photo by: Josie Burkhart

Girl Scouts of the Black Diamond and visitors celebrate the 100th anniversary of Camp Giscowheco, located off Timberhaven Road near Triadelphia, by doing arts and crafts.

TRIADELPHIA — For a century, Camp Giscowheco in Triadelphia has been an epicenter for Girls Scouts and more, a chance for children to explore and enjoy nature in many forms.

The Girls Scouts of Black Diamond celebrated the camp’s milestone birthday Saturday, including inflatables, arts and crafts and a watershed workshop, honoring the camp’s history and significance.

“We’re celebrating the 100th year that Girl Scouts Camp Giscowheco has been here,” said Beth Casey, CEO of the Girls Scouts of Black Diamond. “It’s just really special to have that history of Girl Scouting here in the Wheeling area,” said Beth Casey, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond, “and we just wanted to invite the community to join us today to celebrate.”

This anniversary is a sign of how important the outdoors still is to Girl Scouting, and it has always been a big core of Girl Scout programming, Casey said.

“All the research shows how important it is to get our youth outside,” she said. “And so for girls to be able to come to camp and unplug and be in nature and just enjoy themselves and have a great time is still really important.”

Casey said the commitment of the volunteers, girls and parents in this area have made the camp last so long because they come and use it for a big part of the Girl Scout experience. The platform tents at the camp are still similar to the ones that were photographed throughout the camp’s history. There are more modern facilities there now, along with electricity. The camp also serves as the home of Oglebay’s annual Junior Nature Camp.

Casey said she was excited for the chance to share the camp with the community.

“Community service is a really big part of Girl Scouting,” Casey said. “Part of our mission is to make the world a better place, and so I think that’s always a tangible aid that Girl Scouts give back.”

At the celebration, girls learned about water conservation, how to plant their own food and about nature and the beauty of it.

“Teaching a whole new generation about our earth and how to take care of it is also really important,” Casey said.

Property Manager Joe Whittington said he and the four part-time staff members, including the rangers and their helpers, maintain the grounds to make sure everything is safe for the girls.

Whittington is excited there has been 100 years of Camp Giscowheco.

“It’s a good time for all of us to be together and the comradery and share our Girl Scout stories,” he said.

Girl Scout Annie Phillips, who joined the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond when she was 4 or 5, said this celebration is a way to communicate with others and tell people about the history of the camp. She also thinks this is a good way to celebrate Girl Scouts and what they do.

Annie joined Girl Scouts when she was young because she thought it would be a good way to connect with people, make new friends and learn new things. She said Girl Scouts do a lot of work for the Earth and to keep it clean.

“I think it’s a way to honor what we do for the planet and honor Juliette (Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts of the USA) and celebrate everything we do for the Earth,” she said.

Casey said Girl Scouts have four program pillars including outdoors, entrepreneurship, life skills and STEM, which the Black Diamond programming fits into those pillars.

Abigail Phillips, Girl Scout and sister of Annie, said she joined Girl Scouts because her friend who loved Girl Scouts joined, so she did and loves it.

“It shows how far they’ve come,” she said, “and that we’re able to keep it going and people are enjoying it. That’s really good.”

Development and Communications Manager Natalie Huggins said girls develop resilience, learn leadership qualities, make friends and develop a sisterhood through Girl Scouts. She said being a Girl Scout is a cultivation for a core memory for a lot of people involved.

Huggins said Camp Giscowheco being around for 100 years speaks to the culture of West Virginia that there is still such a strong tradition on the campgrounds and facilities at the camp.

Girl Scouts from Western Pennsylvania and Toledo, Ohio, also visited the celebration to learn about what Camp Giscowheco does.

“Our biggest goal is to make sure that we are what girls want and need today to be relevant in today’s society,” Casey said. “The biggest way we do that is being girl-led, listening to our girls, having them plan the activities … giving them the opportunity to really decide what they want to do.”