by Lisa Butterworth

Photos by Beverly Speak

Paddling a kayak on the electric blue waters of Lake Brienz, with the Swiss Alps majestically looming against the backdrop of a cerulean sky, is just one of the vivid memories that will last a lifetime for Claremont Girl Scout troop #1924, after a recent trip to Our Chalet, an international Girl Scout center near Adelboden, Switzerland. For the girls, most of whom will be starting their senior year at Claremont High School and have been Girl Scouts together since kindergarten, it was an exciting excursion many years in the making.

(Front to back) Annabelle Brusky, Eloise Brusky, Billie Sutherland, and Annika Heitkemper cross a suspension bridge high over the Engstligen River near Frutigen, Switzerland.

Beverly Speak, the troop’s leader (her granddaughter, Savannah Speak, is a member), is a lifelong Girl Scout herself and is the one who first planted the Switzerland seed. “I was [at the Chalet] once a long time ago, and it was a good experience for me. I thought it might be a good experience for our girls,” Speak said. “When they were little, we said, ‘Would you like to go to Switzerland when you get to high school?’ And they all went, ‘Yes.’ Of course, they had no clue what [that] meant, but they said yes. So we started selling a lot of cookies and saving money and talking about it and talking about it. And all of a sudden, the time came.”

Of the 14 girls in the troop, seven made the trip to Switzerland. But even the ones who didn’t go, for a variety of reasons, “were a part of the process,” said Savannah Speak. “They were really helpful and supportive of us who were going.”

Getting to the Chalet from Claremont was an adventure in and of itself. “It’s like planes, trains, and automobiles,” said Amanda Hollis-Brusky, the troop’s co-leader (her daughter Annabelle is a member; her younger daughter Eloise, also a Girl Scout, joined the trip too). “It’s literally running with heavy bags to try to catch trains and sweating, and everyone’s jet lagged. Once we actually got to the Chalet, it is so far from everything that it really feels like you’re in a tiny little Swiss village.”

Despite its remote location, the Chalet is an international gathering place. “We were participating with other troops from the U.S. and Canada, and the volunteers that run the programs were young women from 17 countries, so we had a chance to talk with people from everywhere — Myanmar, Nepal, Japan, Uganda, Australia,” Beverly Speak said.

The girls’ days were packed with activities. They made their own butter and baked bread over an open fire. There was a scavenger hunt, a day trip to local hot springs, and a team-strengthening activity that had them build a sturdy bridge together. There was a strenuous hike to a waterfall (complete with “whine breaks” for limited complaining) and communing with the cows that populate the mountainsides (the girls serenaded them with a “A Whole New World” from Disney’s “Alladin” after being told the animals enjoy singing). And no Girl Scout camp is complete without songs around a campfire and swapping trinkets — including handcrafted California poppies and Claremont postcards — with other troops.

(L-R standing) Amelia Rhodes, Annabelle Brusky, Annika Heitkemper, and Izzy Maldonado, with leader Beverly Speak (kneeling) on a hike to Engstligen Falls in the Bernese Alps.

“Traveling to Switzerland was an unforgettable experience. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, being in another country without my family for the first time, but it also gave me the opportunity to have new adventures,” wrote troop member Ishaana Agarwal in a text message. “One of the most meaningful parts was meeting Girl Scouts from around the world at the Chalet. I learned so much about different cultures and made new friendships.”

For troop member Amelia Rhodes, an avid birder, the chance to see new species was a treat. “I liked going out in the mornings before breakfast or before dinner, and bird watching. I would bring my binoculars and just look around,” she said. “Almost all of the birds that I saw, I’d never seen before.”

The trip was a culmination of years of scouting, which has its own benefits. “I think it opens up a bunch of opportunities. You get to do a bunch of new things. You get to meet a bunch of people,” Savannah Speak said. “Being a Girl Scout gives you good people skills and the ability to just be ready to do anything. A lot of our stuff is community service, working with other people, putting our own ideas out.”

Billie Sutherland, another troop member, agreed: “I think it’s really important to have experiences that you get from being a Girl

Troop members work in teams to design and build bridges with poles, using only friction to hold them together.

Scout. Just simple things like knowing how to go on a hike and not complain the whole way. Or how to build a fire. Little things that will really help you out in life later,” she said. “Going to Switzerland and doing all these fun activities with random people around the world, I was like, wow, I’m glad I was a Girl Scout this whole time. Now I know how to do this and I’m not struggling.”

For Beverly Speak, who Hollis-Brusky referred to as “the magic behind this troop,” the trip was also an opportunity to observe how far her scouts have come. “People comment to me about how well our girls do when they’re in a group, or a camp setting, or whatever. That they know things, that they’re helpful, that they want to be part of the solution,” Beverly Speak said. “They do a good job of that, which makes me very proud.”

The troop has been back home in Claremont for several weeks, but the experience will surely leave a lasting impression.

“I hope that this trip sparks something — a curiosity about the world, a mindset. And I don’t mean just having a multicultural mindset, but also understanding the importance of being flexible,” said Amanda Hollis-Brusky. “A lot of travel involves problem-solving. When you get yourself out of your normal routines and your comforts, you’re faced with a lot of different obstacles to overcome. Hopefully, it gives them the confidence when they approach those kinds of things in life to say, ‘Alright, I can handle this.’ If they take with them

Savannah Speak demonstrates how to light a fire with wet wood in the rain using flint and steel.

those simple life lessons that you learn when you’re traveling, then I think it will have been worth it.”

For these girls, those lessons are simply an extension of what their time with the troop has already instilled in them. “I have learned a lot of things,” said Rhodes. “I joined Girl Scouts because I wanted to go on adventures, and I think I got what I was looking for.”