Goodbye to Our SU Leader

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I have had the pleasure to work with Sharon Asbury for the past 4 years.   She has been a pillar of strength, knowledge and advise to many new leaders.  I admire her because she is in my mind the epitome of the Girl Scouts.  She breeds pride in the organization and lives by the GS values.  We have all been blessed by her selfless leadership and dedication.  I would like to personally extend a heart-felt thank you from the Lake Trails Service Unit to Sharon.  She will be sorely missed next year.
 I asked Sharon a few departing questions and with her usual grace she quickly responded with great tales of Girl Scouting.  ENJOY!

Sharon Asbury
Short Bio:   
Were you a GS and if so how long were you in GS as a child?

I was not a Girl Scout as a kid.  I became a leader when we moved to Georgia when my oldest daughter was in 3rd grade.  She had been a GS in Illinois and wanted to continue.  There was no room in the 3rd grade troop at her school so we started a new one.  We had 10 girls that year and 17 or 18 the next year from several different schools.  We moved back to Naperville when she was in 5th grade and I became a leader again 2 years later when Emily was in kindergarten - she is now a Junior in High School.

How many daughters were in GS and how far did they participate? 

 Two - Beth went from 1st grade until 9th grade.  Her troop fell apart sadly the leader didn't want to continue but didn't let the rest of the troop know until half way through 9th grade - unfortunate.  Then we moved to Southlake the next year and couldn't find a troop.  Beth loved Girl Scouts and said she'd ALWAYS be a Girl Scout!  I imagine if she ever has a daughter, she will become a leader or co-leader.  Emily started in kindergarten and is now in 11th grade - still a Girl Scout and planning on doing her Gold Award.

What positions have you served?

I have been an event planner in every Service Unit I've been in.  I was asked to be Service Unit Manager in both Georgia and Naperville (IL), but was moving so it didn't work out.  In Lake Trails I've been Service Unit Cookie Manager and Service Unit Manager.

If you had to choose one "selling point" to convince a girl to join GS, what would it be?

You get to try so many different things in GS.  Sports, cheer, drama, etc are all great things to be involved with and belong to, but GS gives you a variety of things.  Things you may never try otherwise!

Share one of your fondest or funniest GS moments.

Oddly enough - the ones that come to mind first all involve camping.  In Georgia we had a leader/daughter camp out at a place called Misty Mountain -beautiful place in the mountains with a lake - early morning walk down to the lake was fabulous!  And what a great place to be introduced to GS camping - we all stayed in a lodge that had an indoor fireplace and a dishwasher that washed dishes in 3 minutes!! (no other GS camping experience had that...)
 In Naperville, my 1st or 2nd grade troop was camping and my very independent daughter was sitting on the other side of the fire pit .... until the racoons came up right behind us (wanting to steal our smore supplies), then she was RIGHT next to me!
And I remember the Centennial camp out this last fall with the BIG downpour - and me driving every troop back to their campsite from the mess hall :-)
Oh there was also the time in Naperville when I volunteered at Day Camp - Beth was going into 4th grade, Sam was going in to 2nd grade, Emily was 1 yr old, and my husband had already moved down to Georgia (our house was for sale and we were moving later that summer).  So, I thought, Beth can go to Day Camp, Sam can go to Brother Camp there, Emily can go in the nursery there, and I can volunteer!  And, oh yeah, why don't I also volunteer to be the bus chaperone there too.  So, we all loaded ourselves, our backpacks, the stroller and diaper bag, and everything else on the bus; spent the day there, rode home exhausted, and got up the next day to do it all again (after making sure the house was ready for any showings).  Well, the second day it rained - POURED - all day.  Sirens went off, we had to barricade ourselves in the platform tent.  Went home in the pouring rain, rained all night.  The next morning camp was cancelled - 'rainbow bridge' had washed away (the bridge we all walked on the day before to cross the creek to get to the campsites), people were using canoes in the streets, it was the 100 -yr flood!  What a mess!

My favorite project we ever did was the teddy bears my troop made for the children of Haiti a few years ago.  They enjoyed it immensely, learned some new skills, and delighted in sharing it with all the GS at Thinking Day.  To see all those girls at Thinking Day involved in this project was very heart-warming.

I've very much enjoyed my years in Girl Scouts and have loved being Service Unit Manager for the past few years.