LAMPMAN — The year has come to an end for the Stoughton Girl Guides and a barbecue was held to celebrate the achievements the girls had over the past year.
Cheryl Lake, the contact guider for Stoughton and district commissioner for Black Gold District, hosted the event at her farm south of Stoughton on June 11, inviting all the Girl Guides and their families to the evening.
The unit has girls in Sparks all the way up to Rangers, and this year several of the girls advanced to the next level, which brought great excitement for the girls.
Cheyanne Lake, one of the Rangers, is fundraising for her Girl Guides trip next year to Ireland and Switzerland. She must raise a certain amount through cookie sales and more.
With the extremely dry season and no rain in site, a backyard fire was out of the question, so a simple barbecue was held with burgers and hot dogs that the crowd of 20 people enjoyed, followed by dessert.
A short meeting with an awards presentation was held after supper.
Each girl received a Girl Guides travel cup that had their name on it, along with a bag full of goodies, such as crafts, treats and badges they had earned over the past months.
Parents had the opportunity to socialize, while the girls enjoyed running around the yard.
Near the end of the season, Girl Guides Canada offers a free trial for any youngsters who wish to try out Guides, and this had four girls come out to the meetings and join the nine girls who already are members.
According to Lake, Guides is a great way for young women to have the opportunity to explore different things like camping, crafts, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
As the district commissioner she is always looking for ways to get more girls to join, which would require more leaders.
The Lampman Girl Guides Club began in 2022 and has at least 12 members, but this year the leaders are stepping down due to other commitments.
Lampman usually met every other Monday evening, while Stoughton held meetings every Wednesday night at the Apostolic Church.
“To become a Girl Guide leader, one needs a positive attitude, a willingness to mentor youth to be leaders in their community and to have fun,” said Lake.
“It is best to have two or three guiders for each branch, as it opens those branches for more girls to join in the fun,” she said.
Non-member volunteers are also an asset to the units, as they can help at meetings as well even if they do not have children who will attend.
Weyburn will also be needing leaders as they will be a returning unit. COVID-19 closed a few units, and Lake would love to see them reopen.
If anyone is interested in becoming a leader and they have questions, they can contact Lake at 306-421-3479 or join online at girlguides.ca.
