The American Heritage Girls oath is “I promise to love God, cherish my family, honor my country and serve in my community.”
The Trail Life USA oath is “On my honor, I will do my best to serve God and my country, to respect authority, to be a good steward of creation and to treat others as I want to be treated.”
Members of the Seymour-based chapters lived up to those promises April 10 while completing a service project at Lutheran Cemetery on the far west side of the city.
They spent a couple of hours that morning picking up trash and sticks, carrying large branches to a pile after trees were cut down and replacing the American flag.
Peggy Stark, who leads American Heritage Girls Troop IN1273, and her husband, Steve Stark, who leads Trail Life USA Troop IN-2206, both make it a priority for members to do community service projects throughout the year.
“Christ was our servant. He washed our feet, and we need to be servants also to help our community,” Peggy said.
Steve said the groups usually do separate projects, but they decided to come together for this one after members of the cemetery board asked them to help.
“It’s a larger project,” Steve said. “When you get something of this size, why not have both groups out here?”
This is the second year for the Christian-centered groups to be in Seymour. They meet weekly in the fellowship hall at Immanuel Lutheran Church.
American Heritage Girls was founded in 1995 by a group of parents wanting a faith-based, scout-type character development program for their daughters, according to americanheritagegirls.org. Girls across the nation and the globe participate in badge programs, service projects, leadership opportunities and outdoor experiences, all with an emphasis on Christian values and family involvement.
Peggy said girls have earned badges for fire building, sign language, crafts, cake decorating, birds, citizenship and government and more. Activities have included camping and hiking, and they currently are working on a dance badge and learning social skills.
“We always include a devotion and tie it into we’re working in God’s world and how could we make this a better place to live,” Peggy said.
“One of the things that we need to do is service projects, and so we’ve done things at Lutheran Community Home, and we gave gifts to the firemen and policemen this year, so this is another one of our service projects,” she said, referring to the cemetery cleanup.
Trail Life USA is a character development organization for young men that produces godly and responsible husbands, fathers and citizens, according to traillifeusa.com. Its mission is to guide generations of courageous young men to honor God, lead with integrity, serve others and experience outdoor adventure.
Steve said some of the boys have earned their knife and fire building badges, and they hope to put American flags on veterans’ graves at Lutheran Cemetery for Memorial Day. They currently are studying medical, trauma and first aid.
“We’re trying to build those types of things, a lot of skills that will help them from now forward in their life,” he said.
Elijah Kamman, 9, is among the Trail Life USA members who helped with the cemetery cleanup.
“Seeing friends and spending time helping the community,” he said of why he wanted to participate. “I love Trail Life. It’s really fun. It teaches you life skills.”
His mother, Jill Kamman, and sister, Samantha Kamman, 11, also assisted.
Jill said her children benefit from both organizations.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the kids because it is Christian-based, so it’s very important to keep the safety for the kids with the group,” she said.
Seeing her kids learn skills and earn badges is special for Jill.
“It’s different skills that they are learning, life skills that you may or may not think about teaching them at home, but yet probably a lot of girls know a lot of the stuff,” she said. “It takes about a month or so to get through the badge and learn all of the different aspects of it. It’s really cool.”
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American Heritage Girls Troop IN1273 and Trail Life USA Troop IN-2206 meet from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Mondays in the fellowship hall at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 605 S. Walnut St., Seymour. Both are for ages 5 to 18.
For information, visit americanheritagegirls.org or traillifeusa.com.
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