Rankin Inlet (Mar 05/03) - Members of the Rankin Inlet Girl Guide movement gathered for their annual Thinking Day celebrations on Feb. 22.

The annual tradition is the grand finale of a week's worth of activities celebrating the proud history of the Girl Guides movement around the globe.

This year's Thinking Day activities were held at Alaittuq High and featured a distinct Mexican flavour.

The girls participated in worry-doll making, constructing paper flowers and dolls wearing traditional Mexican dress and the ever-popular pinata smash.

The Mexican theme came about the result of a number of Senior Branch members in Grades 10 to 12 hoping to raise the funds necessary to travel to Mexico during the next two years.

The students wanted to learn all they could about Mexico, so local Guiding leaders decided to focus Thinking Day activities on that country to accommodate their interest.

Keewatin Area commissioner Carla Punshon says Thinking Day celebrations were a little quieter this year than they have been in the past.

But, she quickly adds, they were just as much fun with Girl Guides, Pathfinders and senior branches taking part.

"We focused on the older girls this year," says Punshon.

"In the past, we had some of the younger ones take part as well, but the leaders were quite busy this year, so we limited the participation to the older children."

The international chat room on the Internet was, once again, a hot ticket for Thinking Day participants this year.

Punshon says the local members enjoyed chatting with girls their own age from around the world.

The Rankin Guiders were able to talk with girls in Scotland, New Zealand and the United States.

Several were also quite excited about their Canadian contacts, as well, speaking with girls from Vancouver to Prince Edward Island.

They also found it fun to simply log on and chat with each other.

"It was rather strange because nobody was talking in the room, just typing.

"They're usually quite talkative, so they were obviously really engrossed in the chat room and enjoying the experience."