MARNIE’S MESSAGE

‘Volunteers. From compassion to action.’ This is the slogan for Volunteer Canada’s national recognition week April 27 – May 3, 2008. A compassionate person sees a need and wants to help. It is this interest in others that motivates her to step up, to say ‘count me in’, to take action.

It is this desire to make a difference that makes our Guiding adults wonderful examples of all that is good about volunteering. Thank you!

Here are just a few of the current activities of our adults:
~ Over 6700 Unit Guiders are helping 35,000 girls to be challenged, to have fun, to grow through their Guiding experience
~ Over 35 independent trips for Pathfinders and Senior Branches girls are in the planning stage
~ Over 30 Guiders with courage and commitment have taken on a brand new role in Guiding, that of Administrative Community Leaders. Many others including several Trefoil Guilds have joined their teams to help with screening, mentoring and organizing community gatherings. A very special thanks to each of you.
~ Teams of Safe Guide Assessors across the province are helping Guiders provide safe yet adventurous activities. Your ongoing dedication to this task is certainly appreciated.
~ Special thanks also to the Property Extreme Specialty Communities working with staff to best manage our properties! Thanks also to our summer camp volunteers who are getting ready for another camp season.
~ Over the past year, financial information from 3500 Units was reviewed by 600+ Districts and District funds were consolidated into 100+ Divisions into 13 Areas and finally into 1 province. Whew – what a huge amount of work by both volunteers and staff!
~ A multitude of trainings and adult events have occurred across the province. Those conducting finance trainings have been some of our busiest presenters! Is there demand for more learning and development opportunities? Most definitely with teams of Trainers and other Guiders ready to address the needs.
~ 340 women who acted in the role of Cookie Receivers to support the delivery of the spring cookies to the units.

This spring we are excited about the membership plans underway to thank our current leaders and to welcome more adults to Guiding. The first province-wide spring renewal for girls and adult commitment initiative is taking place this month. On June 7th, new adults will be welcomed at Open Houses occuring at eight offices and the Windsor Guide House. Please share the attached flyer with moms, friends, neighbours, students; anyone who is interested in helping our girls to grow! Click here for full details on locations.

Over 8000 women in Ontario have understood that they can make a difference through adult membership in Guiding. Moms and dads, community resource people, camp community volunteers and so many others also share their time and talents to provide opportunities for our girls to be challenged, to grow through their involvement in Guiding. A special thanks to each of you who supports Guiding for an evening, for a camp weekend, for a year, or for a lifetime.

Thanks to each and every one for turning your compassion into action! Your commitment to growing our girls is priceless.

Most sincerely -

Marnie Cumming
Provincial Commissioner

PROVINCIAL ANNUAL
Provincial Annual 2008 – A Difference of One: Inspire, Inform, Involve. It’s a weekend event bringing together adult Members from across Ontario to learn, to share and to network. Click here for the full registration brochure.

Early bird draw is June 20 with the final registration deadline of September 19, 2008. Hope to see you there, November 21-23, 2008!

MEMBERSHIP
Girl Guide Open House – Adult Recruitment Days
In June and September we will be hosting Open Houses across Ontario. Our goal is to increase our adult membership and support those who have already started the application process. Potential Members can drop-in and find out what Guiding is all about, what it means to be a leader, and what we have to offer. Guiders will be on hand to answer questions and help women complete the adult screening process. Pass the word along to individuals that may be interested in joining Girl Guides; everyone is welcome.

Come Join Us!
June 7 or September 13 from 9 am – 4 pm at:

• Hamilton Guide House, 360 Queenston Road (at Parkdale S)
• Kingston Guide House, 216 Mowat Avenue (at King St W)
• London Guide House, 4096 Meadowbrook Drive, #104
(Exeter & Wharncliffe Rd S)
• Mississauga Guide House, 1563 Dundas Street West (east of Mississauga Rd)
• Newmarket Guide House, 38 Parkside Dr, #9 (Davis Dr & Yonge St)
• Oshawa Guide House, 121 Simcoe Street South (south of King W)
• Ottawa Guide House, 453 Parkdale Avenue (south of Wellington)
• Sudbury (September only), Location to be determined
• Toronto – Ontario Guide House, 14 Birch Avenue (Yonge & Summerhill)
• Windsor Guide House, 5760 Malden Rd, LaSalle

Click here to print flyer for distribution.

Volunteer for the day! If you are interested in supporting this membership initiative, please contact: membershipdev.adviser@guidesontario.org

For more information, to download a flyer or details about the day please check for updates at: www.guidesontario.org

How to Request an Honorarium for Your Unit Meeting Space
Honorariums for regular girl Unit meetings at public places other than schools are subsidized by a portion of the girl membership fees. School Board costs are already covered through user agreements. To request an honorarium for your unit, please note the following:
• The deadline for requests for the 2007-2008 Guiding year is May 31, 2008.
• If your regular unit meeting space requests a specific dollar amount, please notify the User Space Coordinator of this agreement at the time of your request.
• Requests will be processed in June and cheques will be forwarded directly to the facility with an acknowledgement letter directly from the provincial office. Confirmation is not provided to Guiders; however, you can contact your Unit Administrator and she can check for you to see if a cheque requisition has been submitted to Finance.
• Units will need to make requests for honorariums each year, as required.
• To obtain an Honorarium Request form, click on the link below to download from MemberZone https://memberzone.girlguides.ca/C12/Ontario/InTheLoop/Unit%20Guider%20-%20Membership/Ontario%20User%20Space%20-%20Honorarium%20Request%20Form.doc

Spotlight on Guiding
Do you have unit that ought to be in pictures? In the newspaper, on the radio or on TV? We are looking to develop our contact list for media opportunities that arise throughout the province. If you or your unit are interested in representing Guiding in the media, we want to have you on our list. Previous activities include: the Queen’s Jubilee, launching the new cookie, accepting donations from our corporate sponsors and launching the Emergency Preparedness challenge. Send your name, unit name and contact information to pr.adviser@guidesontario.org. When an opportunity comes up in a neighborhood near you, we’ll contact you with the details.

Spring Membership Renewal
A new, proactive renewal process for current members is being introduced for the 2008/2009 Guiding year. By registering our members this spring, we can identify and focus our recruitment efforts for the fall. We know that some communities have held spring renewal/registration in the past and this new process will look a little different. Renewing girls now for the fall will help to distribute some of the workload for Guiders when it comes to registration time at the end of the summer. This has been a successful practice in the past which we are implementing province-wide.

Renewing Girl Members:
Parents/guardians of girl members will be informed of the new process via direct mail. The intention is that spring renewal offers a benefit of membership to our currently registered girl members. Returning members will get priority placement in their current unit, or their advancement or transfer unit, as applicable. The following outlines the process details and the timelines associated with each step.

Week of May 1 – A mailing will be sent to each girl’s parent/guardian with information on how they can renew their daughter’s/ward’s membership and reserve their spot for the upcoming Guiding year. The mailing will include a cover letter, the girl’s personalized A5-R and an annual fee payment information sheet. Information regarding financial assistance will be available as of September 1, 2008. Should you receive questions from parents regarding renewals, please let them know that details will be coming directly to them at the beginning of May.

May 31 – Parents will be advised to return the A5-R and any payment directly to the Unit Administrators in order to receive priority placement. Should you receive forms directly from parents, please send them to your Unit Administrator for processing. Applications received after this date will still be accepted, however they will be placed in priority sequence based on date received.

By June 30 – Unit Administrators will provide a 2008/2009 Unit Roster to each Contact Guider. This will allow you to see which girls have confirmed that they will be returning, so you can follow up with those who haven’t, if you wish to do so. This will also help with any unit planning that you do over the summer.

Week of September 1 – Unit Administrators will provide an updated 2008/2009 Unit Roster to each Contact Guider which reflects any changes over the summer.

September 12–21 – National Registration Week. Check out MemberZone at www.girlguides.ca for registration ideas and resources.

Registering New Girl Members:
The process for registering new members is being finalized and details of this process will be provided to you in the first week of May.

Unit Guiders:
During the first week of April, you should have received an email from your ACL requesting your personal Guiding plans for the 2008/2009 Guiding year. As Unit Guiders, your ongoing commitment is vital to effectively delivering the program to our girl members. It is beneficial to begin collecting this information now, in order to place the girls in the appropriate units.

If you haven’t already done so, please be sure to follow up with your ACL to make sure she knows your plans for next year. Include your intention to return to your current unit or to identify if you will be changing units, your unit name, unit meeting location, meeting date and start time, the maximum number of girls based on your meeting location and/or number of Guiders. You will be asked to complete this information for each unit you are involved with.

IMPORTANT NOTE
You may have received an e-mail message from Girl Guides of Canada regarding national spring registration. As indicated in that message, the spring renewal process in Ontario will look a little different. Please be sure to follow our Ontario communications, and messages in the ONLine newsletter, and contact your Unit Administrator if you have any questions.

As Unit Guiders, you are the backbone of our organization. Thank you for your magnificent dedication and continued commitment.

PROVINCIAL VOLUNTEERS AND TASK GROUPS
Ontario Council is looking for Advisers and Task Group members. For full details go to www.guidesontario.org under About Ontario Guiding and Volunteer or click here
http://www.guidesontario.org/about/volunteer.htm

CAMPING & OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Passionate about Camping?
Come to camp this summer as your own team or as an individual. We need your support at Ontario Girl Guide camps throughout the summer. Contact summercamps.manager@guidesontario.org to find out more about volunteering at camp.

Remember to tell the girls in your Units about the many opportunities available at Ontario Girl Guide camps this summer. For registration information contact summercamps.registrar@guidesontario.org.
Every parent will be receiving a flyer promoting Summer Camp opportunities with their daughter’s membership renewal letter in early May. Click here to view flyer.

Successful Camp Open Houses
Camp Ma-Kee-Wa and Bonita Glen Camp had successful open houses. Visitors ate hot dogs, played volleyball and toured the facilities under wonderful sunny skies. Over and over the comments were made ‘We had no idea this camp was here! We can’t wait to place our booking.’
Please go to www.guidesontario.org under Camp Properties to find out about new camps your girls might want to camp at!! Share this information with your parents!!

Volunteers Needed for Camp Work Days
Worker bees needed! Looking for service projects? Why not head out to one of our camp Work Days for an opportunity to tour a camp you might not have explored and assist in getting them ready for canvas tenting and summer fun!!!

Camp Woolsey - in Woodlawn, near Ottawa on Saturday, May 3rd
Camp Ademac - in Blackstock, north of Oshawa on Sat. May 10th and Sun. May 11th
Camp Piper’s Hill - on Hwy. 50, north of Hwy. 9 near Orangeville on Sat. May 10th
Camp Tekahionwake - in Paris on Saturday May 17th
Camp Wyoka – in Clifford on Saturday May 17th (Click here for flyer)
Camp Adelaide – in Haliburton in June

More dates to follow! If you would like more information or would like to volunteer please contact property.manager1@guidesontario.org

Events
For a listing of all upcoming Ontario Events and registration information, please check the website at: http://www.guidesontario.org/events/ontarioevents_table.htm

Upcoming Girl Events
Grow Guiding Celebration
Saturday, May 10th, 2008
Westdale Park School and Fairgrounds
Napanee, Ontario

The Great Toronto Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, May 3
Saturday, May 10
Meet at Union Station in Toronto

Emergency First Aid for Pathfinders
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Guide House
1530 Dundas Street West
Mississauga, Ontario

Bugs & Blooms Camporee
June 6, 7 & 8, 2008
Camp Kienuka
Dunnville, Ontario

Tekarama
June 6, 7 & 8, 2008
Camp Teka
Paris, Ontario

Camp Peco Dah Quah Summer Camp
July 20 - 25, 2008
Camp Peco Dah Quah
East of Wyoming, Ontario

Camp Conestogo Summer Camp
Various dates in July 2008
Camp Conestogo
Dorking, Ontario

Camp Orenda Summer Camp "Go Wild"
July 27 - August 1, 2008
Camp Orenda (near London, Ontario)

Catch the Laughter Camp (for Guides)
September 19 - 21, 2008
Camp Wyoka
Clifford, Ontario

Just Between Friends Camp (for Pathfinders)
September 26 - 28, 2008
Camp Wyoka
Clifford, Ontario

Upcoming Adult Events
Meet and Greet with Marnie in Community 6
Sat May 10, 2008 from 10:00am- 12:00 pm
Alma Community Hall, 41 Elora St. N (Wellington County Road #7)
Alma, Ontario

Meet and Greet with Marnie in Community 15
Mon May 12th from 7:00 - 9:30 pm
St. Bartholomew’s United Church, 22 Abbey Road,
Brampton, ON

Camp Training Plus More
May 23-25, 2008
Kakabeka Falls Bible Camp
1208 Highway #588
Kakabeka Falls, ON
(20 mins west of Thunder Bay)

Trainer Enrichment Conference: Thru the Looking Glass
Three dates are available:
Ottawa University, Ottawa - May 30 - June 1, 2008

Doe Lake Girl Guide Camp, Sprucedale - June 20 - 22, 2008

Holiday Inn Select Toronto Airport, Toronto - September 19 - 21, 2008

SAFE GUIDE UPDATE
We are so excited to see the large number of activities planned for the next few months within Ontario! Using the Risk Assessment Checklist, Responsible Guiders across the province can identify where they should be forwarding their Safe Guide form by establishing the “Level” of activity.

All Level 2 activities are assessed by volunteers on the Safe Guide Assessment team who are only in the Community offices one day a week. As a result it is extremely important that the guideline for submission of 2 weeks prior to the activity date is followed to allow for authorization after review by the Assessor. If your activity is submitted less than 14 days in advance, authorization may not be possible. Should there be an extenuating circumstance (a last minute opportunity that just can’t be missed!) we will do our best to assess them. It would be very helpful if you would note this special circumstance when submitting. These submissions will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Level 3 and 4 activities need to be submitted a minimum of 21 days in advance to safeguide@guidesontario.org. Once received, your forms and other additional pieces of information are forwarded to an Assessor for review. If your forms are submitted less than 21 days in advance, authorization may not be possible due to late submission. If the Assessor notifies the Responsible Guider about missing content on forms, it is the responsibility of the Responsible Guider to provide the information in a timely fashion to allow for proper review time by the Assessor. Late submissions due to extenuating circumstances must have that noted on the forms (or in email) and these will be handled on a case by case basis.

Please remember that volunteers are assisting with the Safe Guide Assessment process in Ontario. Due to the large volume of spring activities, they need the proper lead time to review the information and provide guidance to those submitting forms.

We appreciate your cooperation in following the Safe Guide process so our girl Members can keep enjoying great activities and camps!

Be Prepared!
With the onset of spring comes an increase in the use of all the wonderful camp properties Girl Guides of Canada has in Ontario! To aid in the process of Safe Guide submissions, please be sure to submit your Level 3 and 4 activity forms a minimum of 3 weeks in advance to allow for the volunteer Assessors to have adequate lead time and process your forms in a timely fashion. Be sure to use the most current forms found at http://www.guidesontario.org/formembers/forms.htm under Member Area and Forms (no need to have a login for this!). You will likely need the following:
• RA.1
• C2.a
• OA.5
• OA.1
• Participant List
• Copy of the First Aider’s first aid certificate (if not in iMIS)
• Itinerary for the camping activity

You may send your electronic submission (unsigned if on the new forms) to safeguide@guidesontario.org

SHOPPING!
The E-store is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, however there are some new store hours to note:

In effect until June 14:
Ottawa: Monday closed
Tuesday 10-5
Wednesday 10-5
Thursday 10-7
Friday closed
Saturday 10-4

Mississauga: Monday 10-5
Tuesday 10-5
Wednesday 10-5
Thursday 10-7
Friday closed
Saturday 10-4

Summer Hours: June 16 – August 23, 2008

Ottawa: THURSDAYS ONLY 12-8

Mississauga: TUESDAY 12-4
THURSDAY 4-8

As you wrap up your Guiding year don't forget to check out the great year-end ideas on the E-store home page. Items are available at the Mississauga, Ottawa & e-store locations.

For those who like to place orders by mail, fax or phone please check out the website for the new order forms that can assist you in making this process simpler.

COOKIES
Planning for the Fall 2008 Chocolatey Mint Cookie Campaign

As we are nearing the end of the Spring 2008 Campaign, the cookie department has begun preparing for the Fall 2008 Chocolatey Mint Campaign.

As we know, units will soon be closing for the summer and we would like to inform you of some very important dates regarding Online Ordering for the Fall 2008 Campaign.

Ontario’s Online Ordering Website will be open May 26th, 2008 and will remain open until June 16th, 2008.

If you know that you will not be available to place your order online during this timeframe, please contact the Cookie Coordinator to discuss other options regarding your cookie order prior to May 26th.

Cookie Coordinator
Cookie.coord@guidesontario.org

We know that it can be difficult to determine the number of cases to order when placing your order for the Fall Campaign. While we will try to have extra cookies available for sale in the fall, take into account that there may not be large quantities of extras so please place your order for all that you require.

Please watch for more information regarding the Online Ordering Process in May 2008.

Thank you for your continued support of Cookie Sales. Cookies are the fuel that runs Guiding in Ontario.

COMMUNICATIONS
Please note: National has adopted new graphic visual standards. Details and examples can be found on MemberZone. https://memberzone.girlguides.ca/C3/Graphic%20Standards%202008/default.aspx
All advertising and communications materials whether online or print need to have the updated logos, colours and wording. Please ensure you are using the correct and updated versions when putting out material.

Where Oh Where are the Forms?
You will find many forms such as membership, first aid subsidy, campership and requests for e-Learning PIN numbers for Safe Guide and Orientation trainings on the Ontario Council website, under For Our Member, Forms (http://www.guidesontario.org/formembers/forms.htm)

The Procedures Manual and Safe Guide process information can be found at www.girlguides.ca in the Ontario Section of the Member Area (you will need your iMIS number and your password to access). Many handy tips on accessing information can be found in past issues of ONLine which are stored on the Ontario Council website, in For Our Member, News and Publications. http://www.guidesontario.org/formembers/newspublications.htm

Accessing ONLine With Less Difficulty
If you are experiencing any of the following issues with ONLine:
• e-mail links not working
• frozen or hanging screen
• inability to scroll through the web page
• password rejection on MemberZone
We recommend that you consider downloading the web browser FIREFOX 2. Mozilla Firefox is available cost-free @ http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ . The Firefox browser appears to have fewer vulnerabilities and should make your ONLine experience, faster with less difficulty than IE Explorer and Safari browsers.

Accessing ONLine PDF Downloads
Archived issues of ONLine are always available on our website @ http://guidesontario.org/formembers/newspublications.htm. These issues are in PDF format, which is the universal portable document format that allows any user to view, download and print a document exactly as it was intended. If you are experiencing any of the following issues when downloading our ONLine PDF’s:
• frozen or hanging screen
• system reboot
• blank or missing pages
• black pages
we recommend that you consider upgrading your Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version (8.1.2) @ http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. It is also cost free and will solve the issues described here.

Website security
MemberZone does have a log out (at the top far right), but you don't have to use it. It is there for people who prefer to log off; however, when you exit or close the page or exit the internet, it logs you off, so there is no security issue with it.

Security advice on use of the web for girls and their parents is available on the National website at:

http://www.girlguides.ca/ggcgirls/letschat.html
http://www.girlguides.ca/ggcgirls/lets_chat/docs/online-safety-checklist.pdf

The Ontario website is accessible to the public.

FOUND It!
Congratulations and a $25 Online Guide Store credit goes to Guider Julie Hellam of Burlington for entering our April ONLine FOUND IT! contest

ENVIRONMENT
Celebrating Earth Hour and Earth Day
Our girls are certainly interested in environmental issues, and many hardworking Guiders have created opportunities for girls to really make a difference! Here are just a few examples of the activities.

1st Orono Guides spent their Earth Hour meeting at Camp Ademac. With lights off, the girls went outside and enjoyed themselves by star gazing and earned the Astronomy badge during the meeting.
70th Toronto Guides held an Earth Hour meeting just before March 29th when they arrived at their meeting spot and realized there was a blackout!
1st Fort Henry Guides held a Yellow Fish Road meeting. Working in teams of 5 girls and 1 adult each, the unit managed to mark 22 storm drains on CFB Kingston and informed the community about the importance of keeping hazardous materials out of our drains. For more information on Yellow Fish Road check out this link
http://www.yellowfishroad.org/
55th Brampton Brownies are working on their Walking Lightly on the Earth badge and held an Earth Hour meeting where they learned about Global warming. They looked at books showing how parts of the world may be affected and created posters about Earth Hour to hang in their windows. Each girl signed a pledge to conserve energy and participate in Earth Hour at home with their families.

If you held a special event or meeting to celebrate Earth Day that you’d like to share with us, please send a short summary to Jessica Fleury, Environment Adviser at environment.adviser@guidesontario.org so we can post your activities and inspire other guiders.

Caring about the earth is year long and it is hard to care for something you don’t know much about, so let’s make sure our girls have the chance to get better acquainted with nature. You don’t have to go far, or spend a lot of money – just head to a local green space and see what’s there. Take a hike, play some games, do a scavenger hunt, pull out the magnifying glasses, listen carefully, be active, or invite a local expert to teach you a few things.

Creating Opportunities for Resourceful Kids (C.O.R.K.)
Units who participated in the Bag-A-Cork program are eligible to apply for grant money toward an environmental service project of their choosing. To date, $2710 in grant money has been distributed! Here are some of the great environmental service projects that will be going on across the province in the few months.

1st Bala Brownies will re-plant trees that were lost during storms in their community.
1st Carlisle Guides will beautify the gardens around their meeting site by planting perennials and spring bulbs in the church gardens.
1st Listowel Brownies will be planting trees and shrubs along the Maitland River and cleaning up the garbage in the area.
1st Magnetawan Guides and Pathfinders will be planting flowers and small seedlings in their municipality.
1st Marmora Sparks, Brownies and Guides will plant a tree and some flowering shrubs at a local non-profit child care centre.
3rd Oak Ridges Brownies and 1st Oak Ridges Pathfinders are initiating a battery drive, where old batteries will be collected and delivered to a hazardous waste disposal site.
10th Oakville Pathfinders are organizing an Earth Day Clean Up. This activity is being designed by Pathfinder Nicole De Khors as she works to complete her Canada Cord.
40th Orleans Pathfinders will plant native species in a Petrie Island local wildflower garden to attract more butterflies.
3rd Oshawa Corvette Rangers and 34th Oshawa Pathfinders will be planting a butterfly garden by the Pumphouse Marsh.
13th Peterborough Pathfinders will be replacing signage along the Ennismore Waterfront Park.
506th Sparks will be planting a yellow tulip garden for the Jubilee United Church where cork was collected for the Bag-A-Cork Program.
163rd Toronto Guides will beautify a youth shelter’s backyard by planting shrubs and perennials. The Guides will also create a vegetable and herb garden for the shelter to use.

If your unit was registered with the Bag-A-Cork program and you would like to apply for a C.O.R.K. grant, it’s not too late! Contact your Bag-a-Cork Coordinator at bagacork.coord@guidesontario.org to find out more!

Everything’s Gone Green!
Girl Guides of Canada-Guides du Canada is excited about launching our first eco-themed online photo contest! In partnership with Ondah, a leader in online photo sharing, now is your chance to show-off your amazing photos of the environment!
Everything’s Gone Green http://www.girlguides.ca/green/ will run from April to October 2008!

6th Prescott Guide Unit received the Community Spirit award from the town’s Mayor, Suzanne Dodge. Administrative Community Leader Val Dawson attended the event and spoke about the unit’s involvement in such activities as the local senior’s residence, the Yellow Fish Road program, Pitch-In Canada and helping at the Food Bank. Click here to view picture.

INTERNATIONAL
WAGGGS Around the World - Sangam, India; National Sponsored Trip Opportunity for Young Adults
What are you doing February 13-March 9, 2009? Why not apply for this fantastic opportunity in Guiding? Ontario has been invited to submit 2 applications for consideration by a National Selection Team to attend this event. This event is open to members 18-30 years of age. For more information about the event, the Ontario Financial Policy and how to apply, please download the Fact Sheet from our website: http://www.guidesontario.org/forguider/international.htm.

The Ontario Deadline for application submission is: Monday, May 5th, 2008. All applications must be received at the following address by the deadline date in order to be considered in the Provincial Screening:
Girl Guides of Canada, Ontario Council
Attn: International Coordinator
14 Birch Avenue
Toronto, ON M4V 1C8

2008 National Sponsored Events
National has completed the selection process for the Guider positions for the 2008 trips and more Ontario Members have been selected as Responsible Guiders!

England (Footsteps of the Founders) – Congratulations to Denise Jagt
Switzerland (Discover Your Potential) – Congratulations to Danielle Bulanda

Dominica Twinning - Maya makes a difference….
We had collected pennies in the 120th Sparks Unit of Thunder Bay all year and at our Thinking Day meeting we discussed where the pennies were going and why, where Dominica is, and what the money will do for the girls there. We played a few games and then everyone went home. I wondered if the girls truly understood how much they helped just by simply donating a few pennies each week?

The following week, Maya’s mother approached me asking for more information. She had suggested to Maya that she had enough toys and ‘stuff’ and that they should help a charity of her choice for her birthday. She made several suggestions: Habitat for Humanity, Humane Society, Make a Wish Foundation, etc. but Maya didn’t seem interested in any of those. Maya said she wanted to help the girls in Dominica. We are so proud that Maya raised $280 in total for her “sisters” in Dominica!

Your Unit can make a difference…
The Adopt-a-Unit Program with Girl Guides of Canada and Dominica is well under way and the monthly packages continued to be mailed. To see what items have already been mailed to the Units in Dominica, a supply list is posted on our website and is updated each month. For May 2008, Communities 6, 31, 32, 37 and 38 are contributing! Check this link for more information on items sent and when your Community can contribute. http://www.guidesontario.org/formembers/twinning.htm

WHERE in the WORLD our members are TRAVELLING!
For a detailed list of where our members are travelling, log into Member Zone on the National Website: www.girlguides.ca, under the Ontario section.

Are you interested in helping with International Guiding or in need of help with International trip planning?
Contact the International Coordinator at international.coord@guidesontario.org.
The International Adviser is growing a specialty community! If you are a Guider who has planned an International Independent Group Trip in the past, or are currently planning an International group trip and would be interested in mentoring other Guiders wishing to plan their first trip please contact us!

Independent Travel –
The national showcase event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Guiding will be the international camp Guiding Mosaic 2010. Information is just appearing on the national website so keep checking for updates. This will be an amazing event that will be open to all 3rd year Guides, all Pathfinders and Rangers. There will be spots for 3000 participants including girls from Canada and around the world. To ensure maximum support of GM 2010, national has stated that independent international and interprovincial trips are strongly discouraged during 2010.

Trips that have been given provincial approval to this point may certainly continue. GM 2010 should be the first choice of destination for all other groups considering travel in 2010. Any new requests for independent travel must include clear rationale why the trip is planned for 2010 rather than for another year. Also, what will be the participants’ involvement in GM 2010, if any?

PROGRAM
Something new for Senior Branches
Senior Branches will soon be renamed Rangers. If you are interested in the Ranger program Transition Guide check out the national website in the Member section at www.girlguides.ca

What’s the Same?
• The focus is still on learning through doing.
• Rangers still work to develop their leadership skills by working with peers or younger girls.
• The final award as a girl Member, the Chief Commissioner’s Gold Award is still available.
• The Commonwealth Award and the Duke of Edinburgh Award will still be available to Rangers.
• Rangers will still be able to get together to celebrate the sisterhood of Guiding.

What’s Different?
• More emphasis on service, with the new Ranger Service Project.
• Program is designed for all girl Members 15-17+ and can be adapted to individual interests.
• New awards and recognition that Rangers can choose to work towards.
• Completion of challenges encourages activity - through learning, sharing or participating.
• Rethinking of what program means: it is the activities Rangers want to do and the topics Rangers want to explore.

Program Materials Available to Support You and Your Unit
• The Ranger Program: You Lead the Way provides all the information for working on the program.
• Online program resources for use by Rangers and their Guiders to support and enhance the program activities. These can be found in the Member section of www.girlguides.ca Click on Rangers!

The new Ranger book will be sent to Ranger Guiders compliments of Ontario Council later this summer.

WWW.GIRLGUIDES.CA - A great resource for program information

Have you had a chance to look at the following pages on National’s website? Sometimes we skip the home page and go directly to MemberZone so be sure to take a moment and check out the links below and see what is available for your girls.

http://www.girlguides.ca/ggcgirls.html

http://www.girlguides.ca/default1.asp?id=1265

Spring has Sprung!
Looking for an activity to do with your girls that is outdoors and fun? How about golfing! National Council and Royal Canadian Golf Association’s Future Links Girls’ Club developed a partnership in 2003. The program is designed to introduce girls between the ages of 7 and 18 to golf and to encourage them to have fun with the sport. There is one club established in Burlington at this time, but they hope to have many more with your involvement. Here is a link for more information on National’s website.
http://www.girlguides.ca/default1.asp?ID=1265

Here is the link for RCGA http://www.rcga.org/subsites/GirlsClub/en/intro.asp

June 7th…Be part of the largest sleep-over in Canada!
Dove is having a sleepover on Saturday, June 7, 2008 for all of Canada. Besides the sleepover, your girls and you will be able to take part in an event which will be broadcast coast-to-cost on YTV, W Network and CMT. You can go to National’s website www.girlguides.ca and look under Great Opportunities for more information or you can click on Dove’s site www.dovesleepover.ca.

What a way to end the Guiding year!

IN MEMORIAM
Each year we will be honouring the memory of those Guiding Members who have passed away during that Guiding year through a memorial page in the Annual Report. If you have knowledge of a girl or adult Member who should be included in this memorial please notify Carol Thomas, Executive Coordinator at 416 920 6666 ext. 2420 or executive.coord@guidesontario.org. For 2008, the print deadline for the Annual Report will be July 31/08

COMMUNITY CHATTER
In Community 25 over 300 girls from Newburg, Sydenham, Verona, Harrowsmith, Odessa and Kingston rallied at the Cataraqui Town Centre in Kingston for a Thinking Day campfire.

The 2nd Manvers Sparks & Brownies of Community 30 used their planning and decision making skills to host a baby shower for Brown Owl Jen and her baby boy Maverick. Not only did they plan the event, but they prepared the food as well. Have a look at the fun we had!

The 3rd Sparks in Brooklin enjoyed a fun learning tour of Linton Farms at Luther Vipond Arena. This was part of their goal to get their “in the community" badge.

One Brownie, Maddie, in the 2nd Niagara Brownie Unit grew and cut her hair for locks of love and we were so proud we made her a badge!

GIRL FORUM
Last winter, I was provided with a very unique opportunity. My Ranger unit was asked if we had two girls interested in representing Girl Guides of Canada at a meeting called Young Decision Makers. This meeting took place from November 30th to December 2nd, 2007 at Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka, Ontario. It was part of an ongoing project put on by an organization called The Students Commission called Young Decision Makers. My friend Cody Aitken and myself were honoured to be the two girls from my unit who attended this meeting.

The Young Decision Makers project is being run by The Students Commission – a charitable organization dedicated to helping youth to get engaged in issues that concern them. The goal of the Young Decision Makers project is to create an infrastructure that allows youth in Canada to have their voice heard about issues important to them. With this infrastructure in place, more attention can be paid to youth issues. This infrastructure would also provide a way for youth to be directly involved in the resolution of issues that matter to them. The Young Decision Makers project has been ongoing since 2006. The goal of the project has been to gather information from youth from across Canada. This has been done through online surveys and numerous workshops. The results were that many youth are very interested in finding a way for their voices to be heard. The meeting at Deerhurst was to go over these results and start brainstorming ways that youth can get their issues heard, to start brainstorming possible infrastructures that would work for youth in Canada and to plan the next steps of the Young Decision Makers project.

The actual weekend of the meeting was very thought provoking. The people who attended were from all over Canada. We were all different – we were different ages and came from different backgrounds, but we were all working together towards a common goal. I think that is what made the weekend so successful. We all had different things to contribute to the project and everyone listened to what everyone else had to say. Each and every single person at the meeting had his or her voice heard. There were many different activities that enabled our voices to be heard. We had large sessions that lasted for hours where everyone who wanted to could contribute his or her thoughts to the issue being discussed. We also had small “breakout” groups that we met with numerous times over the weekend. These groups consisted of about nine people from different organizations in different parts of the country. We used these groups to discuss in depth what had been brainstormed earlier in the day. Near the end of the weekend, we progressed to actually drawing up possible models that would get youth voices heard in Canada. We then presented our models to the rest of the people at the meeting.

The Young Decision Makers meeting was definitely a “work weekend” for me. We all worked very, very hard to think of ways to get youth voices heard. At the end of each day, I was physically tired from all of the work that I had done – even though the work was of a mental nature and not physical. Nevertheless, we still had a ton of fun. One of the most memorable moments of the weekend was when a brainstorming session evolved into a beat boxing session! We also found time to have a lot of fun with the other youth our age who were attending the meeting.

I am very proud to have represented Girl Guides of Canada at this amazing event. It was a very interesting weekend for me and I’m very glad I attended. I’m looking forward to having a youth infrastructure in Canada some day – and knowing that I helped contribute to its creation!
Emily Millar, 14th Hamilton Rangers

TREFOIL TIDBITS
Lilac Trefoil Guild in Thunder Bay continues to try new things, be active in the community and have fun! With over 1125 combined years of Guiding our Thinking Day tea and candlelight ceremony was a huge success. We tried something more adventuresome than “tea” and in March headed back outdoors to spend an afternoon dog-sledding! To help support the girls and Unit Guiders in Thunder Bay, we put together the requirements for the Dominica Twinning Challenge and attended Unit meetings to present the challenge and help the girls earn the Twinning Project patch. A Toonie for Twinning for each participant was donated to the project. To help promote Guiding, we joined in on Cookie Day to sell cookies in a local shopping centre. Apparently, age is irrelevant when it comes to selling cookies – people want to support Guiding and people want our cookies!!

1st Purple Myst Trefoil Guild (Bradford/Innisfil) We are proud to say that our membership is now 12 and we hope to keep growing. We have been active in Clean up Day hauling over 165 pounds of trash that came out of our river and shoreline. We’ve had sleigh rides and packed Christmas baskets and worked with Units to ensure the less fortunate were remembered during the Holidays. Looking ahead we can’t wait for Purple Power Day in Gravenhurst in May and a future bus trip to New York!

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