St. Olaf Girl Scouts visit Washington D.C

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By Diane Parkin

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

Eight scouts and three leaders from Girl Scout Troop 273 from Saint Olaf Catholic School in Bountiful visited Washington D.C. in August.

The girls planned the entire itinerary and raised their own money through cookie sales and other fundraisers.

The troop stayed at a hotel in a small Virginia community about 10 miles outside of Washington, D.C.

The first evening they arrived, they toured the Lincoln Monument, the Washington Monument, the monuments dedicated to each of the world wars, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which bears the names of more than 58,000 people who died or remain missing.

On the wall they found the name of Army Sgt. Philip James Krek Jr., who had been a Saint Olaf parishioner. He died at the age of 21 on March 26, 1968; the third Bountiful resident to be killed in the Vietnam War.

The troop walked the National Mall, which is lined on either side with buildings of the Smithsonian Institute. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has a display of the African bush elephant from Angola, which is the largest of its kind on display in the world. The girls loved it!

At the Bureau of Engraving they watched money being printed, stacked, cut and examined for defects. This is one of only two locations where U.S. currency is printed.

The day they visited, the Bureau was printing $5 bills. This location has been printing money since 1861 because there was a shortage of coins in the country. The money is printed on a sheet-fed press; each sheet contains 32 bills. The girls were amazed to see the pallets upon pallets of bills that had been printed.

They visited the National Archives, where they saw Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta.

Next they visited the Capitol, where they met Michael Kennedy, Chief of Staff for Senator Orrin Hatch. A staff member gave a private tour of the Capitol, where the troop learned a great deal of historical information about the building. They also viewed the House of Representatives and Senate galleries. They saw the National Sanctuary Hall Collection, where each state has two statues of individuals that were donated by the state to honor persons notable in their history.

Philo Farnsworth, the father of television, is the subject of one of the Utah statues.

Their visit to the National Zoo, the 163-acre zoological park in the heart of D.C., was interesting, but they were disappointed because the panda exhibit was closed that day because the female was pregnant with her soon-to-be-born cub.

The highlight of their visit was Arlington National Cemetery, where the troop participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guards escorted the girls to the tomb, where they placed their own wreath. "Taps" then was played. All the girls were extremely moved by the recognition ceremony and proud that they were a part of the ceremony to honor all those who have sacrificed their lives for our country and our freedom.