Twist and Shout!

"Twist me and turn me,
and show me an elf.
I look in the water
and see--myself!"

Sis bridged to Brownies tonight!  My co-leaders and I spent three hours this afternoon setting everything up at a local hall--the actual bridge complete with tablecloth "water" and mirror, chairs, computer projection, and table for snacks.  All while the town was flooding around us.  Seriously, main streets closed and buses home were delayed . . . all while we blissfully hung balloons and arranged tablecloths!

But the streets dried and the sixteen Daisies turned out to exchange their blue Daisy tunics with rainbow petals for their brown Brownie vests, with official flag, CT council insignia, rainbow bridging patch, and membership insignia.  We saw a great slideshow of their last two years together--horseback riding, poetry at the assisted-living center, historical-house tour, Audubon tour, grocery store tour, firehouse tour, Garbage Museum tour, Mother's Day tea, Nutcracker party, Gingerbread party, Bounce U party, beach party, pool party, pumpkin picking and hayride, yoga, art lesson, game-playing (and that's not even all!)--we've had a great time!

Then they heard the story of the Brownie Elf and each walked across the bridge and saw themselves in the mirror.  A family member waited on the other side to switch them from their Daisy tunics to their Brownie vests while we all clapped.  I got to twist and turn Sis and then stood as Mama put on her tunic.   Bud gamefully sat in the audience (reading a Pokemon handbook)!  Once they were all done, we had them turn their Brownie membership pins upside down until they completed three good deeds.

And then we all had brownies--my plain chocolate ones as well as blondies and cheesecake brownies.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, especially those of us who remembered our own bridging years ago, before there were even Daisies, back when you bridged from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts.  But there was the same elf story and the same bridge and twisting and turning (the only difference was the pledge, which included "mankind" back then; it's "help people at all times" or something--I never remember, even if I prefer its inclusive language.)

But no beanie hats!

Congrats to our new Brownie, the third (maybe even fourth, if my grandmother, Bammie had been a scout as a child, before she was Gommie's troop's leader--which makes me a third-generation leader!)-generation Brownie in the family!