ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2017 – 23
CONGRATULATING THE GIRL SCOUTS OF HAWAI‘I ON ITS 100TH ANNIVERSARY
WHEREAS, Juliette Gordon Low envisioned an organization that would prepare girls to meet their world with courage, confidence, and character and in March of 1912 Juliette, known as “Daisy” by her family and friends, gathered 18 girls in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia and started the Girl Scout movement; and
WHEREAS, just five years after Girl Scouting was founded, Florence Lowe, a teacher at the Kamehameha School for Girls, organized the first official Girl Scout troop in the Hawaiian Islands based out of Honolulu which became Troop One; and
WHEREAS, at that time there was a second group meeting in what is now Kaka‘ako became Troop Two with Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch, as its sponsor; and
WHEREAS, the Queen promised Troop Two her personal silk Hawaiian flag, which is now proudly displayed in its Honolulu headquarters; and
WHEREAS, in April of 1919, a group of women gathered at the First Foreign Church in Hilo to implement the Girl Scout program and the Hawaiʻi Island charter was received in June of 1919, and Isabel Shaw became the first commissioner and was succeeded by Eva Hendry, who was then followed by Charlotte Whittaker; and
WHEREAS, in 1920, Clinton Childs, the director of the Alexander House Settlement on Maui, heard about scouting for girls and subsequently, the Maui Girl Scout Council was organized with F.F. Baldwin as the first commissioner, and Maui Council’s campsite in Makawao was a gift from Dwight H. Baldwin and Virginia Wellington Wells in 1962 and dedicated as Camp Piʻiholo; and
WHEREAS, twice during the history of Girl Scouting on the island, Molokaʻi set up an independent council and twice rejoined its strength with Maui’s and finally in 1924 the island of Molokaʻi joined Maui’s Council; and
WHEREAS, in 1926, Girl Scouts Hawaii’s first campsite was purchased—five acres of picturesque land on the Pearl City Peninsula, named Camp Haleopua meaning “house of flowers,” and facilitated outdoor programs for 15 years before World War II made it necessary to relinquish the property; and
WHEREAS, there have been Girl Scout troops on Kauaʻi only since 1933 because first attempts to organize fell through as a result of the war and in 1950, Kaua‘i received its National Charter and Sterling Dunsford was elected Kauaʻi’s president; and
WHEREAS, Camp Paumalū was donated to the council, courtesy of Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1951 and in 1954, Camp Kilohana on the Island of Hawai‘i was acquired and continues to serve Girl Scouts; and
WHEREAS, in 1963, the Girl Scouts in Hawaiʻi changed its name to the Girl Scout Council of the Pacific, Inc. because its jurisdiction was extended to include not only the islands of Hawaiʻi, but additionally Midway and Wake; and
WHEREAS, in April 1990, membership voted to change the name to the Girl Scout Council of Hawaiʻi to reflect the areas we service, encompassing only those islands that make up the beautiful Aloha state and in March of 2007, changed the name one final time, to make sure to correctly spell Hawaiʻi by employing the Hawaiian diacritical mark known as the ʻokina which acknowledges and honors Girl Scouts’ deeply rooted history in Hawaiʻi; and
WHEREAS, local artist and distinguished alumnae Peggy Hopper created the beautiful Girl Scout patch in 1989; and
WHEREAS, also in 1989, Hawaiʻi vocal artist Melinda Caroll composed the song “We Change the World,” which was debuted by Hawaiʻi Girl Scouts singing the song at the 1989 Council Meeting, and it immediately became a national theme song for Girl Scouts USA; and
WHEREAS, the Girl Scouts of Hawaiʻi is the oldest Council west of the Mississippi River and celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2017.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 58th Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington, in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani, this 4th day of November 2017, congratulating the Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i on its 100th anniversary; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to Joanne Arizumi, Chair of the Board of Directors and Shari Chang, Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of Hawaiʻi, as well as the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all County Mayors.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani on the 4th day of November 2017, at the 58th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Seattle, Washington.
Annelle C. Amaral, President
