Shelburne Girl Guides making comeback after pandemic pause

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Girl Guides is making a return to Shelburne. 

The 2nd Shelburne Girl Guides held an enrollment event for the unit's Sparks, Brownies, Guides and Pathfinders on Monday (Nov. 28) from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Centennial Hylands Elementary School.

“Shelburne has a rich history of guiding and so being able to bring that back strengthens any community, where you have community involvement,” said Darlene Kingstone, community guider for Orangeville and the surrounding area. “You see the children, youth and adults being involved where they live, work, go to school, and play. As we're all coming back out into the world and interacting, that's what we're able to bring to Shelburne and I'm so excited that it's happening in Shelburne.” 

The Shelburne Girl Guides initially shut down in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This past August, local Guide leaders reached out to the community online to ask if they would be interested in a local Girl Guide unit returning. 

“We've bumped our capacity twice already because there's so much interest,” said Kingstone. 

So far, the 2nd Shelburne Girl Guides has been able to sign up 29 girls to the unit, which consists of all four age groups.

“Ideally, in the future, we'll be able to separate it so that the girls will be able to be closer to their interests, ages, and programs. It's hard over that age span to divide the program,” said Kingstone.

While there has been renewed interest in guiding, the new unit has been forced to cap admissions due to a lack of guide leaders.

“We need more leaders to be able to help more girls,” said Kingstone. 

Speaking with the Shelburne Free Press, local guide leader Michelle Ferrier shared her personal experience with the return of the local unit.  

“It means a lot to me because I'm a Shelburne Guide and my mom was a Shelburne Guider. This is my childhood and I want to return that to my daughter and have her experience the same things I did with the camping, the value system and community service,” said Ferrier. 

Anyone interested in learning about becoming a Girl Guides leader or for any information regarding the local unit, contact the Shelburne Girl Guides at shelburneguiding@gmail.com