By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 29, 2006

If anyone can figure out a way to go canoeing in the middle of a convention center, the Girl Scouts can.

At the first Girl Scout Expo yesterday at the Dulles Expo & Conference Center in Chantilly, Moria Howell, 7, snapped a life jacket over her badge-laden Brownie vest, climbed into a canoe, and started to sing her favorite Brownie song: " I've got something in my pocket that belongs across my face . . . "

The Port Potomac third-grader paddled happily into the air above her canoe, which was hoisted on blocks, and finished her tune with a grin: " . . . It's a great big Brownie smile ."

The expo, attended by an estimated 7,000 girls, troop leaders and family members from across the region, was staged to help recruit new scouts and show how Girl Scouting has evolved in nearly 95 years. Singalongs and camping have long been scouting traditions. But yesterday's event showed off lots of other activities.

Some girls operated remote-control robot cars; others learned the warrior poses in a yoga demonstration. Several crowded around to learn the Girl Scout Promise in American Sign Language.

The Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital organized the expo. With 4,500 troops and 50,000 girls, the council is one of the nation's largest, but membership has leveled off in the past few years, said spokeswoman Mary Layton.

"There are so many things going on in the schools, so much competition for students' time," she said. Scouting must adapt to appeal to a diverse population of girls that have equally diverse interests, she said.

So the expo was a showcase of change, starting with a fashion show that displayed nine decades of uniforms, including a World War II-era Brownie dress that was gingham rather than its traditional solid brown so the dye could be reserved for military uniforms. There was also a 1970s-era psychedelic blouse with a double-knit polyester jumper.

After the fashion show, a group called the Chicas jumped onstage in pink T-shirts and jeans. They sang Spanish-language pop music and shimmied to a choreographed routine, then offered to teach girls their moves.

The Chicas are a network of Hispanic Girl Scouts from across the region who meet for community service projects and other activities.

Latinas are a fast-growing part of Girl Scout membership. Overall, about a third of the council's members are minorities, Layton said. There are Korean American and Vietnamese American troops. At the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling, there is a junior Girl Scout troop for Muslims.

Zakia Khan, leader of that troop, described an upcoming event for Eid al-Fitr, a holiday to mark the end of Ramadan. She said some other troops will be invited to attend.

Near Khan's table, which showed how girls could pursue faith-oriented badges, a group of girls tossed lacrosse balls back and forth.

This generation is not only more diverse but more fitness-minded, Layton said. "So many girls are involved in athletics now," she said. "That wasn't the case a generation ago."

Players from the Washington Freedom women's soccer team came to sign autographs. There was also a table for the Washington Mystics women's basketball team, where one player raffled off an autographed jersey.

For Kathryn Ivie, 16, of Nokesville, that table was a favorite. She pointed to a Mystics badge on her vest, near another badge she earned for jewelry-making after she crafted her own earrings, she said.

Her mother said eight years of scouting have helped Ivie, who is autistic, develop social and communication skills. "Scouting has made all the difference," Mary Ivie said.

Denise Troeschel, who chairs the regional council's inclusion task force, said Girl Scouts seek to reach out to parents with daughters who have disabilities. Troeschel volunteered yesterday at a table with a sign language demonstration and with pages of Braille, which girls stopped to run their fingers across.

Troeschel is a leader of a Brownie troop and a Junior Girl Scout troop for girls with disabilities in Prince George's County. She said the council will be training volunteers to work with disabled scouts in other troops.

"We are for all girls," she said.