Juliette Lowe

January 28, 2019

As a Girl Scout I sold cookies, went on field trips and did silly art projects. I learned how to work as part of a team and how to achieve personal goals and earn badges.

Every year all the troops in the school would appear on stage for the Juliette Lowe Pageant. Juliette Lowe was credited for starting the scouts in America and each troop would get an assigned state, theme or country and do a little show from that region.

One year that I specifically remember, we did Hawaii… appearing on stage in muumuus and leis and we did a modified hula. A person in church had the heritage of the islands on her side and taught us how to do a very lovely dance. As a group of 12 or 13 year old girls did their little dance, they imagined themselves on an island, with all the lovely moves of a Polynesian princess. In reality we were a bunch of gawky girls who were anything but graceful and sexy, but that is not why this show was memorable.

As we danced, my mother was in the back of the auditorium with my brother Kevin, a cute little boy of 2 or 3.

The parish priest stopped to talk to Mom and suddenly said, “Who’s kid is that?”

My mother looked up and she was shocked to see my brother, in bright red/black plaid overalls, going up the risers in front of the stage to visit his sister Margaret. I was equally surprised that Kevin was there, and one of the other mothers was off stage and graciously coaxed Kevin to the wings.

He was my buddy but joining the Girl Scout show was not best moment. But I remember it like it was yesterday.