Smyrna times., 1963-11-14
Robbie" Has
Dedicated
38 Yrs.
To Scouting


dedicated her life TO Girl Scout
ing since she entered the prog
ram In lo24--no one could have
been more dedicated, say
Chesapeake Bay Girl Scout
Council. officers that worked
with her for so many years.
II nave always regarded Girl
Scouting as an Outdoor Pro-
gram" is the considered opin-
ion of 80-year-old Mrs. Austin
Roberts of SudlersHlle.
Just last year Mrs. Roberts
retired as leader of the oldest
existing troop of Girl Scouts IN
Maryland, and during her 38
years with Scouting, she led the
Sudlersville troop on a wide
variety of field and camping
trips around the nation.
A pioneer-type, Mrs. Roberts
declares, Scouting seems to be
turning more to housekeeping
and child care these days. | al
ways felt that the girls could
learn that at home, so | tried
to teach them something about
the outdoors. It's good for
people to know something about
naure."
With the Chesapeake Bay Girl
Scout Council preparing for
their October Kickoff" for
funds, Council leaders cite the
work of Mrs. Roberts through
the years and hold her up as an
example to the other volunteer
leaders ndworkers on the Pen
insula.
Mrs. Roberts became inter-
ested In Girl Scouting In 1924,
working with Troop | at Sudlers-
Vile under Miss Sara Spencer
Roe, who had founded the troop
at Sudlersville as well as the one
in Centreville. She took over full
responsibility for the Sudlers-
vile troop in 1929 when Miss
Roe fell Ill.
"Robbie," as her girls sill
call her, took the Scouts camp
ing for the first time at Booker's
Wharf, on the Chester River,
near Centreville, now the site of
Camp Pe-Co-Meth, the Meth
odist Church camp.
In 1896, Mrs. Roberts troop
became the first group of Girl
Scouts In the country to take a
trip-camp. Riding in a bus hired
from a nearby town, they took
a weeks journey into the wilds
of the Shenandoah Valley. She
recalls that the roads In the area
we're just opening up after the
Depression.
However, this trip was SO SUI
ccessful, that year later, the
troop journeyed into Canada to
visit the Dionne quinuplets.
born three years earlier, and
who were still worldwide news.
The Sudlersville Scouts also
met Dr.. Allan Defoe, the doctor
that delivered the Dionne girls.
''Robbie's" girls always ira
veled on a shoestring; they
cooked and slept at campsites
along the way.
"We were camping out In
Vermont on the way back from
Canada," recalls Mrs. Roberts,
"and one of the girls rolled down
the mountain In her sleep" "The
outdoor life was invigorating,
but apparently not always safe.
Mrs. Roberts took her girls
to the 1899 Worlds Fair and in
following years made trips to
Washington and even out to Lex
ington, Kentucky, to see the
famed racehorse, Man o War.
Between trips, she organized
Girl Scouts up and down the
Eastern Shore. AS a former
Centreville Girl Scout says,
''Mrs. Robert was the backbone
of Girl Scouting in this whole
area"
She served as Lone Troop
Consultant and organizer for the
National Girl Scout Organi-
Zation when this area was made
up of lone troops.
Robbie was so beloved by
her girls that one year they held
a bake and raised funds so they
could send her to National Girl
Scout Convention and she
wouldn't have to skimp to miss
out on any fun.