ASHLAND – Haily Fairchild used to stay home or watch from the sidelines as while her brother took part in Cub Scouts and her father was a Den Leader.
Tuesday, the 11-year-old Ashland Middle School student proudly donned her new Scouts BSA uniform and tried her hand at activities like flag folding and leather crafting during an open house for Ashland’s first all-girls troop of Scouts BSA.
“It’s actually really fun even though I’ve only been here a couple weeks,” Fairchild said. “I’m learning new things and doing all kinds of stuff.”
She’s memorized the Scout Oath and learned to tie knots, and she’s already looking forward to camping with her troop and earning merit badges. She has her sights set on becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Scouts BSA.
While all these goals are attainable now, they would not have been possible prior to Feb. 1, when Boy Scouts of America began allowing girl troops in Scouts BSA, the 11 to 17-year-old arm of the traditionally all male Boy Scouts of America.
Fairchild knows the change has not been embraced by everyone, but she’s happy Scouts BSA made the move.
“In my opinion, I think it’s okay for girls to come in and it’s exciting for girls to try different things and challenge themselves,” she said.
Assuming the structure is approved by the local VFW post, which charters Scouts BSA Troop 507, the new girls troop will be a linked troop with the existing boys troop, Scout Leader Michelle Coffman said.
Fred Fairchild, Haily’s dad, is helping Coffman launch the new girls troop and will serve as Assistant Scout Leader. He’s eager to spend as much time with his daughter as he does with his son in Scouts.
“I’ve been trying to teach her stuff at home, but it’s nice to be able to bring her to events and make it more of a family with all of us,” Fred Fairchild said. “In another year, her brother will be in this troop and we’ll be able to do things as a family.”
Troop 507 currently has 10 boy members and recently graduated three Eagle Scouts.
The boys and girls troops are meeting together for the first few weeks as the veteran scouts show the new members the ropes and as new girls join the group. Eventually, girls and boys will meet in separate sections of the same room at the Ashland Moose Lodge, breaking off into same-sex small groups called patrols.
Tuesday’s open house attracted five girls, and Coffman knows of two more girls who are interested in joining the troop as soon as they cross over from Cub Scouts, which already allows girls, into Scouts BSA. At least 10 girls must join in order for the troop to be chartered.
Coffman was disappointed to see that a protester had set a spray-painted sign across the street from the lodge while the Scouts were meeting Tuesday. The sign read, “Wouldn’t that make it a Girl Scout meeting?”
“I hope that won’t affect the girls negatively,” she said.
Among the open house attendees was Julie Smith, an 11-year-old from Mapleton.
Smith said she tried multiple Girl Scout troops but never felt fully engaged in the program.
While her brother regularly had outdoor adventures with his Boy Scout troop, Smith never got to go camping with her Girl Scout troop. Her most recent troop spent most of its meeting time crafting.
“I like doing crafts and I like going camping, but when we’re just doing crafts and that’s all, it gets boring,” Smith said.
Smith is glad that BSA is open to girls now.
“I think it’s a good thing so girls can have more of an opportunity to do the same things that boys can,” she said.
Coffman encourages any local girls interested in learning more about Scouts BSA or joining the troop to attend a weekly meeting.
“It’s a great place to experience making new friends outside school, and it’s something fun to do,” Coffman said.
The troop meets at 6 p.m. Tuesdays at Ashland Moose Lodge 1383, 1112 Cleveland Ave. in Ashland.
