Heritage Hike & Scavenger Hunt

Tonight was our annual Urban Hike and this year's theme was "Caledonia's Past" (aka "The Heritage Hike"). We met at the church as usual and as the girls arrived they were asked to share their ideas for working on different badges - Science, Outdoor Cooking, Heritage, Plants & Animals, Performing Arts, and Career Awareness.

The Guides split themselves up into groups and each group was given a clipboard, a pen and a scavenger hunt sheet. Before heading outside, each group had to create a Be Prepared Plan explaining what they should take with them on a hike, how they make sure no one got lost, what to do if someone did get lost and what to do if someone needed first aid.

Before leaving, we quickly reviewed appropriate behavior on public and private property and explained how the scavenger hunt would work. As we walked, we would be stopping at different places in town to learn something about their history. In some places there would be a question for the girls to answer based on what they could see. Midway through our outing, we planned to stop in the park where the girls could answer some nature questions and find traditional scavenger hunt items - as well as play on the play structures, before heading back to the Church.

Time was against us and we had to cut out certain parts of the walk, and only had about 15 minutes in the park instead of the planned half-hour.

So, where did we go?



The girls had to find answers specific to different locations (such as the original address of Jones Baker (26 Old Plank Road), the year the Toll House was built (1875), the temperature on the sign outside the Credit Union). A number of the questions in the scavenger hunt could be used anywhere:

• Where is the nearest mailbox to the Church?
• What do you see that is made of wood? List as many items as you can.
• Do you see any living creatures? Note any birds, insects, reptiles or mammals that you see.
• What are people doing? How many different things do you see people doing outdoors? Are these jobs or fun activities?
• Where would be a good place to sell cookies? Find 3 places that would be good cookie selling locations and explain why you chose them.
• Explore the Park and find out what lives here (remember: living things include plants, animals, birds, insects, etc.)
• As a group, choose 5 things in nature that you find interesting and explain why you chose each thing.
• Find 3 different flowers. What do they look like? Where are they found?
• Find each of the following in nature:
• Something soft
• Something smooth
• Something rough
• Something circular
• Something square
• Something triangular
• Something red
• Something brown
• Something yellow

We arrived back at the church just after 8.30 and everyone headed home after turning in their scavenger hunt sheets. 

Heritage Home Skills Night

On November 27th we had a special evening event to earn the Heritage Home Skills Badge. Participating were 10 Guides and 1 Pathfinders, along with 2 Guiders and 4 Helpers. Lots of hands were needed to help with the games, crafts, and cooking activities we had planned!

As the girls arrived, they decorated a paper bag to hold their finished crafts and baked goods, then we headed into the kitchen to start making bread. The girls worked in groups of 2-3 to prepare the starter mixture by placing 1/2 cup white flour, 1 package of dry yeast, 1 tbsp white sugar and 1/2 cup warm water in a large ziplock back and mixing it together by squishing the bag. The starter then needed to sit for 15 minutes before continuing.

While the starter was sitting, we played a game called Bear in the Pit. To play this game, players in a circle holding hands and with their eyes closed. One player is in the middle - she is the Bear. The bear tried to get out of the circle (the pit) by going under or over the arms of the other players. If she is able to escape from the pit, all of the other players chase her and the girl who catches her becomes the bear for the next round.

Back in the kitchen, the girls added 1 tbsp white sugar, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 2 tsp salt to their bags and then sealed them up to mix until the dough started to pull away from the sides and form a ball. Once the dough was removed from the bags it was kneaded for 5-6 minutes and then divided into three mini-loaf pans. The pans were left to rise for a hour.

We then divided the girls into 3 groups - one would go into the kitchen to bake while the other two worked on crafts. Our baking groups each made a different treat:

Group 1 - Ginger Cookies
Mix together 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup molasses, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 1/3 cup water. Beat in 1 egg. Combine 3 1/2 cups white flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ginger. Add to wet mixture, stirring well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.
 
Group 2 - Applesauce Bars
Cream 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup white sugar. Add 1 egg and 1 cup applesauce. Add 1 1/2 cups white flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, dash of cloves, and 1/2 cup raisins. Spread in a 9x13x2 pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Cut into squares while still warm.
 
Group 3 - Oatmeal Cookies
Cream 1 cup butter, 1/2 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Add 2 eggs, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 cup milk. Add 2 cups white flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 cups rolled oats, and 1 cup raisins. Drop by teaspoonful on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.

Our crafters were kept busy with 3 different crafts:

Quilt Block Design Notebook Covers - made by covering a small notebook with plain paper and then arranging squares and triangles of scrapbooking paper to make a 9-square quilt pattern.

Woven Bookmarks - made using a straw loom and multi-coloured yarn. Warps are placed through the straws and then the girls weave the yarn around the straws to form the bookmark (or bracelet), and finally the woven yarn is pushed off the straws onto the warps (the hardest part!)

Whirly Gigs - this classic children's toy was made using circles of cardstock that the girls decorated and string.

Towards the end of the evening, we put some whipping cream into 4 small jars and everyone took turns shaking the jars to form fresh butter. The girls received a loaf of bread, some butter, cookies, squares, and their crafts to take home at the end of the night.

Discovering Our Community

The theme for our April 16th meeting was Discovering Our Community, which we did with a heritage walk scavenger hunt!

The weekend before, the Guiders went on a walk around the downtown area of Caledonia and came up with a series of questions for the girls to find the answers to. The final walk had information that was read out (so the girls had to listen to get the answers) and also questions that asked them to look for information that was visible from the sidewalk.

We started and ended at Grace United Church, and of the sites we stopped at were:

• The house built by Neil McKinnon, nephew of the town founder
• Caledonia Fairgrounds
• Edinburgh Square, the War Memorial and the Lawn Bowling Club
• Home built by Dr. William McPherson and its barn (now apartments)
• Caledonia Legion
• Site of the Diamond Hotel (now the Hald-Nor Credit Union)
• Businesses on Argyle Street
• Caledonia Bridge & Toll House
• Jones Bakery
• Site of Bryant's Tavern and the Caledonia Opera House (now the Cornerstone Restaurant)
• Union & Exchange Hotels (now Wiggie's and an abandoned buildling)
• Sachem Office
• Home of John Avery, town clerk (now a private home)
• Manse House of the Sutherland Street Kirk (now a private home)