Guide Day at Black Creek Pioneer Village
On May 15 the girls from our unit braved the snow to step into the past at Black Creek Pioneer Village. Together with Guides and Scouts from across Ontario we participated in hands on activities, toured the village and learned about life in Victorian Ontario. While we were having a great time, we also covered bits and pieces of the Dancing, Heritage, Heritage Home Skills and the Provincial Heritage badges. Read on to see which requirements were covered. With a little extra work at home you can easily earn one or more of these badges!
Our first stop was the bannock making session. Bannock is traditionally made with flour and water and sometimes a little fat like lard. The dough can be baked over a campfire or in a pan and was a staple of early settlers , fur traders and aboriginals throughout North America. Making and trying this tradition food is requirement 2 for the Heritage badge, requirement 2 for the Heritage Home Skills badge and requirement 6 for the Provincial Heritage badge. We also discovered how yummy it is dipped into maple syrup. We totally plan on making bannock at our next camp!
Next we went to the Town Hall to learn more about where the buildings in the village came from and made a craft. This covered requirement 7d of the Provincial Heritage badge.
After lunch we visited the farm and the mill, then it was time to head back indoors to learn a traditional dance in the Halfway House. We not only learned the steps to the Sir Roger de Coverley country dance, but also how important dancing was to the social structure of Victorian society. This session covered requirement 1 for the Dancing badge and requirement 4 of the Heritage badge.
Next it was time for school! The girls learned first hand what a typical school day would be like in a one room school house. In the Blacksmith's shop we learned all about horseshoes, and the weaver taught us how to use a loom to create beautiful woven blankets and rugs from thread and fabric. Our visit to the weaver covered requirement 4 of the Heritage Home Skills badge. Finally we wrapped up our day with a visit to the Tinsmith to learn how our unit's unique 7 arm candelabra was made.
It was an action packed day! Oh and just by visiting the village we covered off requirement 8 of the Heritage Home Skills badge, requirement 7 of the Heritage badge and requirement 7 e of the Provincial Heritage badge.
In case you lost count of all of the different requirements, here's a quick breakdown of the badge work we completed during the day:
Dancing 1 Requirement (complete 5 more)
Heritage 3 Requirements (complete 3 more)
Heritage Home Skills 3 Requirements (complete 3 more)
Provincial Heritage 2 Requirements (complete 4 more)
Bring in your additional badge work to be tested or talk to a Guider for ideas on how you can complete any of the above badges on your own!
