Five years ago, Greenwood resident Carol Dolen and her family went on a seven-mile canoe trip down the Blue River in southern Indiana. She was in a canoe with two girls; her grandson was in another canoe with his wife; her husband, Mike, was in another with two people; and two older girls were in a fourth. They were on their family’s annual vacation.
At age 74, Dolen sat in the back of her canoe paddling and steering the boat. It made sense – she had an American Red Cross canoeing certification. For the most part, the river was placid, but there were areas of swifter water. Her granddaughter got the canoe turned sideways on one of them and Dolen couldn’t correct it in time. They went under.
“It was alright,” Dolen said. “It was hot anyway. It was a good way to cool off.”
Her thoughts on the spill may have been different had they gone under ahead of the cattle wading in the river in front of them.
Dolen got her canoeing certification during her time with the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, which totaled almost 60 years despite several moves related to Mike’s employment. After joining the Girl Scouts in second grade, she earned badges, went camping at Camp Elwood and sold Girl Scout Cookies. When her daughters were old enough, they joined, too.
Dolen didn’t intend to become a troop leader when she offered to help with her first daughter.
“By time I came home, I had a Girl Scout troop and it wasn’t the one my daughter was in,” she recalled.
Dolen held most of the volunteer positions she could in the Girl Scouts, including serving on area councils after her daughters grew up. It was one way she met people after the moves.
Another way was bowling.
For the last 30 years, Dolen said, she’s been using the same ball.
“One of these days, I expect to throw it down the alley and see it split open, but so far it’s holding up,” she said.
Now, she plays in a senior league on Thursday mornings from September through March at Expo Bowling Center. Most league participants are the same each year. Occasionally, people leave or join. The league shuffles teams each season, so people meet most of the other participants, which is an aspect of it Dolen appreciates.
She also serves on the reunion committee for Southport High School’s Class of 1955. Since moving back to town in 2000, she has helped plan three reunions.
“I assume if there’s enough of us around to do it, we’ll probably do it again (in 2020),” she said.
The committee plans the date and time of the event, the location, the food and all the other details that go along with it. It doesn’t book entertainment, though, because the get-together is the entertainment. A lot of the time, the planning takes place over lunch.
“That’s the fun part of it – you get to eat,” Dolen said. “You go to these committee meetings and you get to eat.”
Dolen also books a quarterly luncheon with women from her graduating class. She said there’s about 25 women altogether who participate, but the luncheons usually have 12 or 13 at a time. The women share stories about their lives and reminisce about old times.
“It’s easier to meet people when your children are still in school,” Dolen said. “Once your children get out of school, it’s a little harder.”
But a lifetime of activity has helped her build and be part of the communities she enjoys.
Originally published in Southside Times, 2017. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.