“No!” shouted the mostly 7- and 8-year-old girls in reply as they stood before the Vaile Mansion in Independence, eagerly awaiting their turn for a tour.
With troops from Independence, Oak Grove and Overland Park, Kan., and other cities, the Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri worked to earn the newly created Mary Mildred DeWitt Community Preservation Patch. DeWitt, who died in 1983, was a charter member of JSL and was the founder and first president of the Independence Girl Scouts Council.
To earn the patch Saturday, troop members had to tour the Vaile Mansion and had to participate in at least three booths on site. More than 80 JSL members volunteered in planning the event.
According to Matthews, about 18 months ago, DeWitt’s estate contributed $50,000 to Junior Service League. With Suzanne Raney and Eileen Weir as the committee co-chairwomen, JSL then brainstormed how it could honor DeWitt’s contributions to Independence, to the Girl Scouts and to historic preservation.
In 1960, DeWitt purchased the Vaile Mansion after learning it would be demolished, and the DeWitt family restored the mansion. Her estate left the mansion at 1500 N. Liberty St. to the city of Independence in 1983, and it now serves as a public museum.
“I want this house,” said 8-year-old Sydney Richardson, a member of Troop 3440 from Overland Park, Kan., while touring the Vaile Mansion. Several girls in Troop 3440, including Sydney, called the master bedroom their favorite room in the house.
Brownies, Juniors and Teen Girl Scouts may earn the Mary Mildred DeWitt Community Preservation Patch, and Independence residency is not a requirement. Troops in the Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri district may earn the patch in visiting a local historic landmark in their communities, as well as meeting other age-group specific requirements.
The inaugural patch-earning event, Matthews said, helped put the Girl Scouts in contact with real historical artifacts and settings instead of reading about them in a classroom.
“I think when you read in history books in school about the Civil War or about Victorian houses, it’s sometimes really hard to relate to,” Matthews said. “But going through someone’s bedroom or seeing the dresses really makes that come alive for them.”
The preservation aspect of the patch aims to educate girls about “how to protect the things they love,” Matthews said. For example, at one booth, the Girl Scouts created pamphlets on how to protect objects they love, such as a park or a house.
“As time goes on, we’re trying to teach them the value of protecting things because they mean something to you,” Matthews said. “That was something that was very important to Mary Mildred DeWitt, and that’s something we’d like to pass along to girls. I think when you’re little, you don’t think about the fact that your favorite park might not be there, so that’s what we’re working on.”
Independence, MO — “Have you ever been in a mansion before?” Junior Service League of Independence President Jaime Matthews asked more than 80 Girl Scouts Saturday morning.
Courtesy Adrianne DeWeese, The Examiner