Ann Long

August 2024 Issue
Photography (top) by Lindsay Gifford

 

Hometown: Hampton, SC
Family: Widowed; 3 children; 6 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren
Career: Worked for an Optometrist for 33 years
Known and Loved For: Being a Girl Scout Troop Leader for 48 years!
Leader: Girl Scout Troop #30089, The Watermelon Service Unit
Awarded: One of my proudest moments was receiving the “Thanks Badge”—
the highest award an adult Girl Scout can receive.

You have been involved with Girl Scouts for 48 years! Thank you so much for being a positive, wonderful part of so many girls’ lives. What is it about the Girl Scouts that has made you want to support them and stick with them for so long?
I was raised on a small family farm three miles outside of Varnville, SC. As a girl, I wasn’t a Girl Scout, but I’ve more than made up for it as a Girl Scout leader. I started my first troop with my daughter Becky (she was a Brownie). And later, I started the first Daisy Girl Scout Troop with my granddaughter, Cindy. When my husband of 39 years passed and my grown children had families of their own, Girl Scouts gave me something to do and be a part of.

After I retired and moved back to the country, I started working at the Hampton County Recreation Department. I noticed there were no Girl Scouts in Hampton County anymore. There was a time there were 15 active troops there. So, with the help of a Girl Scout friend, we started a troop in Varnville.

Empowering girls in life skills is a Girl Scouts mission. You have seen many changes in 48 years, such as the edge skills that Girl Scouts earn. Tell us about some of the new skills girls get to learn in order to earn patches.

Life skills are still important in working your way through earning badges, but now they also include focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. Plus, some of the newer badges focus on the outdoors and inspire the girls to love nature, save our wildlife, and protect the earth by learning to recycle and leave a place cleaner than they found it.

What age girls can join Girl Scouts?
Girls ages K5 through 12th grade are eligible to join the age-appropriate levels: Daisy: K5-1st grade; Brownie: 2nd-3rd grade; Junior: 4th-5th grade; Cadet: 6th-8th grade; Senior 9th-10th grade; and Ambassador: 11th-12th grade.

You started as a troop leader when your middle daughter joined Girl Scouts. Now you are on the third generation of children, having had your granddaughters, a great granddaughter and great nieces in your troops. Why would you recommend every girl join?
Over the past years, I’ve watched my girls (and they’re all my girls!) blossom like flowers. Many are so shy at first and don’t want to leave mom’s side, but soon they outgrow that shyness and become more mature and confident in everything they do and try.

We have to know about the cookies! Tell us how many boxes of cookies you’ve sold, along with your troops over the years. What does the annual cookie sale teach the girls?
Cookie sales have changed over the years. When we started, we used an order form and would go from door-to-door to take orders or call friends and family on the phone. Now, the girls (with their parents help) take cookie training online. They set up their digital cookie site and can make a video about themselves and their cookie products. I’m proud to say my troop sold over 6,000 boxes this year!

One of my first years with the Daisy troop, I had a 6-year-old who had a special way to greet her customers and could name each variety of cookies. She knew the cost per box and could total their purchase, give back correct change and always thanked her customers by saying “Have a Blessed Day!”

What is your favorite Girl Scout cookie flavor? What is the best seller overall?
My favorite is Toffee-tastic®! It’s our specialty cookie and gluten-free! Our two bestselling cookies are always Samoas® and Thin Mints®.

Girl Scout leaders have to be everything to their troop. That means you have probably been on more camps than you care to remember. What is your favorite thing or most memorable moment of a camp out with the girls?
One of my favorite locations to camp is Camp Low on Rose Dhu Island, a three-mile island in Savannah owned by Girl Scouts USA. This location offers year-round camping and summer camps for all ages. The camp has cabins, platform tents, and hammock camp sites. Each camp site has a closed-in area for meetings, crafts, and preparing meals. Campfire Songs are my favorite camp activity. As an outdoors trainer, I’ve trained quite a few new leaders and many of my Girl Scouts in outdoor skills. Some of my favorite memories are camping in February on Father/Daughter Weekend and waking up to a camp covered in snow. We didn’t have regular cast iron dutch ovens at my first campfire cook out, so me made cooking equipment out of large tin cans. We also made Buddy Burners out of the tin cans and used cardboard and wax for fuel.

You’ve dealt with a whole lot of girls. What’s the funniest mishap you’ve experienced so far?
The funniest thing happened when the grass caught on fire, and I stamped it out which caught the fringe of my jeans on fire! Thank goodness we were prepared with a bucket of water.

In addition to selling cookies, camping and regular meetings, what else does your troop do in the community?
Our Troop donates food to the Blessing Box at the Hampton United Methodist Church where we meet. We donate to Save the Sea Turtles at the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston. We donate cat litter and pet food to the local animal shelter. We also donate and place flags and wreaths on Veterans’ graves in Hampton County.

We make crafts for all seasons to give to the seniors at Estill Nursing Home, the Assisted Living Home in Erhardt, and the Council on Aging Center in Hampton. This year, they made ornaments to decorate a tree for each season at the Coastal Plains Physical Therapy Department and a troop favorite is playing Bingo with the seniors in the Estill Nursing Home.

With the help of the Seed and Weed Garden Club, you’ll find the Troop’s Memorial Butterfly Garden at the Hampton County Library. The girls’ trim weeds, pick up fallen limbs, and learn to sow bulbs. They seed and plant plants that attract Butterfly’s Bees and other pollinators. The Memorial Butterfly Garden was created to bring awareness to bullying and juvenile suicide prevention. They are also planning a Buddy Bench and have painted garden stepping stones. Garden Club members adopted our troop and call them their “Sprouts”.

The Girl Scouts was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia. Have your troops visited the Juliette Gordon Low Historic District in Savannah? What do you find most fascinating about her legacy?
Most of my Girl Scouts have visited the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace and the Andrew Low House in Savannah. I find the most interesting thing about her legacy is that Girl Scouts have celebrated 111 years and are still growing strong! Her vision and legacy has impacted millions of girls and taught them to seek adventure, love the outdoors and learn lasting life skills.

You were born and raised on a farm in Hampton County where you still live. What’s your favorite thing about living on a farm? Do you have a garden or animals?
My favorite thing about living in the country is my critters. My Girl Scouts love to visit and feed snacks to my goats, chickens, ducks, guineas, turkeys, cats, and dogs.

Hampton is known for watermelons and its historic watermelon festival, celebrating 82 years—the oldest continuing festival in SC. It is known for having the longest parade of any parade in SC—over 2 miles. Tell us the scoop on your favorite parts of the festival.
The Hampton County Watermelon Festival (HCWF) is one of my favorite family traditions. I got to see four generations of family members in my lifetime. I have served on the HCWF planning committee since I started my first troop. We have served as the Color Guard in the HCWF Youth Parade since its inception, and it’s now grown to be one of largest events. Our troop helps make crafts with the littles at the “Kids Day in the Park” at Lake Warren State Park. And thanks to the Brunson Lions Club—who sponsors a float for our Girl Scouts—we have the opportunity to ride in the big parade each year. My favorite event of the festival is the Variety Show at the Palmetto Theater. One of my Brownie Girl Scouts sang and danced on stage in Spanish—it was beautiful!

You Can Hear Me Roar:
Come join our Girl Scout Troop! We don’t just sell cookies. We’ve learned to protect our wildlife, keep our county beautiful, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout. I tell my Scouts to reach for the Stars. Anything is possible!