Irvington News

Irvington Girl Scouts Honor Their Centennial

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Irvington Girl Scouts gather in Matthiessen Park, in view of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, let Irvington Green for the occasion.

March 13, 2024

It was a momentous week for Girl Scouts in Irvington, as they celebrate 100 years since Isabel K, Benjamin, daughter of the longtime Rector of the Church of St. Barnabas, founded the first troop back in 1924. The celebrating began with a Maple Sugar harvesting at the O’Hara Nature Center on Mountain Road, where three of the village’s troops practiced the art of turning sap into syrup.

Inn the Irvington Woods, the girls learn the art of turning sap into syrup

First, they harvested the sap out in the woods and brought it back to where CJ Reilly, the village arborist and Director of Education, had fired up the evaporator and boiling off the sap to produce syrup. That in turn was dribbled over waffles as an award for the girls’ work.

The big day was on March 12, when the troops gathered in Mattheissen Park at sunset to watch the stanchions of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge light up in Irvington Green—as did the clock tower on Village Hall. The gathering also served as a collection point for used blankets and towels to be delivered to the Paws Crossed Animal Rescue home in Elmsford.

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Veteran Scout Susan Watson was interviewed on News 12

Mayor Jon Siegel was on hand, as was a camera crew and reporter from Channel 12 to capture the ceremony on video and interview Susan Watson, who learned her scouting back in the 1950s from Isabel Benjamin herself. The month-long celebration will culminate in a Centennial Celebration Luncheon at the Ardsley Country Club on Sunday, April 14th.