Girl Scouts Create Memorial Garden to Honor Volunteer​

MILFORD, NH - It was an afternoon Linda Dobbins would have loved. 

Wearing handmade fairy wings, a small group of Amherst and Milford Girl Scouts gathered on a hillside behind the First Congregational Church of Milford, where a small, stone bench bore a simple inscription: Dedicated to Linda Dobbins, From Troop 12164.

Dobbins, a beloved Girl Scout volunteer and longtime troop leader, died at the age of 60 in May of 2015, following a long battle with cancer. Friends and loved ones said Linda was a true Girl Scout at heart and was well-known for hosting “fairy tale” and Halloween parties. An avid gardener, she was also an active volunteer with the Milford and Amherst garden clubs. 

Over the past several months, Junior Girl Scout Troop 12161 has been working hard to ensure that Dobbins be remembered for years to come. On June 8, the girls hosted a dedication ceremony for the Linda Dobbins Memorial Garden.  Troop Leader Carol Tabakaru said the girls’ project featured many personal touches, including two statues that once graced Linda’s own garden. Milford nurseries Trombly Gardens and Souhegan Gardens donated colorful annuals, perennials, and soil.

Attended by community and church members, local Girl Scouts and volunteers, family members, and friends, the ceremony included heartfelt testaments from those who knew Dobbins best. Dobbins’ husband Michael, a longtime Girl Scout volunteer himself, joined the girls in releasing several dozen Monarch butterflies, while Jane Tessier, now a leader of one of Linda’s former troops, said her friend and fellow volunteer was truly irreplaceable. “It hasn’t been easy filling her shoes. We all loved her,” Tessier said. “She’d play games with the girls and sing songs with them.”

Pastor Alex Gondola said the new garden - which features plantings to attract butterflies and other wild creatures - is a fitting tribute to the beloved troop leader. 

“The butterfly is a symbol of new and renewed life,” Gondola said. “We are eternally grateful for this beautiful garden.”

A group sing-a-long of one of Dobbins’ favorite Girl Scout camp songs, “Princess Pat,” concluded the ceremony. 

Leaders said that Dobbins would be very proud of the girls, who earned their Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can achieve, for their efforts.

Submitted by the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains.