Make new Friends, but Keep the Old by Anne Gardner

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old...

by Anne Gardner ΤΒΣ/Omega University of Arizona Photos by Dawn Farmer ΤΒΣ Western District Vice President for Colonization/Membership

It seems impossible to believe it, but at one point, I was a part of a Brownie troop in the Girl Scouts of America. Troop #344 met weekly at a building called “the Hacienda,” in the desert near Tucson, Arizona, to learn new things that would help us as we grew and experienced the world. Never in my life did I think that I would see the Hacienda again after I left the Girl Scouts, but a project with the Omega chapter of Tau Beta Sigma led me back there—this time as a teacher and not a student.

This past semester (fall 2000), the Activities Committee of the Omega chapter cooperated with our local Girl Scouts to help them earn their music badge. We formed several different “stations” according to instrument (including flags for color guard demonstrations) to which different troops

rotated. Each station had two or three chapter members who talked about their particular instrument, how to blow into it to make a sound, which keys to press to make the different notes, and anything else of interest to the girls. We answered questions and gave a playing demonstration, and then the girls had the chance to try out each instrument. Only fifteen minutes of time was allotted for each station before the troops had to switch, but it was enough time for all the girls to be able to try everything.

By the end of the day, each of the girls had a chance to play a flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet, saxophone, and trombone, learn how to spin a flag, and in one special station, learn the music, lyrics, and sign language symbols for the University of Arizona’s fight song, “Bear Down Arizona.” After all the troops had been through each station, everyone gathered in the large outdoor amphitheater, and the chapter led all of the troops in an enthusiastic rendition of “Bear Down Arizona,” complete with sign language. But the teaching was not over just yet.

The troops formed a circle with the Omega chapter and joined hands, then taught us the lyrics to the Girl Scout song so we could sing along with them: “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold. A circle’s round, and has no end, that’s how long I want to be your friend.”

The Girl Scout activity not only helped these special girls get their music badges, but also helped some discover a new talent that they may not have known they possessed. A few of these girls may decide that, as women, they want to dedicate their lives to music.

In singing those simple lyrics of the Girl Scout song, I could not help but take pride and delight in bringing music to these young girls, reflect on the memories of my days as a Brownie, and to proudly look at my fellow sisters from Omega and be reminded of the bond in which we are linked. The bond of sisterhood in Tau Beta Sigma is a strong one and is indeed “a circle that has no end.”

Molly Moore shows one of the Girl Scouts how to properly hold a clarinet (L to R) Anna Fuller, Sara Bernadette, and Angela Roy give a performance demonstration on horn and trumpet.

(L to R) Gabriel Gibbons, Jessica Hanna, and Alicia Lindner pose with one of the Troops at the trombone station.