A Moment for Macy
Opinions 6 Comments 
core business strategy, gsusa, history, traditions, troop 20
Last Tuesday, GSUSA released a statement about its property strategy. I didn’t think much about it until one line stopped me dead in my tracks:
Following an intense study and evaluation of Edith Macy, in partnership with internal and external experts, GSUSA recommended, and the National Board approved the full sale of the property.
I was so stunned by this sentence that I literally could not process it mentally. I think it took about an hour before the news really sunk in.
I always thought due to its significant history that Macy was “safe.” Sure, GSUSA had unloaded National Center West and Rockwood through the years, but Macy seemed to be untouchable in my mind. Until now.
The thing is, Macy’s future was doomed about twenty years ago when opportunities for operational volunteers dried up, and the focus on training turned solely to staff and council board members. Prior to the change, volunteers could travel to Macy as a part of “Train the Trainer” sessions to learn how to lead and facilitate trainers back in their home councils. Much was made about “Macy Magic” and how special it was to visit. First time visitors would take part in a special pinning ceremony to receive the coveted Macy lamp pin. But this ended with the advent of the Core Business Strategy where GSUSA decided to take the organization in a different direction when it came to volunteers.
And so, the vast majority of today’s volunteers have absolutely no idea what Macy is or what it represents in Girl Scout lore. If you were a volunteer within the past 20 years, your only chance to visit Macy was to serve on a GSUSA committee or visit as a part of an archive or history group, and those opportunities were few and far between. Granted, you could always book a stay of your own accord, but there were no events that drew volunteers there.
In the summer of 1986 and before my 8th grade year, my troop visited Macy as an offshoot of our trip to NYC. I would love to tell you that I became entranced with it and could feel the history of the Great Hall and surrounding land, but I only have hazy memories from the perspective of an awkward 12 year old. I just have two pictures from Macy, shared here. I’m the very tall goofy looking one.
After I began volunteering with Girl Scouts in 2010, I heard about Macy by way of older volunteers and Facebook groups. I always wanted to go back to experience it with a full appreciation of what it represented and its importance in Girl Scout history. But after I realized that there were no opportunities for volunteers, a trip there remained on my bucket list, but I knew it was improbable that I’d ever get back.
As the news on Tuesday finally set in, I never became angry. I just felt sadness and melancholy. But there is a difference in this sadness that’s hard to put into words. There’s a bit of longing and a feeling of missing out on something special. I guess assuming Macy was “safe” and finding out that really wasn’t the case indicates there’s a loss of innocence mixed in as well. And a realization that what was special about our history is now from a bygone era. I feel like some kind of door has shut.
GSUSA states in its press release that Macy was operating on a $1 million deficit each year. I could offer some “what ifs” wondering if that would have made a difference, but it would just be an exercise in futility. Losing Macy is more than just selling off property. It’s another loss of what set Girl Scouts apart and made it special. Without our history and traditions, we are becoming just another generic organization for children.
The loss of tradition and history is at all levels. At our Council’s adult awards ceremony, the ceo and board chair were shaking hands, and I was thinking why are they not using the GS handshake? So, when I went up to accept my 55 year pin I did the GS handshake. AWKWARD cringe moment. Later the ceo approaches me and asks what I was doing? I said, the GS handshake, part of our traditions. She had never heard of it. A small thing compared to the Macy closing.
I am so sad…the corporate side has let the sisterhood fade away…..Macy was the magic that taught me to look wider than my council. To connect with Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all over the world.
Except for a stint in college, I’ve never lived more than two hours from Macy – generally no more than half an hour away. (The number of friends I’ve shuttled between LaGuardia Airport and Macy when I was living right in the middle between the two is legion.)
Camp Andrée Clark was Greater New York Council’s camp when I was a girl member and young leader in GSCGNY. the first time I went to Macy was when My Senior GS friends and I were primitive camping at Camp Jane Deeter Rippin in the mid-70s and hiked over to Macy just to see the place. We all *knew* how much history Macy held even as teenage visitors, and succumbed to the Macy Magic.
My husband Mike (also a Lifetime Member) and I have been there many times, for trainings, events and weddings – our daughter, also a Lifetime Member, was married by the lake at Camp Andrée and had her reception across the way at Macy. Macy’s been part of family traditions on both sides of our family for more years than anyone cares to admit, and it’s also in our home council.
Our entire family is absolutely devastated. No words. And I can swear fluently in three languages.
“… Macy was operating on a $1 million deficit each year…”
Why?
How did the national board lose site of and failed to leverage an asset that should have been operating in the black annually while building the culture of scouting in its leaders and older scouts (future leaders)?
I am stupefied at the inability of this organization to recognize its traditions, use its assets and come back from a deplorable 15, if not 25, horrendous years of leadership, and I use that word loosely.
And it’s not just the loss of Macy. What is deplorable is the loss of what the founder stood for.
In 20 years, no one that remembers what Girl Scouting was designed to be, and was, will be around to remember it.
Between the GSUSA news and the national news the world has become so very bleak. Traditions mean little.
I totally agree with your take. GSUSA has been killing Macy for years. And there seems to be no understanding that maybe Macy could have been financially viable if they you know… used it? Active Girl Scout centers can have things like “Friends of” groups that fundraise for it and sell merchandise.
Also five years ago, they stopped hosting weddings at Macy and I just want to know why. I would have paid many tens of thousands of dollars to get married there.