‘An Interesting Day In The City’ For Local Girl Scouts

“We had an interesting day in the city,” Leslie Troy said Wednesday morning.

Mrs Troy, along with Janet Ziperstein and Jill Gonski, who are the leaders of Newtown Junior Girl Scout Troop 50628, had taken their troop into New York City on August 23. The day trip served as a kick-off for the troop’s new scouting season.

The scouts spent Tuesday visiting a number of popular locations. They also had an unexpected addition to their day when an earthquake in Virginia was felt in The Big Apple and beyond (see related story).

The group began its walking tour with a visit to the national headquarters of Girl Scouts of the USA on Fifth Avenue. Their itinerary continued with visits to the American Girl Doll Store, St Patrick’s Cathedral, FAO Schwarz, Central Park, the LOVE sculpture on Sixth Avenue, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square, Toys R Us, Bryant Park, and New York Public Library.

The earthquake rolled under New York while the group was en route to FAO Schwarz. It was a very minor event for most people and because they were on the ground, walking, when the tremor in Manhattan happened, the Newtown Scouts did not actually feel it.

“We did not feel the ground move, but became aware of the issue when thousands of people were evacuated from buildings all around us,” Mrs Troy said. “FAO was closed and we were told that the building needed to be checked for structural issues before anyone would be allowed back in.

“We struggled through the crowd and entered Central Park,” she continued. “One passerby commented ‘We will all be safe now that the Girl Scouts are here!’”

The girls dealt with the crowding and excitement well, said Mrs Troy.

“There was a lot of confusion right after the earthquake. We had a number of phone calls and updates from friends and family. There were reports that all underground transportation was closed,” said the Girl Scout leader.

Following a brief stay in the park, the scouts were able to continue their tour.

“We decided to stick with our scheduled stops and see how things progressed,” Mrs Troy said. “They are an amazing group of young ladies and all of our troop leaders are very proud of them.”

The Girl Scouts will be fifth grade students at Reed School this year. Ten of the troop’s 15 members attended Tuesday’s trip: Julia Bashak, Theresa Davenport, Jenna Gonski, Erin Kowalski, Isabel Pacchiana, Heidi Poarch, Ally Toth, Colby Troy, Madison Ziperstein and Maggie Zuvanich. Cadet Girl Scout Janyce Toth also accompanied the group, which returned to Newtown around 9 pm.