ROCHELLE – Multiple troops of Girl Scouts within the Ogle County area went camping this past weekend for the Girl Scout Camporee.
The camping trip was held at the McCormick Girl Scout campgrounds located in Stillman Valley, and took place Friday and Saturday night (Sept. 20 and 21) and ended Sunday, Sept. 22. Girl Scout Troops 3503, 1137, 277, and 1870 were the local troops that participated.
While troop leaders plan these trips for the girls to have fun camping outdoors, one of the main goals is to teach them different outdoor skills at the same time.
These skills ranged from knife handling and building a fire, to the basics of first aid.
“They did knot learning, knife safety, how to build fires, staying safe with first aid kits, group manners and camp rules, all things like that,” explained Marge Smith, troop 277 leader.
Archery and crate stacking was also planned for the trip, but the combination of rain and a power outage on Saturday caused those activities to be cancelled.

Even though the weather got in the way of some of the activities, it gave the girls more time to socialize, perform songs and dances and ultimately make new friends. One activity that was done during the time it was raining was what the scouts call a “swap.”
“Each troop would create something that they made as a troop, they would hook it to a safety pin and meet another person to exchange their swap with,” said Smith.
There were many different activities the girls participated in over the weekend but troop leaders think their favorite parts were swimming in the indoor pool and getting the chance to sit down and make new friends.
Girls Scout leaders are planning another camping trip next year, but the next big upcoming event is the cookie sale kick off that will be held at the BMO Harris Center in Rockford on Dec. 7, where the Ice Hogs hockey team play.
“They usually invite us up there for a game and we do a cookie kick off,” added Smith.
This is an all-girl scout event and will include many different troops from the Rockford area.
Anyone who is interested in joining the Girl Scouts should visit www.girlscoutsni.org.