This week, we’ll be practicing photography at Queen Elizabeth Park with a professional photographer. We’ll also be working towards the BC Photo Challenge!

Meeting Place: Meet at the Queen Elizabeth Plaza at the top of the hill (by the big fountain between the Blodel Conservatory and the Parking Lot) at 6:45. 

Please Bring: a camera or something that takes photos (phone, ipod). Rainjacket and boots if it looks rainy. 

Pickup: Parents will meet at 8:30 at the Queen Elizabeth Plaza (same place as drop-off). 

Also, don’t forget your forms and payment for Pathfinder Pedal, Paddle and Pack camp on the May Long Weekend, if you’re interested in being part of that patrol.

Lastly, April 24 will be your last chance to take home cookies to sell on your own. Please email or text Karla if you would like a case.

We’ll be heading to Stanley Park on Saturday, May 4th for our Environmental Service Project, where we will be hosted by the Stanley Park Ecology Society. We will go on a nature walk, learn about invasive species management, and participate as environmental stewards in creating valuable habitat for native wildlife!

More information and links to the forms are available on the event page here.

Forms are due by Wednesday, May 1st. There is no cost to attend this event.

West Coast Area and Fraser Skies Area are hosting an inter-area adventure taster camp for Pathfinders to learn adventure camping skills and to try cycling, hiking and canoeing, at Cultus Lake Provincial Park from May 17-20.

Patrols of 1 Guider & 5 Pathfinders can register for this camp. We would like to send one patrol, if Pathfinders are interested!

Sessions included are:

• Search & Rescue training
• Bicycle maintenance
• A cycling trek through the backroads of the Fraser Valley including an ice cream stop
• A hike to a grove of enormous old-growth Douglas Fir trees or up through a forest of whimsical teapots to a picturesque viewpoint
• Canoeing on Cultus Lake with Ridge Wilderness

When: May 17 – 20, 2019 (May Long Weekend)

Where: Honeymoon Bay Group Campsite at Cultus Lake Provincial Park

Cost: $100 per Pathfinder ($80 event fee includes tech event shirt and crest, plus $20 unit patrol food costs)

If you are interested in attending this camp, please review the SG1, and return the SG2 and SG5 with a cheque for $100 payable to “GGC – 9th Vancouver Pathfinders” as soon as possible andno later than April 24.

• – SG1
• – SG2
• – SG5

Please note: this opportunity is in addition to our unit spring camp at Fort Camping (Brae Island Regional Park), May 31- June 2. More information on that camp will be discussed at an upcoming meeting!

Two important updates for today and Saturday:

We are cookie selling today from 4:30 – 7:00 pm at Burrard Skytrain Station, so there will be no meeting at the church. Please come in uniform, and dress for the weather.

Also, the timing of Saturday’s LifeSaver First Aid class at St John’s Ambulance course has been changed due to a mix up on their end. The event on Saturday will now be 8:45 am (as planned) to 2:30 pm (extended from 12:30 pm). Apologies for the confusion. Please remember to bring a lunch, snacks, water, a pencil case, and clothes you can move in.

Lastly, if you have forms and payment to drop off or cookies to pick up on Saturday, please plan to do so at the beginning of class.

Please email Karla if you have any questions.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to to a humpback whale, or a fox or a sloth? Well now is your chance. 

Here is the link to the animal meditations that we explored at the last meeting. Each one takes a different animal and walks through what their reality is like. Put one one, close your eyes, and relax through these snapshots. 

http://www.animalmeditations.com

Camp Skills Day – Sat Apr 20, 2019 from 10 am to 4 pm

Pathfinders are invited to attend the Camp Skills Day event on April 20! We are not attending as a unit, but you can go on your own or with some Pathfinder friends!

Come out and learn intermediate to wilderness camp skills depending on your branch. The sessions will be interactive, hands-on, and lots of fun! Each participant will receive a crest and be provided with morning/afternoon snacks and lunch.

If you would like to participate, please bring forms and payment to our cookie selling event on April 10.

Who: Guides to Rangers

Where: Fisher Picnic Shelter, Deas Island

Cost: $10 per participant (or use your cookie cash!)

Forms: SG1 /  SG2

Registration: Please register as an individual by completing the Online Registration Form. 

Deadline: The deadline to bring back forms and payment to a unit guider is April 10 2019

As we return to school from Spring Break and everything starts to get busy again, we will spend this meeting exploring ways to manage stress and relax.

If you have a journal you like to write in please bring it along as we will be doing some writing activities. Also, if you have a colouring book or other relaxing craft that you enjoy feel free to bring that as well.

Please enter through the downstairs patio doors as the church is having a service upstairs. Also, cookies will be available for pickup from 8:15 onwards, plan to take your cases today if you haven’t already got them!

Cookie sales in Canada start on March 18.

Since we don’t have a unit meeting again until April 3, Karla has identified a few times that you could come pick up your two cases of cookies over Spring Break. If you’d like to get a jump on your cookie selling, you’re welcome to come by. 

Sign up for a pick up time on March 17, 23 and 26 using this online sign-up tool. If you prefer to wait until our meeting on April 3 to pick up your cookies, you can note that there, too.

Karla will email everyone with her address.

On Wednesday, March 13 we will be heading to Hillcrest Community Centre to skate!
We will meet at the ice rink at Hillcrest Community Centre (4575 Clancy Loranger Way) at 6:00 pm. Pick up will be at 8 pm. 

We’ll be there for two skating events: The Family Fun Hockey from 6 – 6:45 and then the Family Skate from 6:45 – 7:30. We’ll visit the cafe after before your parents pick you up.

For the hockey section, they only allow plastic sticks and pucks, which are provided. Helmets and gloves are required.

Things to bring:

– Skates, helmet and gloves (if you have them)

– Money for admission, rentals and snacks after ($15-20)

– Warm clothes – best to layer in case you get too hot

– Your Pathfinder scarf

Rink fees for the Family Fun Hockey are $6.10, which will also include staying for the Family Skate. Skate rentals are $3.08 each.

Learn more at: https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/hillcrest-rink.aspx 

Also, spring cookies are being delivered this Saturday March 16. Cookies sales start Monday March 18. Karla will be sending out an email with pickup options for Spring Break. Stay tuned!

Lastly, save the date – registration for girls returning to the same unit next Guiding year starts Monday April 15.

This week, we are heading to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank for our annual volunteer food sorting evening! Pick up and drop off is from the GVFB.

Note the early start time of 5:45 pm and pick up of 8 pm. Uniforms are mandatory for this outing.

Please also bring the Volunteering Consent Form with you.

If you arrive late, please text or call Karla at 604 720 7922 for entry as the door will be locked after 5 pm.

Please also bring one or more food items to donate, if you can! GVFB’s most needed items include canned proteins such as tuna, salmon, chicken or turkey; whole grain pastas; brown rice; and canned beans including black beans, chick peas and kidney beans.