By Cathy Hirko
By day, York County resident Victoria Connor is helping support legal professionals and connecting countless families and individuals with lawyers to help address their legal concerns.
Connor has been the CEO of both the York County Bar Association and the York County Bar Foundation for more than 10 years. Prior to that, she spent 11 years with the American Red Cross as director of communications and public support. She has been bestowed with many leadership honors, including the Circle of Excellence Award from the Central Penn Business Journal and the York ATHENA Leadership Award. In May, she will be recognized as the 2022 Spring Honoree for Martin Library Honors in York County.
But this column isn’t about that.
It’s about fond Girl Scout memories of camp, creative outdoor breakfasts and a fun nickname.
Connor herself was not a Girl Scout. She thanks her daughter Brittany for her Girl Scout experiences.
“I became involved when my daughter joined Brownies and then the troop later needed a leader,” she said.
The camp memories with Brittany, now 33, are still a highlight when they look back to their Girl Scout days. They attended both Camp Echo Trail and Camp Furnace Hills in Lancaster County.
“She still talks about the singing steps and horseback riding,” Connor said.
Connor’s favorite memory as a mom/volunteer happened when she attended a weekend-long “learn how to camp” troop leader training with her co-leader. On that trip she remembered there being torrential downpours and those sharing a tent with Connor “laughed until our sides hurt.”
“It was a wonderful bonding experience, not to mention educational with all the tips, tricks, hacks and recipes we learned,” she said.
Among those skills Connor acquired were how to make a hand-washing station out of a recycled bleach bottle and the famous Egg McMuffin copycat sandwich by placing the ingredients in recycled tuna cans over a campfire.
Those tips now serve Connor well when she is with her girlfriends venturing out on their annual camping and tubing trips.
“We have been going for 30 years and the McMuffins…are a staple,” she said.
Connor proudly boasts that her friends have since given her the “Vicguyver” moniker, which stuck and it’s now her Twitter handle.
“They gave me the nickname as a result of all the ingenious Girl Scout camping inventions I put into practice on our trips,” she said.
To learn more about Girl Scout in the Heart of Pennsylvania camping opportunities, visit our website.
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