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The Green Hat Society started in 2004 in Ohio when Girl Scout Alumna, Bonnie Hamic, hosted a tea party for her former troop. The invitation read “Come as you are, but wear a hat.” Since Bonnie was hosting at a campground from her RV, everyone came wearing hats decorated with items from nature such as flowers and pine cones. At one point during their reminiscing about Girl Scouting days, the comment was made “Those Red Hatter’s have nothing on us!” to which the reply was “Yes, but we’re Girl Scouts, so we’d have to be Green Hatters!” and the Green Hat Society was born with the mission to have fun while passing on Girl Scout traditions!
The Green Hat Society has grown into a nationwide Girl Scout alumnae organization made up of women who still want to be a Girl Scout mentor and want to connect and network with other Girl Scouts nationwide. Our motto is “Tradition”. Our focus is helping troops, helping girls. Green Hats are all current Girl Scouts, who register either annually or are lifetime members. Many were or still are Girl Scout leaders and now are also mentors to Girl Scout leaders. The Green Hat Society is a recognized auxiliary group of women who are loyal to each other and to the organization we love.
While we are not an official offshoot of GSUSA, Girl Scouts of Western Ohio in 2007 approved an official council's own Junior Badge, developed by the Green Hat Society, which once earned is displayed on the vest or sash with other badges. Girls can earn the badge during weekend camps by participating in activities such as hiking, tying knots, building a fire, crafting a songbook and making a camp stuff. Passing along traditions that Girl Scouts hold dear help to instill in today’s techno-savvy girls the skills for surviving without technical support.
This first page serves as an introduction to the badge and is intended to let the girls get an idea of who the Green Hats are.... many of whom have been brownies, girl scouts, leaders, camp counselors, trainers, etc.
This first page serves as an introduction to the badge and is intended to let the girls get an idea of who the Green Hats are.... many of whom have been brownies, girl scouts, leaders, camp counselors, trainers, etc.
The official Junior Badge approved by Girl Scouts of Western Ohio in 2007 which is displayed on the vest or sash with other badges.
The official Junior Badge approved by Girl Scouts of Western Ohio in 2007 which is displayed on the vest or sash with other badges.
The Green Hat Junior Encampment Patch
The description of the ten activities that are required to earn the badge. Seven must be completed; at the Maumee Valley Chapter's Jr Encampment many girls complete all ten.
The description of the ten activities that are required to earn the badge. Seven must be completed; at the Maumee Valley Chapter's Jr Encampment many girls complete all ten.
The Green Hat Society in the News
The Green Hat Society in the News
Toledo OH Blade Article from May 22, 2010
All grown up, Girl Scouts still cheerfully serving others
ANN WEBER - May 22, 2010 1:47 PM
You can take the girl out of Scouting, but you can't take Scouting out of the girl.
Not even if she's on the far side of 50.
Take the Green Hat Society — a group of grown-up Girl Scouts who can still pitch a tent, bake a pie in a rock-lined hole, turn tin cans into a stove, fold a flag properly, tie a clove hitch knot, mark a trail, and belt out songs they memorized decades ago.
Nor have they forgotten their old Scout laws, including No. 2: “A Girl Scout is loyal.”
“Girl Scouting had such an impact on me ... I really took those laws seriously as a child and then later as an adult, and I think it still affects me now,” said Bonnie Hamic, 71, of Whitehouse, chairman of the board of the local Green Hat Society.
Loyal to each other and to the organization they love, members of the troop that Mrs. Hamic led from 1959 to 1972 formed the Green Hat Society in 2004. It's believed to be the first of several Green Hat groups and individual members across the country. Mrs. Hamic keeps track of them as national registrar and newsletter editor.
“It's kind of a spoof of the Red Hat Society,” said Mrs. Hamic, who is generally credited for starting the Green Hats at a reunion campout with members of her old Troop 280. But while Red Hatters are all about fun and friendship, the “Greenies,” as they call themselves, have a serious side too.
“We grew up when the third law of Girl Scouts was ‘A Girl Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others,'” Mrs. Hamic pointed out, “and somehow we can't just be totally frivolous.”
They're not an official offshoot of the Girl Scouts of the USA, but the mother organization has approved a junior scout badge developed by the Green Hat Society. Girls earn the badge during a weekend at Camp Libby, near Defiance, by participating in activities such as hiking, tying knots, building a fire, crafting a songbook, and making a camp stove.
“We wanted to pass along the traditions that we felt had influenced our lives,” Mrs. Hamic said. The chapter's most recent Junior Encampment, its fourth, was last weekend for girls from Pemberville, Swanton, Sylvania, and Toledo.
“We want to instill in today's tech-savvy children the skills for surviving without technical support,” added Judy Cremean, 61, of West Toledo, a member of the board of the local chapter.
The Green Hats also make themselves useful by maintaining an acre of land in the Oak Openings region, where their duties include removing invasive plants that threaten the food supply of the rare Karner blue butterfly. They also lend a hand as needed to local Girl Scout troops.
There are purely social activities too — even dutiful girls gotta have fun.
“We're a pretty laid-back group,” Mrs. Hamic said. There's only one requirement to join: Be a Girl Scout 50 or older. And six years after they formed, they're in no rush to write bylaws. {NOTE -- The requirement to be 50 or older was true when the article was published however, now each chapter can set age requirements for membership]
“The only laws we really need are the good old Girl Scout laws,” she said.
For more information about the Green Hat Society, e-mail Bonnie Hamic at ejhamic@gmail.com
Contact Ann Weber at: aweber@theblade.comor 419-724-6126.
First Published May 22, 2010, 1:47 p.m.
ABC News Article from Friday, May 20, 2011
People, Place and Things: The Green Hats
By ABC7
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Green Hat Society is a national organization started right here in Toledo. "Our motto is tradition. Our focus is helping troops, helping girls," says Bonnie Hamic, Green Hat Society founder.
To become a green hat, "You have to be over 50 and still be willing to still be a Girl Scout." {NOTE -- The requirement to be 50 or older was true when the article was published however, now each chapter can set age requirements for membership]
Bonnie Hamic founded the Green Hat Society as kind of a spoof of the Red Hat Society. When asked, "Why not a Red Hat why a Green Hat?" Bonnie responds, "So I can go to camp and sleep in the tent in the rain."
The Green Hats are all Girl Scouts, were Girl Scout leaders, and now they're mentors to Girl Scout leaders. Rosemary Stewart says, "It's just to go back to those good, basic skills and have fun and camaraderie. They spend so much time with electronics that they don't interact that much."
Just last weekend they spent a cold rainy weekend at Camp Libby teaching the girls how to use a stove, light it, and cook on it. They say a good Girl Scout learns many of things that are important to being a good woman.
"Friendship, independence, we teach the girls how to do leadership and a lot of those things have been important to my life."
The Green Hat Society is a recognized auxiliary group for the Girl Scouts and Girl Scouts can even earn a Green Hat Society badge. The Green Hats have nothing against the Red Hats only.
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