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Donations help refurbish Girl Scout House in Marble Falls park

Kamila Solovyev (left) and Jasmine Guffey of Marble Falls Girl Scout Troop 597 recently displayed their cookie art created at the Huber House, also known as the Girl Scout House, in Johnson Park. Huber Mining Corp. donated $15,000 to help launch a renovation campaign for the local unit. Courtesy photo

CONNIE SWINNEY • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS —  Ask any Girl Scout, and she will say with confidence she has the power to change the world.

“(Being a Girl Scout) means you can make the world a better place for everyone, including yourself, ” said Jasmine Guffey of Marble Falls Girl Scout Troop 597. “I think it’s great because I like helping other people.”

With support from the Marble Falls community, local Girl Scout coordinators can now make a change to an aging facility used for meetings, events and celebrations.

As the donations came pouring in, officials launched renovations of the Girl Scout house in Johnson Park.

Huber Mining Co., for which the building has now been named, recently donated $15,000. Several other businesses and private residents gave amounts from $100 to $1,000. The city of Marble Falls donated $5,600.

Girl Scouts of Central Texas pledged $5,000 as part of a region-wide effort to upgrade troop facilities.

Erin Lingo, Marble Falls service unit director of Marble Falls of the Wildflower Trails unit, said the goal is to raise $25,000 for new windows, doors, heating and air-conditioning units and more upgrades to the interior.

“We’ve had a very active year. They’ve participated in a lot of events,” Lingo said. “Every troop holds meetings, so we add a little bit more to (the renovations).”

Work so far has included upgrades to restroom facilities and exterior landscaping.

“What went from a shack is now a mansion to us. The walls went from feeling like you’re in a cabin to a classroom environment,” troop volunteer Morgan Guffey said. “We are so thankful to get these girls up and motivated in a clean, safe environment.”

Her daughter, Jasmine Guffey added, “What I like to do is the activities and learn about life; activities, playing and then we learn.”

Next, volunteers are scheduled to relocate the Girl Scout meditation garden for “bridging” ceremonies from Falls Creek Park to an area adjacent to the Girl Scout house.

“With it closer to our Girl Scout house, it will be real easy for our girls to maintain because they’re going to be doing the gardening (around the bridging arch) themselves,” Morgan Guffey said. “It’s good for our girls who are being re-dedicated in the Girl Scouts. The bridging ceremony is a very big thing for them, so that they are acknowledged moving from Daisy to Brownie from Brownie to Junior Girl Scout. It’s like their own little graduation ceremony.”

Other activities the Marble Falls Girl Scouts will launch this spring and summer include a community garden groundbreaking on the property and a recruitment effort.

“The Huber House gives them a safe place for the girls to express themselves and be with one another in sisterhood; a place where we can get away from the rain yet we’re still at the park, and it’s beautiful and green,” she added.

Go to marblefallsgirlscouts.com or email marblefallsgirlscouts@gmail.com for more information.

connie@thepicayune.com