BY CYRIL BRABANT
Lacombe Express
Camp Woods is playing host to an international affair.
On July 10th – Girl Guides from around the world came to Sylvan Lake for the 13th annual Girl Guides of Canada International Camp Guiding Mosaics, which is a week “that will excite, energize and enable girls to be confident, resourceful and courageous and engage them to make a difference in our world,” according to a press release.
The camp welcomed 2,750 excited campers on Sunday night to an evening that included traditional dancers from the Samson Cree First Nation, as well as flag raising ceremonies for all the countries represented at the international camp.
“The girls that raised the flags expressed great pride and honour to have been given the opportunity to represent their countries,” said Carrie Pluck, PR and media team lead of Girl Guides Canada. “GM2016 is a national camp that will celebrate the heritage and diversity of Canada while providing an opportunity for international campers to showcase their nationalities and culture to Canadian guiding.”
There were many dignitaries who attended the event, including Red Deer North MLA Kim Schreiner, who remembered her time as a Girl Guide fondly saying that it includes brave girls and women making positive change in the world to better the past and encourages today’s members to keep it up.
The Deputy Chief Commissioner of Girl Guides Canada Susan Birnie was also in attendance and was amazed to, “Have girls from all around the county and the world come together in one stunning setting.” She added the Guides should, “Make new friends, visit with old friends and most of all, make it fun.”
The camp offers many program choices for campers including active recreation, waterfront activities, service projects, crafts along with science and the environment and day trips to the Calgary Stampede, Edmonton Heritage Village and the Royal Tyrell Museum.
Youth members attending the camp are looking forward to the challenge of learning new things, expanding what they might already know and mostly – the adventure ahead of them during their week, officials said.
Guiding Mosaic started July 10th and runs through July 17th, has the theme of ‘Adventure. It features 13 villages named after parks and ridges located in the Canadian Rockies.
According to Pamela Rice, Chief Commissioner Girl Guides of Canada, “The program is guaranteed to offer nine days of fun, new friends and countless exciting challenges.” She added featured activities include fencing, raft building, dragon boating, hiking and biking.
“Guiding Mosaic 2016 will be a never ending ride of awesome experiences. True adventure awaits all participants,” Rice added.
