Trooping to See the President

WASHINGTON — Almost three years and untold thousands of cookies ago, the 15 members of Hollywood-Wilshire Girl Scout Troop 1265 decided to travel to the capital to see the usual sights, soak up the usual civics lessons and maybe shake the hand of a lawmaker or two. Yesterday, they chucked a scheduled trip to Colonial Williamsburg for a better offer: chatting with President Clinton on the south lawn of the White House.

The invitation arrived Tuesday night, midway through the visit, to Scout leader Barbara Turner. And, knowing her troops to be excitable, she waited until Wednesday morning to break the news.

“We all screamed,” recalled Arissa Bright, 12. “Then we all stopped and said, ‘Can you repeat that, please?’ And then we all screamed again.”

A presidential encounter wasn’t in the cards when the Scouts and their parents began the marathon of garage sales, cookie sales and calendar sales to raise the $12,000 for the big trip. But that all changed Nov. 3.

“I realize how incredibly busy you are now,” Turner wrote to the President-elect in early December, “but I have to tell you that ever since the election, the girls have quit talking about seeing the beautiful and imposing monuments. All they want to see is President Clinton.”

Turner’s letter had more going for it than flattery (although Administration job-seekers take note). The 42-year-old Los Angeles County deputy district attorney focused on Clinton’s fervent commitment to bettering the lives of children and her unique perspective on the issue.

“As a veteran prosecutor assigned exclusively to hard-core street gang murder cases, I can say that my daily exposure to the gang culture is a constant reminder of how acutely important it is the we . . . invest in our children--massively, early and often. Your brief visit with our young and impressionable girls would mean the world to them.”

“He touched me! He put his hands right on my shoulders! He is so cute!” bubbled Takeisha Harris, 12. “I’m not even cold anymore.”

Good point, Takeisha. Clinton, running behind as usual, kept the Scouts shivering in their blue, white and green uniforms for half an hour in 40ish-degree weather. Red-nosed, unspeakably giggly and girlish, the Scouts held their ground--and their troop banner--with infinitely more dignity than the grousing press horde.

And once the President strode down to the waiting, impeccably composed Scouts, he confronted the weather issue head on:

“I wanted these young women to come here, not only to see them freeze to death (pause for respectful chuckles) but because as we come up on the first anniversary of the troubles in Los Angeles . . . it is important to point out the incredible contribution that can be made by groups like the Scouting program in our urban areas. . . .”

The mid-Wilshire-Fairfax neighborhood has produced a remarkably diverse cultural blend for Troop 1265--Korean, Japanese, Latino, British, African-American, Jamaican, Jewish, Egyptian, Iranian.

Clinton asked Rana Hogarth, 12, to recite her award-winning poem composed after the riots.

. . . The children ran for stolen delights while the fires of shame burned deep in their hearts ...

Everything we once had known was blown away by anger and a cold, ruthless wind.

And then it was over. Clinton, walking easily among the fawning girls, moved on to the White House basketball hoop, where another group--women athletes--awaited.