GIRL GUIDE NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1934, Page 17 (Supplement)

GIRL GUIDE NOTES

LETTER TO BROWNIES. EIGHTH BIRTHDAY PICNIC HELD. (By “Tenderfoot.”) Dear Brownies,—lt is your turn this week to have a letter and there is a lot to talk about. First of all—and a very, important event' was our Brownies eighth birthday party at East End v beach last Saturday—are we not growing up? Tire" Tuahene Brownies were very excited at having their Brown Owl, Mrs. Paterson, with them at the party. Mrs. Paterson has been ill in hospital and she will soon be able to take on her pack work again. We were delighted to have Margaret Wilson, a Tuahene Brownie who has been ill in hospital, at the party.. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, with just enough breeze to let us play games without getting unduly hot. I was glad to see so many happy faces, neat clean uniforms and so many first class badges. I wonder if the Brownie who sewed her Golden Hand (first class sign) upside down has put it right yet That was a mistake, was it not? Still I know that you are a good Brownie to have'gained your first class and remember always to use your' knowledge as much as possible for the benefit of other folk and you will grow up a very useful girt

I did not hear who won the treasure hunt, but I do know that you all shared your “finds” and I was delighted to see how eager you were to share your tea with other children - who were sitting around watching your sport. We were lucky in having so many good things to eat, and, we are grateful to the grownups who provided such 'a tea, especially to Mrs. Wiggins who made the cake and to Mr. Cruickshank who baked and decorated it. Mrt'. Morrison, our provincial commissioner, gave us a very cheery address when she cut the cake and we all called for cheers for different people and' we felt proud of ourselves • when the grown-ups called for a cheer for us Brownies.' We were ■so delighted when three cheers were called for our Brown Owls and Tawny Owls. We had great fun in our games, and were sorry when he had to break up our birthday party and go home. There is another Brownie gathering this month. The Te Mara Brownies pack at Fitzroy had. a shrub planting afternoon at Waiwakaiho, near the river. There. was .a great waste piece of land covered with weeds. Now it is transformed into a garden of shrubs. Mrs. O’Donnell, Brown Owl, and Miss Sampson, Tawny Owl, assisted by Scoutmaster Hopkins and. cub mistress Mrs. Hopkins, worked very hard in"connection with the event. The rockery, was planted by the Brownies and many shrubs planted by representative organisations. Afternoon tea was served under the trees and a most enjoyable' afternoon was spent. I do hope. Brownies, that you will tend your beauty spot and not allow the weeds to choke out your garden. You remember what good advice Mr. Hutton gave about that; it was no use making a garden and then neglecting it. Have you heard the story of how we came to have pink roses? Once upon a time, long long ago we did not have any pink roses, any yellow roses or any red roses; all the roses in the world were white. One morning very early a little white rosebud woke up and found the sun looking at her. He stared so hard that the little white rosebud did not know what to do, so she said as she looked up at him, “Why are you looking at me so hard?” “Because you are so pretty,” said the big round sun and the little white rosebud blushed. She blushed pink and all her children after her were little pink roses. Here is another little fairy story. Do you know that some people don’t believe in'fairies? They’would tell you there are none, but you know and all we. Brownies know that there are really fairies because there are folks who have seen them and heard them, too. Sometimes we do not see them but if we are near some trees we will hear a little rustle and that is the fairy queen and her fairy train passing through. If you hear a little bird break into a sudden rapture of song you can guess (and probably not be mistaken) that he has seen them in all their pretty little frocks, white and gold, pmk and silver, lovely shades of blue, some just the colour of the sky on a sunshiny day, some rose colour, some a lovely apple green and some a lovely misty violet shade. They all had wreaths of sweetest flowers in their heads, daisies, buttercups, forget-me-nots and tiny rosebuds. Some had brown hair, some red, some as black as jet, and others almost flaxen. But the fairy queen looked so beautiful that I am almost afraid to describe her, lest my description should fail to do her beauty justice. Her frock was the finest silk lace, most exquisitely embroidered in gold, and on her head was the daintiest little gold crown with a star in front studded with precious stones and in her hand she carried a little golden wand ' encrusted with diamonds, and her beautiful golden fair floated in the breeze. One could tell at once that she was good as she was beautiful. Was he not a lucky little bird to have seen them all, and do you wonder that he broke into a rapture of song until the air around seemed flooded with melody. The following lines were written by Gloria Rawlinson, a post Guide, aged 14 years:— Pussy Willow. I love the Pussy Willow, It sounds so sweet to me, Just fancy furry kittens Growing on a tree. I pretend they’re really living, I close my eyes and dream That every little pussy Has a saucer full of cream. They came meawing round the branches And play awhile with me, A hundred little pussies From a pussy willow tree, It’s only just pretending, They cannot play a game, They are not really pussies But I love their puny name. ,