Herritage Christmas

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Carissa

On December 17th, the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks and the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies went on an outing to the Burnaby Village Museum Herritage Christmas. It was an especially exciting time because they invited families to join — since the museum is celebrating the 100th birthday of the carousel, admission was free so it was easy to have lots of people come out.

All together there were 32 girl members, another dozen or so siblings and cousins, and a bunch of moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, and even a couple Guider husbands.

Girls went out in small groups to do a Christmas treat themed scavenger hunt and see such attractions as the blacksmith, the old fashioned movie theatre, a visit to traditional Father Christmas, and do a craft.

The highlight, of course, was the 100-year old carousel. They filled the carousel one and a half times!

Rangers in Victoria

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Carissa

The Golden Power Rangers went on their first camp of the year in Victoria, BC, staying at the Southern Vancouver Island Guide House from November 30th to December 2nd. GPR Victoria 2

The small but fun group enjoyed activities such as healthy meal substitutions, clothing design. The camp was co-planned by the Rangers themselves who got a wealth of experience figuring out activities in Victoria.

Considering healthy meal substitutions

One highlight was a tour around the Parliament Building led by the local MLA Carol James where they got to see the restricted to public Chamber of Commons, and much more.

Meeting the MLA

On their last night they went for a night out on the town to enjoy the truck parade held annually for Christmas and watched the boats light up in the harbour. In addition, the group of 11th graders went to the University of Victoria for a tour to familiarize themselves with the options they have for local universities in their future!

Book In Baby

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Carissa

One of our adult members has recently returned from an amazing 12 week volunteer experience at Girl Guides’ World Centre Sangam in Pune, India.

Don’t worry, we’ll get a post up here soon with some of her pictures and thoughts. But in the meantime, check out this video about “booking in” to visit Sangam. If you look closely you’ll see Chelsea in two scenes (hint: the first one is the image you see below and in the other she’s standing there watching people do a silly dance).

Brought to you all the way from India…

Iron Chef Competition at Woodward’s Landing

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Carissa

A few weeks ago (October 27th), the 12th Burnaby Mountain Rangers participated in West Coast Area’s Iron Chef competition. Girls in groups of 4-6 were asked to prepare a three course meal on camping cooking equipment using the secret ingredients provided.

This late-October event had a Halloween theme. One of the guest judges, Mijune Pak (of FollowMeFoodie blogging fame!) posted about the event, including plenty of pictures. Check out her post here!

Our Rangers won a certificate for Best Food Descriptions — check out some of their work!

: Main Course Menu Card — Photo credit: Follow Me Foodie

And the food that accompanies it! — Photo credit: Follow Me Foodie

One of our adult members, Co-Treasurer Niki, attended as a judge as well. She said that the event was tonnes of fun and that nobody even noticed the rainy weather.

: Judges Mijune (left) and Niki (right) tasting somebody’s entry — Photo credit: West Coast Area

Big thank yous go out to all the hardworking individuals at West Coast Area who helped to plan and execute this awesome activity for older girls. It was a really fun day.

Community Tree Planting Event

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Carissa

Yesterday, a small group of dedicated and hard working girls from three different units in our district got together to plant native plant species in Stoney Creek Park. The event was organized by the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks unit, who had won a tree planting grant from Girl Guides of Canada & TD Bank’s Friends of the Environment. Helpers also came out from the 56th Guides and the 14th Pathfinders. This event was part of Girl Guides of Canada Operation Earth Action National Service Project. The event was also made possible with the support and expertise of the Stoney Creek Environmental Committee.

A truck load of plants

Overall the hard working girls and adult volunteers planted about 50 plants native to the area.In addition to the almost $500 worth of plants you see in the truck bed, there were donations from the Stoney Creek Environmental Centre’s Nature Garden. Our plants included

Snowberry
Wintergreen
Salal
Kinnik Kinnik
Oregon Grape
Salmonberry
Sword Ferns

Great teamwork, all day!

One interesting highlight was that there were salmon spawning in the stream as the group worked — it definitely helped remind all of us why we were there. Stoney Creek is an urban stream that successfully hosts salmon every year. The natural environment in that area is precious and also at risk. That’s why it is important for people to help protect and replenish the area’s environment.

Watching the salmon

It was a cool rainy day, and everyone got mucky. Girls worked in pairs with either a Guide or a Pathfinder paired with a Spark, and the older girls showed incredible leadership skills as they worked with their buddies to accomplish this task.

Working together

After the planting everyone got to relax in the Environmental Centre with hot chocolate, cookies, and rice krispie squares. The ladies from the Environmental Centre told us about some of their other local projects and everyone got to take home some goodies, including a neat key chain showing different salmon species.

A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone who came out for this event. It was a lot of work, but it was for a great cause. A special thank you to Gail and Christine from the Environmental Committee — we couldn’t have done it without them.

Sparks Pizza Pajama Party

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Carissa

Last weekend the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks had a sleepover pizza pajama party at Richmond Guide House. It was a great opportunity for the girls and leaders to get to know each other — and with the unit having 10 new girls, 2 new junior leaders, and 1 new Guider this year, this seemed pretty important!

The decorated sleepover totes — really cute draw string backpacks sewn by Emerald.

Future fashion designers hard at work

Dinner, of course, was pizza. One of the highlights was the “movie theatre” where the girls got to watch The Lorax projected onto the wall. And it wouldn’t be a movie theatre without popcorn!

Getting ready to watch the movie

In the morning everyone was pretty sleepy, but a good time was had by all. The girls made new friends and some really great memories of their early days in Sparks.

Everyone is now excited for some of our upcoming events. Did you know that the Lorax speaks for the trees? He says that “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to change. It’s Not.” Hmm. I wonder what we could do if we had some trees… Stay tuned!

Brownie Camp Skills Sleepover

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Carissa

Last weekend the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies got to experience an introduction to camping from the safe (and dry… and warm) quarters of the Richmond Guide House.

Tawny Owl and the two Junior Leaders demonstrating tent set up on the porch

They had planned on tenting in the yard if the weather cooperated, but the forecast for stormy weather made them decide to set up their tents inside.

Girls — with some help — trying it out upstairs

In addition to tenting, the girls did a sewing craft to make a camp pillow, and ate barbequed hot dogs for dinner. They woke up to watch a movie in the living room and enjoyed a tasty breakfast before heading home.

Learning how to sew. They decorated recycled pillow cases too!

Everyone agrees that it was a great way for everyone to get to know each other and to practice camping skills. They loved the beautiful venue. Many thanks to the Guiders and Junior Leaders who made this overnight trip possible!

First Aid Training

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Carissa

This Thanksgiving weekend, six Guiders from our District spent time becoming certified in Red Cross Standard First Aid and CPR Level C.

Six brand new Red Cross certificates

This qualification actually exceeds the Girl Guides requirement for most kinds of activities — that so many of our leaders were interested in taking this course rather than the more common Emergency First Aid course shows how committed we are to girl safety and to being able to offer exciting programming. The Girl Guide motto, after all, is “Be Prepared!”

Leaders from both our Ranger units practicing a sling for a broken arm

The leaders learned about life-saving techniques such as CPR for adults, children, and infants, including use of automatic external defibrillators. They learned about how to deal with choking, head injuries, sprains, broken bones, allergic reactions (including anaphylaxis), heat exhaustion, heart attacks, and more.

Leaders from the 56th Guides doing a “tubular” sling for a dislocated shoulder

The trainer was an enthusiastic paramedic who kept the days fun. All six leaders had a great time learning about these important skills… although they sincerely hope they will never have to use any them!

Cookies are here!

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Carissa

This week, more than 2500 boxes of chocolatey mint cookies arrived for our District to sell. Cookies have been distributed to units, who have given them to girls this week.

Chocolatey Mint Cookies went on sale October 1st

This year, the cookies are coming out in awesome new packaging. The new look really highlights what Girl Guides is all about. What else is new about cookies this year? Well, although it has been true of our cookies for a few years now, we are now have the nut-free symbol right on the box. Also, trans fats in the chocolatey mint cookies have gone down by 90%.

Not only does cookie selling provide funds that help us run girl programming (they help subsidize camps, pay for craft supplies, etc) it also helps every girl develop confidence and business skills. From Sparks to Rangers, our girls proudly ask “Would you like to buy a box of Girl Guide Cookies?” and are eager to tell you they’re only “$5.00 a box!”

SFU Volunteer and Community Engagement Fair

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Carissa

This week has been all about membership in Burnaby Mountain District! There have been two membership information sessions at local elementary schools to reach out to the youth, and we also spent time at the local university campus to reach adults.

Did you know that membership in our district is up this year, and that most of our units have less than three spaces currently available?

The day at Simon Fraser University’s Volunteer and Community Engagement Fair was an especially exciting time. We worked with Guiders from a couple of other districts to represent West Coast Area (and beyond!) at this major event attended by more than 3000 students, faculty, and staff.

Did you know that there are a variety of ways for women to get involved in our organization, and that neither experience or daughters are required?

PR Advisor Bethany and District Commissioner Gerry at our booth

We talked to several women, most of whom were university students, about their fond memories of being involved in Guiding as a a child — and considering getting involved again. Others came by hardly knowing what Girl Guides was about, but expressing interest in working with kids. We gave out cookie samples and were eager to talk about all the exciting things going on in our district this year.

Check out the great presentation board we borrowed from Area. Wouldn’t it be great to make our own, filled with memories of our district?

By the end of the fair two leaders had actually filled out registration forms and been placed in units in our district, and four others had expressed interest and asked to be contacted by our commissioner. In addition, we collected contact information from women interested in getting involved in Vancouver, Surrey, North Vancouver, and other parts of Burnaby. They will be contacted by the appropriate districts shortly.

Did you know that Guiding offers amazing opportunities for its girls and women including scholarships, training, and international travel?

Over all the SFU fair was a big success. Our Guiders are happy to be gaining the support and fresh new ideas coming from these young, talented, motivated women.

Burnaby Mountain District

Register today at www.girlguides.ca!

Author Archives: Carissa