9th Vancouver Pathfinders

Reminder that there is no meeting on October 23!

On October 30, we’re celebrating Hallowe’en with a treatza-pizza party and games night! Come in costume and bring a treat to share, plus your favourite board or card game to play. Please ensure your treat is 100% nut-free. We’ll be ordering pizza for everyone, so you don’t need to have dinner before you come.

Also, unit dues of $50 for the year, fall cookie money, and camp forms and payment for our fall camp to Camp Olave are due on October 30. Please speak to a leader if you have any questions about any of those items.

We’re on a roll with our camp planning!

3rd years who are planning on completing their Canada Cord will need to plan a Gold Camp, to be help in April – July 2020. Please take some time to start planning your Gold Camp using this worksheet.

Bring your completed worksheet to the meeting on November 6 to review with other 3rd years, and to work on next steps towards your Gold Camp.

Also, each 3rd year Pathfinder will lead a regular unit meeting in November or early 2020. Use this handy planning document to start putting together your girl-led meeting plans. Think about some of the priority learning areas we discussed at the beginning of the year, and check out the Girls First platform for program ideas and inspiration! We’ll work on this on November 6 as well.

On October 16, it’s all about CAMP! We’re going to be planning our November camp at Camp Olave, so bring your theme activities, meal ideas, and devices to research travel options! 3rd years working on your Canada Cords – we’re going to start planning gold camps for spring and summer, so be sure to bring your availability and some ideas of where you’d like to camp (in tents), if you’re working on the Canada Cord camping option.

Forms and information for fall camp at Camp Olave on Nov 9 – 11 are available on the website now, so you can start bringing in your forms and payment of $80 now until October 30! Remember, you can use your cookie cash towards camp so speak with Christa if you have any questions about how much cookie cash you have in your cookie bank.

Other important announcement:

There will be no meeting on October 23.

Fall cookie money is due October 30, so please bring it in tonight or on October 30.

For our October 9th meeting, we will be talking once again about the election.

Please come prepared to answer the following questions:

•  What is the name of the riding you live in?
•  Where does your riding vote?
•  What candidates are running for which parties in your riding?
•  Who is the current Member of Parliament for your riding? What party are they with?
• What question(s) would you be interested in asking your local candidates if you got a chance?

Resources to help:  

Elections Canada – https://www.elections.ca/

House of Commons – https://www.ourcommons.ca/Parliamentarians/en/constituencies/FindMP

And during our last meeting, we selected our Halloween and Enrolment activities through a ranked ballot. This is the type of system that political parties use to select their leader. It is also used in many democracies around the world.

Here’s a simple description of how ranked ballots work: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/rabit/pages/96/attachments/original/1524501207/Ranked_Ballots_Explained.pdf?1524501207

Find more resources here:

https://www.rabit.ca/resources

And more about the Pathfinder Program…

Also – download this Condensed Pathfinder Program Book book. You can use this to help guide your Pathfinder journey, and learn more about what’s required to complete your Canada Cord! We’ll be working more with this tool in the coming weeks.

This week, we collaborated on a unit agreement to help ensure our meetings are safe, productive, and fun! Here are the guidelines we all agreed to:

Be kind and inclusive (Include people, introduce yourself, say hi, talk to people. Don’t use hurtful words.)

Be helpful (Help clean up, help others when they need it, share information)

Be responsible (Hand in your papers. Be organized. Keep your word if you say you are going to be there, show up. Clean your camping gear – especially borrowed gear. Pick up trash)

Speak so others can understand (Explain jokes)

Be active (Participate in activities, share, be curious. Think of new things as a puzzle to work out. Ask questions)

Be open minded and positive (Look at different perspectives)

Try new things

Encourage others (You can do it!)

Use phones as a tool, not a distraction

This week, we are starting our work on the 2019 election! Be sure to come learn about democracy, and participate in the democratic process to plan our enrolment and Halloween outings!

Also, Alanna will be sharing her experiences from her National trip to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Lastly, we will have cookies for anyone that didn’t get them last week, or who would like an additional case! Remember, a portion of each case that you sell on your own goes into your own “cookie cash” account, to be used towards your personal camps, outings, and special events!

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up on Saturday September 28!

Friendly reminder that our first unit service project of the year is to provide treats for this event, so thank you in advance for contributing 2 dozen baked items to share with the other participants at the event, if you’re able to. Treats must be nut-free (check the ingredients list!), and gluten-free options such as rice crispie squares are encouraged.

Check the calendar posting for more information about this fun family event!

The 58th Pathfinders have invited us to join them at Survivor Camp at Camp Kanaka from Oct 11 – 13! This is open to any Pathfinder from the 9th that isn’t already committed to going to Glamp Camp on Keats Island (it’s the same weekend!).

Here is the information about camp:

Don’t miss the fun!! With the theme based on the reality television show, Survivor, this camp has been an annual 58th WPG Pathfinders “start-of-Guiding-year” tradition for about a decade. It’s such a fun and exciting way to learn valuable camping skills; including, knot tying, lashing, shelter building, fire building, outdoor cooking, orienteering, geocaching, first aid skills, safe woodchopping skills, safe pocket knife skills,  and participate in team-building challenges. 

As there is a maximum number of participants permitted on the site, campers will be selected on a first come, first served basis.

For more information and to register, review the forms and information below. Forms should be completed and returned to Adele, the Guider with the 58th Pathfinders. See the forms for her contact information. Forms and fees are due September 30.

We’re looking forward to seeing you tonight!

If you didn’t bring your H1 form and/or dues last week, please remember to bring them tonight.

Also, we will be outside tonight so please dress for the weather. We will be leaving the church and walking to a nearby locale at 6:50 pm, so if you are late, please text or call Karla at 604 720 7922.

Fall cookies are available to take home tonight, so please plan to stay for 5-10 minutes at the end of the meeting to pick up your cookies.

Lastly, the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up is this Saturday Sept 28. The 9th Pathfinders are volunteering this year to bring the treats, so please be sure to sign up to bring 2 dozen tasty treats to Saturday’s event!

1. Weekly Meetings and First Meeting of the Year
The 9th Pathfinders meet Wednesdays in the basement at First Lutheran Church (5345 Wales St) from 6:45 – 8:30 pm. Enter from the side door on E 42nd Ave.
The first meeting of the year will be on Wednesday September 18th. We’d ask that all parents/guardians plan to spend the first 20-30 minutes at the meeting to meet the Guiders and ensure we have all of the forms and up-to-date contact information we need.

Please bring the following items to the first meeting:

• Completed Personal Health Form for your Pathfinder – mandatory!
• New this year – Girl Guides of Canada is piloting an option to submit health form information online, via ePACT. Keep an eye out for an email from Girl Guides of BC during the week of August 26 for more information about how to sign up for ePACT and complete your H1 forms online.
• $50 for annual dues payment – cash or cheque payable to “GGC – 9th Vancouver Pathfinders”. Can also be paid in two installments of $25 (September and January). Dues help pay for unit basics such as pins and badges, craft materials, baking supplies, and thank-you’s for special guests and presenters.

Please note – payment for activities and outings by cheque is preferable to cash wherever possible, because it makes our record keeping a lot easier!!

2. Uniform
A Pathfinder uniform is an important part of your Pathfinder toolkit. Uniforms are mandatory for public events as they help identify us as Pathfinders and members of Girl Guides of Canada. Pathfinders will need a uniform t-shirt and pin tab, plus a scarf if you like which can be ordered online. We recommend ordering soon, as shipping and availability can be delayed at the start of the year. 
You may have seen that the Girl Guide uniforms have changed for this year. You don’t need to buy a new one, though, if you’ve already got a Pathfinder uniform! Girls are welcome to wear the previous uniform (royal blue shirt with green triangle, with Pathfinder scarf) or one of the new navy blue uniforms (t-shirt or tunic-style, no scarf). The previous style of uniforms are heavily discounted right now – get ’em while they’re hot!

3. Save the Dates – upcoming activities
We’ve already got a lot planned for the fall, so take a look at the Unit Calendar and save the dates for fun outings such as the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up on September 28 (we’re on snack duty this year, so be sure to plan to attend!!), and the Southridge District outing to Britannia Mines National Historic Site on November 2.

4. Volunteer Opportunities for Adults
We are looking for some enthusiastic friends or family members aged 19+ to help out with some key duties with the Pathfinder unit, including supporting the unit treasury functions; helping coordinate camping gear, food, and materials when we go on events and adventures; and more. Are you interested and available to help out with any of these functions this year? If so, please send Karla an email to discuss opportunities to support the unit, and all of the fun things we’ll do this year.