Eagle Scouts Mara and Naomi Halls take a break from packing for college to stand near a shed on their east Dundas farm. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Wearing their scouting shirts filled with merit badges makes the Halls twins proud. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
A colorful Boy Scouts of America badge. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
A sailing badge. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Summer camp conjures up images of campfires, dining halls, canoe trips and sunset swims.
Eagle Scouts Mara and Naomi Halls take a break from packing for college to stand near a shed on their east Dundas farm. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
But, for fraternal twins Mara and Naomi Halls, their summer camp experience meant being surrounded by hundreds of boy campers at the Mauston, Wisconsin Boy Scouts of America camp. Only 5% of the campers there were female.
The 18-year-olds, who grew up on a farm east of Dundas and graduated from Northfield High School in June, said their experience as counselors to the 12- and 13-year-old scouts was positive.
"It's cool being a girl and modeling good behavior and attitude," said Mara.
"We got a lot of stares," said Naomi.
Wearing their scouting shirts filled with merit badges makes the Halls twins proud. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Besides the sign on the girls bathroom being vandalized and the occasional banging on the shower door, the twins said they hoped their presence at the predominately male camp raised the awareness and acceptance of girls in scouting.
The twins recalled a particularly antiquated problem: camp administrators told them to wear one-piece swim suits, because other options might be a distraction.
"We brought with us only two-piece suits," explained Mara. "We wondered why we had to comply when we were usually covered up with a life jacket and towel anyway. Seemed like it was their problem, not ours."
"That kind of thinking is out of date," said Molly Halls, the twins' mother. Halls, who works at Laura Baker Service Association, said she grew up being a Brownie and a Girl Scout.
"I always wanted to be a Boy Scout," she said. "I was envious of all the outdoor adventures they got to do."
A colorful Boy Scouts of America badge. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Molly said she may have influenced the twins' outdoorsy nature when she took her young family camping for the first time when the twins were only six months old.
"They completely embraced every part of being out in nature," she said. "From backpacking to climbing trees to canoeing. They just loved it."
The twins' love for nature even influenced their decision to attend the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Being so close to the North Shore was a real draw for both girls, although their areas of study will take them in divergent directions.
Mara plans to study biology, perhaps focusing on fisheries. Naomi said she will concentrate on business, fashion and art.
For their final scouting project, Mara and Naomi partnered with Prairie's Edge Humane Society to design, measure and build two benches and a ramp to help the 10 shelter dogs exercise outside while giving potential foster families a place to sit while relating to the pets waiting for adoption.
A sailing badge. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
"We learned to take an idea and built it into an entire project becoming the lead organizers," said Naomi. "We got to be a CEO."
Maras said she learned how important it is ask adults for help and work with businesses and individuals in the community.
"We partnered with Lambert's and they ended up donating all the lumber we used," she said.
Completing a multi-step project from the ground up builds confidence, said Naomi: "We learned not to feel intimidated, and to think not just speak. This was a really good life experience."
The twins watched their older brother grow from a cub scout to a boy scout, earning merit badges, like rock climbing, blacksmithing, game design, dog sledding and wilderness survival along the way.
Meanwhile, the twins did what other little girls did: they became girl scouts.
"But Girl Scouts was so boring," said Naomi. "The girls were knitting, not camping."
When the Boy Scouts of America voted in 2018 to add females to their ranks, the twins were 14 years old. Scout troops welcome boys and girls ages 11-18. They jumped at the chance to join Boy Scout Troop 313 in Northfield.
Scouts BSA offers 130 merit badges that cover all kinds of hobbies, careers and adventures. For Mara, who was on the Raider swimming team and said calculus was her favorite class, and Naomi, who played on the Raider tennis team and enjoyed her honors art classes the most, they knew immediately they wanted to work toward an Eagle Scout status.
To become an Eagle Scout, participants need to earn 22 merit badges before turning 18 years old.
"The badges were fun to earn," said Mara. "I liked kayaking, climbing, and my favorite was sailing."
Naomi said she liked art, woodworking and sailing.
Now, as Eagle Scouts, the twins can demonstrate they're prepared for adventure and live up to the national scouting motto.
Pamela Thompson is the associate editor for the Northfield News. Reach her at 507-645-1115 or pamela.thompson@apgsomn.com.
Data included is taken from the Minnesota Department of Health Daily reports. Because all data is preliminary, the change in number of cumulative positive cases and deaths from one day to the next may not equal the newly reported cases or deaths.
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