“It’s kind of a big thing.”
Kathy Batty wasn’t kidding. The scene at Servus Place last Saturday afternoon was one of games, crafts, activities, bonding and, above all, girls.
The Girl Guides in Alberta turned 100 and to celebrate the milestone occasion, more than 1,000 Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders, Rangers, Guiders and Commissioners merged on the recreation centre for a few hours of fun and festivities. A few retired members were spotted too.
Batty herself was among the crowd. The local woman is the Commissioner for the Tamarac Area, one of 12 areas around the province. Tamarac itself includes 10 different districts, “from a whole whack of communities throughout Alberta,” Batty said. “It’s a large geographical area, for sure.”
With so many Tamarac members getting invitations, there was going to be no missing this gathering called Rally Day. Each area hosted its own event.
“It’s going to be a party!” she exclaimed with a wild laugh on Friday. “There’s going to be a lot of little girls running around and doing some cool things. It’s going to be great.”
And it was great, but with a healthy amount of mayhem and giggling, as might be expected. The attendees went through various age-appropriate round robin stations ranging from some old-fashioned co-operative games to historical storytelling to Métis dancing. Some had a geocaching adventure while others made yarn dolls, a scavenger hunt, and played bunnock, a game that features a bunch of dinosaur shaped bones.
“It’s kind of like bowling.”
The afternoon was capped off with some songs and a campfire of sorts.
“We built up a fake one. There’s only so much you can do,” she sighed.
One station for making friendship bracelets had each participant make two: one for the maker and one to be shipped to a Girl Guide world centre in India to be sold to fund various programs.
“It will be quite expensive actually to mail all of these bracelets. Apparently, shipping isn’t cheap! That’s what I’m being told,” she joked.
Batty further noted that life as a commissioner is very busy as there is never a shortage of girls interested in becoming a part of the Guiding movement. The only trouble she has is keeping enough leaders on the roster, a problem that recently threatened to close a few local groups. That threat was avoided but it keeps recurring.
“We are still struggling with that. People are busy and I completely appreciate that. We have lots of girls that want to join the organization. Last year there were probably five to 10 girls that we actually had to turn away because we just didn’t have the space available, because we didn’t have the leaders.”
“Every year, it is a bit of a problem.”
She said that one of the great things about the organization is that there’s a position to fit anybody’s schedule. She encouraged people to contact her by phone at 780-458-8230 or via e-mail at [email protected].
