SANBORN, N.Y. (WKBW) — “He got to go camping, he got to have fundraisers and go places and do fun things and it really made me want to join," Evelyn Majewski, who recently joined Girl Troop 824 of Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in Sanborn, said.
Her brother, Benjamin Majewski, is a member of Boy Troop 824, which has made her want to join the boy scouts for as long as she can remember. She was never allowed to... until now. Starting February 1, BSA began accepting girls. Troop 824 is one of the first troops to have an all-girl troop in Western New York.
“Those scout-aged families, especially elementary school families, really wanted to have a program where boys and girls could participate together," Scout Executive of the Greater Frontier Council, Russel Etzenhousers, said.
Three weeks into its existence, Girl Troop 824 has already added two new members to their troop. It's now composed of nearly a dozen girls.
“Seeing a lot of the girls have had brothers in boy scouts and things like that, they really like the camping idea and really want to be involved and now they have their opportunity," Girl Troop 824 Master, Melissa Moore, said. “This is a nice opportunity to get them mixing a bit but then also have their own identity... I know there’s a lot of controversy on it but I think that there’s room for both.”
When asked why the girls didn't prefer to join the Girl Scouts, multiple girls answered that they wanted to do the same thing that there brothers did; there are three sets of brothers and sisters between Girl Troop 824 and Boy Troop 824
“[Girl Scouts] don’t go outdoors as much, they don’t go camping, they don’t do a lot of stuff that the Boy Scouts do," Evelyn Majewski said.
Benjamin Majewski said he's still getting used to the change but is becoming more open to the idea.
“I wasn’t sure about it at first along with some of the other boys but most of the time it doesn’t even seem like they’re here, it seems natural.”
