Jeannette “Dickie” Dickson came to Florida with her family in 1917 from Pittsburgh, PA. She attended Rollins Academy, graduating in 1927. She then went on to Russell Sage College in Troy, NY. Russell Sage was a women’s college and it was here that she earned her B.S. in Physical Education in 1930. She married Guy Colado in 1931 and they settled in Winter Park. Over the years, Mrs. Colado had a career in teaching, became the state supervisor of nursery schools, and was the registrar for Country Day School in Winter Park. She later became involved in the Girl Scouts of America . . . eventually serving as the Executive Director of the Girl Scout Leader Association. It is through this involvement with the Girl Scouts that most people in Winter Park remember her best. In her later years, Mrs. Colado became active in the alumni and reunion events at Rollins College. Thus, in the Oral History clip heard here Mrs. Colado can be heard discussing both the Girl Scouts in Winter Park and her remembrances during her time at Rollins College. Mrs. Colado died in 2005. Oral History: An interview with Jeannette "Dickie" Colado (Click here to listen) Transcript: Mrs. Colado: That is interesting. Oh, did you want to hear about Girl Scouting in Winter Park? Mrs. Alexander: Yes. I think that would be very interesting. You were very active in it. Mrs. Colado: Because I didn’t start – I didn’t have the first Girl Scout Troop. But the summer after I was married, I guess it was the summer of ’32, I was asked to go out and be on the staff of the Girl Scout camp, Wewa, in Plymouth. But I didn’t know anything about Girl Scouting. I went to teach archery, and do waterfront work and physical education – some of the things, nature hikes, things like that. But I did get to know all the Girl Scout people, and was really sold on Girl Scout programs. So the next year when I came back, I mean after school had started and everything, Mrs. Caldwell – Halstead Caldwell, asked me if I wouldn’t take a troop. And there was one troop. So I was Troop Two. The Troop One, Mrs. Lawrence was leader of. And it was . . . Mrs. Alexander: Did she organize scouting – Girl Scouting here? Mrs. Colado: Well, it didn’t sort of work that way. Mrs. Christ in Orlando was the leading light of Girl Scouts. And if she wanted a troop some place, she got somebody to organize it, or something. Mrs. Alexander: I see. Mrs. Colado: She was sort of official. And she was very, very good. She – I don’t know how Mrs. Lawrence happened to get the troop, but Mrs. Lawrence was the leader and Mrs. Dumars was the assistant leader and the troop absolutely filled. They weren’t supposed to have more than thirty-two girls, and I’m sure they had a whole bunch more than that. So there was no room for these other girls. Mrs. Alexander: I see. Mrs. Colado: And the girls that live in town now, that I can think of, that were in that first troop were Peggy Caldwell Strong (Mrs. Hope Strong, Jr.) and Carolyn Kent. Carolyn lives in Orlando, but her mother lives here. And there must have been some other – there were other girls, but there were only eight to begin with. Mrs. Alexander: Oh. Mrs. Colado: And we met in my house, and I can remember doing all the Girl Scout things and the Girl Scout songs. I can still remember them. But then, when the troop grew, we moved to the Parish House, All Saints Parish House. And that was a very nice building in back of the little church on Lyman. And we met there for a while. Then the Kiwanis Club, Mr. Fanning, who was a Kiwanian, donated property on Minnesota Avenue, on the south side of Minnesota, just off of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Alexander: I remember. Mrs. Colado: A tiny little bungalow, back off the street. And the Kiwanians built it. Mrs. Alexander: Oh. Mrs. Colado: . . . and gave it to the Girl Scouts. And it was a pretty little things – had a beautiful fireplace. An artist, a sculptor in Orlando, did a relief thing, of Girl Scouts, I think, around a camp fire, that was over the fireplace. It was nice, and every troop, for several years, met there. We all had our day. Then, of course, Girl Scouting grew so, by leaps and bounds, that we couldn’t use it any more for every troop. But some of the things that happened when Rollins Chapel was built, and I don’t know exactly what year that was. Nita Mutispaugh and I organized a Vesper service for Girl Scouts, and we had it for all the Scouts in Central Florida, because at the time, the council that we operated was the Orange Lake Council. About a Winter Park pageant: Mrs. Alexander: Did the students really write this pageant every year, or did they have a . . . Mrs. Colado: No. No, they never wrote it. One year, a Mrs. Rena Carrie Sheffield wrote it. Her daughter was a student at Rollins. Mrs. Alexander: Oh. Mrs. Colado: And she wrote it. She also wrote a song called “Osceola” that was sung and played that time. And there were always Indian maids and Indian warriors, and girls in gauze veils that danced around. Mrs. Alexander: Did it deal with the history of Central Florida? Mrs. Colado: No, I think it had something to do with the history of the Indians before the Florida town developed. I know . . . Mrs. Alexander: This was celebrating the founding of Winter Park, but it dealt with the Indians who were here a long time before. Mrs. Colado: I think it did, yes. I know the Indians featured prominently, because Dean Sprague – R.J. Sprague, was Dean, and he was also acting President at one time, at the college. And he was Chief Osceola. Mrs. Alexander: He played the part of Chief Osceola? Mrs. Colado: He played the part of Chief Osceola. And they started from the McKean’s property – well, it’s next to – I don’t know – it’s across from the home on Interlachen Avenue. That big house. Mrs. Alexander: Um-hum. Mrs. Colado: It’s vacant land, still. And there’s a mound down there that we were always told was Osceola’s grave. Mrs. Alexander: Oh Mrs. Colado: And that’s where this canoe, war canoe filled with warriors came. Well, the warriors had really imbibed a bit, I’m afraid, in order to get over being stage-struck, maybe, or have the strength to paddle the canoe. (They laugh) But anyway, they came on a very crooked course across that lake, with Dean Sprague standing up in the bow with his hand up, you know. And then the boys, the Indian braves, danced for these Indian maidens. Mrs. Alexander: I see. Mrs. Colado: And I could remember my husband, and a couple of the others who had to do this, saying that they would pinch the girls to give them a thrill. (They laugh) You’ll probably want to delete some of this. But it was fun, it was lots of fun. I don’t have the slightest idea what I did. I think a couple of times I did stay behind the bushes and help with the costumes. Mrs. Alexander: All the students took part, in one way or another, in this pageant? Mrs. Colado: No, not all of them. Just the girls in the Physical Education section classes. And the boys could be roped into doing it.