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Pritchett Chips In For Scouts, Murrell Home

Posted: Jan 11th 2012 By: CMBurnham

For Amanda Pritchett, Girl Scouting has led to a lifetime of volunteerism.

?I started [my involvement with Girl Scouts] in kindergarten and went all the way through high school,? said Pritchett. ?I like anything having to do with service projects, which is one of the greatest things about Girl Scouts ? making the world a better place. As a Girl Scout, I enjoyed helping out the community.?

Leslie Minor was her first troop leader and her mom, Belinda Burnett, her last.

?Mom helped as a parent volunteer, then became the leader when I was in high school,? she said. ?There are so many opportunities for travel and bigger projects that develop leadership skills. I could go on and on about what?s so great about Girl Scouts.?

When Pritchett entered college, she started a Daisy troop with her mom, and those girls just graduated high school.

?Now, I help here and there and train other scout leaders,? Pritchett said. ?With scouting, it?s personal. I get as much fun out of it as helping out. There?s nothing more rewarding than helping girls develop into good young women. There?s so many negative influences out there and someone needs to tell girls they have the power to change the world they live in.?

As a troop leader, Pritchett encourages girls to take charge.

?They develop their own programs and plan projects,? she said. ?We?re there to facilitate them.?

There are lots of kids in line waiting to join; they just need leaders in place to get started.

?Every year, we go to all the open houses at schools and sign up kids, but it seems there?s always one school that doesn?t have a leader,? she said.

?Leaders are trained. It?s not as hard as it sounds. You have to have a love of the kids and the organization. And you aren?t left without help. More experienced leaders like me work with leaders. You don?t have to have been a Girl Scout or even have kids, just want to help out.?

Pritchett knows the value of scouting and uses what she learned.

?I was very shy as a kid. Public speaking was the worst thing, now I do it all the time in my job,? she said.

Now the historical interpreter for the Murrell Home, Pritchett started as a volunteer and appreciates the volunteers she works with. She began as a intern in college and has been there 10 years.

?We have such a limited staff,? she said. ?There?s so many plans and dreams, and without someone to step in and do some of the leg work, especially during big events, we couldn?t do it. A lot of volunteers enjoy dressing in period clothing, and really love the Murrell Home.?

At the moment, the Friends of the Murrell Home group is raising money for projects.

?Volunteers love what they do or they wouldn?t be there, whether it?s Girl Scouts or the Murrell Home, so they?re hearts are in the right place. That?s the case with everybody in all walks of life,? Pritchett said.

She?s fortunate to like everything about her job.

?I love my job, and enjoy going to work every day,? she said. ?It?s the house. It has such history, not just local and regional, but national. The furniture in there you don?t see around here. West of the Mississippi, you didn?t find anything of this caliber. It?s amazing it?s still here.?

Former Site Manager Shirley Pettengill is a volunteer now.

?She loves the place, and she?s done so much research,? said Pritchett. ?She?s gone to Virginia, where George Murrell was from, and Louisiana, where he had a sugar plantation and his family still lives. They allowed her to come in and photograph furniture. She took her personal vacation time to take these trips, that?s how much she loves the place.?

?That?s where the Lord led us,? she said.

Pritchett is also volunteers as song leader at Jubilee Baptist in Westville, where she attends church with her husband Anthony.

A big scouting project is just around the corner for Pritchett.

For about 20 years, the Cherokee County Girl Scouts have been collecting teddy bears and other new and like-new stuffed animals to donate to local law enforcement, fire fighters, ambulance staff and others who sometimes work with children in crisis situations.

Pritchett remembers collecting teddy bears when she was in second grade, and for the past five or six years, she has coordinated the annual Teddy Bear Roundup.

?When you give a child [who has been] in a car wreck a teddy bear it makes them feel better, Pritchett said. ?Rural fire departments say they really appreciate it, too. We send girls out with letters to each place and invite them to come to the round-up to pick up the donations. If someone works for one of the agencies who wants to be included, we might have missed please call. We want everyone included.?

All the troops in Cherokee County participate, she said.

?We have 25 troops from kindergarten and up, and about 75 to 100 participate.?