OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The coronavirus has canceled girl scout meetings but they are a creative bunch.
Some scouts in Oak Ridge are having fun and earning a patch while socially distanced.
"We wanted to recognize the volunteers in our service unit which are the troop leaders and the people who work on the service unit team," Girl Scout Troop Leader Jerry Luckmann said.
She said dozens of women in Oak Ridge deserved these yard signs: An awesome girl scout volunteer lives here.
The volunteers and scouts haven't met lately.
"I didn't realize how much I missed our girls and those interactions with them and how much they depended on that interaction every other week," Girl Scout Troop Leader Sarah Allison said.
Jerry said, "Having a safe place to interact with each other and be themselves and be unique. And if we can't get together we can all look at each other on the screen but we really can't play a dance or a game or anything."
So Jerry came up with a way to showcase the signs and involve the girls with a scavenger hunt to make a craft.
"At each of 11 houses we put a portion of the craft which was a bracelet of beads," she said. "They would go to the box on the porch and pick out the bead and put it in their pocket and then drive to the next one."
The Girl Scouts and their moms used GPS to find the 11 houses, collect the beads, and make the bracelets.
The beads are in a special order.
Nine-year-old Izzy Allison explained, "The top part is the Girl Scout Promise and all the other beads are the Girl Scout Law"
The Girl Scout Promise and Law guides how the scouts act every day and outlines how to act towards one another and the world.
Girl Scouts are over-achievers. So Troop leader Sarah Allison and her girl scout daughters Izzy and Ashli did not stop with a visit to the initial 11 houses.
Ashli said, "After we got all the beads I said let's go ahead and try to find the other 26."
Her sister Izzy said, "We went all around and then the other day we went to look for the extra signs and we had our dog in the car."
Their mom really enjoyed looking for the extra signs.
"Some of the ones that we found by mistake was actually by mistake. I turned down the wrong and, oh, there's a sign. That's not on our list. It was really a lot of fun for us because we spent a lot of time in the car together," she said.
They also learned a lot about the roads in Oak Ridge and enjoyed the photos of their friends scouting for signs and beads.
Everyone who completed the bracelet earned a patch and the Girl Scouts who found all the signs got a fancier patch.
Here's the difference between a badge and a patch.
Girl Scouts earn a badge for working hard to complete a specific requirement. They get a patch for participating in a fun activity like the crafty scavenger hunt.
The coronavirus cut short girl scout cookie sale season. Now you have another chance to stock up on Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and Samoas.
A girl scout cookie drive-thru is set for this Saturday, June 6, at West Town Mall from 11:00 to 5:00. Just pull up in your car to purchase cookies to support our local girl scout troops.