Rangers at the Night Market

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Carissa

As one of their first events this year, back in September, girls in the 12th Rangers went to the Richmond Night Market. They enjoyed eating unusual treats and shopping at unique vendors. The theme at the night market this year was Magical Candyland — it was a fun night to be sure!

The market was busy, colourful, and exciting. The adorable duck mascot and fun candy decorations made for a few irresistible photo ops.

They were joined at the market by the 14th Pathfinders. Afterwards, the two units went back to Richmond Guide House where they tented in the backyard. Meanwhile, the 54th Brownies were having a sleepover in the house — all three units had breakfast together in the morning. It is always a pleasure to see units bridging for special events.

Sparks Tinkerbell Sleepover

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Carissa

Last week the girls of the 1st Sparks had a great time sleeping over at Richmond Guide House. They had a pizza pajama party with the theme of Tinkerbell! They enjoyed a tasty pizza supper and then did a craft of Tinkerbell tutus before settling in to a room made into a movie theatre with a projector showing the Tinkerbell Pirate Fairy movie on the wall. The movie looked and sounded great. So much fun!

A magical fairy checking out the party light

In the morning the girls had a fairy party. This involved wearing the tutus made the night before and putting on fairy wings. The “movie theatre” room was converted into a “dance party” room with music and disco lights. They danced to pop music and classics like the Chicken Dance and the Macarena.

The fairy party also included reading from a Tinkerbell picture book, eating cake pops, and colouring some Tink sheets.

At the end of the event, some of the girls didn’t even want to go home they were having so much fun. That’s a pretty impressive endorsement considering for many of these Sparks it was their very first sleepover ever!

Gulf of Georgia Cannery/Richmond Guide House Sleepover

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Carissa

At the end of September the girls and leaders of the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies had an incredible overnight experience combining a tour of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery and a sleepover at Richmond Guide House.

Some of the leaders outside the Cannery as the girls gathered for the event

Everyone met at the cannery, which is a Parks’ Canada National Historic site. Two enthusiastic tour guides took everyone around the facility, showing how salmon was fished and canned and west coast.

The start of the tour, near a display about old time fishing techniques

It was fascinating to learn about what the conditions were like for the people working in the cannery, to see the machines, and understand some context about the west coast fishing industries.

The girls were a rapt and well behaved audience

The girls especially enjoyed some hands-on activities designed to give them an appreciation for the weight of the fish, how they moved fish around the cannery, and even learning how much a Brownie’s weight of salmon would have been worth (answer: about $20!)

One Brownie using a tool to move rubber fish from one bin to another. It was heavy, hard work!

After the tour the girls had a fish and chips dinner in the cannery’s ice house. A huge thank you to friend of Guiding, Dave’s Fish and Chips, who prepared our delicious meal for wonderful value. Everyone then rode the bus back to the Richmond Guide House where they settled in to the sleepover portion of the evening.

A koi fish wind sock — fish theme, get it?

The girls worked together to cook some stone soup for mug-up, made a craft of koi fish wind socks, sang campfire songs, and went to bed (at a very reasonable time, the leaders are pleased to add!).

Sparks become Nature Explorers

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Carissa

Last week the girls in the 1st Sparks went on an outing to Burnaby Lake where they were toured around the park by some Metro Vancouver park interpreters for a Nature Explorers field trip. The theme of the evening was nocturnal animals. image (3)

Stations and activities were set up along the trail designed for the girls to learn about bats, owls, spiders, frogs, slugs, beavers, and flying squirrels. Puppets, artefacts, and habitats were all involved in a hands-on experience, expertly tailored to our girls’ ages. One of the best recieved activities involved the Sparks climbing through a giant spider web without touching the strings… or else the giant fuzzy spider puppet would come turn them into supper!

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There was plenty of real nature to enjoy. Girls got to pet slugs, listen to frogs, and observe birds — some girls even spotted an owl!

It was a lot of fun to spend a meeting outside learning about nature. It was neat to learn that there was so much wildlife so close to where we all live. If other groups are interested in booking a park interpreter field trip, details are available here.

What Are You Waiting For?

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Carissa

Our organization is only possible because of the hard work of our dedicated volunteers. Some units in Burnaby Mountain District already have wait lists. In order to support more girls by increasing our unit capacities or opening more units, we need more adults. Benefits of being a leader include membership in the world’s largest organization for girls and women, training, mentorship, and opportunities for international travel and post-secondary scholarships. We are a fun and supportive community of women who welcome new ideas and enthusiasm.

Working with girls is super fun and really rewarding. From the youngest Sparks all the way to the teenagers in Pathfinders and Rangers, our girls are the best! No experience is required — and no daughters are required either. Our adult members must be over 19, female, and pass a screening process including a police criminal records check.

Not a big fan of working closely with kids? Our district is also actively seeking volunteers for other positions “behind the scenes” such as a new treasurer and a cookie advisor.

Interested? Drop us a comment or send us an e-mail for more information. Check the Contact Us tab for how to reach us. Our district will also have representatives stationed in Lougheed Mall this coming weekend. Drop by to chat with us.

District Planning and Cutthroat Kitchen

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Carissa

With September, the start of the Guiding year, just around the corner, Guiders from Burnaby Mountain district gathered yesterday for their annual planning day. The morning featured training sessions to help new Guiders understand how to run the Guide program and to give tips and tricks for running a unit including planning, communication, and conflict management. In the afternoon there was a planning session where topics such as cookies, fundraising, and district events were discussed — there’s a lot of fun stuff in the works for this year!

Of course we wouldn’t really be Girl Guides if we didn’t incorporate an element of real FUN into the day. Our mid-day activity was a team-building exercise based on the Food Network TV show Cutthroat Kitchen. Guiders were put into teams to cook a main dish, side dish, and dessert in just 45 minutes, with crazy challenges thrown in for extra chaos.

Cooking started out with a frenzied collecting of ingredients from the pantry. Teams quickly put together their plans and got to work. Throughout the event, however, the host (District Commissioner Gerry) would announce challenges that teams would bid on to inflict on another team to try to sabotage them. Challenges including having to pause to sing campfire songs, having to use a teeny tiny frying pan to cook your food, having to wear one oven mitt for the duration of the game, and having to be handcuffed to another teammate. SAM_2994 Above is one player cooking her meat in a tiny pan, and below are two players both handcuffed and oven mitted, attempting to plate their meal. SAM_2995 The event was judged by District co-treasurers Nikki and Chris, along with Area Commissioner Donna. The meals, shown plated below, showed great creativity and were remarkably tasty given the limited amount of time, single shared kitchen, and the challenges inflicted.

More than enough food was made for everyone to enjoy lunch out of their creations. Dishes included prawn stir fry, sloppy joes, chow mien noodles, spinach pasta salad, and peach tarts. Leaders had a great time being silly and competing against each other. In the end, leaders from three units split of the prize of $100 for their unit’s bank accounts.

District Safari Camp

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Carissa

June 13-15, girls from all branches gathered at the lovely Camp Olave on the sunshine coast for Burnaby Mountain’s district camp. Approximately 60 girls from 9 different units attended.

Ocean view and some local wildlife on the porch of a residential site at Camp Olave.

What make district camp different from a regular unit camp? Most often when girls go to camp they camp with their unit which means spending the weekend with the girls and leaders they see every week. It is a great way to deepen friendships and bond with people you already know. District camp is special because the girls get to make new friends and get a better sense of the sisterhood of Guiding. At this camp, all of the Sparks and Brownies were mixed together across three different residential camp sites. The Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers all camped together on a platform tent site. This was a new experience for many of the girls, but they rose to the challenge and enjoyed mixing with different girls their own age.

Girls from the lion and tiger patrols showing off their masks.

The theme for this camp was Safari. Girls had a blast going through activities in their animal-themed patrols. They did crafts like make binoculars, animal print change purses, and animal masks.

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Other highlights included camp classics like swimming in the ocean, singing around a campfire, and making s’mores.

HUGE thank yous to all of the leaders who came out to make this district camp a great success. Thanks especially to the core staff who worked throughout the year on promoting, planning, and running the camp — a huge amount of work goes into an event like this one, and girls loved every minute.

Brownie Greek Mythology Camp

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Carissa

Brownies from three units gathered for the weekend at Camp Capilano in beautiful North Vancouver to camp out ancient Greek style. After conducting a poll of all three units, the girls chose the theme Greek Mythology for their weekend.

The girls had a great time making new friends and enjoying the wonderful camp facilities. As part of their afternoon Olympics, the girls spent time Poseidon adventuring in the heated outdoor pool.

SAM_2884 They also learned how to use camp stoves as part of their camping badges. They worked together to make some fruit of the gods jam to bring home to their moms for mother’s day.

Other Olympic games included shot put, discus, and cupid’s arrow.

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It wouldn’t have been Brownie camp without a campfire including all their favourite songs, and roasting marshmallows for s’mores.

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And the girls danced the night away at their toga party wearing the awesome toga nighties they made earlier in the day.

It was a wildly successful camp. Thank you to the leaders from the 24th Brownies, the 54th Brownies, and the Highlands Brownies for working together to pull this off. Also, a thank you to the couple of Guides who came along to act as patrol leaders, showing great leadership and fun attitudes.

Pixar in Concert with the VSO

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Carissa

Girls from the 54th Brownies and the Highlands Guiding unit got together for an outing to the Orpheum theatre in Vancouver to attend the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Pixar in Concert.

The show featured music from all 14 Pixar films performed live by the orchestra while images from the films were projected on a screen above. The concert really illustrated how powerful the music is, and how it is used to set mood, character, and place in some of our favourite movies. At times funny, sad, and scary, the music and images worked well together — well enough that the sold out audience was held in rapt attention through the whole performance. pixar

The Guiders would like to acknowledge that the girls were exceptionally well behaved, proving yet again that there is nothing our girls can’t do. For many of the girls, this was their first time seeing a live orchestra performance and we’re thrilled by how much they enjoyed it. We were all impressed by the talent of the musicians and the splendor of the Orpheum. It was a night that none of us are likely to forget soon.

Turtles Visit Brownies

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Carissa

A recent regular meeting of the 54th Brownies was made even more exciting than normal with a visit by a guest speaker from an organization called Species at Risk.

The speaker came in to discuss identification of local species and distinctions between native and invasive species, threats to survival, habitat needs and the actions being done to help. She also brought in “ambassador animals” — two juvenile painted tutles named Bert and Ernie that the girls got to handle.

This presenation worked towards the unit’s program activities about the living world, particularly their “Saving our Plants and Animals” badge. Thank you to Andrea (and Bert and Ernie!) for such an informative presentation. The girls learned a lot.

Burnaby Mountain District

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