Rangers Practice Cooking

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Carissa

In anticipation of the Area level Iron Chef competition for Pathfinders and Rangers in which girls form patrols to create delicious meals on camping equipment, both the 14th Pathfinders and the 12th Rangers had meetings last week to practice their skills. The Rangers have some pictures to share from when they took over a leader’s kitchen.

The actual competition, happening on Saturday, features guest judges including real food critics. For the practice, leaders gave feedback to the girls on how to improve their creations. One of the Rangers’ creations was called “Thai-ish Rice” which got kudos from the leaders for its coconut flavour and the siriacha spooky face (the competition’s theme is “Frankenstein’s Masterpiece”). They would have liked to see the rice better cooked though — the crunchy rice wasn’t as appetizing as it could have been.

The biggest success of the evening was that all the girls had a great time and showed great teamwork in the kitchen. The cinnamon apple dessert was quite tasty, and the leaders liked some of the creativity that they saw.

Will Burnaby Mountain’s mixed Pathfinder/Ranger patrol bring home the trophy? It will be even trickier to cook on the camp equipment, outside in the cold… but these girls are up for the challenge. More importantly they are ready to have fun.

Brownie Luau Sleepover

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Carissa

To get the year off to an awesome start, the 54th Brownies had a sleepover in September. It was themed like a Hawaiian luau!

Junior leaders at the entrance to the Luau

Heritage home Richmond Guide House was decorated to become to newest Hawaiian island. Girls were greeted by leaders with leis and went on to make their own floral hair pieces. After a pizza dinner (you guessed it, Hawaiian flavour!) the girls made their own coconut bras and donned grassed skirts.

Spicy Owl is helping a Brownie with her costume

Once they were all outfitted, it was time to dance! Hula style, of course.

Before long they were expert hula dancers

The night time snack was pineapple ice — a delicious treat made by freezing pineapple juice and grinding it through a snow cone maker.

Yum! Very refreshing.

A big thank you to all the leaders and Rangers who made this event possible. The girls had a great time!

Pathfinder Kick-off Event

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Carissa

The “Guiding Year” is almost upon us now and registrations are going great in Burnaby Mountain District. We had our first day of promotion at Lougheed Town Centre today and will be back on Sunday, meeting the community.

We are especially promoting our Pathfinder unit at this time and have come up with an awesome way for girls of that age to try out a taste of our program to see if they’re a good fit before committing to registration.

Burnaby Mountain District presents…

Pathfinder Kick-Off Event

September 21-22, 2013

Have you ever thought about joining Girl Guides? It’s not too late! Pathfinders enjoy girl-centered programming focussed on the things that girls enjoy. Typical activities include outings, camping, community service, skill building, and arts. If you’re a 12-14 year old girl, try this taste of Pathfinder’s event without committing to joining the group – if you have fun, then you can register after!

Who: 12-14 year old girls

What: A tent-out and trip to the Richmond Night Market

Where: A Girl Guide property in Richmond

When: September 21-22

Cost: $15.00

(plus a recommended $10 to buy dinner at the market)

Interested in signing up? Contact webmaster@ggcburnabymountaindistrict.com for details. Come with a friend – maybe you’ll both want to join.

Ever thought of volunteering?

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Carissa

Girl Guides of Canada is a great organization to volunteer with. Guiding is about girls and women, and there are great opportunities for adults who get involved.

Here are some things you might not know about being involved as an adult member in Girl Guides:

There are thousands of dollars available in scholarships for adult members at any stage of their education
There are opportunities to travel abroad with or without girls (see Saffina’s trip to the UN, for example)
Some or all costs for outside trainings like First Aid and FoodSafe may be covered
Other trainings about camping, event planning, communication, and youth programming are offered
Various supports are available to help new leaders such as mentoring and online and in-person training
Little kids aren’t your thing? That’s okay! Volunteer with our older branches and work with teenagers
Link (18-30) and Trefoil (30+) are adult-only groups where women meet with their peers and pursue interests, volunteering, camping, and outings
Unable to commit to weekly meetings? Maybe you could get involved on a District or Area level where you’d attend a couple meetings a month and do the rest of the job from home.

Right now, our District is most desperate for Pathfinder (ages 12-14) leaders, but other units could use help as well. Contact us to find out how you can get involved.

We’d love to welcome you into the world’s largest organization for girls and women. We’re 10 million strong — that’s quite a community to be a part of!

West Coast Area is hosting an event called A Taste of Guiding for anyone who might be interested, but looking for more info. RSVP is requested so please contact us (via comment or e-mail) for details on how to do that.

A Taste of Guiding

Sept 7th 2013 10:00 AM — 12:30 PM
Richmond Guide House, 4780 Blundell Rd. Richmond (corner of Railway and Blundell)

Come & join us for a fun-filled session to find out what we have to offer. There will be camping, games, art, leadership, and much more. You won’t want to miss it!

There is no cost for this event. Refreshments will be provided.

Spark and Brownie Fairy Camp

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Carissa

The 1st Sparks and the 54th Brownies recently had their year end camp together at the beautiful Camp Olave. The theme was “A Fairy Earns Her Wings” and the girls had a fun-filled weekend doing different tasks that eventually ended in a fairy ball where each girl was presented with a pair of beautiful wings.

There were crafts, games, and songs. They did activities like navigating a blind trail obstacle course and swimming in the ocean. There was even a bear sighting the first night that put a rather rapid end to the campfire, and provided much excitement.

The weather was warm and beautiful. Every single girl got into the ocean — which isn’t always the case, as the water is very cold! But these fairies needed to cool off.

One of the highlights was the fairy magic station. Regular little girls can blow regular bubbles. But only fairies can make GIANT bubbles. This activity was a hit with girls and leaders alike, and got the attention of many other campers on site.

At the fairy ball the girls earned their wings, got a fairy jewel (a ringpop) and danced to some pop music. It was a great celebration to recognize their fairy accomplishments.

Big thank yous to all the leaders who organized such a successful camp. There were a few volunteer mums who came to help out and they were amazing. For many of these girls this was their very first camp — we’re glad it was such a great one.

District Advancement & Family Picnic

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Carissa

To wrap up the Guiding year at a district level, Burnaby Mountain hosted a family picnic at Warner Loat Park to celebrate our girls and their families. The event was well-attended and it seemed like a good time was had by all.

The event started with an Advancement ceremony where each branch’s advancing girls were welcomed by the next branch as they symbolically crossed a foot bridge. The group got bigger and bigger as the group of advancing girls amassed, and eventually all of the girl members crossed together into the next Guiding year.

Picnic activities included face painting, balloon animals, and button making, as well as carnival style games like bean bag toss and egg on a spoon. There were also areas for bubble blowing and free play.

There were big crowds and huge smiles. More than 150 hotdogs were served. Prizes were claimed by girls and siblings who completed most of the activities. It was a great treat to see so many girls and guiders and family members come together to celebrate the Guiding Year.

Big thank yous to the hard working Guiders who planned and put on such a great event. Thank you to the Pathfinder and Ranger girls who helped run the stations. And thank you also to West Coast Area Commissioner Donna came out as a special guest.

Brownie Dance Party

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Carissa

Early in the Guiding year the girls of the 54th Brownies were very clear about one thing that they wanted to do this year. They wanted to have a DANCE PARTY.

Brown Owl wasn’t too sure what to make of their request at first, but as they continued to show interest in pop music and making dance routines and singing together during regular meetings, it became clear that this was something they should pursue.

So for their second sleepover of the year, the group rented a hall in the community for the night. The leaders decorated with music-themed decorations. The girls made a craft out of recycled CDs. But the biggest hit was the disco light that showed three different colours and kept to the pace of the music that was playing.

The girls made dance routines in patrols to some of their favourite pop songs. They also did “traditional” dances like the Chicken Dance, the Macarena, and the YMCA. The danced enthusasitically, even singing along to the chorus of Brown Owl’s favourite song (Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer”) taught to them by some of the other leaders.

It was a night of Kelly Clarkson, and Justin Beiber, One Direction, and Taylor Swift, and so many more — and a really fun night that neither the girls nor the leaders are likely to forget.

Guider Participates in UN Commission on the Status of Women

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Carissa

Earlier this year one of our Guiders took part in an amazing opportunity where she was able to represent Girl Guides (and women, more generally) on the world stage. Saffina, a leader of the 47th Brownies, attended the 57th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, New York as a WAGGGS youth delegate. She was selected at the national level to participate in this event because of her dedication to Guiding as well as her personal accomplishments. Saffina majored in Women’s Studies and minored in Islamic History. She currently works at a local rape crisis center and crisis line as well as a youth detox facility and therefore has an ample understanding of the challenges girls and women face every day and their value to society. What an amazing role model to our girls!

Like many of the Guiders who take part in international opportunities, Saffina says that one of the highlights of her experience was meeting the other members from around the world. The delegation also featured World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) members from countries ranging from Pakistan to Malawi — a total of 13 countries were represented.

The delegation focussed on educating others and lobbying globally for girls rights in all aspects of life by promoting the “Stop the Violence” campaign. Saffina invites you to add your voice to this campaign by visiting http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/take_action/violence.

Saffina’s incredible contribution has already been featured on the Girl Guides of Canada national blog. See what she wrote about her trip here. You can also check out more information about the Commission on the Status of Women WAGGGS delegation here. The other members of her district are extremely proud of her. We couldn’t have asked for a better representative for such an important event.

Brownie Sleepover at the Pool

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Carissa

Earlier this year the 47th Brownies went on a sleepover to Eileen Dailly Pool in Burnaby. The swimming — and especially the waterslide! — was a lot of fun. Kudos to the leader brave enough to take her phone into the pool to get this awesome group shot.

After some time in the water, the girls got to eat pizza and cake. Before bed they watched Disney’s Brave, which was a great opportunity to talk about how awesome girls are.

A big thank you to the staff at Eileen Dailly for hosting our group for the night. Everyone had a great time.

Burnaby Mountain District

Register today at www.girlguides.ca!

Author Archives: Carissa