girl scouts of the colonial coast
As
the summer winds down, girls are gearing up for the start of a new school and
Girl Scout year. For the past several weeks, the girls have been coming to Camp
Outback to enhance their Girl Scout Leadership Experience by taking part in
STEM related activities, life skill building programs and outdoor adventures.
Many camp staff members pitched in this summer to make the girls’ experience
memorable, including Camp Director Tesi Davis-Strickland, better known by her
camp name, Pickles.
Her
Girl Scout story goes back to when Pickles was a child and didn’t have the
opportunity to be a Girl Scout. Fortunately, she had friends in her
neighborhood who were. Every Wednesday they would meet in her driveway and they
would teach her what they learned in their meetings. This started when the
girls were Girl Scout Brownies and continued through their Girl Scout Junior
level. A special moment Pickles recalled was the only Girl Scout outing she
went on.
“I
remember it very well, we went to the Botanical Gardens and we rode in glass
bottom boats where you could see the fish,” she said.
Because
of the sisterhood Girl Scouts creates, the girls in her neighborhood welcomed
Pickles with open arms and considered her an honorary Girl Scout.
Not
knowing she was able to volunteer even though she had never been a registered
Girl Scout, Pickles waited to devote her time to the organization until she had
a daughter.
“I
have a Girl Scout,” she recalled shouting when she and her husband found out
they were pregnant with a baby girl. Pickles knew she would be able to
reconnect with the organization she grew to love so much as a kid.
Her
daughter began her Girl Scout journey as a Girl Scout Brownie in a troop that
mostly focused on arts, but Pickles quickly realized she and her daughter
wanted to be outdoor adventurers. So, the two changed troops and set out on
their outdoor excursions.
As an
avid outdoor lover, it was only natural for Pickles to join GSCCC 30 years ago
as a troop leader and later
become a program specialist
in 1992. Jackie Vigola, former program director, had another plan for Pickles though. Seen as a
“pied piper” of sorts because of how the girls gravitated to her, Vigola knew
Pickles would excel as a director.
Jackie
contacted GSUSA and gave a recommendation that helped Pickles become the
program director at GSCCC which allowed her to focus on the outdoor adventure
opportunities available to girls.
“I
will forever, be grateful for Jackie Vigola. She gave me that open door to
allow me to explore what I consider to be the most exciting, and important job
in the entire world,” Pickles said smiling with tears in her eyes.
After
she retired from GSCCC in ‘99, Pickles rejoined her home away from home as a
membership specialist in 2013. She served the city of Norfolk and Southampton
County. A little more than year into her position, she was behind on her
membership goal for new Girl Scouts. As a joke, the human resources director
told her that if she met her goal before summer she could go and “play at
camp.”
Pickles
ended up meeting her goal and since then, she has led thousands of girls to
explore the outdoors as the Outdoor Adventures Manager for GSCCC. It goes
without saying that Pickles knows just how beneficial Girl Scout camp is for
girls.
“I
think one of the most important things is gaining the courage to try new things
and at Girl Scout camp there’s no failure.The comradery and the peer-to-peer
support that they get, I don’t know any other organization that offers that
strength in an all-female setting. That’s why we’ve been doing it 105+ years.
We know girls. Friendships and memories are made within these walls and that
cannot be done without a good strong program, team and the young ladies that
work with us during the summer,” she explained.
For
more information on the outdoor adventures GSCCC offers, visit our
website www.gsccc.org.
