Carbon County Girl Scouts honored female military veterans during a picnic luncheon at Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

Eight women who had served in the military attended, including Janet Donovan, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Pennsylvania, and Christine LeClair, the Carbon County Director of Veterans Affairs.

Other veterans were Andrea Davis, Sheryl Flickinger, Linda Handley, Maggie Lukasevich, Leslie Petroff and Richelle Schafer.

About 60 Girls Scouts of all age groups attended. Two members of a Nesquehoning Girl Scout unit, Brianna Binder and Reagan LeClair, presented Donovan with a handmade sign that read “Home of a Hero, Proud Navy Family.”

After a program was held during which Donovan was the main speaker, the veterans sat down with small groups of the girls. They talked about their military experiences and answered questions from the girls.

Donovan, in her talk, compared some formal similarities between the Girl Scouts and the military, including the various components on their flags and their uniforms.

She said the military and Girl Scouts share other similarities.

They have the same values: honor, courage and commitment. The military today consists of all volunteers, just like all Girl Scout leaders are volunteers. Members of both units have promises they strive to fulfill.

Donovan said she was a Girl Scout when she was a young girl. She learned about the outdoors, sold cookies and did the same thing today’s Girl Scouts do. She said before entering the Girl Scouts, she was very shy. “When I was a Girl Scout, it gave me more confidence,” she said.

As a Girl Scout, “you come together as a team and teamwork is so important,” she said. As an example of that togetherness, she said in her troop, the mother of one member got sick with cancer. The girls would regularly make sandwiches for the fellow Scout and her mother.

“Girl Scouting is a place where you can share your experiences and know they will be respected and kept in a safe place,” she said.

Before going into the military, she became a lawyer. During law school, she learned about the military and joined. In the military, she used her legal skills in various ways, including helping Navy sailors and their families.

She told the Scouts that at the time she joined the Navy, there were many restrictions on women, but that has changed. She said she was one of the first women “to go to sea.” Before her, women could not go on ships that were combatants.

She also said she was the only female officer among 46,000 sailors.

LeClair also made some remarks. She said, “Today we honor two groups I really love. One is children. The other is veterans.”

Comments were also made by Tom Gerhard, deputy district director for Congressman Dan Meuser, and Marguerite Green, who represented the office of state Rep. Doyle Heffley.