The day the World Chief Girl Scout came to town...

Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the World Chief Guide of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides, was greeted at the train station in Hayti by Mrs. H.V. Sewell (left) and Mrs. Charolyn (Bid) Miles, both of Kennett and officers in the Cotton Boll Area Girl Scout Council. Lady Baden-Powell visited Kennett in January 1954 and spoke to a capacity crowd at the Kennett Armory.

But Low learned of Girl Guides and Boy Scouts from her friends, Lord Robert Baden-Powell and his wife, Lady Olave. Robert Baden-Powell formed Boy Scouts in England at the beginning of the last century. His wife, Olave, became the World Chief Guide in 1930 and the husband-wife duo dedicated their lives to ensuring the success of the Scouting Movement worldwide.

"In those early years if a mother wanted to start a Girl Scout troop, she just bought a handbook and started a troop," said Charloyn "Bid" Miles of Kennett. Miles was instrumental in the formation of the Cotton Boll Area Girl Scout Council in 1948 that included seven southeast Missouri counties.

Just eight short years after the establishment of the area council the Girl Scouts in Southeast Missouri had a singular honor when the World Chief Guide paid a visit to Kennett. Miles recalls Baden-Powell as a vivacious and gracious person -- one who took the time to meet every girl at the Kennett event. She spoke to a crowd of 2,000 at the Armory on Sunday, Jan. 24, 1954.

"I found out that she was on a tour in the country and I just wrote a letter. She was traveling from the east coast to the west coast. I asked if there was any way she could stop on her way." Miles recalled.

The answer was positive and plans were put into place for the local visit. Miles and Cotton Boll Council President Mrs. H.V. Sewell, also of Kennett, met Baden-Powell's train in Hayti and brought her to town.

"She stayed at my mother's (Mrs. Charles Baker) house and we just had the best time," Miles said.

Baden-Powell was in Kennett for just two days, but in that short period of time she met a lot of Southeast Missouri young people.

"We just sent the word around that she was going to be here," Miles said. "Of course, she was something special to everybody." And in a time before the cell phones, 24/7 news broadcasts, texting, voice mail and the Internet, a capacity crowd filled the Kennett Armory for the program with the World Chief Guide.

A news report in the Dunklin Democrat the next day reported 2,000 "Girl Scouts, Brownies, and Boy Scouts along with parents and leaders" attended the Sunday afternoon event. The visit by Baden-Powell to Kennett was the first and only visit by the World Chief Guide to Southeast Missouri.

In her remarks in Kennett, the news report said "she desired to bring a word of friendship and cheer for the thousands of Girls Scouts and Girl Guides around the world." And she compared the Scouting Movement worldwide to the United Nations.

"We try to do what we can to promote peace in the world," she said. She also spoke about her husband's work in founding the Scouting Movement. "My husband invited something very wonderful."

Miles said area girls formed a color guard for the flag ceremony at the event, and photos show a patrol in the salute to the national colors. Newspaper photos show Girl Scouts in full uniform -- complete with sash ties and beret hats - saluting the flags. The entire ensemble also sang the World Song of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides -- a march that features music by famed Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and highlights the principles and spirit of the Girl Scout and Girl Guide Movement.

In her Girl Scout archives at her home, Miles has a copy of remarks given by Mrs. T.L. Chidester on the visit with Baden-Powell. Chidester was an officer in the Cotton Boll Council.

"We were fortunate that we had the privilege of playing hostess to the World Chief Guide," Chidester said at a council meeting. "She spent two days with us and left us with inspiration for a lifetime. She left us the next day be we now feel we have a very dear friend in England and thank her with all our hearts for the Spirit of Scouting she instilled."

That first letter inviting Baden-Powell to Kennett because a series of correspondence between the Kennett native and the English Baden-Powell.

"Her letters are sort of like her. She wrote in capitol letters half the time and slash marks all over the place," Miles said. In one letter that Miles has saved, Baden-Powell writes of visiting Canada and heading west to be in San Francisco for a national Girl Scout convention. Along the way, of course, she would make other stops similar to her visit in Kennett. "I hope that our stops at various places may help Scouting in some way!"

Miles said that following the Kennett program Baden-Powell shook the hand of every young person attending. Following the program at the Armory an informal dinner honoring Baden-Powell was held at the Cotton Boll Hotel.

"She was something else," Miles said. "She was something to know. It was great having her here and having so many of the kids meet her. She was so British and at the same time she could sit down and just talk with you."