Girl Scouts 1912-2012

Happy Birthday Girl Scouts celebrating 100 years of Scouting that builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who can make the world a better place. Founder Juliette Gordon Low organized the first Girl Scout Troop in the USA on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

Remembering my scout leader, Margaret Tate, and all the life skills and experiences in scouting that provided a way to act toward one another and the world. Once a girl scout always a girl scout - so “Do a good turn daily” and “Be prepared”.


As a young girl, earning a Girl Scout merit badge was motivational and fun. When a Girl Scout becomes a woman, those badges represent memories and still useful skills.  The photo above shows a few of my merit badges that I earned.

My friend, Barbara Helen, and I having fun taking pictures in a photo booth
on a Girl Scout trip to Asheville, North Carolina.

GRIEF IS LIKE A RIVER
By Cinthia G. Kelley

My grief is like a river,
I have to let it flow,
but I myself determine
just where the banks will go.

Some days the current takes me
in waves of guilt and pain,
but there are always quiet pools
where I can rest again.

I crash on rocks of anger;
my faith seems faint indeed,
but there are other swimmers
who know that what I need

Are loving hands to hold me
when the waters are too swift,
and someone kind to listen
when I just seem to drift.

Grief’s river is a process
of relinquishing the past.
By swimming in hope’s channels,
I’ll reach the shore at last.

Found this poem that reflected the process in my journey of dealing with with grief and loss this past year.   The message in this poem is filled with such hope and the determination of letting go and healing.

The Radley Place - "To Kill a Mockingbird"

This is a picture of the Radley House for the Brock Players production of "To Kill a Mockingbird".

Brock Players, Mocksville, North Carolina
"The Radley House"

From the description of the Radley house from the book, the set designer has created the house. “The Radley place jutted into a sharp curve beyond our house. Walking South, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot. The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the colour of the slate-grey yard around it. Rain-rotten shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda; oak trees kept the sun away. The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard - a "swept" yard that was never swept - where johnson grass and rabbit-tobacco grew in abundance.” 


The house is almost a character itself in the play. There is an air of mystery that surrounds the house and the house stands out from everything else in the town. There are all kinds of rumors about the house and kids were thought to never go inside and always avoided it. In front of the house is the gifting tree and we see that Boo Radley isnt a bad man after all leading us to the thought that appearance isn't the reality of the house. The house also signifies the odd and unknown that the society tries so hard to push aside and isolate.  In the book the house is a turning point  since it brings not just mystery but also answers to questions that people avoided for so long.

Snow Bear - A Whimsical Pfaltzgraff Pattern

You never know what you will find when you are shopping for costumes at Goodwill – two plates in my Pfaltzgraff Snow Bear pattern for $.50 each! Now if I can only find a replacement for the square luncheon plate with the skating Snow Bear that Spencer broke.

Snow Bear is a Pfaltzgraff pattern with the delightful fun of a winter day Seasonal motifs, holiday colors and a big, cuddly polar bear will bring this heart-warming feeling to a dinner table all winter.  I love the square luncheon plates. This hand-painted earthenware plate makes a charming addition to my Snow Bear dinnerware. Trudging through the snow, the cuddly white polar bear on the plate is carrying an evergreen bough over its shoulder. The scarf around the bears neck is echoed in the plates red-plaid border with folded corners that resemble those of a green woolen blanket.

Pfaltzgraff Snow Bear was first introduced in 2001 and made in the US until October 2005.  Sadly this pattern was retired December 31, 2006.

Brock Players "To Kill a Mockingbird" Cast

An American classic comes alive on stage
Based on the novel by Harper Lee and adapted for stage by Christopher Sergel 

Performed by Brock Performing Arts Center, Mocksville, NC 
March 16, 17, 23, 24, 2012 @ 7:00 pm
March 18 and March 25, 2012 @ 3:00 pm

Jean Louise - Lisa Matthews

Scout - Allie Smart, Emma Schambach, Isabella Ellis

Calpurnia - Chase Lockhart

Miss Maudie - Angela Hodges

Jem Finch  - Ryan Ball
Atticus Finch - Nate Pendley

Miss Stephanie - Andrea Rivers

Mrs. Dubose - Maryanne Leagans
Boo Radley - Alex Wilson
Charles Baker  Harris Dill - Tyler Zickmund
Heck Tate - Vinson Lee Davis
Judge Taylor – Jimmy Myers

Reverend Sykes - Julius E. Suiter

Mayella Ewell - Morgan Fuller
Bob Ewell - Asher Ellis
Walter Cunningham - Stan Barnett

Mr. Gilmer - Bill Campbell
Tom Robinson - Jacobi Howard (March 16-18)  
Tom Robinson - Jimmie (J.J.) Jeter (March 23-25)  
Nathan Radley/Link Deas - Sherrill Brinkley
Clerk - Connor Groce
Ensemble -  Vicki Zickmund, Lexie Pendley, Susan Brinkley

Choir members - Reverend Gwendolyn Hampton, Sylvia E. Steele, Marshall Steele
Muscian - Mona Jo Griffin    

Producer - Sidniee Suggs
Director - Mollye Maxner
Assistant Director/Stage Manager - Heidi McIver
Production Assistant - Emma Munson
Costume Designer - Marge Barnett 
Assistant Costume Designer - Maryanne Leagans
Set Designer - Susan Bostian
Set Builder - Jay Knight
Props Mistress  - Ginny Jolly
Lighting Designer - Alex Joans
Sound Designer - April Sturdivant
Hair and Makeup Designer - Shelley Smart