Patchwork Ceremony

Investiture & Rededication for Leaders

Being a Girl Scout leader is like making a quilt.
First, we gather together our scraps -- our girls --from different origins and cuts of material.

some are shy, unimposing--like pale pastels. Others are dizzy patterns of vibrant color.

We must bind them together, matching their sameness, blending their differences.

The thread of Scouting is strong. our own hands must be steady and sure, patiently making each stitch small and even.

Until--finally--the quilt is finished, with a background of the Promise and Law and a thick padding of love and understanding. And though each patch is different, together they are strong, beautiful, and warm;

and the seamstress can be proud.

This, then is Girl Scouting. It is the Girl Scouting of returning leaders and the Girl Scouting of leaders to come. Would the new leaders please step forward to make their promise and a commitment toward building such a patchwork piece?

New leaders come forward and make their Promise, receiving their pins and giving the Girl Scout handshake.

Now, would the continuing leaders rise and commit themselves to continuing their pieces of patchwork by making the Promise together?

"Let us all join in singing 'Whenever You Make a Promise."'

Props may be used and the ceremony extended by their use.

Put a patchwork quilt in a small circular or oval hoop on a stand. Speaker could even be seated in a rocker quilting.

An oil lamp or candle could be used and the lights turned out overhead. if desired, each leader could choose from a pile of scraps, as she comes forward, one that she feels expresses her own personality. These could be pinned, one by one, to a board in a patchwork pattern. Or, each could be given a tiny piece of patchwork in memory of the occasion--such a piece could contain sachet or be used later as a Christmas decoration--or a tiny pincushion. Leaders might be encouraged to keep their Girl Scout pins pinned to it for safekeeping, when they are not wearing them.