The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in Europe are leaving their headquarters in Mannheim, Germany, and heading south over the Alps.
The USA Girl Scouts Overseas and the North Atlantic and Transatlantic Council of the Boy Scouts of America will establish their new headquarters in Camp Darby, Italy.
"We don’t have an exact date yet," said Vince Cozzone, administrator for the Boy Scouts group affiliated with U.S. military communities in Europe. "I would expect it to be in the first quarter of 2009."
Margaret Renwald, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts group, said she expects her new office to be operating in early January.
"We want to make this as seamless as possible for our girls and volunteers," she said. "It’s sad to be leaving Germany, but we’re excited about a new adventure."
The two organizations, which serve about 14,000 youth across Europe, have been headquartered in Germany since the 1950s.
"As long as anyone can remember," Renwald said, laughing.
But Stem Kaserne in Mannheim is scheduled to close at the end of the next fiscal year, Renwald said.
Military officials strongly suggested the groups look in Italy, Cozzone said.
Camp Darby, a logistics and storage hub that houses an active-duty population of less than 300 soldiers and airmen, is one of the least populated bases in Italy. But it’s got a campground and private beach that attract thousands of visitors around Europe every summer.
"The campground is certainly something we’re looking at (for future gatherings)," Cozzone said.
Renwald said the Girl Scouts held two weeks of a camp on base last year and plan to do more. A gathering for junior high school and high school girls throughout Europe is set for the Martin Luther King weekend, for instance.
But the headquarters moves don’t mean there will be a lot more scouts on base most of the time. Each group will move a handful of adult staff members to Darby and hire a few additional employees from the base population. They’ll maintain records, process advancements, train volunteers and coordinate events.
