About Our Council
About Us
We’re Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson. We
have the pleasure to serve approximately 17,000 girls and 8,000 adult members.
We're 2.5 million strong—1.7 million girls and 750,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ to change the world.
We have girls reaching their fullest potential throughout Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties. Here, they’re a part of a community of girls and women looking to experience new challenges, make friends, serve the community, and discover new skills and interests. Our girls are exploring what’s important to them, creating adventures, and taking action to make the world a better place! Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson offers every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.
History of Girl Scouts in the lower Hudson Valley :
- Juliette Gordon Low was a frequent visitor to our council
where her goddaughter Anne Hyde Choate lived. Mrs. Choate started
the second Girl Scout troop in 1915 and the 1st Girl
Scout Council in the Hudson Valley in 1916. Mrs. Choate went on to
become National President of Girl Scouts USA in 1920, succeeding Ms.
Low herself.
- Our seven counties have a long history of strong, independent heroines. Two of note are Sarah Wells and Sybil Ludington. Sarah was the first female settler in Orange County’s Wawayanda Patent and built her own log cabin at the age of 18 after arriving in 1712. Sybil was a Revolutionary War heroine who rode through the night on April 26, 1777, to alert American colonial forces of the British approach. Our camp in Dutchess County is named in her honor.
- Edith Carpenter Macy, chair of the Girl Scout National Board of Directors from 1919 – 1925, and Jane Deeter Rippin of Tarrytown, GSUSA’s National Director from 1919 – 1930, were also crucial supporters of the Girl Scout movement in its early years.
- After WWI, a feature film about Girl Scouting entitled “The Golden Eaglet” was shown in theaters across the country. It was the first PR film ever produced for a non-profit agency, and it was filmed right here in Orange County, NY, at what was then referred to as “Camp Calemaco”. The film featured Caroline Lewis, who was once the Director of Rock Hill Camp, in Mahopac, NY.
