Girl Scouts prove it’s a small world

By Tricia Pursell
The Daily Item

May 17, 2009 07:58 am

— BEAVERTOWN — The Beavertown Girls Scouts have put themselves on the map.
Kay Kratzer, of Beavertown, leader of the troop for more than 30 years, recently visited England, and presented a banner, made by the girls and displaying the troop name, to the Pax Lodge in London — one of four world Girl Scout sites.
While there, she placed a pin on a world map, indicating where Beavertown is.
The lodge was not far from where Kratzer’s long-time pen pal, Janet Moore, resides. “That was really handy,” she said.
The idea began with the girls in the troop, according to Del Kennedy, a co-leader of the group for 26 years.
“They wanted to do another banner, because we have several hung around the room,” Kennedy said. “Some were back from 20 years ago.”
In addition to the banner in their own meeting room, they decided Kratzer’s trip to England was a great opportunity to make a banner for the London lodge, as well.
The girls, most of them in third through fifth grades, and a few in eight and tenth grades, spent a weekend trip at a cabin — where they weren’t allowed to watch television — and worked on the hand-sewn banner every day.
“They did a very good job,” Kennedy said. Kay was very patient with helping them. They were very proud of themselves that they got to do it. I think they were very pleased.”
The project helped the girls gain a better understanding of their world, Kennedy said. “I think it gives them the connection that there are girls all over the world,” she said. “The world’s bigger than Snyder County.”
This is a truth that Kratzer knows well, and one she learned when she was a young girl about their age. In 1953, when she was in fifth grade, her teacher connected her and several classmates with some pen pals in England.
She and Moore were the only ones who continued writing to each other through the years.
“We were both so different,” Kratzer said. “We kept asking questions.”
Their relationship led to lots of opportunities, she said.
The recent trip to England marks the eighth time the two have gotten together — Kratzer’s second trip to England. The first was in 1962, when Kratzer’s husband was serving in the Army in Germany. “We took the train to visit her in England,” Kratzer said.
Moore came to the United States with her family in 1987 to visit Kratzer and her family. “That was the best visit,” Kratzer said.
As they continue to correspond and grow their friendship, Kratzer and Moore are prime examples that many miles of separation doesn’t mean people have to remain strangers. In fact, the world seems to be getting smaller than ever.
When she was at the Pax Lodge in England, the old adage rang true.
“The girl that gave the tour, of all places, was from Williamsport,” Kratzer said. “It made us feel at home.”

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