They were into “Girl Power” before the term was even invented — the young women who were part of the founding of the national organization now known as Camp Fire USA. With a cry of “Wo-He-Lo” (Work-Health-Love), generations of female future leaders learned loads of lore with a Native American flair while gaining self-confidence and skills through volunteerism.

Originally known as the Camp Fire Girls — the hearth representing the civilizing force of fire on primitive humanity — the nonprofit personal development group was part of an international movement (the Boy Scout movement is also celebrating its centennial this year) to help train up the children of today to become tomorrow’s leaders.

Founders Charlotte and physician Luther Halsey Gulick of Maine launched what became Camp Fire Girls in 1910, with the establishment of an outdoor recreation program based on Indian ceremonies. The first non-sectarian organization for girls in the United States, it predated the Girl Scouts of America (which was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Ga.).

Among its more famous Texas alumni were former first lady Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007), and Lacy-Lakeview’s own Ann Richards (1933-2006), former governor of Texas.

 The Waco area council officially was chartered in 1938, according to Ashley McClure, executive director of the Tejas Council of Camp Fire USA, which includes the greater Waco area. But, there are mentions in the local press of a prototypical Camp Fire organization here as early as the 1920s.  

Camp Fire girls would “rough it” at Tonkawa Falls in Crawford, one of the first camping locales for the then-named Huaco Council of Camp Fire Girls.  

By the 1940s, Camp Fire Girls moved to an almost 400-acre site on the Middle Bosque River, outside of McGregor, called Camp Val Verde — a facility that was upgraded in the 1950s to include amenities such as concrete cabin shelters, a swimming pool, tennis courts and many miles of  trails to be explored on horseback and on foot.  

Although the Tejas Council no longer owns Val Verde outright, it still uses the land under a 99-year lease agreement with the management.

Today, Camp Fire — which has been co-ed since 1976 — has programming that includes youth leadership training, promotion of self-reliance, after-school groups, camping and environmental education as well as child care skills.

Dorothy Spencer Bates, a 1942 graduate of Waco High, recalled in her girlhood (when she was known in Camp Fire by the name E-Ha-Wi) that good citizenship was the main emphasis of the organization. Being helpful in the home, at school and in the greater community were attributes leaders inspired in their young charges, she said.

“We spent a lot of time earning our beads (like the badge system in scouting). I still have my (Indian) gown,” said Bates, who served as the local group’s Donut Queen in 1942. For many years, the girls sold doughnuts for fundraisers before the more recent era of candy sales.

Bates grew to involve her own daughters Camp Fire as well, in the late 1950s. 

“We lived in a world where all mothers helped — in some way — and quite a few daddies, too,” she added. She noted that her husband attended all the campouts for his daughters, as well as the annual Father-Daughter box suppers. 

The long-time local chief of Camp Fire USA, Pat McKee, was honored in 2003 by the 78th state legislature for her 44 years of service to the organization. She first became a volunteer with Camp Fire in 1958, when her daughter was a “Bluebird,” or kindergartener.

After some 12 years as a volunteer, McKee was tapped to become executive director of Camp Fire USA’s seven-county Tejas Council in 1970.

For the next 32 years, before her retirement, McKee and her council established an after-school program that is available now on seven campuses of the Waco Independent School District. They also established parenting education classes, conflict resolution seminars, and money management classes at public housing developments and a host of other courses to help young people grow into productive and responsible members of their communities.

Dues have increased some from the early days of the organization — from one penny per week in 1910 to about 31 cents now (local Camp Fire dues are $16 a year).

To join Camp Fire USA, in Waco call 254-752-5515, or in Temple call 254-773-6614.

More information can be found at CampFireTejas.org.