LUSELAND — The century old Girl Guides organization in Luseland took on a special Remembrance Day project.
The leadership team decided that creating a personal connection to the community's veterans would provide an meaningful experience for Girl Guide members. The Guides began their activity by choosing one war veteran as their special person. To learn more about their veteran, they spent time at Luseland Museum where they saw uniforms and many other articles that belonged to the veterans.
Guiding Leader Jean Halliday says, “These personal items brought the men and women to life for the girls, and they learned about the veteran’s time in the war and their life once they returned home.”
The next step in their Remembrance Day project was to take a plain rock and paint a poppy on their rock and add the words, “Thank you.”
The Girl Guides will then visit the Luseland Cemetery closer to Remembrance Day to place their rock on their special veteran's grave as a visible reminder to not only remember them, but to be thankful for the difference they have made in the lives of themselves and all Canadians.
A spring banquet in 2022 marked the 100-year milestone of the Luseland Guiding program. While the mission, values and guiding promise have evolved over the years, the concept of this all-girls club has remained the same. Their guiding promise, often recited at meetings, states, "I promise to do my best, to be true to myself, my beliefs and Canada. I will take action for a better world and respect the guiding law."
Activities such as this Remembrance Day project helps generate a better understanding of the importance of Remembrance Day as well as recognizing and thanking those who played a role in the freedom we enjoy today. It was noted that in the beginning of Girl Guide history, girls learned to bandage wounds during the First World War ( www.girlguides.ca )
Dedicated Guiding leaders have been the key to longevity of the Luseland girl's group as they say they believe if the program is strong, then Luseland girls will continue to choose to be part of it.
