Trefoil Guild: Keeping the Spirit Alive!
2024 National Trefoil Guild Gathering in the Heart
When: June 19-23, 2024
Where: Best Western Plus Winnipeg Airport Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Cost: $750 +GST
Rooms based on double occupancy – Two queen beds or a king bed with a pull-out sofa
Known for its friendly and welcoming spirit, Winnipeg is a diverse multicultural city with a rich and varied history. An Indigenous trading centre prior to the arrival of the Europeans, Winnipeg was at the heart of the country’s fur trade and instrumental in developing Canada’s gateway to the west. We are also the Birthplace and Homeland of the Red River Métis. Winnipeg’s architecture and neighbourhoods reflect the profound character of this big/small prairie town.
Come and explore all that our city and province have to offer. Learn more about this event, including a sample itinerary.
Everyone looks forward to the warm months of summer and Trefoil Guilds are no different. Some guilds will recess for this period while others support girls in their outdoor activities. Some members will enjoy hiking, camping, beach campfires and outings to places of interest. Others will begin planning for their fall adventures. Whatever your interest, be safe and well. If you venture into the forest, remember the Guiding Law “to protect our common environment”.
We will be back in the August 29 edition of Guidepost to share stories of our summer adventures and activity ideas for an exciting fall season.
For more information on Trefoil Guilds, visit the Trefoil Guild page or connect with your Provincial Liaison, who can answer your questions or connect you with a Trefoil Guild.
Until next time, see below for a snapshot of what is happening with Trefoil Guilds in the different provinces.
~ Sharron Callahan, National Trefoil Guild Liaison
Alberta, Northwest Territories and Yukon
Jan McCaghren, ANY Trefoil Guild Liaison
Alberta, Northwest Territories and Yukon and Alberta welcome Jan McCaghren as the new Provincial Liaison for our council.
British Columbia
Brenda Fraser, BC Trefoil Guild Liaison
While our many BC Trefoil Guilds have been out in the community and enjoying nature, there has been a change in the Provincial Trefoil Guild Liaison position. We said goodbye to Darlene Kent and wished her many thanks for lots of hard work done during her term. Now I say hello! I am Brenda Fraser and I have been a Guiding member for 36 years, both as a girl and adult, holding a variety of unit, district, area and provincial positions. I’m excited to carry on the work started by Darlene to support Trefoil Guilds in the province by encouraging communication between Trefoil Guilds, between guilds and the area where they are located and reminding Unit Guiders about what a fantastic resource Guild members are.
As an example of the activities enjoyed by the 85 guilds in our province, here is what the Legends Trefoil Guild has been up to.
In February for Thinking Day, we all arrived in old uniform pieces. At this meeting, we gathered to honour one of our members, Angela Bopp, who received her 80-year pin of uninterrupted service to Girl Guides… an inspiration to us all.
During a meeting, we had fun making seagull ornaments to adorn one of the trees at the Gulf of Georgia national historic site’s annual Festival of Trees. We went bowling, helped prepare food for River’s Edge District at their spring camp and, most recently, gathered at beautiful Paulik Park for a tour. Afterwards, we lunched at the appropriately named Legends Pub.
We have a potluck dinner planned for June and hope to meet in the summer months for some outside adventures.
Manitoba
Sharon Romanow, MB Trefoil Guild Liaison
See the information above about the 2024 National Trefoil Guild Gathering, being held at the Best Western Plus Winnipeg Airport Hotel on June 19-23, 2024.
New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island
Carmel Hambrook, NB/PEI Trefoil Guild Liaison
1st Miramichi Trefoil Guild
Members of the 1st Miramichi Trefoil Guild, Costal Shore Area, attended the annual closing banquet. Pictured with Area Commissioner Cindy MacLean is Ann Rendell, lead for Miramichi Trefoil Guild, who received her 40-year membership pin.
Tidewater Area Trefoil Guilds
Members from all four of our Trefoil Guilds attended the annual awards and recognition banquet. Westmorland Trefoil Guild hosted the meet-and-greet part of the event.
Membership pins:
Nancy Fox, 55-year pin, Anne McGlynn-Chiasson, 35 -year pin.
Westmorland Trefoil Guild awards:
Karen Geldart, NB Chickadee Award, Heather LeBlanc, Medal of Merit.
Sackville Purple Violet Trefoil Guild:
Audrey Hicks, Letter of Commendation.
We would also like to mention Westmorland Trefoil Guild member Carol Fitchett, who received her Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. Carol plays with the PRCMP band.
NB/PEI Trefoil Guild members took part in the provincial gathering on June 17.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Pat Burton, NL Trefoil Guild Liaison
May 26-28, 2023, Back on Track, Provincial Trefoil Guild Gathering at Max Simms Camp. What a fabulous weekend of fun and friendship for the 43 members of our Trefoil Guilds in Newfoundland and Labrador who attended the provincial gathering. The weekend program was centred around recovery from the pandemic years and reconnecting with our Guiding friends. Killick Trefoil Guild had the lead in organizing the event and other guilds contributed to the program. Fireside Friends had two wonderful and amazing campfires thanks to the campfire talents of Donna, assisted by Robyn and Stephanie. Heritage arranged two guest speakers. Caribou and Crossroads had a card game and bingo. A wonderful, relaxing yoga session was held and there was lots of socializing and pop-up singing led by Mary Smith on the piano and Barb Boone on the accordion.
The leads meeting on Friday night was led by Sharron Callahan, the National Trefoil Guild Liaison, and was well attended with lots of discussions. We could have used more time but adjourned to enjoy the wonderful campfire. The general meeting on Saturday morning was also very engaging and everyone seemed to appreciate the opportunity to share the activities that the different guilds have been doing. Best wishes were extended to Pat Burton, our provincial liaison, who was unable to attend this gathering. Get well soon, Pat! Hopefully next year, more members of our guilds will be able to attend.
Nova Scotia
Kathy DeGrasse, NS Trefoil Guild Liaison
In Nova Scotia we wind down for the summer months but Trefoil Guilds have been busy updating membership pins and awards. Colchester Trefoil Guild added together their years in Guiding, totalling 590! It would be interesting to add all the years from every Trefoil Guild in Canada – we would be very surprised and proud of that number.
We are getting together for winding down activities while we plan for next year. Our annual provincial camp, Burning Spirit, will take place in September. This will be the eighteenth year of this camp. During the year we have visited museums, had dinner and movie nights, participated in girl events, visited and held meetings in the residences of our friends that are unable to attend meetings and had good times together. In the summer months, there will be picnics, road trips, beach walks and whatever else strikes our fancy.
The wildfires here impacted many of our friends and we are helping them, and others, any way we can. We are Nova Scotia Strong and we always keep going when the going gets tough. Although we are a small province, we are big on friendship and we strive to keep the spirit alive.
Mary Beckett, Colchester Trefoil Guild 65-year pin.
Ontario and Nunavut
Candace Gaudet, ON Trefoil Guild Liaison
This is the last post for me as Trefoil Guild Liaison for Ontario. I have enjoyed my three years in this position and I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had. We had some difficult times through COVID-19 with decreased membersship and guilds hibernating or closing, but we have welcomed many new members. Guilds have started up again and we have opened some new Trefoil Guilds. We all learned new technical skills like Zooming with our members to keep in touch.
"Many thanks to Candace for her term in this position. She has been a welcome addition to the Provincial Trefoil Guild Liason team and we wish her well in herGuiding journey. Congratulations on being awarded the Medal of Merit for your commitment, loyalty and engagement in all that Guiding stands for in Ontario." ~ Sharron Callahan
As Trefoil Guilds wrap up for the summer, here are a few photos to show how much fun we had.
Cedarbluff Trefoil Guild helped with the community 19 awards ceremony and enjoyed a picnic.
Lynn R. retired as lead of the Ganaraska Trefoil Guild. You did a wonderful job, Lynn. We welcome Denise as the new lead.
Etobicoke Trefoil Guild held a pottery event and had a year-end lunch.
Maple Leaf Trefoil Guild got crafty with pottery and a paint night.
Five Trefoil Guilds from the Golden Horseshoe got together in the park. Members of Hunter Trefoil Guild, London Trefoil Guild and the 1st Sisterhood of the Traveling Trefoil Guild.
Members from 1st St Catharines-Mary Malcolmson Trefoil Guild, the 1st Grand Trefoil Guild and 1st Sisterhood of the Traveling Trefoil Guild.
Making new friends and friendship knots.
Quebec
Ellen Gauthier/Angie Kruller, QC Co-Trefoil Guild Liaisons
Our second last event for this Guiding year was a potluck BBQ hosted by Ellen at her house. Due to the unfortunate rain, we had to go indoors. Her poor husband had to stand under an umbrella in the rain to do the barbequing. He did a fantastic job. We had a great turnout and the food was amazing. It was nice to sit together and reminisce about all the adventures we had, the camps we attended and the international trips we took. Despite the rain, we had a fantastic evening and we are all looking forward to the next Guiding year and all the get-togethers to come.
Saskatchewan
Lorraine Thibeault, SK Trefoil Guild Liaison
Saskatchewan Trefoil Guilds are holding year-end activities such as potlucks and wiener roasts. Our members are keeping busy gardening, golfing, camping and just relaxing. Quilting has taken a siesta over the summer and will resume in the fall. A memorial was prepared and distributed to Saskatchewan Trefoil Guild members to celebrate the lives of six Trefoil Guild members who passed over the last year. Three of these members were 97, 99 and 100 years of age. Information on the National Gathering in Winnipeg in 2024 has been distributed. We are in search of a new provincial Trefoil Guild Liaison. We love the warm weather and are grateful for rain every now and then. We wish all Guiding members a wonderful summer of fun and friendship.
1st Canadian Internet Trefoil Guild
Dana Weatherell, 1st Canadian Internet Trefoil Guild Liaison
Our online meetings for this Guiding year are coming to an end this month with our last one on June 24. We do not formally meet during the summer months but there may be some informal gatherings as our members travel around Canada. With so many period parties mentioned on social media in the more senior branches, we are thinking of having a menopause party in the fall! While not all our members are there yet, the younger ones have mentioned they would like to know ahead of time what to expect. If you have an interest in joining us or want to throw an idea for this our way, please contact us at 1stCdnInternetTrefoilGuild@gmail.com.