As some white-haired Girl Scouts rummaged through a cornerstone time capsule from 40 years

ago, they reminisced on how much times have changed as they prepare to leave their Parkside

headquarters in Buffalo.

Mary Lou O&#8217Connor, 81, picked up a well-preserved pamphlet from the old copper box on

Friday. It listed the names of officers, who voted years ago to move the Girl Scouts of

Buffalo and Erie County from the old stone mansion on Linwood Avenue to the former Latter Day

Saints church on Jewett Parkway, home of the Girl Scouts since 1970.

&#8220There I am,&#8221 said the Kenmore resident and Archive Committee member, pointing to

the words &#8220Mrs. William M. O&#8217Connor&#8221 on the colored sheet. &#8220We were known

by our husbands&#8217 names back then.&#8221

Organization leaders expressed enthusiasm for the future Friday as the Girl Scouts of

Western New York moves to 3332 Walden Ave. in Depew and hands over its old site to Hillside

Family of Services, a Rochester-based agency that focuses on providing services to children.

The move follows the merger of multiple Girl Scout councils in July 2008. Now, the Girl

Scouts of Western New York needs more centrally located, updated space that can be easily

accessed in the nine-county region that includes Erie, Niagara, Monroe, Cattaraugus,

Chautauqua, Genesee, Wyoming, Orleans and Livingston counties.

&#8220Our future is bright, and it&#8217s looking even brighter today,&#8221 said Chief

Executive Officer Cindy L. Odom.

At the afternoon news conference, O&#8217Connor and her Girl Scout compatriots pulled items

from the time capsule. They found, among other things: a 1970 cookie sale report, a 50th

anniversary pin, a copy of the July 23, 1970, Buffalo Evening News featuring a front-page

story about Las Vegas finally allowing women to serve as dealers, and a Girl Scout uniform

catalog.

Friday was the Girl Scouts&#8217 last day on Jewett Parkway. Movers transferred the

organization&#8217s belongings to the new site the day before.

The old church building, with its copper steeple, was sold to Hillside for $527,000, Odom

said. The new headquarters will be in leased space closer to the airport. Though the new space

is 400 square feet smaller than the current building, it&#8217s better designed and more

accessible, said Peter Ciotta, the organization&#8217s spokesman.

The main meeting room will be able to hold twice as many people, and there will be more

space dedicated to the organization&#8217s retail shop, Ciotta said. Until now, the Girl

Scouts&#8217 meeting space had been in a square room that once served as worship space in the

main church building.

Ciotta read from a Buffalo Evening News article dated July 24, 1970, in which council

president &#8220Mrs. Everette F. Reynolds&#8221 stated that moving to the Jewett Parkway

location was in keeping with the mission of the organization.

&#8220If we are to continue to be a social force,&#8221 she said, &#8220we must be future

oriented to five, 10, 20 years from now to continue to provide Girl Scouting for all girls,

sensitive to the issues of the day, using the girls&#8217 combined abilities to create the

conditions that will make what they desire a reality.&#8221

That comment applies as much today as it did 40 years ago, Ciotta said.