New Girl Scouts headquarters designed to prepare girls for the next century of Scouting

As a young Girl Scout, Oklahoma City community leader Polly Nichols fondly recalls going to camp and participating in archery and water sports, working through her badge book, making new friends throughout her hometown of McAlester and being a camp counselor at the Girl Scouts' Camp Tiak in eastern Oklahoma.

“What a wonderful independent opportunity and what a wonderful leadership opportunity for me to grow into,” Nichols said.

Today, Nichols and her husband Larry, executive chairman of Devon Energy Corp. are the honorary chairmen of a newly announced public campaign to bring the Girl Scouts into its second century as the national organization celebrates 100 years.

Last week, Girl Scouts-Western Oklahoma launched the public phase of a $5 million campaign to pay for its new building and renovate it with areas such as a new Girl Scouts retail store, an Internet cafe, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) lab, and conference rooms. The building will be named the Mary Nichols Family Leadership Center in honor of Larry Nichols' mother, who has been a Girl Scout for 85 years and lives in Oklahoma City.

The “silent phase” of the campaign has raised about $4.2 million so far in pledges and donations.