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Girl Scouts Offer A Clean Break

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Girl Scout Julia Lewis, 9, with Troop 336 of Lakeland, cleans a cabin at Camp Dorothy Thomas in Riverview.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: January 28, 2009

RIVERVIEW - The drone of commercial vacuums drowned out the twittering songbirds in the oak trees as bands of Girl Scouts converged on Camp Dorothy Thomas to give it a good dusting.

When the girls aren't around, spiders and other creepy-crawly things leave behind trails of evidence: cobwebs, spider webs, nests in the eaves of the bunkhouse and lodge.

The deer, foxes and armadillos no doubt ran for cover Jan. 17 when the drone started during one of several service projects Girl Scout troops undertake each year.

"It's a great place, and it's a great opportunity to get the girls out in nature," said Ranger Dave Ford. And having them at the 250-acre camp off Boyette Road to assist with maintenance is a huge help, he said.

The weekend-long effort, Give a Day On, Not a Day Off, was part of the girls' Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day service initiative. In all, about 350 Girl Scouts and 130 adult volunteers were expected at the five camps throughout the West Central Girl Scout Council service area.

Junior Troop 336, out of Lakeland, headed by co-leaders Lynn Lawson of Lithia and Kathy Hough of Seffner, busied themselves cleaning up the CIT bunkhouse, typically used by counselors in training.

After tucking their teddy bears in their sleeping bags on the metal bunk beds, the girls traded their pajamas for work clothes and got busy.

"We've talked about learning how to cook and how to make campfires, too," said 12-year-old Jaime Brant of Lakeland. "This is my first time here, and I like everything I see."

One thing they saw was a chickadee nest pitched along the eaves of the building.

"What do we do about that?" Hough asked Ford.

Since chickadees aren't nesting now, he said, the nest goes out with the rest of the dust. Typically, the small birds take full advantage of the camp when the Scouts aren't around, Ford said. "We have a couple of buildings that just get loaded with baby birds."

But this weekend was all about early spring cleaning.

"I'm learning you always have to be nice to everyone and share the cleanup supplies," said 9-year-old Julia Lewis of Lakeland.

Abbie Sawyer, 9, donned gardening gloves as she hoisted a vacuum hose above her head to reach the highest corner of the window. Y'Kaysha Watts, 12, assisted, holding the heavy hose in place.

Down the road, a group of about 60 University of South Florida students kept busy trimming branches away from the roadways as part of the university's Largest Day of Service.

"We've had over 3,000 students going to different places around the area doing all kinds of projects," said senior Alex Tapper of Orlando.

Senior chemical engineering major Danielle Tabar of Sarasota, a former Girl Scout, said she thought it was cool to help out at a Scout camp.

"It's giving back," Tabar said.

One of the largest Scout camps in the West Central council, Camp Dorothy Thomas requires full-time maintenance, Ford said.

"It's a great place to relax away from the hustle and bustle of the interstate," he said.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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