Girl Scouts have s'more fun despite weather

August 12, 2024

RIO RANCHO – Lightning and thunder weren’t enough to stop Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails Troop #152, who met up at the Community of Joy Lutheran Church Aug. 10 to celebrate National S’mores Day — a chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker-infused holiday that began in the late 1990s, though the exact origins of the holiday seem to be lost to time or the bowels of the internet.

Troop #152, which planned this local National S’mores Day event for months, were disappointed when the day arrived and the weather was less than cooperative, but like any good Girl Scouts, they were prepared. Sarah Jucha, manager of Every Girl Initiative for the Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails, said the girls thought fast and immediately moved the event into the front room of the church, which gladly opened its doors for s’mores.

“We just moved everything inside and set up different s’more-related stations in here,” said Jucha. “We roll with it and make it work and the kids always have a good time. Community of Joy has been a fantastic partner for years. They are always ready to help.”

The event kicked off on time, promptly at 6 p.m., inside Community of Joy Lutheran Church and was almost immediately packed with Girl Scouts and their families, troop alumni, s’more-loving community members and plenty of volunteer staff. According to Jucha and Desert Rose Service Unit manager Christi Boomer, nearly 100 scouts and 16 volunteers signed up to attend the event.

“This is a service event,” added Jucha. “All the Scouts in the area were invited.”

Spreading the word about Girl Scouts was one of the main focuses of the event, but spreading s’mores was also part of the mission. According to National Today, a site dedicated to researching niche holidays, 41% of the U.S. population living in large metro areas has never had a single s’more. According to Jucha, this was an opportunity to educate and have fun, two things the Girl Scouts excel at.

This celebration of the beloved campfire treat included six different stations, each with a unique s’more-related activity. One station, labeled “S’morse Code,” used marshmallows to help Scouts learn Morse Code.

Another station was “S’more Engineers,” which used toothpicks and s’more ingredients to construct building models.

“That one is my favorite,” said Jucha, indicating the S’more Engineers station.

At the front of the room was the most popular table, a Make-Your-Own-S’more station. Jucha said the station was about more than getting a s’more fix, however.

“At the youngest level, we are teaching life skills,” she said. “This looks like just s’mores, but it’s teaching how to follow a recipe, how to mix ingredients. It’s an early lesson.”

Those lessons seem to be lasting. The event was attended by at least one recent graduate of Girl Scouts, Raven Sillence, who left Troop #152 for college in upstate New York and entered a new stage of her relationship with the Girl Scouts of America: leader.

“When I got to college, one of the first things I did was find the local [Girl Scout] troop,” she said. “I just love it. I love the community.”

Sillence, who is home for the summer, volunteered to work at the event, and as a national delegate for the service area, a Gold Award recipient and a lifetime member, she was well suited for the job.

“My home service unit said they needed help, and so I came out to help,” said the Rio Rancho native.

Sillence said she was proud of how her home troop dealt with the weather and were ready to shift plans.

“The [weather] wasn’t too bad,” she said. “We plan ahead. Part of our thing is being flexible, [and] we are pretty good at it.”

On the other end of the spectrum, some families were just starting their Girl Scout journey and were hoping to bring some friends along for the fun.

Young parents Matt and Mady brought their two little ones, Emma and Easton, to the event in the hopes of attracting friends to join the troop, which is how Emma became interested.

“We have an older family member who is in [Girl Scouts], and she’s an influence on Emma and she wanted in,” said Mady. “We just wanted to bring some more friends to learn about [Girl Scouts].”

So why all the celebration over s’mores? Why Girls Scouts, and why a “National Holiday?” (Note: Rio Rancho Observer was not able to find any documentation or presidential orders to confirm that National S’more Day is an official national holiday.)

The answer is simple: Girl Scouts invented the s’more.

According to nationaltoday.com, humans have been consuming chocolate in some form for more than 3,000 years, but the first mention of something resembling the modern s’more was in a recipe book from “Campfire Marshmallow” in the early 1920s. However, the book named it the more-accurate-but-less-fun, “Graham Cracker Sandwich” and, more importantly, stated the treat was popularized by the Girl Scouts of America.

In 1927, the Girl Scouts published “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts,” a recipe book that contained a similar confection but naming it “Some More,” as in, “it’s so good, I want some more.” Though the shortened name we know today, s’more, didn’t come about for another decade at least, this is often considered by s’more enthusiasts to be the birth of the obligatory camping desert.

With all that history, there was no way a little rain was going to stop Troop #152 from celebrating and having fun with their community.

“We make the best of it,” said volunteer Wendy. “It’s what we do.”