VISTA 8:

 

 

VISTA MANAGER CONTACT INFO:

 

REGISTRATION AMBASSADOR CONTACT INFO:

V8_RegAmb@gsvista.org 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last May, four leaders and nine girls set out for what turned out to be a most excellent Girl Scout adventure – our weekend to Greenfield Village (An old-fashioned historic town located next to the Henry Ford Museum. It is a complex comprised of the Village, Museum and IMAX Theater). The girls, all Junior Girl Scouts in 5^th grade, worked long and hard to earn their way to Dearborn, Michigan. They participated in every level of planning – from researching when to go, how to get there, where to stay, what to pack and how to pay for it. This trip tapped into many of the skills and values we as leaders hope to teach our girls in a very real-life way. 

 

We took Amtrak from Chicago on a Friday morning. It was mighty early (7:50 a.m.) which meant we had to leave Evanston by 6:30 a.m. We rented two large vans to take us to (and from) Union Station. Each girl brought one rolling suitcase and one backpack. They were responsible for their own stuff the whole time. Amtrak was wonderful. They were waiting for us when we arrived at Union Station and escorted us to the train for pre-boarding. The girls had a great time sitting together, playing games, reading and visiting the snack car (in groups, of course). We arrived at a special stop at Greenfield Village at around 2:00 p.m. A representative from Greenfield Village was waiting for us when we arrived, to open the gate and see that we got checked in safely. We were definitely VIPs. On our first day there, we decided to take in the museum. The museum staff arranged for us to lock our luggage in a storage room while we toured the museum. The highlights of the museum were the Dymaxion House, designed by Buckminster Fuller and assembled in total inside the museum, the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile, President Kennedy’s limo from that fateful day in Texas, and Rosa Park’s bus, on which we all sat and listened to stories about her. Everyone got to take a turn in the seat in which she sat the day she made history. 

 

The museum closed at 5:00 and we had arranged for the Holiday Inn shuttle bus to pick us up from the village and transport us and all of our stuff to the hotel, where we’d be staying for two nights. The hotel was super. They provided us with free shuttle service to and from the Village all weekend. Also, because our girls were 12 and under, they all ate free. Each meal. No kidding. So, as long as we adults ate a meal, they were all free, so a meal for all 13 of us usually amounted to about $30. Our rooms were a reasonable $79 a night. There was a pool and a hot tub so we were set. On our second night in the hotel, we rented a movie on Spectra Vision for the girls in one room, and the lounge at the front of the hotel popped a bunch of free popcorn for everyone.

 

Saturday was our big day at the Village. We were fortunate to go on a weekend that they sponsored a badge for the Girl Scouts – Canoeing. Everyone got to learn how to canoe and canoed for approximately one hour. Then, we were treated to a nature walk with a national forest ranger. The rest of the afternoon was spent sightseeing. There were horse-drawn buses to ride, Model-T’s to ride in, and a huge old carousel. There were many historic homes, as well as a perfect replica of Edison’s Menlo Park Laboratory where the phonograph was invented. There was a real working farm as well, where several lambs had been born in the preceding week, and they were adorable! There was also a steam train that encircled the Village that was a great way to see the whole place.

 

On Sunday we packed up all of our stuff, checked out of the hotel and headed back to the Village for one more activity. We viewed an IMAX 3D movie about the ocean before we hit the gift shops one more time. Then it was back to the Amtrak station in the village. Our train arrived right on time, around 12:30 p.m., and once again, the conductor was ready for his Girl Scouts.   He had reserved several deluxe seats (with foot rests!) for the girls, with pink signs placed overhead that read “GS”. The ride back was picturesque, with a view that you can’t enjoy anywhere but from a train. Our vans were waiting for us outside Union Station and all the girls were safely back in their parents arms in time for dinner.

 

Greenfield Village was a memorable trip for all of us, leaders and girls alike. We planned such a trip as a tribute to our girls who had stuck with scouting all the way through elementary school, knowing that some would be returning and some would not. We wanted them to experience something that they wouldn’t otherwise experience without Girl Scouts and for it to remain with them throughout their lives. We’re pretty sure we accomplished that.