exciting workshops that taught troop-related activities, such as Pysanky Egg Decorating, leather crafts, songs & games, and archery, among many others. Signing up for the weekend workshops gave a purpose to the weekend and a great excuse to get away.  With some very animated, excited and crazy advertising at every adult event we attended, the number of participants began to grow from a mere 30 at the very brink of cancellation to a mighty 100+!!!

Upon thinking long and hard, we used our resources wisely and changed our venue from Camp Favorite on the Cape, to Camp Wabasso in New Hampshire.  There were several considerations that went into this change.  First, the accommodations.  Wabasso offers unheated cabins and tents as well as heated rooms with cots in the Lodge and Christa's House.  The dining hall is the perfect space to meet 'n greet and the welcoming smells of baking cookies can't be beat!  And we asked that the showers be turned on for the whole weekend!  We provide a lifeguard for those warmer fall weekends we have enjoyed and utilize the camp canoes for a spin around the pond.  And what leaf-peeper can resist nature's colors on a beautiful New Hampshire afternoon??  There is something for everybody!

I highly recommend that you check out our web site at www.gsgreatescape.org and sign up for this year's fabulous event!  'Gracious Living in the Outdoors' is our theme and we'll be celebrating both the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts as well as the 30th Anniversary of the Great Escape event.  We couldn't be more pleased to have you join us!  (Don't forget to thank a Committee member when you meet her!)

Paula