CLUB BEGINNINGS
The first session of The Proper Mountain Woman Club was in the summer of 2020 but the idea for this club began a long time before that...
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It began in the fall of 2013 when me and my mom had time to hike every day together in the mountains near our home. As we hiked we talked about how fun it would be to earn merit badges for hiking and summiting mountains, and how fun would it be to display those merit badges on a bandalo - the same kind my mom had when she was a young primary girl!
During the great global pandemic we felt like war-time duration women especially during the stay-at-home-order... many of us took up baking sourdough bread, raising chickens, and gardening for the first time! It dawned on us that this was the perfect time to start the club we had dreamed about... these things of merit that deserved to be celebrated! We brainstormed 12 categories to earn merit badges in, the list of merit badges, the ranks and titles troop members could advance to, and how the program would work. My mom pulled out her old primary bandalo and figured out how to make a pattern for it and then sewed bandalos for every woman who signed up! That summer we made thousands of merit badges and mailed them out to the troop all summer long.
When the summer ended we received so much positive feedback it was overwhelming. Women loved the club and loved earning merit badges! Word spread and more women wanted to join the ranks. We then decided to create a winter session to combat the winter blues. This session proved to be even more popular than the summer session with many troop members reporting back that The Club helped them with their seasonal depression!
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We now offer club sessions year-round for winter, spring, summer, and fall! Each club session is special and has limited-edition patches that can be earned and collected. We keep track of merit badges troop members have earned from session to session and honor troop members who have earned 500 merit badges or 1,000 merit badges in their life time and mail them special life-time achievement patches.
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This club in some ways is still new (one day we may have a proper mountain woman who earns over 5,000 merit badges!) and we often have to think creatively to figure out new ways to meet the needs of the growing ranks of proper mountain women.... but rest assured, we have you in mind always. We want you to have the best experience ever. Our mission statement is to celebrate merit. And more specifically, YOUR merit. We are beyond humbled to be part of a club that provides that and promise to never take that responsibility lightly.
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Thanks for being part of this fun adventure and earning merit badges with us!
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Peace & Pine Trees,
Whitney Dodge​​
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