Christmas Party and Disney Tickets

Hi Families,

The Owls were looking at the craft plan for this week's Christmas party and have decided that party dresses may not be the best idea (the Brownies will be painting AND using green icing). So, Brownies could come in their PJs again if they'd like, or their uniform -- it is up to them.

Also -- great news! We have secured a limited number of extra tickets for the Disney on Ice show, and they will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Some of you have asked for extras: if you are still interested please email me (Jen) as soon as possible and bring your money this Thursday.

Finally, December 13 is our last meeting night of 2012. We will meet again the week that school starts (January 10) at the ice rink for skating, weather permitting. Keep an eye on the blog for further updates.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Owls

Cookie Poll and reminder

Hi Families,

It's that time of year again! We will be placing our order for cases of the classic Girl Guide cookies - the vanilla and chocolate mix - in early January. Each girl is required to sell one case (12 boxes), not including what is sold during our group selling night. If your Brownie would like more than one case to sell, please let us know how many you would like as soon as possible.

And don't forget socks for making sock puppets on Dec 6! :)

Holiday Party Details and Parade Pictures

Thursday December 13th - Brownie Holiday Party - Girls are reminded to wear their Party Dresses!
 

For this year's party, the girls have decided to do a cookie/square exchange. We ask that each girl bring in 24 cookies or squares. (Please make sure that your treats are nut and strawberry free due to allergies in our unit!) Please provide two containers or a plate and a container for the treats.  This will allow the girls to display their baking and allow them to select from all the goodies at the same time.

Here are some pictures of our parade float on Saturday. It was a great day, even though there were a few cold toes by the end.  :)

 

THANK YOU!! (and a reminder)

Thank you Brownie families, last night we collected 13 presents and $25 dollars in support of The Children's Aid Angel Tree Christmas Gift Program.  Your donations will go a long way towards putting smiles on 14 girls faces this Holiday Season.  Thank you! 

 

It’s never too late; there is still time if anyone still wants to make a donation and was unable to this week, we will still be taking donation next week.

Many thanks,

The Owls

PS - Please remember to bring a sock next week for our sock puppet craft!!

A few reminders - Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 meetings

A big thanks to all the parents/family members and friends who came out to Fruggle night last week! The girls seemed to have a lot of fun and, as always, the Leaders were very impressed with the creativity our Brownies have!

Nov. 29 is PJ night! Brownies are invited to wear their PJs to the meeting. We will be planning for our Christmas Party (Dec. 13 - the last meeting before Christmas holidays).

Other reminders:

* Please note that we are accepting Angel Tree donations on Nov. 29: a gift (we chose 7 to 9-year-old girls) or cash are welcome. The organization also takes Christmas gift bags to help with their wrapping.

* Permission forms to ride the float on Sat. Dec. 1 are due back Nov. 29 as well. This is an optional event, but a lot of fun!

* We are making sock puppets at our Dec. 6 meeting. Please have your Brownie bring a sock in either this week or on Dec. 6.

* Badge testing is ongoing. Please remind your girls to bring their Brownie books when they do their testing.

New entrance to gym, Angel Tree information

New Entrance to Gym -- since the back door of the gym has been so dark the past couple of weeks, we have decided to now have people enter through the front door of the school. PLEASE NOTE: we need to leave the fire access open when you are dropping off your Brownie. To do this, please continue to park at the side of the building for drop-offs and pick-ups.

Angel Tree Information

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”…Winston Churchill

The Angel tree program provides gifts to children and youths whose families are clients of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) of Ottawa and are in financial need.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner again and with your help, sounds of happy children on Christmas morning will fill the air. We will ensure that many children in the Ottawa area, who are under the watchful eye of the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa-Carleton and who would otherwise not have a gift, will have one to open on Christmas morning.
 
Once again, this year, we are going to collect gifts for the Children's Aid "Christmas Gift Program." Unfortunately, the need in our community continues to increase. Last year the CAS distributed over 9,000 gifts to "our" children. We cannot cure all the wrongs of the world but we can make the eyes of a child sparkle and laugh on Christmas morning when they awake to a gift.
 
If you wish to involve yourself in this wonderful event, we ask that the girls bring an unwrapped gift in a gift bag to the meeting on Thursday November 29th.  Children's Aid will ensure that the gifts are appropriate and a gift bag is much easier to deal with than a gift-wrapped parcel.  We also welcome cash donations if you would prefer -- allowing the committee members to shop for gifts as needed.


See you Thursday for Fruggle night!!

A few little things...

Hi Families!

We have the St. Jerome gym back this week (yey!). We have lots of fun activities planned for the girls. Badge testing will also be available.  Please remember to bring indoor shoes!

Don't forget that November 22 is Fruggle night. The girls will be making little yarn dolls called fruggles -- they are "not quite a hug, not really a cuddle, but a friend to help you through your troubles". (More details can be found here -- http://wendybooks.ca/) Moms/older female friend/family members are asked to accompany your Brownie that evening to help with the craft, sing a few songs and have a tasty treat.

This year, our Brownie unit will be collecting contributions for the Angel tree, which provides Christmas gifts for children in need. More details will follow shortly, but if you would like to buy an gift for your own Angel, please let us know and we can arrange to get you one.

The Manotick Christmas parade is on December 1st at noon. The Manotick/Riverside South Girl Guide units will be putting a float in again. Save the date if you would like to join us!

See you on Thursday!

URGENT! Changes to Schedule and meeting location - Nov 8 - 22.

Due to the parent-teacher interviews this week (Nov. 8) at St. Jerome, we are unable to use the gym for our meeting.

Instead, we will be meeting at 6pm at the parking lot of Claudette Cain park (closest to the splash pad/Moncion's) for an outdoor meeting. Details:

*  We will have a shorter (6 to 7pm) outdoor meeting at the park.

* Girls are asked to bring a flashlight and wear reflective clothing if possible.

* Pick-up will be at the same parking lot as the drop off at 7pm sharp.

* Please dress your Brownies for the weather.

And due to parent-teacher interviews at Steve MacLean on Nov. 15, we will bump our Mother/Special Friend and Brownie Fruggles night to Nov. 22.  Nov. 15 will run as a regular meeting at the St. Jerome gym.

Other notes:
1. Remembrance Day: If you plan on attending a Remembrance Day ceremony, just a reminder that Brownies are encouraged to wear their Brownie Uniform as a sign of respect and remembrance.

2. Please remember that we ask for dues for every meeting, even those outside of the gym. Dues help us pay for craft supplies and badges. Kelly will send out a reminder shortly of dues owing. If you have questions or concerns about this, please see one of the leaders.

3. Great news! Girl Guides of Canada just announced that Diane Arbuckle, our Community Guider (you see her greeting parents at the gates of our camps) - aka Mrs. A - has been awarded a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for her outstanding contributions to our community and to Canada. Congratulations Mrs. A! You deserve it!!

Our Brownies made over 100 SWAPS!

SCRAPBOOKS

Dear parents,

We are writing to ask for your help   Last year we gave each Brownie an eclectic scrapbook at the end of  the year with a collection of photos, artwork and stories.  This year we will have a scrapbook night so the girls can work on a few of their own pages.  In order to help make your daughter’s end of the year scrapbook as memorable as possible we have 2 requests:

1)   Over the year, if you have any crafts or photos that are completed in Brownies that are flat and can be placed in a scrapbook-certificates, enrollment card, bookmarks, artwork,  etc. we would love to have them for the memory book.

2)  We would also like to include positive comments from family members (mom, dad, siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents), coaches, teachers, friends, etc.  If you could write out these comments and hand it to an Owl with your daughter’s name and who made the comment that would be appreciated.  Some examples, ‘you are a strong swimmer who works very hard to improve your strokes, from swim coach’, ‘you have a beautiful smile, from grandma’,   ‘I love how gentle and compassionate you are with your brother, from mom’.  The comments can be as long or short as you wish.  You may choose to write them, type them and/or decorate them.  You can send in as many or as few as you like. 

We will collect these items up until the end of  March 2013.  

Thank you for your help.  

The Great SWAP Event

Tonight we are making SWAPS, otherwise known as, “Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.”   They are fun and creative little craft pins.   These are a tradition in Girl Guides.    They are meant to be traded with girls from other units for that unit’s SWAPS.  This year we will be mailing our SWAPS to other cities and provinces and we will wait to see what treasured pin we get in return!  If your daughter has a camp hat please have her wear it tonight as we will be pinning our newly made SWAPS to our hats.  

             

Badge testing information

Badge testing starts November 1 and will be available every week that we hold a meeting at St. Jerome. We also welcome badge testers! If you would like to stay the occasional night to help out, please let the leaders know.

Each meeting night we we will have a sign up sheet for badge testing. We ask you to fill this out so that we know whould would like to get tested, and for which badge. We also try to keep badge testing to a maximum of 3 badges per night for a Brownie so that she does not miss too much of the regular meeting.

What to bring for badge testing:

 

If your daughter is bringing a badge for testing at a meeting please ensure that she brings the following and add her name to the badge testing sheet when she arrives: 

a) Her program book with your signature beside the badge which she has completed – the leader who does the testing will also sign the book so you know that it was examined.

b) Any items pertinent to the badges (i.e., for the collecting badge bring in the collection, for an art badge bring in what was completed, etc. – for large experiments, cooking etc – a description and a picture from the brownie is sufficient).

c) Please ensure that the work is completed by the brownie.  If possible, it would be great that anything written down is done by the Brownie.  If she is not able to discuss what she has done (i.e., too shy, forgets) this allows us to know that she understands the badge components.

Our visit to Guide House

Here are a few photos from our visit to Guide House...

2nd Riverside South Brownies!

Ta-wit, ta-woo!

 Old Brownie badges

Learning about the artifacts

1000 Origami Swans from Japan

Badge collection on a poncho

Thursday October 11 – Door-to-Door Cookie Selling

This week’s Brownie activity is door-to-door cookie selling! Please see below for details:

1. The girls will be divided into groups of 5 with 3 cases of cookies to sell.
2. Each group will be escorted by a leader and a parent volunteer. The groups and meeting locations are below.
3. Parents are asked to drop their girls off and pick their girls up at these designated locations. Please drop them off before 6pm (as early as 5:45) if possible.
4. Brownies are asked to dress for the weather, but to wear their uniforms underneath their jackets. The girls will likely be selling cookies outside for the whole 90 minutes.

** If it is raining, this event will be cancelled and the girls will meet at St. Jerome’s Gym. We will confirm the event details by Thursday at 5:15pm.

Groups:

Kelly/ Allison G’s mom
Meeting Location: 881 Sandy Forest Place
Sarah, Allison G, Emma, Adriana, Alyssa

Alice/ Muskan's mom
Meeting Location: 5078 North Bluff Dr.
Fiona, Muskan, Penelope, Ellie, Grace

Jen/ Robin's mom
Meeting Location: 5078 North Bluff Dr.
Ali, Cate, Robin, Madison, Rileigh

Lisa/Caitlyn's mom
Meeting Location: 5078 North Bluff Dr.
Allison D, Emily, Sofia, Caitlyn, Jocelyn

Camp Woolsey Pictures

Lloyd Cabin 2012 at the campfire the girls made by themselves

Room 1

Room 2

Biggest trail marker ever!

Perfecting emergency shelter techniques

Guide House Reminder, Cookies and More!

 
Please take a quick look at the reminders and new information below.

1. The Brownies will be touring Guide House at 453 Parkdale Ave. this Thursday evening (Oct 4).  Please drop your Brownie off at 6pm sharp, with their permission form if you have not already turned it in (we have most of them).  Parking (off Foster St) is very limited and car pooling is encouraged. There may be room in some of the leader cars – please let us know asap if you need a ride.

2. If you have not picked up your cookie cases, please pick them up from Screech Owl (aka Alice) by October 3.

 

3. Please mark Oct 18 on your calendars for our Enrolment ceremony! Family members will be asked to join us at 7:00 that evening. More details will follow.

 

4. We are collecting balls of yarn (full or partial balls) for our November Fruggle Event. If you have extras you would like to donate please see Tawny Owl (aka Jen)

5. Thanks to those who requested Ballet tickets. Rainbow (aka Kelly) will circulate more details about the event shortly. 

We hope your Brownies are recovered from the great camping weekend. The Leaders are almost recovered J

Les Petits Ballet- (action required)

**Last call for the Ballet.  We will be purchasing our tickets tomorrow- September 27th.  Please email Kelly if your Brownie will be attending.  **

Our unit is planning on attending the performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This is a special invitation to the Girl Guide community of Ottawa to attend this performance. The performance is approximately one and a half hours in length, with a 20 minute intermission.  

When: Friday December 7th at 7:30pm
Where: Centrepointe Theatre, 101 Centrepointe Dr.,
Cost: $10.00

We will need to purchase the tickets by the end of next week to secure a spot.  This night sells out quickly!  If your daughter will be attending we will require your payment of $10.00 ASAP.  Please email Kelly- Rainbow Owl to let me know if your daughter will be attending.  Thank you!

Camp Woolsey, Sept 28-30 - Kit List and INFO UPDATE in bold below.


As discussed at our camp meeting, here is the camp list and a bit of information:

Accomodations are in heated cabins with bunk beds, bathrooms, a kitchen and a common room that houses 24 girls and 6 leaders. It is a short (approx. 10-15) minute walk to the cabin from the parking lot. Please do not bring your vehicles beyond the parking lot. We will be staying in Lloyd Cabin, the same cabin we were in last year (for those returning Brownies). Arrival time is 7pm on Friday and pick up is between 10:15 and 10:30 am on Sunday.

Directions: The camp address is 5029 Dunrobin Rd, Woodlawn, ON. Take HWY 417W to exit 138, Regional Road 49. Follow signs for March Road N (right at the fork) and merge onto March Rd/Regional Road 49. Turn right on Dunrobin Rd/Regional Road 9. The camp is at the end of Dunrobin Rd. It takes just over an hour to get there.
KIT LIST
Clothing - PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING:
2 pair long pants – no jeans please
2 t-shirts
1 long sleeve t-shirt
1 hoodie or sweatshirt
Underwear (including extra pair)
pyjamas – no nighties please
1 warm jacket for evenings and cool days – please don’t send new winter jacket
Warm hat and mitts
CAMP HAT (something we can pin camp crafts to)
3 pair socks
1 pair indoor footwear (eg. crocs, slippers)
1 pair comfortable runners
1 pair WATERPROOF FOOTWEAR
1 RAIN SUIT – JACKET AND PANTS

Sleeping Gear - PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING:

Warm sleeping bag

Extra blanket
Sleeping friend (if desired)
Pillow (if desired)

 Extra Equipment - PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING:

Ditty bag – a mesh bag containing 1 personal set of unbreakable dishes and cutlery (fork, knife, spoon, bowl for spaghetti, plate, mug for hot chocolate, cup for milk/juice)

Flash light with extra batteries
Personal kit – with brush, toothbrush, etc.  please send hair elastics for long hair
Deck of cards or book for personal use
Optional: compass

- Please DO NOT send cell phones – we have no reception at camp.  Also, please do not send electronic games, and music players.  Camp is for sharing time together, and these electronic devices are expensive and can be easily lost or damaged at camp.

- Girls may bring a camera if they desire.  They should know how to use it, and they are responsible for it.

- Please do not send any food or candy with your daughter unless previously arranged with her Guider. All medication must be marked on the Health Form, and sent in its original package, with dosage and child’s name clearly indicated.  Medications should be put in a zip lock bag with child’s name clearly on bag.  Bags are given to Guiders upon arrival at camp.

             

Tree Planting Sept 22

Just some details about the Tree Planting this weekend. Parents are welcome to join us; a t-shirt and food is available for the registered Brownies.

Time: 9:00am to approx 12:00 noon
Food: Tim Horton's coffee, Hot Chocolate and some Tim Bits will be available upon arrival. After planting, we will have a BBQ hot dog, chips and drink for all volunteers.
Water: Water jugs will be available for you to fill up your own re-useable water bottle, so please be sure to bring one.
Supplies: Other than dressing for the weather, what else should I bring? A shovel and gloves for planting. Only a limited number of supplies will be available so we encourage volunteers to bring their own if they have them. A TD Tree Days T-shirt will be available for all volunteers as well.

Parking is available at the park, if the main lot is full, check other parking lots. Look for the TD Tree Days signage and volunteers will direct you to registration.

Meeting Location: Our leaders will be near the registration booth. We will try to determine an exact location before Saturday morning. If you can't find us, please call Jen's cell (613-323-0626)

                                  Meet the Mayor!

                                 Sandy Owl

                                   Screech Owl

                                    Tawny Owl

                     It was muddy and rainy and we had a great time!

Forms for Oct. 4 Guide House Tour

Please check your email for the permission forms for our visit to Guide House (453 Parkdale Ave) on Thursday October 4. The girls will learn all about the history of Girl Guides in this 90 minute tour!

Parking is very limited and unfortunately, the tour is only limited to the Brownies and their leaders. If you are interested in arranging a car pool, please let any of the Leaders know and we can help you set something up.

Parents Newsletter - September 2012/October 2012

Welcome Back/Welcome Aboard!!

We would like to extend a hearty welcome to all returning and new families of the 2nd Riverside South Brownies. We are so excited to get the Brownie year started again!

Meetings

Our first meeting will be September 13, 2012. Unless otherwise indicated, our meetings are in the gymnasium at St. Jerome Catholic School, Thursday 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. Please ensure that your Brownie is there at 6:00 pm sharp, using the gym entrance through the back gym door. We will use the sign in/out system. Proper non-marking indoor footwear is essential as we will often participate in running games.

 

Our schedule for September is a bit jumbled with camp and our tree-planting event, but it will become more regular in October.

September/October Meeting and Special Events Schedule

Thurs. Sept. 13	Opening Night Take Flight into a New Guiding Year
Thurs. Sept. 20	NO MEETING
Sat. Sept. 22	TD Tree Planting morning at Andrew Hayden Park (see attached consent form)
Thurs. Sept. 27	NO MEETING
Fri. Sept. 28 to Sun. Sept. 30	CAMP WOOLSEY!!
Thurs. Oct 4	Key to Brownies – Guiding Archives Tour at Guide House
Thurs. Oct 11	Door-to-door cookie sales (TBC)
Thurs. Oct 18	Key to Brownies - Enrolment
Thurs. Oct 25	Halloween Party!!

Dues

Please have your Brownie bring $1 each week as dues. These funds pay for the costs for crafts, badges, crests, etc. for your daughter for the year. For more information on how your registration fees, cookie money and dues help the unit, please see the table at the end of this letter.

Uniforms

Girl Guides of Canada is a uniformed organization. For the girls this means a Brownie t-shirt (short/long sleeved); neck scarf; badge sash or vest and dark blue/black shorts, pants or skirt (bottoms do not need to be official Girl Guide wear). All items can be purchased on-line at https://www.thegirlguidestore.ca and you can expect delivery within 3 to 4 days. There is a shipping charge of $11 for all orders, although group orders would reduce this cost.

Please note that although a new style of Brownie shirt is available this year, the previous orange shirt is still perfectly acceptable.
 
Brownie Program

The Brownie program consist of a number of “Keys” which we have split into a two-year

program to allow each girl to complete the program over her two years in Brownies. Some
keys are covered every year such as Key to Brownies and Key to Guides. This year we
will also be covering Key to Camping, Key to the Living World, Key to Active Living, and Key to I Can. If you have any questions about the program please talk to one of your Guiders.
 
Interest Badges

Each “Key” includes a number of special interest badges. The unit will work on some interest badges during the year but the girls are encouraged to work on any of the badges that interest them and present their knowledge on the selected badge. We will provide a regularly-updated list of badges that we will be working on in the unit in our future newsletters to reduce duplication of badge work.

 
We will test for special interest badges at most meetings starting in October. This will be new to many of the girls so we will be discussing interest badges during one of our first meetings. We are looking for badge testers! Please let us know if you are available to help occasionally throughout the year.
 
For badge testing:

If your daughter is bringing a badge for testing at a meeting please ensure that she brings the following and adds her name to the badge testing sheet when she arrives:

a) Her program book with your signature beside the badge which she has completed – the leader who does the testing will also sign the book so you know that it was examined.

b) Any items pertinent to the badges (i.e., for the collecting badge bring in the collection, for an art badge bring in what was completed, etc. – for large experiments, cooking etc – a description from the Brownie is sufficient).

c) Please ensure that the work is completed by the brownie. It would be great that anything written down is done by the Brownie. If she is not able to discuss what she has done (i.e., too shy, forgets) this allows us to know that she understands the badge components.

Upcoming Events

Fall Camp: The weekend of Sept 28 – Sept 30 some of our Brownies will go on an adventure at Camp Woosley. The September 27 meeting will be cancelled due to the trip. We will have a short discussion before our trip to remind Brownies what is needed at the camp. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have questions. There will also be another camp in the spring.

Fall Cookies: Selling Girl Guide Cookies is a long fund-raising tradition in Girl Guides. Our fall cookies will be arriving soon and our unit has 30 cases to sell! When the cookies arrive we will be giving at least 1 case per family and would ask that you pay the full cost of the case ($60) upon pickup.

Girl Guides offers incentives for girls who are eager to sell cookies – this program is called Cookie All-Star. The following are the prizes that were awarded last year. We will be keeping track of the number of cases the girls sell individually this year.

·         Girls who individually sell seven to 14 cases will receive a specially designed crest.

·         Girls who individually sell 15 to 29 cases will receive the specially designed crest and a $20 Movie Voucher

·         Girls who individually sell 30 to 39 cases will receive the specially designed crest and a $75 gift card for Indigo Books and Music Inc.

·         Girls who individually sell 40 to 79 will receive the specially designed crest and a $125 gift card for Future Shop.

·         Girls who individually sell 80 or more cases will receive the specially designed crest and a Netbook Computer**

 

A few fun links you may enjoy visiting with information about Girl Guides

This is the main site of Girls Guides of Canada.

http://www.girlguides.ca

 
This is the Girl Guide of Canada Blog

http://girlguidescanblog.ca/

 

The Girl Guides review and recommend books for all age-levels monthly. You can find

the books at this link with information.

http://www.girlguides.ca/book_club

This is an on-line community for girls in Girl Guides only. Your daughter will need their
IMIS number to register for this group.

https://imis.girlguides.ca/wcm/girlzone/

Where do your fees go?

Registration Fee ($150)	$19.00 to the 2nd Riverside South Brownies The remainder goes towards administration and gym rental
Cookie sales ($60 per box)	$12.25 to the 2nd Riverside South Brownies $0.75 to the Ontario Council membership fee subsidy fund $20.50 to Ontario Council $4.75 to the National level of GGC $21.75 to Dare
Dues ($1 per week)	All proceeds to the 2nd Riverside South Brownies to cover the cost of badges, craft materials, special guest speakers, etc.