Be prepared

Share, and be a friend. Lend a hand. Be prepared.

These are just some of the lessons learned through the teachings of Girl Guides of Canada, who mark 100 years in 2010.

The Guiding movement has been a big part of the childhood of many women in Bay St. George. Hundreds upon hundreds of young ladies have been through the program, which is often considered non-formal education for girls.

Several of the senior guide leaders in the Stephenville area have been with the organization since girlhood themselves, and have seen a lot of changes in the last number of years.

May Lomond, a member of the guiding movement's Trefoil Guild - a group for senior guiders - once held the position of district commissioner for the province's southwest district. She first joined the movement as a Brownie, and became a Girl Guide in 1946.

"At the time everything came from England, because Newfoundland was still under England," she says.

Several other Trefoil Guild members became involved first as members themselves, and kept with the movement their entire adult lives. Maxine Tracey accompanied her daughters to meetings and camps and was hooked.

"That was 39 years ago. I went for three years ... I wasn't even enrolled, but I went with them," she says.

History

The Girl Guides of Canada were created in 1909, after a Boy Scouting rally held by creator Lord Robert Baden-Powell attracted a lot of girls wanting to be members of the organization.

He had his sister, Agnes, create a program for girls which was later overseen by his wife, Olave Baden-Powell.

The Baden-Powell's are remembered for their contribution to the youth of the country each year on Feb. 22, or Thinking Day as it is known to the organization.

Ms. Lomond, whose registration certificate for guides is signed by Lady Olave Baden-Powell, remembers the early days:

"Lord Baden-Powell was a military leader," she says. "And it started with being very strict and formal."

An earlier Girl Guide uniform consisted of a dress and hat. Today, girls mostly wear pants, with the option of dresses and skirts having gone by the wayside.

"I don't think you'd get today's girls to wear the uniform they wore 40 years ago," says Ms. Lomond. "They don't wear anything else they wore 40 years ago. They're comfortable [now]."

Earning a badge was also different. Ms. Lomond remembers the formality of being tested on a particular skill by a tester, or expert in the field.

"I had to learn to turn a heel and top off a toe [for a knitting badge] and you had to do that in the home of a tester," she says. "You had to go on Saturday morning and one week turn the heel and the next week top off the toe. And I never knit a sock since," she finishes with a chuckle.

Knitting socks aside, girls in the movement have learned a number of skills through guiding, many of which were taught through camping trips.

"It was nothing for me to have six or seven men to do the heavy work," says Ms. Tracey of camping. "Now they have these nylon, light tents. The ones we put up with ridgepoles and uprights and all that stuff ... it was hard work. But it was the happiest time in my life, to go camping."

Guild member Eileen Gale says the first camp she attended as a girl lasted for ten days - without shelter.

"There was no shelter to get out of the rain, and you had to go to the bathroom outdoors in a latrine we dug ... sitting on a wooden plank over a hole," she says.

Ms. Lomond says with all the changes in policy and regulation within the organization, the camps of yesterday could never happen today.

"We had 90 girls at camp one year and we had them all in tents and checked on them around midnight and then went to sleep until six in the morning. To think of the things that might have happened. Now you wouldn't think of doing that."

While camping still remains a favourite part of the movement for the guiders the Georgian spoke with, it is often no longer a requirement or necessity. The core program has changed to reflect the needs and wants of today's girls.

"Girls can do leadership and other things if they don't want to camp. Now, all of us are campers so we don't understand that, but some girls and guiders don't want to camp," says district commissioner Susan Oates.

"You could do almost anything in the community and it will fit into your program, which is something I really like and the guiders really like. When you live in a small community you don't have everything at your fingertips."

Marking the centennial

On May 15, Girl Guide groups all around the country will hold rallies to mark the group's 100th anniversary.

"We have buses bringing in the girls from Burgeo and Port aux Basques," says Ms. Oates. "That's our big highlight to include all the girls in the [southwest coast] area."

The membership of Girl Guides in Stephenville this year stands at 130 girls and 30 Guide leaders.

May Lomond says the organization must be doing something right.

"Here in Stephenville District with all the people who have moved away," she says. "When we were doing guides, people had five to eight children. Nowadays they only have two, so the girls are not there. We don't have as many children, but we have all our units," she says.

"In this town, if you can keep girls who start at five and are still there at 18, somebody's doing something right. In an all girl organization."

reporter@thegeorgian.ca