Snow and cold have forced the second Trump Presidential Inauguration indoors.
This is the first such change of venue since 1985, when a similar cold snap moved Ronald Reagan’s second swearing-in into the Capitol Building on January 21. (January 20 fell on a Sunday in 1985, so there was a small ceremony at the White House that day, followed by the grander event at the Capitol on Monday, January 21.)
The Presidential Inauguration Parade was cancelled in both years, but the Reagan organizers went to great lengths to still include the 475 Girl Scouts selected to march.
Instead of a parade, the girls, proudly wearing their commemorative capes, were dispatched to nine pre-inauguration events and to the nine inaugural ball venues. They served as hostesses and ushers at all 18 sites.
The Girl Scouts who worked at a pre-inauguration event at the Library of Congress met legendary actor Jimmy Stewart.
They still wore their new commemorative capes, designed in eye-catching colors for maximum outdoor visibility.
According to CapiTalk, the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital newsletter,
Girl Scouts and Adult Volunteers who participated in the 1985 pre-inaugural activities did so with panache, a little bit of Blass and a whole lot of class. Each wore a Kelly green hooded cape sewn by Bea Maurer, a Bill Blass green white and blue scarf and a wool blue beret with an embroidered trefoil.
The “ensemble” echoed the new adult uniforms designed by Bill Blass and introduced in fall 1984.
More than 200 of the outfits were later available to borrow for outdoor community service projects. We still have a few at our History Center in Frederick, Maryland.
© 2025 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian, but NOT a Girl Scout employee.
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