Though Caitlin lived in Howard County and was part of a Howard County troop, she had attended Girl Scout summer camp at the Conowingo property. "One of her aspirations was to be a counselor at Conowingo," said her father.
To honor her memory, in 2006 about 30 Howard County Girl Scouts traveled to Conowingo to create a nature center in a donated trailer. One of those girls was Patti Veasey, now a freshman at Gettysburg College. Patti and Caitlin were close friends and both members of Troop 2159.
"She was always the life of our group," said Patti. "Really outgoing. Always there when you needed her."
Since it opened, the Conowingo center has had more than 3,000 visitors, Dunbar said. Over time, Scouts have added to the center, creating such things as a book of photographs showing different kinds of leaves.
"We suspect the same thing will happen here," Dunbar said. He would like to create at least five Caitlin Dunbar Nature Centers throughout Central Maryland. But the Howard County site is particularly meaningful, he said, because Caitlin was from Howard County.
"This was the next logical step," he said. "This was a way to give back to the Howard County community, which will benefit from this because it's in their backyard."
He noted that most of the Scouts working on the Howard County project did not know Caitlin. "They were drawn to the project," he said.
Each nature center will have its own focus, Dunbar said. The Howard County center will be devoted to environmental studies. "We're hoping they [the Scouts] will gain an appreciation of our tenuous relationship with nature," he said.
Gail Timmick, who was Caitlin's troop leader for three years, said the girls in her troop, including Caitlin, loved to camp, go white-water rafting and participate in other outdoor activities.
Though they traveled to Virginia, West Virginia and other locations for their activities, Howard County was their home base.
"One of the reasons Ilchester is so special, as far as it being related to Caitlin, is that she did spend so much time there," Timmick said. "This is meaningful to a lot more local girls, which is kind of neat."
ksnitkin@comcast.net
