Lifelong Friends Learned Best Lesson from Girl Scouts
Several boxes of files are stacked against the wall of room five in Girl Scouts of Western Washington’s Seattle office. A half-eaten box of Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip Girl Scout Cookies sits on the middle of the conference table, and two women walk through the door, dropping armfuls of files onto the already growing pile.
Jean Berg
"These are from the 2007 batch," says Jean Berg, whose delicate white hair covers her head like a silk hat. “They’re ready to be archived.”
Marji Barbee, taller and outfitted in pedal pushers and tennis shoes, knows a bit about archiving. She’s been a volunteer registrar for Girl Scouts since 1984. She still comes to the Girl Scout office on a weekly basis, usually with Jean in tow. The two are rarely seen apart. That’s what friends do.
Jean and Marji have stuck together through it all – through earthquakes and snowstorms, broken legs and locked car doors. They’ve been through campfires and cookouts, family celebrations and Girl Scout milestones. They met in 1973, when Marji had difficulty with a girl in her troop. She called Jean, a troop consultant in her service unit, and asked if she would help.
Marjee Barbee
“I didn’t know Jean then,” said Marji, “but we discovered we had children in the same class at Roosevelt High School. We’ve been friends ever since.”
Together, they not only archive files and keep registrations in order, they also work on the meeting and credential committees for the Annual Meeting. Additionally, they keep track of the 25 Plus Club, an esteemed group who have been registered Girl Scouts for 25 years or longer.
“We have a lot of old-time Girl Scouts,” Jean laughs. “In fact, three just got their 60-year pins and one got her 70-year pin.”
Marji and Jean also know a bit about longevity. All these years later, they’re still singing the praises of the Girl Scouts.
“A friend once told me it’s up to us to teach girls good moral values because they’re going to be in charge of the world,” says Marji.
“I think Girl Scouts fulfi lls that. They teach girls to be independent and courageous. The activities may change, but the philosophies never do.”
Jean seconds that.
“One of the girls I interviewed 20 years ago for the Wider Opportunities program, now called destinations, is about to put her daughter in Brownies,” she says. “I think one of the nicest things is seeing how the girls I knew have grown into women of whom I’m very proud.”
As the saying goes, some things change, and some things stay the same. If you’re lucky, the good things stay. Like the unwavering Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage, confi dence and character who make the world a better place. And things like friendship. For Jean and Marji that’s definitely been the case.
“Thirty years ago, when I broke my leg skiing, I couldn’t drive and had no one to take me to the doctor,” recalls Marji. “I called Jean, and she told me there wasn’t anything she had to do that afternoon that was more important than taking me where I needed to go. That melted my heart.”
“Come on, Marji,” says Jean, blushing. “You rescued me when I locked my keys in the car. You’re always there for me, too.”
There is silence in the room with the cookies, the files and two lifelong friends, who seem too moved to speak.
“It’s nice to have a friend you can call on,” Marji finally says. “Maybe that’s the most important thing we learned from Girl Scouts.”
