Attending the 63rd session of Dirigo Girls State from Mt. Abram High School were Amanda Richard of Strong, Magnolia Dixon of Avon, Mt. Abram Principal Brenda Stevens, Hillary Eustis of Phillips, and Emmaline Twitchell of Kingfield. (Lynne Eustis photo) PHILLIPS — Hillary Eustis, daughter of James and Lynne Eustis of Phillips, and Magnolia Dixon, daughter of Scott and Cindy Dixon of Avon, recently attended a dinner meeting of the American Legion Auxiliary in Phillips. The girls were invited to attend and share their experiences as delegates to the 63rd session of Dirigo Girls State, held last summer at Husson University in Bangor. Nora Thombs, Director, Dirigo Girls State Program, was also present at this event.

Eustis and Dixon, now seniors at Mt. Abram High School, were among 250 delegates at the 2009 session. While spending a week at Husson, they participated in a wide variety of activities focused on teaching the processes of local, county, and state government. At the beginning of the week, they took part as citizens in local Town Meetings, acted on Articles in a Warrant, and decided to take out nomination papers and run for office. Following the campaigning, the caucuses and rallies, the primaries and general elections, both young ladies were elected to office.

Eustis was elected Representative of her town, Unity, in the county of Courage. As such she participated in a lengthy discussion issues related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. She says Girls State was a very big learning experience. She learned a lot, not only about government, but about herself. To any girls who are “kind of thinking about going, but are thinking that it is going to be boring and they are only going to talk about government 24/7,” she highly recommends going just the same.

“Although you obviously do a lot of stuff with government,” Eustis assures them that they “will have a lot of fun and you will definitely make a lot of new friends.” She met “a lot of cool people,” who were all worried about the same thing when they got there.

“They were worried about if they were going to make any friends, and they thought it was going to be a horrible week, but it was far from horrible!” she declared enthusiastically, “So if you are thinking about going, definitely do it! It is a great experience that you will never forget!”

Dixon was a representative from her town of Justice in Courage County. Discussions in which she participated included topics such as permitting hunting on Sundays, decreasing automobile excise tax for hybrid vehicles, legalization of physician assisted suicide, and the establishment of a casino.

“I would say to anyone that is thinking about going they should,” Magnolia agreed with Eustis, “because it was a really great opportunity and learning experience.”

Girls State is a Youth Citizenship Program for Young Women designed to prepare them for the process of selfgovernment and good citizenship as practiced in a democratic society. It includes the operation of a model Senate and House of Representatives and County Officers’ meetings.

Bills of current concern to youth were debated and acted on in a simulation that follows the same procedure as that of Maine’s government. Other simulated activities include Mock Trials and a lobbyist program. Everyone has the opportunity to participate in some aspect of government, whether or not they choose to run for office.

Patriotism is also a component of the program. The girls were taught and practiced Flag Etiquette throughout the week in addition to their duties as elected officials.

An additional bonus for the girls from Mt. Abram was the participation of their Principal, Brenda Stevens, at Girls State. The young ladies were pleased to have the chance to get to know their new principal in the out-ofschool setting.

Girls State delegates are selected based on their having met specific criteria, including the completion of their junior year of high school; demonstration of leadership potential and good citizenship; and their contributions to Mt. Abram’s extracurricular activities. They were chosen by the American Legion Auxiliary in Phillips, the local sponsor of the Girls State program.