Petaluma Girl Scouts’ mother-daughter tea celebrates 16 years

More than 80 mothers and daughters took part in Petaluma’s 16th annual tea, which raised money for Girl Scouts to have one last trip together before their senior year.|

Caitlin Gloster, 9, sat across the table from her mother Sunday afternoon, painting a teacup and a saucer to match. Just before, that cup had been full of lemonade. Her mother’s, filled with tea.

They were two of the 81 mothers and daughters who took part in Petaluma’s 16th annual Girl Scout Mother-Daughter Tea. Throughout the course of the day, three different groups filled the hall at the PEP Housing offices, munching on scones, sandwiches, cookies, lemonade and tea.

Afternoon light streamed in from the windows, and talk between the Girl Scout and her mother, Vanessa, 44, turned to the big weekend they’d just had.

Friday was a camping trip in Fairfax - Caitlin and the other girls from Troop 1097 zip-lined at Camp Bothin.

Saturday was another overnight adventure - on the field at Levi’s Stadium, where Caitlin unfolded her sleeping bag and camped out surrounded by Girl Scouts from all over Northern California.

And to top off what was a truly packed weekend, here she sat on Sunday afternoon, painting a teacup and saucer shades of blue and white and green, across from her mother. About 15 girls and moms joined them for what organizers said was the smallest seating of the afternoon.

Attendees could purchase cups, teapots and saucers to paint as an activity.

The money raised from the $45-per-pair fee for the afternoon goes toward a trip the troop in charge of the event will take the summer before their senior year - one last Girl Scout hoorah.

The idea of a mother-daughter tea as a fundraiser for the trip began more than a decade and a half ago, when Lynn Wong, now 55, was leading her now-28-year-old daughter’s troop. Their destination? Australia.

“After we came back (from Australia), I asked them to write a little short paragraph as to what they learned, and what they got out of the experience, and one of them basically said the best thing she learned was that if you set your goals high, and you work hard, you can accomplish anything,” Wong said. “It was like, yes! She gets it!”

It’s a tradition that’s continued, passed down from troop to troop, so other girls can have the same opportunity.

Troop 10535 - in charge of the event this year - is made up of a bunch of freshman Petaluma girls, and lead by Dana Marty, 43.

This year feels a little different ?than most, though, because the woman who started it all 16 years ago is back again.

Wong’s younger daughter, 15-year-old Kaitlyn, just so happens to be in Troop 10535.

“The troop that we inherited it from, I said, ‘Well, I started it, can you pass it back to me?’?” Wong said.

While the freshman girls are still a few years away from their big trip abroad, they’re already starting to think about it. A chorus of oohs and ahhs erupted as Wong spoke of her older daughter’s trip to Australia: two weeks covering three cities, and swimming in the Great Barrier Reef.

“I think I’m very privileged that I’m able to do this again with my younger daughter, and for her to be able to experience the same thing as my older daughter,” Wong said.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi?Warren at 521-5205 or christi.warren?@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter?@SeaWarren.

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