By Jeanni Ritchie
On my honor, I will try.
There’s a duty to be done and I say aye.
There’s a reason here or reason above.
My honor is to try and my duty is to love.
The song, sung with three fingers solemnly held up, was the Girl Scout promise to millions of young girls like me growing up.
While many people think only of cookies when they think of Girl Scouts, it is these core values of Girl Scouts that I remember the most.
The three fingers represented the three parts of the Girl Scout Promise:
• To serve God and my country
• To help people at all times
• To live by the Girl Scout Law
We formed friendships, went to camp, earned badges, and learned what being a valuable member of society was all about.
Girl Scout Founder’s Day is celebrated on October 31st to honor the birthday of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Born in 1860, Low organized the first Girl Scout troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia. Girl Scouts of the USA was chartered by the US Congress on March 16, 1950.
The Girl Scouts offer six levels, including Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador. I worked my way through Cadette in the 70’s and 80’s before a stint as Scout Leader in the 90’s with my girls just as my own mother had done with my sister and me.
My Girl Scout support today largely comes from tally marks in Tagalong columns! Cookie season kicks off in January 2025 with the theme “Embrace Possibility.” New flavors include Caramel Chocolate Chip and Lemonades.
You’ll notice some of the cookie names change over the years. That is because many longstanding Girl Scout bakers own the trademarks to cookie names. When new contracts are issued, old names are lost. The Girl Scout organization itself only owns the trademarks for Thin Mints, Trefoils, and Adventurefuls.
You can sign up to receive the latest news about Girl Scout cookies at girlscoutcookies.org.
But today is about Juliette Low and the legacy she left for generations of young girls as they grew up and took their place in society. The Girl Scout pledge, untouched and still relevant, is a guiding force:
On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.
It is a pledge I follow to this very day.
Share your Girl Scout memories on social media using #GirlScoutFoundersDay!
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.