Janet Carper and Our Chalet
June 18, 2025
Janet Carper is the true meaning of what it means to be a Girl Scout.
When Janet was 7 years old, she became a Girl Scout as a young Brownie. Her mother was her first leader, and it was in Girl Scouts where Janet learned First Aid, woodsmanship, life skills, to cook several different recipes, and so much more.
“I learned so much in Girl Scouts, and it was just an amazing experience,” said Janet.
When Janet was a young girl, she remembers reading The Girl Scout Handbook and always going back to the page with a pen and ink drawing of a big Chalet in Switzerland. Our Chalet was described as a place where girls from all over the world would go to experience exciting adventures together, and that piqued her interest.
Years later, Janet learned that each year four Girl Scouts from the United States could be chosen as candidates for a session at Our Chalet, so she applied to spend the summer of 1953 in Switzerland.
Quickly, she was chosen to go across the Atlantic with 3 other girls from the United States and visit Switzerland.
“Although we hadn’t met in person yet, we wrote to each other before we went,” said Janet.
The girls all met in New York and took a ship over to England.
“It was a big deal, we were in every hometown newspaper,” said Janet. “At the time, the way to get there was by a ship, and that ship took 5 days, but it was the fastest ship, and we loved every second of it.”
Once they arrived in London, the American woman met up with the others who were going to Our Chalet.
“It was the first year of Queen Elizabeth and everything was decorated so beautifully,” said Janet. “In London, we also got to meet Lady Baden-Powell, whose husband created scouting in England, and she showed us around her house and spoke so kindly to us.”
From there, all 19 girls, including Janet, soon arrived at Our Chalet in Switzerland.
“It’s in the most beautiful part of the mountains in Switzerland,” said Janet.
At Our Chalet, the girls had classes, learned from teachers, and especially learned from each other.
“It wasn’t so extraordinary what we were studying or anything, but the setting was. How could you do that under any other circumstance at that time,” said Janet.
While the Girl Scouts were at Our Chalet, they grew closer and created a bond like no other.
“There were 2 girls who didn’t speak the same language, so they couldn’t talk to each other, but it didn’t matter; they still connected and became best friends,” said Janet.
Janet’s experience in Switzerland left a great impact on her and changed her life forever.
“We were always talking about our country and scouting in our country, and it connected all of us. Life has really revolved around this group of women and the experience,” said Janet.
Since her summer spent in Switzerland, Janet and the other girls from Our Chalet have stayed in touch for the past 70 years.
“We have all been really close since the day we met. I think we’ve been in every country except one to visit each other. We’ve had lots of reunions and even some that included our husbands and families,” said Janet.
Janet believes that her trip to Switzerland changed her life in every aspect, and brought her friends from across the world she would have never met before.
“We all already had the principles of life because of our Girl Scouting experience, and then there we were all together. We had the background to meet with each other and become important to each other. We saw our friendships happening and just got lucky,” said Janet. “It’s just never stopped; we’ve never stopped being connected.”
