100+ at Guide Reunion

What a momentous afternoon it has been!

After months of meticulous preparation, the Centenary Afternoon has materialised as a delightful gathering for past members and volunteers of Guiding in Ballarat.

Throughout the year, our current team of volunteers have organised a series of activities for youth members to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Guiding in Ballarat; this included raising the World Flag outside the Ballarat Town Hall, hosting a Big Birthday Bash party, and creating a unique badge and syllabus.

This final special event was planned to unite those who played pivotal roles in shaping Girl Guides in Ballarat over the last 100 years.  An extensive search was conducted via Facebook, local media and printed posters to extend an invitation to those who are part of our Guiding history, including

• former Girl Guides
• Queen’s Guides
• past Leaders and volunteers
• Support Group members
• Trefoil members

We were delighted to host more than 100 guests, some of who bought along their own mementos to share.  Visitors were treated to displays of memorabilia, a special presentation of “Adult Good Service Awards“, congratulatory speeches, and afternoon tea thoughtfully prepared by our current Girl Guides.

Photo by Tim Bottams – Ballarat Times

Amongst our guests were

• Linda Kors, Girl Guides Victoria State Commissioner
• Des Hudson, Mayor of Ballarat City
• Juliana Addison, Member for Wendouree
• the Honorable Catherine King, Member for Parliament
• Current Volunteer Leaders plus several youth members helping with displays
• Queen’s Guide Awardees
• Past volunteers (Leaders, Commissioners) and youth members (Guides, Brownies and Ranger Guides)
• Some of our sponsors (Evan Welding & Maintenance, Peppercorn Canvas)
• Local Scouting members sharing memorabilia

The afternoon was full of conversation, browsing through displays of memorabilia and reminiscing with photo albums.  Guests were also invited to:

• take a snapshot in the camping scene
• challenge themselves to an online quiz to test their knowledge about the history of Guiding in Ballarat
• contribute to the Gone Home Memorial at Lingbogol by writing on a stone the name of a Guiding person who has passed away (gone home)
• assist in the collation of a list of recipients of Peak Achievement Awards

The honour of cutting the celebratory cake went to Guiding stalwarts Dossie Watts and Zelma Toplis.

There was plenty of things to do and see.  In true Guiding fashion, there was a significant amount of eating and talking.

Big thanks to the team who put in many months of work to organise the event, those who lent items to display, our current youth members for preparing the food, and the ladies from the Skipton Street Uniting Church who volunteered in the kitchen to serve the afternoon tea.