William Scott Mansion At 4810 Todville Rd.

[Alpha]

Back in the 50s, I was a brownie from 2nd through 4th grade. In those days, you didn't become a girl scout until 5th grade. At the end of 4th grade we went on an overnight camp-out at Camp Tejas. I'm not sure exactly where it was, somewhere near Clear Lake I think. I heard later that it was destroyed by Hurricane Carla, but not sure about that.

Anyway, in those days I was a really picky eater, so all I had to eat all weekend was the sack lunch I brought for dinner on Friday night, the oranges they served along with breakfast, and the two Girl Scout cookies which were dessert after lunch on Saturday.

When I got home, and told my mother that I didn't like it very much, she said that there was no point in my becoming a Girl Scout the next year, so that was the end of my "scouting career."

Fast forward 25 years - an acquaintance and I were asked to play the piano and sing for a National Girl Scout convention that was meeting in Houston in the early 80s. Robert McNamara's wife was one of the officers and he was the guest speaker. After singing, we were asked to sit at the head table with all of the high mucky mucks of girlscoutdom. Of course the first thing they asked us was if we had been Girl Scouts. I told them my embarrassing little story about camp and not eating. They got a big kick out of it and said that I could still be a Girl Scout leader.

I was very honest with them and said that I could never camp anywhere where I couldn't plug in my hair dryer in the morning, and that I considered it to be "roughing it" if I had to stay at the Holiday Inn.

[Vertigo58]

Back in the 50s, I was a brownie from 2nd through 4th grade. In those days, you didn't become a girl scout until 5th grade. At the end of 4th grade we went on an overnight camp-out at Camp Tejas. I'm not sure exactly where it was, somewhere near Clear Lake I think. I heard later that it was destroyed by Hurricane Carla, but not sure about that.

Anyway, in those days I was a really picky eater, so all I had to eat all weekend was the sack lunch I brought for dinner on Friday night, the oranges they served along with breakfast, and the two Girl Scout cookies which were dessert after lunch on Saturday.

When I got home, and told my mother that I didn't like it very much, she said that there was no point in my becoming a Girl Scout the next year, so that was the end of my "scouting career."

Fast forward 25 years - an acquaintance and I were asked to play the piano and sing for a National Girl Scout convention that was meeting in Houston in the early 80s. Robert McNamara's wife was one of the officers and he was the guest speaker. After singing, we were asked to sit at the head table with all of the high mucky mucks of girlscoutdom. Of course the first thing they asked us was if we had been Girl Scouts. I told them my embarrassing little story about camp and not eating. They got a big kick out of it and said that I could still be a Girl Scout leader.

I was very honest with them and said that I could never camp anywhere where I couldn't plug in my hair dryer in the morning, and that I considered it to be "roughing it" if I had to stay at the Holiday Inn.

It's amazing how the cookies are still so good after all these years they have been selling them. Of course these were the times where girls could go door to door selling them. It seems insane to even consider such a task unless they are trained in martial arts or carry an uzi with them. Our parents had the best of intentions for having us join such fun organizations anyway. They deserve the credit.

Brownies and or Girl Scout's must have had their own oath too right?!

[Alpha]

It's amazing how the cookies are still so good after all these years they have been selling them. Of course these were the times where girls could go door to door selling them. It seems insane to even consider such a task unless they are trained in martial arts or carry an uzi with them. Our parents had the best of intentions for having us join such fun organizations anyway. They deserve the credit.

Brownies and or Girl Scout's must have had their own oath too right?!

I tried to remember this, but no luck. It was also very hard to find on Google, because I think it has changed over the years. I'm pretty sure this was the Brownie promise that I learned:

I promise to do my best to love God and my country, to help other people every day, especially those at home.

[tmariar]

At the end of 4th grade we went on an overnight camp-out at Camp Tejas. I'm not sure exactly where it was, somewhere near Clear Lake I think. I heard later that it was destroyed by Hurricane Carla, but not sure about that.

Doing some research recently on the Scott mansion, formerly located at Camp Casa Mare in Seabrook, I ran across this in a write-up of the West mansion on Clear Lake:

"The mansion served as the centerpiece of a much larger complex including a large car garage, tennis courts, swimming pool, staff quarters, barn and stables, and lavish gardens with a classical pergola. Near the mansion, West built an approximately ten acre fresh water lake to offset his dislike of the nearby salt water. Across the fresh water lake, James West provided land in 1927 to the Houston and Harris County Girl Scouts to be used as a camp site. Later known as Camp Tejas, Joseph Finger donated his time to design a camp complex. In 1942, after the West family departure, Humble Oil Company granted exclusive rights to the girl scouts to use the pool. (History of Camp Tejas, date unknown) The camp moved in the late 1950s (c. 1959) and Hurricane Carla destroyed most of the buildings in 1961. The camp is believed to have then moved to the property known as Casa Mare or Deepdene (demolished 1992) along Galveston Bay."

I'll try and post something about the Scott mansion elsewhere at some point. I struck out finding any photos of the house or any additional information re William Scott beyond what the Chronicle had in its stories about the house - and even their information was inconsistent. I'd go into it in more detail, because it's pretty interesting, but it's probably better discussed separately. Camp Casa Mare is still there, by the way, despite the suggestion above - just the Scott mansion was demolished. I can't remember whether I ever stayed in the house as a girl scout, but I did get to go inside, and did hear the ghost stories about it.