Founding Troop #217 was Lora Callahan’s first big project. Nicki Ahrens
Former Girl Scout Lora Callahan spent 120 hours leading an effort to make James River State Park Virginia’s second International Dark Sky Park. It became such last spring.
Lynchburg, Virginia, native Lora Callahan was in fourth grade and looking for a hobby. She enjoyed running but wasn’t attracted to competition or team sports. Nor was she artistically inclined. Ballet and dance proved misses as well. What to do?
Her mom, Valerie, was a former Girl Scout. Considering Lora’s love of playing outside and habit of taking on household projects, Mom suggested joining an area troop. When the search turned up nada, Lora declared, “Let’s make one of our own!”
Founding Troop #217 was Lora’s first big project. With its success she found a calling: Lora became deeply invested in the group and helped lead meetings; she worked hard to plan projects and outings. Friends were made, badges earned. By middle school she was a volunteer counselor for affiliated summer camps at Bedford County’s Camp Sacajawea.
As a high school freshman, Lora joined four girls in representing Virginia at the 2014 National Girl Scout Convention in Utah. There she met ambitious scouts from most U.S. states and enrolled in the prestigious Leadership Institute for high-school-aged Scouts.
The program is requisite for earning a Gold Award—the organization’s highest honor. It entails completing an 80-plus-hour project that, according to the Girl Scouts website, “takes steps to develop lasting solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing our world today.” Just 5.4 % of eligible Scouts earn the distinction. It is touted as the “most prestigious award in the world for girls (and the most difficult to earn).”
At the convention, recipients presented synopses of projects ranging from efforts to curb human trafficking, cut plastic waste in oceans, expand STEM opportunities for girls in underserved communities and more.
“I wanted to make it up on that stage,” says the now 19-year-old Lora Callahan. Scouting had hugely impacted her life; she would see it through to the end—and in a big way. “I wanted younger girls to look at me and see what I did and feel inspired to do something similar.”
Callahan initially aimed to combat adult violence against teenaged girls. She found a new direction after volunteering with the Virginia State Park Youth Conservation Corps Program in early 2015.
Participation meant four weeks in York River State Park working on “important conservation projects… in a setting that fosters learning, teamwork, self-esteem, social responsibility and environmental respect.” The experience led her to fall in love with environmental science, public land stewardship, and a lifestyle of outdoor conservation.
Heading into summer her parents asked about vacation. “I said, ‘Can we go to a bunch of state parks?’” Callahan recalls with a laugh. The experience helped reorient her Gold Award project.
She was stunned by the majesty of night starscapes. Gazing up at the Milky Way was “awe-inspiring,” says Callahan. “I hadn’t really appreciated it before.”
Learning that 99 percent of Americans live under skies tainted by light pollution, Callahan wanted to raise awareness by helping preserve pockets of near-pristine viewing. Researching actionable possibilities, she discovered the International Dark-Sky Association (IDSA). The global organization offers designations for public parks that meet rigorous viewing standards—there are currently just 66 in the world.
Of all the parks Callahan visited, James River was her favorite for viewing. She quickly contacted superintendent Andrew Philpot.
If Philpot would authorize development for requisite educational programming and cover the costs of various lighting and signage upgrades, Callahan would handle the legwork.
The process took about two years, 120 hours of work, and, despite donations and volunteer labor, cost about $3,000. By its close, special light fixtures and bulbs, and new informational posters were installed throughout the park. Callahan then conducted outreach to surrounding community members to help them limit nighttime light pollution, and, in most cases, secured and installed IDSA approved bulbs and fixtures.
After that, Callahan worked with rangers to develop educational stargazing experiences. Lastly, she spearheaded the application process. The efforts resulted in 99 percent IDSA compliancy: James River State Park became an International Dark Sky Park in the spring of 2019.
“Lora worked tirelessly to make this happen,” says Philpot. “The credit for this achievement goes to her. Her passion and dedication were inspiring and astonishing.”
For her part, Callahan calls the experience formative and profound. It inspired her to study environmental science at Virginia Tech in hopes of undertaking largescale conservation initiatives in the future.
“I worked on this project all through high school,” says Callahan. It taught her that, if you want to make big things happen, it takes hard work, sticking to your guns, and taking one small step at a time.
The story above appears in our January/February 2020 issue.
