Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (May 26/99) - One of the most successful years in Guiding history in Rankin Inlet was capped off earlier this month at Leo Ussak elementary school, with the Blast off into the Millennium with the Guiding advancement ceremony.

The ceremony saw two Sparks (Hilary Irwin and Lisa Dunkerley, front page photo) advance to Brownies, four Brownies (Edna Hamilton, Briana Rempel, Amber Ramsay and Charmaine Okatsiuk) advance to Guides and one Pathfinder (Andrea McLarty) advance to senior branches.

The local movement also bid a fond farewell during the ceremony to guider Donna Harman, who had been a leader with Rankin Guiding for the past three years.

Carla Kolysher, Guiding's district commissioner and local Pathfinders guider, said the Guiding movement in Rankin increased its numbers as the year went along. She said that was a positive sign for the local movement, as are plans for girls aged 15-18 to form a Rangers group in the community next year.

"We've actually got two adults who are interested in running the Ranger program and three or four girls who are considering joining and that would be a growth move for us," said Kolysher.

The Guiding movement increased its level of public awareness this year and Kolysher said the girls got out into the community more than past years, which created positive public relations for the movement.

"The program itself was strongly emphasized during meetings this year, which enabled the girls to earn a lot badges, challenges and emblems. We tried very hard this year to do more ads on scrolls and newspaper invites to make ourselves more visible in Rankin.

"We participated in the Remembrance Day ceremony, a hockey tournament opening and put on a Halloween carnival for kids to come and play, so it was good for us to get out there this year."

Kolysher said the girls really look forward to their weekly Guiding meetings. She said Guiding plays a positive role in the community dynamics of Rankin.

"We need more kids to be going to these activities. There's not a lot of other structured organizations or things for these kids to be doing. It would be nice to see more Inuit children and adults involved with our program. We did have an Inuit leader, but, unfortunately, she found the time commitment to be too much.

"That's one of our main goals for next year, is to try and bring in more Inuit. It's a dynamic organization that works on building young girls into women -- teaching them life skills from cooking, to hammering, to writing a cheque.

"It teaches them a very broad range of skills and I think kids up here really need that."