GIRL GUIDES

Southland Times, Issue 22993, 12 September 1936, Page 23 (Supplement)

GIRL GUIDES

Thought for the Week,

For flowers that bloom about our feet For tender grass so fresh and sweet, For songs of birds, and hum of bee, For all things fair we hear and see, Father in Heaven, we thank Thee. —Emerson. Invercargill Companies and Packs. All companies and packs resume their weekly meetings next week. It would be as well to discuss with P.L. and Sixer what you are planning for these next three months. Have you cleaned all those stamps yet and sent them in? Have you decided exactly how you are going to help with the stocking trail? The trail has in other years been held on the same day as that in Britain and from what I read in The Guide the day this year will be December 12. In the meantime you can consider that this is the probable date, about which you will hear more later on. Have you considered any other form of service for others? There are many institutions which would be glad of help from you. Ask captain and she will make the necessary inquiries for you. Have you finished your hikes for the Gilbertson Scroll? If not, now is the time to get in the extra ones needed. Your commissioners hope that every company will enter for this competition this year and surely you all will. It is going to be 1 a very busy three months, isn’t it? That is just how it should be, you’ll agree. A Ceremony Day For Lones. The weather man was very disgruntled last Saturday, wasn’t he? But the Southland Lones only laughed, and rightly decided that that wasn’t going to make any difference to them anyway, and it didn’t. As the buses from various districts arrived in town so did the Lones and by 10.30 a.m. sixteen, of them had gathered at the Guide Rooms. Here their own P.L.’s took charge and the first business was uniform and accessories. At last they were all ready even to their new ties. The two Lone Guide Companies wear the same tie of apple green with two stripes of tartan across it. The Guiders wear tartan ties. The Lone Ranger Company has adopted maroon ties with yellow stripes. A little test work was attempted and then they all had lunch together. Then arrived the other Guiders and the company practised horseshoe formation, etc. At 1.45 p.m. Mrs J. G. Macdonald (Provincial Commissioner) and Mrs R. S. Mclnnes (Commissioner for Lones) arrived and were welcomed by the Lone secretary and captain of the Ist Southland Lones, Miss G. McKenzie. The company was drawn up in three patrols, two of Guides and one of Rangers. There were present also Mrs Alington (captain of the Lone Ranger Company), Miss H. Martin (captain of 2nd Southland Lones) and Misses E. Turner and Z. Smith (lieutenants of Ist Southland Lones). Mrs Macdonald inspected the company, being very pleased to see it all in uniform and commenting on the new ties, which she admired. The company then marched into horseshoe formation and the only enrolled Guide carried the flag (lent by one of the active companies) with the two lieutenants as escorts. Mrs Macdonald enrolled Mrs Alington and invested the leaders of the Heather and Robin patrols. Mrs Mclnnes then enrolled Guides and Rangers. It was an impressive ceremony and closed with the enrolment hymn and Guide prayer. Mrs Macdonald presented badges and service stars, J. McKenzie receiving a five-year service star. Mrs Macdonald said that the occasion reminded her of five years ago when the first Lones in Southland were enrolled. J. McKenzie had been one of those and had not been well enough then to march in horseshoe as she had this time. She had been one of the first Lone Guides and was now one of the first Lone Rangers. Mrs Macdonald spoke of the value of Guiding as a means of encouraging peace between nations. Miss McKenzie, on behalf of the Southland Lones, presented Mrs Mclnnes with a reading lamp. Mrs Mclnnes said that although she was going to live in Wellington, she was not really leaving them and would be receiving their company letters and so would knowhow they were progressing. They had learned their tenderfoot work quickly and well and she hoped they would do just as well with their second class work and then become first class. Mrs Mclnnes said how much she appreciated the thought which had prompted their gift to her and hoped they would come and see her in Wellington. The guests then left and the company proceeded to learn Morse, first aid, etc., until trains and buses left. Saturday was a red letter day for Lones of the Southland companies. The Lone Guiders take this opportunity of thanking the P.L. from St. Paul’s Company who arrived at 10 a.m. and stayed all day. This was the only P.L. who came forward to help. I know that some of you were away on holidays, but were all 18 of you away, or have you just not read these notes for the last two weeks?

BROWNIES. Did you read the “thought” this week? It is one for spring and was specially chosen for you. I wonder if you could find a poem about spring and send it to me. I don’t want one that is in your school journal, though, because the editor has found that one for you. Here is one I found in The Guide;— The Primrose. The sun shone down on the garden beds, On a thousand daffodils’ golden heads; Under their leaves grew a primrose small, But the sun never knew she was there at all. Visitors coming from near and far Exclaimed, “How lovely the daffodils are!” But none of them praised the primrose small, For none of them knew she was there at all. Thieves broke in when the guests were gone, And they stole the daffodils, every one; But none of them stole the primrose small, For none of them knew she was there at all. The primrose lifted her lonely head And spread out her leaves in the empty bed; It is sometimes safe to be so small That nobody knows you are there at all! —Jocelyn C. Lea. Leaves. As the plants are just beginning to display their new leaves, here is a chance for you to find out some interesting things for yourself. Did you know that green leaves are just about the most important things in the whole world? Well, they are; it is because of them that starch is made, and without starch animal life could not exist. By starch, I don’t mean the kind that mother uses on washing day, but the kind that is of food value. Ask Brown Owl to tell you about it. There are all sorts of fascinating things you can learn about leaves, but how about watching how they are folded. The violet is curled into two rolls, which gradually unfurl; the primrose and crocus have two crinkled folds rolled backwards; the arum lily is curled like a furled flag; on the tulip each leaf has a younger one inside; each frond of the fern and each part of each frond is wound like a spring; the cherry is folded in half, open like a book; rose leaflets are folded in half and lie together like the leaves of a book. They move apart, the stem, lengthens, and the whole opens. Each leaflet of the horse chestnut is in pleats; the geranium leaf is crumpled up in the bud very untidily and the oak is more untidy still. Now you watch every tree you see every day and write down what you see in your note books. You will be surprised at the variety of ways the leaves have of packing themselves in their buds and of opening out. Things to Grow. A couple of months ago I suggested that you should grow bulbs in pots. I wonder if any of you did, because if so you should have blooms now. I watched some snowdrops this year and learned lots about them. If you were not able to grow bulbs, look at the tops of turnips, carrots or parsnips when the leaves grow, and if you find one with small shoots, ask mother for it. Stand the tops in an old saucer with a little water and the leaves will grow again for you. You could take notes'and see how long it is before they grow. You might also grow a tiny orange tree. Make a hole in the top of your orange and scoop out all the edible part. Then dry the skin and fill with damp earth. Then plant your orange pip. » Keep the skin in a warm room and well watered. When the rootlets poke through the skin, cut them off closely. You should be able to grow quite a good, tiny orange tree. Roll Call Ceremony. Each Brownie has a toadstool made by herself of stiff paper with her name on it. When she arrives she collects her own toadstool and puts it in her pocket. The Brownies are in the dancing ring. At a signal they tiptoe quietly into the pow-wow ring and kneel, placing their toadstools in front of them with a golden penny on each. At the next signal the Brownies stand and retire to the dancing ring, leaving a fairy ring of toadstools with their pots of gold. Tawny collects the fairy gold and puts the toadstools away for another week.