6 minute read
One family’s three generations of scouts
Grandmother heads up three generations of Girl Scouts
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By Donna Williams Lewis
When Deanna Simmons first started selling Girl Scout cookies at the age of 7, they cost about 45 cents a box, there were only three kinds of cookies, and her troop sold them from a red wagon on Peachtree Street.
Her mother was co-leader of her Brookhaven troop and Simmons loved the troop’s trips to Camp Timber Ridge in Mableton and to other outdoor activities. She was a Girl Scout all the way through high school and earned the scouts’ Curved Bar Award, the precursor to today’s Gold Award, which is comparable to the Eagle Scout rank for Boy Scouts.
Today, the Lawrenceville resident is gearing up for cookie sale season as co-leader of a granddaughter’s troop in Buford and as a legend in the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, now celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Simmons, 73, was recently recognized for her many years of service to the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta with the organization’s Helen Foster Pin, an honor bestowed upon volunteers who have served multiple geographic areas in more than one role.
Inspired by her mother’s love of Girl Scouts, “I bleed green blood,” Simmons says.
It must be in her DNA. Scouting for her offspring is a huge family affair.
Both of Simmons’ daughters and one of her granddaughters, are all Gold Award Girl Scouts, a rare scenario in the world of Girl Scouting. Only about 5 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the award.
Her son, Scott Simmons, of Gainesville, is an Eagle Scout. His son, Zachary, is a Boy Scout and his daughter, Teagan, is in Cub Scouts.
Above, Deanna Simmons (second from left, in back row) poses in 1956 with Brownie Troop 741, which operated out of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School in Brookhaven. Her mother and troop coleader, Audrey Blanton, is in the back, at far right. Troop co-leader Thelma Fitzpatrick is on the left. The girls hold wings that represent their “flying up” from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts. (Simmons Family)
Below, Deanna Simmons, right, with daughter Kathryn White, left, and granddaughter Aubree White Whitman said Simmons has been a major role model for herself and many others. “Her outstanding leadership qualities, organizational skills and ability to motivate others have been the power behind so much successful Girl Scouting in the Atlanta Regional Area,” Whitman wrote, in nominating Simmons for the Helen Foster Pin. “Through Deanna’s many efforts, thousands of girls and adults have grown into myriad roles making their communities and the world better.” A former registrar for the Gwinnett County Girl Scouts, Simmons helped launch the weeklong Rainbow Day Camp, now named Lilburn Day Camp, in 1982. She retired as its director in 2001, but has visited the scout camp every year and has served as one of its nurses for the past five years. As a Gold Award coach, she
Deanna Simmons, right, with daughter, Kelley Hammock, left, and granddaughter Bryn Hammock has mentored many girls around metro Atlanta.
She’s a lifelong Girl Scout, through and through.
Before the pandemic, Simmons had regular lunch dates with childhood friends from her Junior Girl Scout troop and her Brownie troop.
Simmons said her love for children is what keeps her active in Girl Scouts. She’s also a volunteer with Stand Up For Kids, mentoring high schoolers in an organization that works to end the cycle of youth homelessness.
“I love working with kids,” Simmons said. “I mean, that’s what I love to do.”
A green legacy
When Simmons’ daughter, Kathryn White, started a Girl Scout troop in Alpharetta for her daughter, Aubree, she learned that the number of the first troop Simmons led in Gwinnett was to be retired. Aubree’s troop now bears that number — 884.
“Growing up, I have watched her volunteer as a Service Unit Director and Troop leader. I am both of those now, too -- the apple
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doesn’t fall too far from the tree,” White wrote of her mother when nominating her for the Helen Foster Pin. She called her mother “an amazing rolel model.”
“She’s always promoting Girl Scouts on social media. She even helps sell cookies for her grandchildren. Everyone she comes across leaves with a positive experience with scouting.”
Simmons’ other daughter, Kelley Hammock, of Buford, says she’s proud to have come from such a “huge scouting family.” She fondly remembers her years of attending Lilburn Day Camp, becoming a leader there, and taking her daughter, Bryn, to the camp as a baby. Bryn is now a camp aid and Hammock volunteers with her scout troop.
“My mom was always there to take us camping, go on Girl Scout trips and help us with badges. When I look back on my
Deanna Simmons shows her junior Girl Scout merit badge sash to her granddaughter, Bryn Hammock
childhood, scouts played a huge role,” Hammock said. “My mom was able to donate so much time to scouting, as well as giving her time to many other volunteer projects, while working full time as a pediatric nurse. I don’t know how she did it all!”
Bryn, 18, received her Gold Award in September. In December, she was named a Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta Council Young Woman of Distinction for her extraordinary leadership and impact with her project.
Her “Take Action” project, one of the requirements for the Gold Award, was to make weighted gloves for babies in neonatal intensive care units.
Stuffed with beads, the “Tiny Hugs” glove lays on top of a baby like a weighted blanket and can help develop the baby’s muscles.
Simmons, who co-leads Bryn’s troop, helped Bryn learn to use a sewing machine, working mostly over FaceTime because of the pandemic. Leading a team of 20 people, Bryn surpassed her goal of 30 gloves and ended up with 140 of them, which were distributed to seven hospitals.
“Her guidance to us and her excitement about Scouting has definitely been so important to my life and to my cousins’ lives,” Bryn said, of Simmons. “I can’t imagine someone more dedicated to Scouting and what it stands for than my grandmother.”
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