All I could say was "Wow"

Last night we had our Girl Scout volunteer banquet. I knew I was going to receive a recognition. I was expecting the Bronze Charm, the entry level award that was created by our Council. We had our dinner (pretty good pasta primavera) and they recognized the volunteers who had just completed their train the trainer course, and a few retiring volunteers. Then they called out the Bronze Charm winners and I wasn't on the list. There were 2 others from our service unit, that I consider to be my peers (and friends). Odd I thought.

Then they moved up to the next level, Appreciation Pin. This one is from Girl Scouts U.S.A. They called out my name! I was dazed. I haven't been involved long enough to receive this one. I was called "horrible" by a fellow volunteer last fall when I quit the troop and pulled Violet out. I went around singing "I don't want no more of Girl Scout daycamp" the last few days of camp and didn't return to the committee this year. And I received this honor!

I got my picture taken and sat back down at our table next to my mentor. I told her, I blacked out a little, this was an Appreciation Pin? She said yes, you deserve it. I said Wow. A couple of times. Just wow.

What blows me away is the others who received the same award. Two from our service unit have been leaders forever. I've turned to both of them for advice. Another one from the service unit I started in. I see her in the paper all the time, all the work she does. And someone thinks I'm on the same caliber as them. Wow.

The evening was very nice. I also won the 2 potted plants on our table (my birthday was closest to Juliette Low's, the founder of Girl Scouts in the U.S., and I had driven the farthest to get there). Oh, and a cookie cutter in the raffle. (They had $100 gas cards as prizes too. The cookie cutter will be fun and last longer than a tank of gas.)

I always wonder what people passing by these things think of them (it was held in the conference room of a hotel). In between awards, to allow time for photos, we were singing Girl Scout songs. A couple of them we all stood up to do the hand motions. A room full of grown women, all dressed up, shimming to "Princess Pat". The couple of husbands who had come thought we were pretty crazy indeed. It was fun.