Fabulous Friends of FHV: Jill Baringer
The Friends of Hidden Valley (FHV) is proud to call Jill Baringer one of our Fabulous Friends! Jill has had a long and wonderful connection to Friends of Hidden Valley, the Douglas County Girl Scouts, and the Girl Scout Organization in general. She is a Lifelong Member of the Girl Scout movement. Here are the highlights of her scouting life and time with FHV.
As a young girl she started with Brownies in the 1st grade, at the time that Jill joined Brownies….no Daisies!! At the age of 14, she attended a week-long activity called Camp on the Move, which was a horseback based trip where they traveled from Palm Springs, CA up into the San Bernardino Mountains ending up at Big Bear Lake, which is about a 6,500-foot climb – all on horseback! She sums this trip up by saying “It was awesome!! And they managed it without crossing any major highways! I think we rode up a dry wash on the flat parts.”
She was 16 when she was selected for a Wider Opportunity and attended a session at Our Cabana in Cuernavaca, Mexico. She traveled throughout Mexico with an American group.
She remained active through 12th grade, a Senior Scout, as part of a Mariner Girl Scout Troop. So, if you need a good sailor, call on Jill. As a Senior Scout, she earned the First-Class Award, which at that time was the equivalent to today’s Gold Award. Way to go Jill!!!
In Jill’s adult life, her love for scouting continued. In 1996, she was an Assistant Leader for a Daisy Troop. From 1997 to 2008, she was a Troop Leader, taking her girls from Brownies all the way through Seniors in high school. Through her caring support, the troop earned the Bronze Award, Silver Award, and; two girls completed their Gold Award. The Gold Award Project was to build our current treehouse at Hidden Valley Camp.
During that time, she has warm memories of working on the Pizza with Pals event with Marcia West, as well as, helping her to organize the Ironman Campout event at Camp Tongawood for two years.
Not only has Jill been a great scout and an awesome leader, but she completed Small Craft course training through the Girl Scout Council as well and was prepared for that, but she says she never actually led a session. (Hmm, I see this being utilized some time.) She also facilitated a challenge course in Kansas City.
For Hidden Valley she was co-organizer/head honcho for two years of Day Camp, and also served as a Unit Leader for at least five years. She was an Archery facilitator for two years at Day Camp. And she has been volunteering to direct traffic in our Day Camp Parking Lot for many years. You may still find her in the parking lot. She can even claim fame to working the parking lot traffic with Mariana Remple!!
She was among the first original zip line instructors at Hidden Valley. She zipped kids for 4 to 5 years. She facilitated at least three sessions of the challenge course and is currently a facilitator for the low-level course.
In October 2002, she was an alternate delegate to the GS National Convention in Long Beach, CA.
Jill helped provide StreamLink educational opportunities, measuring pollutants with groups of girls in the stream at HV, taking samples of microinvertebrates. This was a grant-driven, non-profit run by Alison Reber, as part of the Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance.
For the FHV Board, Jill has served the Board from approximately 2006 to 2014. She was also Treasurer for 6 or 7 of those years. And she came back to the Board to serve again from 2018 to now, with 1 year as Chair, and now as Secretary.
And as if everything we’ve listed so far isn’t enough…while a member of FHV Board, Jill has spent three years working with our Honeysuckle Warriors. An avid birder, she has helped monitor the bluebird boxes at Hidden Valley for about 10 years and she has led multiple Birding Hikes at camp with various groups.
Jill Baringer IS a Fabulous Friend of Friends of Hidden Valley!
June 2021 mem & mw