Category Archives: Unit Event

Skulls on Tour visits Highlands

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This week, the girls in the University Highlands Guiding Unit were thrilled to welcome a very special guest speaker to their meeting. The presenter’s name is Yvonne and her program is called Skulls on Tour. She has a large collection of natural science specimens including… you guessed it: skulls!

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In addition to the scientific learning opportunity the specimens provide, she talked about what it’s like to have a serious collection/hobby, and spoke about the community of other collectors that she’s become a part of. The girls and leaders found it informative on several levels.

The girls were very interested in checking out Yvonne’s collection. They got to get pretty close and even handle some of the specimens. It was a really neat chance to learn about animal physiology.

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Bones, horns, teeth, and fur were all included in the display. There was so much to look at, touch, and feel. Girls were very engaged and asked lots of questions. It was fascinating! Guest speakers are such a fun way to bring something new to a regular unit meeting.

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Yvonne is a Sparks leader in Vancouver and can customize her talk for any age group. For more information, or to inquire about booking Skulls on Tour for your own unit, check out her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/skullsandoddities/.

Eagle Bluffs Summer Hike

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Most of our units are quiet in the summer as most of our activities follow the regular school year. However, Guider Marie with the 14th Pathfinders hates to see good weather and free time go wasted! Our 14th Pathfinders usually find time to have at least one great adventure during the summer months.

Last summer, the group tackled the Cypress Mountain Eagle Bluffs Hike, which is a part of the Baden-Powell trail, named for Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, the founders of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. The 8km hike took them about 5 hours, including a stop for lunch.

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There was a raven scoping out their food at the lookout point which was rather entertaining — everyone loves spotting local wildlife. The Pathfinders also received their badges from the previous guiding year when they broke for lunch at the lookout.

The girls learned a valuable lesson about being prepared: one of them borrowed Guider Marie’s vest, and another her extra pair of hiking socks! It was really cold in the morning hence the bundling up, but it warmed up later in the day.

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The Eagle Bluffs Hike was lots of fun and rewarded the group with beautiful views. This summer, the Pathfinders are getting ready to go camping. The unit is heading to Camp McLanlin in a couple of weeks.

Way to go, 14th Pathfinders and Guider Marie, for keeping the Guiding spirit alive all summer long! Guiding does offer other great summer opportunities such as travel and camping at an Area, Provincial, and National level. Guider Marie also recently got back from the National camp, Guiding Mosaic at Sylvan Lake, AB.

Spaghetti a la Advancement

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At the end of the Guiding year, the girls of the 49th Guides, plus their leaders and their families, went for a year end lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown. It was a lot of fun for the girls to have a meal together out at a nice restaurant.

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For three of the girls, this was their last event as Guides so they received their advancement pins. On to Pathfinders for those girls!

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Two of them also received their Lady Baden Powell Award, which is the highest award available to a Guide aged girl and is given in recognition of completing the entire Guide program — way to go, girls!

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While it may not have been the most traditional advancement ceremony in the history of Guiding, Girl Guides is all about making memories and sharing special times with our friends. For this small unit, this pasta meal advancement ceremony is likely to stick in their minds as a great way to have recognized their accomplishments in Guides.

Art Project at Guides

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At a recent Guide meeting the girls of the 22nd Burnaby Mountain Guides tried out making their own scratch board art. The process was reasonably simple, but allowed for great creativity.

One girl used the project to demonstrate her interest in world travel. What an awesome rendering of the Eiffel Tower! Maybe one day when she’s a little older this Guide will get the opportunity to participate in an international trip with Guiding. Every year, lots of Canadian Pathfinders and Rangers go on Nationally and Provincially sponsored trips or plan and fund raise for their own independent ones as a unit or district.

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If you want to try making your own scratch board art, it isn’t too hard! All you really need is some card stock, crayons, black paint, and liquid dish soap. You can find some instructions here.

Girls loved this activity because they could choose their own color schemes and scratch out their own unique designs. This simple art project was done at a regular unit meeting and is a good example of the cool things that girls get to do each week in Guiding.

Cookies Still Selling

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Although “peak” cookie season has passed by now, some Burnaby Mountain units are still selling cookies. Just last night the 24th Brownies had a successful blitz at Lougheed Skytrain Station. Way to go, girls!

The 14th Pathfinders have shared a couple of photos of their recent Spring cookie sale efforts. One girl tenaciously took on Burrard Skytrain Station and did a great job. Also pictured are three girls at the District Cookie Day back in April. We love the handmade posters and the special brand of Pathfinder energy employed in these cookie sales!

The Pathfinders tend to stay more active through the summer than our other groups. Although they pause their regular meetings for the summer months, the group still gets together at least a couple of times events such as camp or day trips like hikes. Girl Guide Cookies help power these adventures all year long.

Fire Hall #6 Sparks Outing

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Tonight the girls from the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks had a very exciting visit to Burnaby Fire No. 6 — a little bit more exciting than they had hoped! Every time the leaders book this outing they are warned that it is an active on-duty fire hall and should there be an emergency the fire fighters will need to respond. Tonight that actually happened!

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The girls had barely arrived when the first truck had to leave. It was exciting watching some of the firefighters quickly gather their things and take out the truck. The siren was really loud too. Once that truck left, the remaining fire fighters started a talk about fire safety and the importance of calling 911… but only in a real emergency!

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A few minutes later the buzzer sounded and the remaining fire fighters had to take the second truck and respond. The Sparks and their leaders were left alone on the grass outside the station. After talking for a bit longer about fire safety, the group decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather to play some duck-duck-goose in the grass.

Luckily, before too long one of the fire trucks came back. The fire fighters had responded to a medical emergency, but the ambulance had arrived allowing the firetruck to go back to the station. The firefighters told the girls a little bit more about fire safety and they practiced “stop, drop, and roll.”

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There was just enough time left for each girl to take a turn using the fire hose. The fire fighters set up a cone to use as a target and each Spark got the chance to spray it with water. It was lots of fun using the equipment.

Finally, everyone got to have a popsicle, which was a great treat on such a hot day. Thank you to the fire fighters of hall #6! The girls learned a lot and it was great to see the first responders in action. They do amazing life-saving work and it was a treat to get a taste of what it’s like to be a fire fighter.

 

 

Art Studio Sparks Outing

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A few weeks ago girls in the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks group visited 4 Cats Art Studio (Capitol Hill), one of their favourite outing places! Visiting 4 Cats has become a springtime tradition for the unit, an activity that is partially funded by their spring Girl Guide Cookie campaign.

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Girls who were in the unit last year remembered coming to this place to make awesome Van Gogh-inspired sunflower paintings. This year, they got to try something new — sculpting fairy princesses out of polymer clay and mounting them on starry painted backgrounds.

The staff at this art studio are absolutely amazing. The program leader, Dino, showed great patience and expertise working with girls of this age and helped them work through the art process one step at a time until each of them had created unique and beautiful art.

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Visiting the art studio is a real treat because it exposes girls to supplies and techniques that are much more sophisticated than we can use for our regular unit meeting crafts. Girls love the chance to put on their smock, and make a mess… I mean, a work of art!

Guides Reach High Places

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This past weekend the 22nd Burnaby Mountain Guides enjoyed a fun night of rock climbing at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Girls had a great time conquering the 44 foot climbing wall. For many of them, this was a new experience and they all had a great time.

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Each girl had the opportunity to take several tries at the wall and some were able to reach rather impressive heights. The climbing wall is appropriate for beginners or for people with more experience, and the staff was very helpful. Lots of fun was had in the spirit of friendship and active living.

This fun activity was a cool way for the girls to take advantage of visiting Richmond. They tied the event in with a sleepover at Guiding’s own Richmond Guide House. At Guide House, the unit met up with the 2nd Burnaby Mountain Sparks who were also having a sleepover there that night — the Sparks slept inside, while the Guides got to practice their tenting in the back yard.

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The Guides had a really fun time sharing some of their camping knowledge with the Sparks and everyone had a nice time sharing a barbecue hot dog supper and campfire (complete with s’mores!) together.

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Over all it was a really fun over night event. The girls loved trying the rock climbing, as well as developing leadership skills with the younger girls. Thank you to all of the hard working leaders who made the night possible.

Teddy Bear Picnic

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For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain
Because today’s the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic

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A couple of weeks ago two Burnaby Mountain Sparks units attended the West Coast Area Teddy Bear Picnic, which was organized by the camping committee for Sparks and Brownies all across the Area. The picnic was at Confederation Park in Burnaby and was a “beary” fun day!

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The girls had a blast participating in classic picnic activities like potato sack races and scavenger hunts. It is always a treat to have such classic outdoor fun with your friends. There were lots of fun teddy-bear themed games, stories, and songs.

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Of course, everyone took a break from the festivities to eat their picnic lunch as well. In addition to all that, each girl had the chance to get her face painted, and everyone got a ride on the miniature train!

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Thank you “beary” much to the West Coast Area camping committee for planning such a fun event. The girls all had a wonderful time.

Brownie Flag Meeting

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Sometimes it is fun to catch up with one of our units during a “normal” meeting — that is, something that isn’t a special event like an outing, sleepover, or camp. At our regular weekly meetings, girls participate in all kinds of fun, hands-on programming. Recently, the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies had a meeting about flags and heritage. Jenn, one of the group’s leaders, describes the meeting below. 

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Tonight we worked on our Key to My Community which involved a flag ceremony and learning about Canada! Our circle leaders got to be in charge of the flags. We learned how to hold a flag, we learned they never touch the ground and we learned how to carefully roll our flags back up for storage. They loved seeing them (and do did I! We have a district flag? COOL) and learning about them all.


The last photo shows the girls together around their “where do we come from” map. The stones are decorated like a flag, some say “I love Canada”. They are all unique and each Brownie has marked where her family comes from to the best of her knowledge. (Note how many chose Canada)

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We also played a little basketball free throw tonight and learned a bit about the Canadian guy who invented it! Before we played, we had a lacrosse stick and a hockey stick and asked which one is our national sport? They all chose Hockey! Which is actually just the sport we are the best at, not our national sport. It was a good meeting and I know we sent home some tired Brownies tonight!

Thank you, Jenn, for sharing about your Brownie meeting. It sounds like the girls were really engaged and had a great time doing this GGC programming.