Voices of GS

In high school we were in a Mariner troop & had a sail boat in VerPlank up from Peekskill I think- don't have a NY map to check the spelling. Dr Kinholz was one of the leaders & we used her property to keep the boat. During one summer we also went to Mystic, Conn. for a week to learn to sail their sunfish. Fabulous week! We also went to (Edith)Macy when they had events & I met Lady Baden Powell, My Junior year I was one of two girls picked from NY state to attend the first All State Camp. 96 girls two from each state went to Cody, WYO & Yellowstone for I think it was three weeks. Two years later my sister went. This was the beginning of the later national Roundups. I also attended or represented the council at the '51 or '52 National Convention in Boston. One spring our troop went to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms. I also received my Curved Bar the highest award then as did my sister. After graduation from HS I received a GS scholarship to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. While in college a stayed actitive in Scouts. My mother, Margaret Landby was also very active in the council & received the Thanks Badge. She kept up my registration until the Life membership was begun so I have been a Scout for over 65 years. I have held almost every GS job from leader of 3 troops ( had 3 girls all scouts till they graduated from HS) Day camp director for 15 plus years, Board member, Trainer, arts & craft instructor, Order of the Silver Trefoil (adults in GS for over 25 years President for 6 years. & for the last 7 years have been helping with an older girl resident sailing camp. I have also received the Thanks Badge & Thanks Badge II & attended all four World Center taking my three daughters to Mexico.

Jean Landby Peffers (GS 1940s)

I was born and raised in Ossining and was a Brownie and Girl Scout in second, third, fourth, and fifth grades. I am not sure about sixth. I dropped out of scouts in junior high, but re-joined in late ninth or early tenth grade as a senior scout. Our troop went to Puerto Rico that year and it was an amazing experience.

My mother, Sarah D'Agostino, was my Brownie Scout leader or assistant leader when I joined and remained so while I was a Brownie, and I think until my two-year-younger sister "flew up" to Girl Scouts. The annual weekend camporee at Croton Point was the highlight of my life, even though there were things about it I found very uncomfortable. My family (which included ten children of whom I am second) never went camping or on any other vacations while I was young, but that weekend was a chance to get away from routine and do challenging things apart from my parents and most of my siblings. One sister was close in age and we shared some of those times, and that was great too. Senior Scouts was a very enriching experience for me in so many ways I can barely begin to count. The works of organizing the trip within patrols, the planning, fund-raising, etc. were more educational than much of my school work. Scouting meant so much to me that I served as a Brownie Scout leader when my own daughters were young, and encouraged them to belong well beyond those early years.

Ann D’Agostino Clune (GS 1950s)

I was an Ossining Girl Scout in the 1960's. One of my leaders was Mrs. Keeping, her daughter Peggy was in my class at St. Augustine School. The only place in town to buy uniforms, sashes, hats, socks, etc was Falk's store on Main Street (The 'official supplier' of all things girl-scout). I got to carry the flag in a parade, I can't remember if it was the 4th of July or Memorial Day, but I remember feeling honored and proud to have had that privilege! The most memorable experience that I had as a Girl Scout was going camping overnight at the very tip of Croton Point. I do remember that we had 'special permission' to do that as camping was forbidden on Croton Point for some reason. There were small wooden cabins filled with metal bunk beds with skimpy mattresses, and I remember falling asleep to the sound of the Hudson river waves slapping the shore. I remember being told that the river was 'eating away' at the point, and soon it would disappear! Last April while flying back to Florida where I live from the Westchester County Airport we flew right over Ossining and Croton Point and I had to laugh to myself because it looks just fine to me!! I would have been a scout from about 1963-1968.

Karen Magner Lantz (GS 1960s)