Greenock Division
Lasrt weekend GirlGuiding Greenock Division opened their Centenary Exhibition:
‘100 Years of Guiding in Inverclyde’
The exhibition was opened by Mrs Mary Boyd who has been involved in Guiding within the Division for over 70 years and features in the exhibition as ‘the Guide from 1939’.
Joining them for the evening were special guests including Lady Lucinda Shaw-Stewart, Sir Guy Clarke - Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, Pat Marwick - Deputy Scottish Chief Commissioner, Provost Michael McCormick, Councillor Luciano Rebecchi – Guiding Ambassador for Greenock, Mrs Maureen Foley – GirlGuiding Renfrewshire, Mr David McCallum – Greenock & District Scout Commissioner, Mr Rodger Manson, Members of the Trefoil Guild , Members of the Division Executive and many other friends of GirlGuiding Greenock.
On entering the Exhibition Hall, the guests were treated to a country dance ‘100 Thousand Welcomes’ specially written for the Guide Centenary and performed on the evening by Guides from 1st Wemyss Bay Guides. The guests browsed through the many exhibits, which included an album of pictures featuring Lady Olave Baden-Powell at a world Camp in Hampshire the ‘20s and a full display of uniforms during the past 100 years.
On display was a range of different activities that Guides take part in including a campsite scene, canoeing, Archery and even had a Climbing Wall in the hall with a ‘Guide’ climbing the wall. At the end of the evening a Guide Thanks Badge was presented to Vincent Gillen from McLean Museum who has been a great help over the past 6 months. Tina & Eunice would like to thank all the Guiders who gave up their time during the week to help set up the display. On the first day of the exhibition there was a range of Easter crafts available during the day with many children taking part in these activities. 5th Gourock Brownies visited the Exhibition as part of their ‘Adventure 100’ challenge and had a great day exploring the museum and were thrilled with all the things on display and especially when they saw their pictures on the big screen. 2 Brownies were lucky enough to be able to make their promise in the Exhibition hall, which they are sure to remember for a long time.
Other activities that have taken place during the Easter holidays have been First Aid for children, Water Safety, Easter Crafts, Jewellery making, Learn the promise in Gaelic, Badge Making Adventure 100 Activities & campfires.
Coming up on 24th April is a special event Radio Station with Guide Radio Operator Eunice Lynch using a special call sign GG100GGR & on 1st May a campfire & learning the Centenary ‘Hundred Thousand Welcomes’ country dance with Alison Carmichael & 1st Wemyss Bay Guides.
On the last day will be a fashion show of Guide uniforms through the last 100 years. This is the largest exhibition that Greenock Division Guides have ever mounted and local Guides are very excited about it. The display is the history of Girlguiding in Greenock Division from it’s beginnings in 1st Port Glasgow in 1912 into the Centenary of Guiding in 2010.
1st Port Glasgow Guides was founded by Jean Weir who became Captain and her assistants Nettie Gibson & Lizzie Lindsay. From these humble beginnings of 17 Guides & Leaders, Greenock Division Guides have grown to around 950 in number in 2010 .
The exhibition is a mixture of Digital, Visual & Interactive displays where the visitor can view on screen the history of the various Units along with traditional displays of Guiding History at Local & National level.
On display will be a vast array of Guiding memorabilia with a sample of uniforms through the ages from the beginning of Guides to the present day.
The exhibition will be open until 8th May, so drop down to McLean Museum soon and have a look at what is on offer.