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TARRYTOWN, N.Y. A packet of instant oatmeal was among the many items included in a time capsule the Girl Scouts of the Tarrytowns dug up last week in celebration of the organizations 100th anniversary.
Girl Scout leader and volunteer Pat Evans said the oatmeal was put inside the time capsule after a senior troop went on a four-day canoe trip.
I tried to wipe off the mud and ended up destroying the picture on the front, she said.
A small crowd gathered Saturday at Patriots Park to commemorate the anniversary and open the time capsule, which was buried during the Girl Scouts 75th anniversary. Current and former Girl Scouts joined in song and a candlelighting ceremony to promote the organization and its values. A new time capsule was also assembled for the 125th anniversary.
There have been a lot of changes in Girl Scouting over the years, but our core values and goals have remained the same: to help our girls become independent, honest, caring young women of courage and leadership, Evans said.
Former troop leader Helen Andrews praised the Girl Scouts founder, Juliette Gordon Low, who started the organization in Georgia in 1912.
She had the dream to start Girl Scouting for every girl everywhere, and she did, Andrews said, later encouraging the crowd to Dedicate ourselves to living the promises and the law during this year and all the years to come.
Evans said no one had noted exactly where the time capsule had been buried, so Tarrytown Recreation Supervisor Joe Arduino made it his mission to find the box before Saturday's ceremony. The capsule, a teal Tupperware box with tape around its edges, was eventually found.
Unfortunately, what we didn't count on was rodents, moles, gophers, who knows, but somebody was busy digging and nibbling on the plastic which allowed water to get inside, Evans said.
Evans and her daughter Gail worked to clean up the capsule and recover what items they could, including photos and memorabilia from camping and canoeing trips, a 25th anniversary balloon and 75th year patch. Junior and Brownie troops also included troop symbols and personal notes.
Jaime Echt and Evelyn Poy discussed a few items that would be included in the new time capsule including a tracker so that future Girl Scouts would not have to dig up the entire park to find the capsule. Poy noted there would be photos of a recent camping trip, a copy of The Hudson Independent featuring the Girl Scouts on the front page and a memory book. Nearly 100 Girl Scouts signed a sheet of paper that will also be included, Poy said.
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