Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois News Stories

Girl Scouts have right to sell four camps, judge rules
Jack Cullen March 4, 2014 
http://qctimes.com/news/local/girl-scouts-have-right-to-sell-four-camps-judge-rules/article_7e8b0920-fb3e-5c1c-9678-071ee1ce59e8.html

Leaders of the local Girl Scout council have the right to make fiscal decisions regarding any sale of property without the approval of members, a Scott County judge has ruled...

More than a year ago, a council committee recommended that the camps be sold. Adult members sought an injunction, and the council adopted a different land-use plan that retains the camp.

Nelson testified that the plan never was to sell the camps, but to build a better, more modern and centralized camp for all the girls in the 38 counties served by the council.

Girl Scout CEO: 'We are keeping our camps'
Barb Ickes January 22, 2014
http://qctimes.com/news/local/girl-scout-ceo-we-are-keeping-our-camps/article_bb123787-4b85-5e09-8bc7-63d360ba72ac.html

Teresa Colgan, chairman of the board for the council, testified the board and council currently have no real-estate listings on any portions of any of the camps, nor do they have any contracts or even interest in selling.

Colgan and Nelson also testified, however, the council would be capable of continuing its programs without any land. They also confirmed part of the property plan that has been adopted calls for portions of the camp ultimately to be divested.

Girls Scouts enjoy slide, but aren't slipping away
Leon Lagerstam October 17, 2013
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=656362

The new center should only boost numbers, Ms. Sweeney said. "This is amazing, and will give girls many more opportunities," she said.

Ms. Jerome loved the slide, but said she liked the new kitchens even better. "I love to cook," she said.

The center features two kitchens, largely made possible by Doris and Victor Day Foundation grant money, to allow for more cooking classes with a healthy-living focus to be offered, Ms. Nelson said.

Space for a stage and large screen to show movies is on the first floor, near the foot of the slide. The center also has an art room and nearby exit to a picnic area, multipurpose rooms, space for its Science, Technology, Engineering and Math -- STEM -- program, a commons area featuring newly bought Ikea furniture, separate bunk rooms for adult chaperons, an archives room containing historical information and memorabilia; and a third-floor "Eagles Nest" area...

...The outdoor area, once finished, also will give girls a taste of what camping is like before they venture out on longer trips.

"It's not an 'instead of' our camp," Ms. Nelson said. "It can be a first step to getting girls excited about the outdoors and the environment."

Unlike Girl Scout camps nationally, the local council decided to keep its Camp Conestoga near Dixon, Iowa, open as a residential camp, and allow the other three camps it has to be used by groups, as needed, Ms. Nelson said.

Board members will revisit land-usage in two years to determine if any unused areas can be sold or not, she said.

Girl Scout Council continues conversation on Camp Tahigwa
Lissa Blake August 7, 2013
http://waukonstandard.com/content/girl-scout-council-continues-conversation-camp-tahigwa

A community conversation about the future of Camp Tahigwa created more questions than answers at a Friends of Tahigwa meeting held Monday, July 29 in the Community Room of Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank in Waukon.
About 40 friends of Camp Tahigwa, the Girl Scout Camp located near Dorchester in Allamakee County, attended that roundtable discussion hosted by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois (GSEIWI)...

...Mowers said while the biggest obstacle to offering resident camp is financial, “If it’s volunteer-led, that could change things.”
One attendee asked if the Council would give the volunteers a goal as far as a number of attendees that would be needed to hold a resident camp. Nelson said she couldn’t give a specific number and reiterated the Council has slated one resident camp for next year at Camp Little Cloud with future plans to include resident camp at the new centralized resident camp in New Liberty.
“Right now there is no resident camp scheduled for Camp Tahigwa,” said Nelson. 
When Haskovec asked why the group was even having the conversation, if the Council has already made up its mind to not offer resident camp at Tahigwa any more, Nelson said, “I would never tell you it isn’t going to be productive to have a conversation.”
“People want to see there can be a change,” said Haskovec.

Girl Scouts apologize for letter
Katherine Webb May 17, 2013
http://weldbham.com/blog/2013/05/17/girl-scouts-apologize-for-letter/    

GSUSA had recently shared with us an op-ed that helped a Girl Scout council in Iowa.  It was our impression this was a template that had been used for another council, or written by the local council and shared for use by other councils, which is a common practice in our national organization.

Plagiarism in Scouting 
Katherine Webb May 7, 2013
http://weldbham.com/blog/2013/05/07/plagiarism-in-scouting/  

Members of grassroots Scouting groups in both Iowa and Alabama spotted something unusual in a recent letter to Al.com. The letter, attributed to Cheryl H. Williams, is nearly identical to an op-ed published in the Quad-City Times on March 19, 2013...

"Duax said, “I really wonder how someone honored as the Girl Scouts Central Alabama Women of Distinction came to nearly copy and paste verbatim an editorial from the Davenport, Iowa-based Quad-City Times in the first place."

Girl Scout Leader Plagiarizes Times editorial For Alabama Camp Battle 
Mark Ridolfi May 8, 2013
http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/mark-ridolfi/girl-scout-leader-plagiarizes-times-editorial-for-alabama-camp-battle/article_5d56a7aa-e623-54f6-889f-9b0de06d6998.html 

Meet Cheryl Williams - GSNCA Woman of Distinction 2011 
http://girlscoutsnca.blogspot.com/2011/03/meet-cheryl-williams-woman-of.html

As president of A.G. Williams, Cheryl Williams is responsible for mortgage and property sales.

As Rustic Camps Struggle, Girl Scouts Look at Modernizing Camping
Sarah McCammon April 11, 2013
http://iowapublicradio.org/post/rustic-camps-struggle-girl-scouts-look-modernizing-camping#.UZjK0FNHOQw.facebook 

"Across the country, scouting groups from New York to Oregon facing similar pressures have also proposed camp closures. 

Ken Jacobsen is a former Boy Scout from the Detroit area. He runs the website savecamps.org, and says scouting organizations are in too much of a rush to close traditional camps.

 “I think when you go out and you do a study and say, ‘Would you like flush toilets? Would you like a nicer cabin to stay in?’ the Girl Scouts are going to say, “Yeah, we’d love to,’” Jacobsen says. “But I think if they said, ‘Would you like us to sell our camps so that we could buy another camp and maybe have toilets and stuff like that?’ they’d say, ‘No, we don’t want you to sell the camps."

Girl Scout camps dispute continues
Barb Ickes April 10, 2013                 
http://qctimes.com/news/local/girl-scout-camps-dispute-continues/article_99c8dc29-817c-51e4-af4c-66530eb57595.html#.UWYLvgTNkTk.facebook   

The council's answer to the suit contained an outline for future uses of the four camps, including specific plans to sell "the majority" of the land at Camp Little Cloud, all of Camp Tahigwa and parts of Conestoga and Camp L-Kee-Ta. Although the recommendation being considered today contains no specific proposal for the sale of land, Fields said, the plan that was outlined in the council's legal document suggests otherwise.

Girl Scouts agree to delay vote on sale of camps
Steven Martens March 27, 2013
http://qctimes.com/news/local/girl-scout-camp-staff-members-volunteers-seek-to-halt-sale/article_b75f3934-9598-11e2-8773-001a4bcf887a.html#.UVEDgt51w5Q.email      

Click HERE to read the court documents. 

In their filing, the group asserts that as a nonprofit corporation, the Girl Scout council must get the approval of its voting membership to vote on any sale of “all, or substantially all” of the council’s property, according to state law. Voting membership is defined in the council’s bylaws as any member registered through the district who is 14 or older and not a paid employee.

Suit seeks to block sale of Girl Scout camps
Anthony Watt March 26, 2013
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=632145&query=girl%20scouts

In February, officials with the Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois Girl Scouts branch announced that the board of directors was planning to vote Thursday on closing and selling Conestoga, Camp Little Cloud in Dubuque County, Camp L-Kee-Ta in Des Moines County and Camp Tahigwa in Allamakee County.

A Girl Scouts news release issued at the time stated the recommendation to close and sell the camps came after five years of research indicated none of them met the needs of the members and that fewer than 10 percent of members used them.

The suit, filed on behalf of several adult members of the group, contends the members eligible to vote must be allowed to participate in the decision. The suit is seeking a temporary injunction to block the directors from taking action Thursday, as well as a court ruling stating that theGirl Scouts can take no action without the input of the voting members.

Des Moines Register Poll
"Do you support the Girl Scout's proposal to close its four camps and build an outdoor center?"
http://www.proconit.com/view/do-you-support-the-girl-scouts-proposal-to-close-its-four-camps-and-build-an-outdoor-center    

Girl Scout camps develop leaders
Gazette Guest Columnist Bonnie Myhre Williams March 2, 2013
http://thegazette.com/2013/03/02/girl-scout-camps-develop-leaders/  

Nelson indicates “there has been an ongoing decline in the number of girls using our camp properties.” The Girl Scout website lists the following Girl Scout attendance at the four camps combined: 
What do you think? 
2008 — 45 percent of 18,607 Scouts 
2009 — 53 percent of 17,655 Scouts 
2010 — 60 percent of 18,833 Scouts 
2011 — 67 of 18,453 Scouts 
2012 — 59 percent of 18,992 Scouts 
What do you think? 
In 2009, 2010, and 2011, there were increases in the percentage of Girl Scouts who used the camps. So I question the “ongoing decline” in camp usage.

Camps for sale because girls just wanna have wi-fi
Barb Ickes February 16, 2013
http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/barb-ickes/camps-for-sale-because-girls-just-wanna-have-wi-fi/article_2adc3e4a-78b4-11e2-95e4-0019bb2963f4.html 

For now, no one is entirely sure what the next generation of Scouting will look like. It no doubt will share qualities of the past, but it has to keep up with the times, too. In fact, the plan after selling the four camps might be to build a new outdoor destination that would blend rustic experiences with modern amenities...

...“I want my kids to be unplugged — to go outside, hear the wind move through the trees and not be afraid of daddy longlegs,” she said. “They’re already good with technology. They know more than we do. They have access to plenty of sports. The outdoors is the missing component."

Iowa Girl Scouts Closing Rustic Camps Because They’re Rustic
lskenazy February 11, 2013 
http://www.freerangekids.com/iowa-girl-scouts-closing-rustic-camps-because-theyre-rustic/comment-page-2/#comment-223748

Girl Scouts to sell four area camp properties
Shellie Nelson and Megan Noe February 5, 2013 (Updated February 6)
http://wqad.com/2013/02/05/girl-scouts-to-sell-four-area-camp-properties/

A Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois council has recommended the sale of four camp properties that no longer meet the organization’s needs.

The announcement came as a surprise to longtime camp volunteers and troop leaders like Marty Beck. 

“The volunteers in this area thought that Conestoga was going to be safe from being closed or sold, so a little bit of a shock… yeah, a lot of a bit of a shock,” said Beck.  

Council leaders say the sale is not an indication of any financial trouble for the council. 

If they sell the camps, the council leaders say they will do a feasibility study among leaders, girls, volunteers and communities to determine how best to use the proceeds from the sale.

Girl Scouts expanding to new HQ
Jennifer DeWitt September 4, 2012
http://qctimes.com/news/local/girl-scouts-expanding-to-new-hq/article_ccfd9b3a-f63f-11e1-94d0-001a4bcf887a.html

The council, headquartered in downtown Rock Island since 1982, plans to relocate its Girl Scout Leadership Center to a building at 940 Golden Valley Drive, Bettendorf, by year’s end. Last spring, the council purchased the vacant building, located behind The Lodge near Interstate 74, and is in the process of converting it into office space for the council’s growing staff and an expanded Girl Scout store.

The Rock Island office, 2011 2nd Ave., will be used to offer new options for the 20,000 girls and scores of volunteers and leaders served by the bi-state council. Plans call for transforming the existing offices into an urban program center...

Nelson said national representatives from Girl Scouts of the USA previously visited the local council to conduct a property study.

“They said ‘You are such a prime location for an urban program center,’ ” she recalled, adding that she is aware of only two urban program centers in the Midwest — in Chicago and Milwaukee."