INNISFAIL – It was a day to honour Girl Guides all over the world.
World Thinking Day is celebrated every year by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
Here in Innisfail, Golden Poplar District Guiding held a ceremony to mark the annual celebration at the Innisfail United Church on Feb. 23.
The local district includes Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers. There are about 115 members in the Golden Poplar District, including about 25 leaders.
“We celebrate World Thinking Day to remember the birthdays of our founders, Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, whose birthdays were on February 22,” said Judy Purcell, co-commissioner along with Kalie Jacobsen. “It’s an opportunity for guiding and scouting worldwide to come together and remember, think about and probably learn about guiding and scouting in other countries.”
Delacey Von Busse is with the Penhold Sparks and Brownies multi-unit as part of Golden Poplar District.
To help celebrate the day, her unit reached out to fellow guides overseas this year.
“We’re doing a video exchange with a group in Scotland,” said Von Busse. “We’re going to show some of our retro outfits that we have, we’re going to discuss what we do as a unit….and how we do things that are similar and how we do things that are different. It’s really exciting,” she added.
“We hope the girls learn lots and have lots of fun doing it as well.”
Innisfail Scouts, with Beavers and Cubs, also participated in the celebration. The event included a colour party, readings and a slide show.
“The girls will enter as a colour party carrying the flags for each of their respective units,” said Purcell, noting a Canadian flag and World Guiding flag were also included. “Throughout the service the guides and scouts will be participating, doing some of the readings and we’re having a slide show to show the members of the church some of the activities that the girls do.
“Today is kind of special because we borrowed some of the uniforms from past years and the girls are putting them on,” she added. “They’re having a lot of fun dressing up and seeing what girls used to wear over the years.”
World Thinking Day began in 1926, noted Purcell.
“All around the world on February 22 is celebrated. People connect with each other, learn about guiding, celebrate the history and the future,” said Purcell, noting there are 10 million guides in 150 countries today.
“It’s a real opportunity to show everybody what a community we are.”
