The Girl Scout Law reads: I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.
Those 52 words are the guidelines that every Girl Scout has lived by for over 106 years. The last line – being a sister to every Girl Scout – is something Casey Cullen-Woods exemplified when she continued serving as a scout leader in Roselle Park even though she had no children nor lived in town.
At the April 19th municipal meeting, Council-At-Large Joseph DeIorio presented Mrs. Cullen-Woods with a Certificate of Recognition for her service to the Girl Scouts. At that meeting Girl Scouts, Troop 271 sat in as council for part of the meeting. Years ago, Casey sat in as a member of the governing body along with her troop in a previous Mayor & Council meeting.
“Casey Cullen-Woods will be leaving her position as unit manager and moving on,” Councilman DeIorio stated before presenting the proclamation, “I wanted to take the opportunity to recognize her being that she was a former Girl Scout during my tenure as mayor and sat up there at one of these meetings many years ago. [She] not only sat there but exemplified what it meant to be a Girl Scout, got involved in her community, became active.”
He added, “It’s just sort of an example that just because you leave high school, you don’t leave Girl Scouts. It’s always with you in some way, shape or form.”
The councilman then read to those in attendance at the meeting part of the proclamation:
A girl scout through high school, Casey always loved being out in nature. She attended Girl Scout camp every summer and eventually became a counselor and unit leader at Camp Hoover.
Of note, when she heard that some of the Roselle Park Girl Scouts were going to be without a leader [and] unable to have a troop, she stepped up and became their leader though she had no children and did not live in Roselle Park at the time. Thereafter she was asked to be [a] community leader for Roselle Park and served in that capacity for the past several years.
Casey makes it her personal mission to ensure all scouts have the same wonderful experiences that she did.
Most recently her troop raised enough money selling cookies for her troop to go to Beach Jam without any out-of-pocket expenses. She personally sold 170 boxes of cookies.
Largely because of her scouting experiences, Casey now works in a career involving the environment. She has a B..A. from the University of Vermont in Environmental Science and a Master’s degree from City College of New York in Urban Sustainability.
Casey congratulations and thank you for your service to the community and best wishes for your future ahead. Thank you.
In reaching out to Casey, along with thanking the governing body, she stated, “I am very grateful . . . for a recognition of my service through Girl Scouting. It seems selfish to be awarded for something that has brought me so much joy and benefit in the nearly 25 years I’ve been a scout. I hope this story will encourage girls and their parents to join the Girl Scouts organization wherever they are, and however, they can. It has been instrumental in making me the woman I am today.”
Casey will still remain involved as a Girl Scout troop leader, having served two years as service unit manager and previous to that as registrar.