Saskatchewan Girl Guides is a provincial council
within the National organization of Girl Guides of Canada - Guides
du Canada. The area covered includes the province of Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan Council
History of Guiding in Saskatchewan
First Guide Company started at Zion United Church, Moose Jaw in 1910 under the leadership of Rev. Dr. G.F. Salton. The Company did not register its beginning with Headquarters in England and the honour of the first Guide Company in Canada went to St. Catherine's, ON.
Provincial Council organized May 24, 1922, with Miss Edina Newlands, daughter of the then Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan, calling the first meeting. She was named Honorary President.
1922: First Provincial Commissioner Mrs. J.D. Martin, with Mrs. D.A. McNiven appointed in November of that year, followed shortly after by Mrs. Burford Hooke until 1927.
Brownies (name changed to Embers in 2023) and Rangers first appear in the annual report of 1925.
In 1927 Christina Riepsamen, a Regina Guide Captain with Girl Guide Company #4, baked cookies at 10 cents a dozen to raise money to go camping. This represents the start of the sale of Girl Guide cookies in Canada.
In 1945 Regina Girl Guides sold War Savings Stamps - the highest sales of any single organization.
In 1960, fifty years of Guiding was marked by Saskatchewan girls planting thousands of tulip bulbs around public buildings, parks and local communities to form the golden river of tulips which spread coast-to-coat.
A wilderness camp opened on Little Sandy Lake north of Prince Albert. The first supervised camps were held there in 1962 and it was after this that Guides were given the honour of renaming the lake Heritage.
In 1967, Canada's Centennial Year, the Guide membership in Saskatchewan was 9,932.
The 1967 Centennial Project of the Provincial Council raised money through a "Tramp for Camp to build Camp Can-ta-ka-ye on Lake Diefenbaker. Over $80,000 was raised in one day through the participation of members throughout the province. World Chief Guide Lady Olave Baden-Powell dedicated a cairn at the camp site.
Lady Baden-Powell made several trips to Saskatchewan. Members of the Royal Family have made numerous visits as well, with Guides receiving special awards on these occasions.
Over the years, both Camp Can-ta-ka-ye (sold in 2015) and Heritage Lake Camp have each hosted several inter-provincial, as well as international camping events. A Nationally-sponsored international camp was held in Echo Valley in 1988 with over 2,300 participants.
100 years of Guiding in Canada was celebrated in Moose Jaw in 2010 with over 1,200 members taking part in a parade and activities in a local park.
The province is divided into three Areas: Southern Horizons, Bridging Rivers and Northern Pines.
This new structure became effective January 2011.
Twenty-five women have served as Provincial Commissioner since 1922. Christa Morhart is currently serving in this role.