As part of the wide game, patrols were required to create a ceremony from a list:

• Opening and Closing
• Promise
• Link to the next section
• Presentation of a Peak Achievement Award
• Presentation of other badges

Here are the ceremonies the patrols created.

Opening and Closing Ceremony for OP section

OPs number off, take the number of steps of their number forward

Flag bearer calls commands

Start off in straight line symbolising we are all equal, end up in a V formation symbolising we are reaching out to the community

Flag bearer proceeds as the chairperson of a Senior Guide Unit does.

Promise Ceremony for a Junior Guide

Formation: Junior Guide ring

Welcome Parents and District Leader

National Anthem

Theme: Rainbows

Hands traced and put on coloured paper to create a rainbow for the girl to enter through

Girls brought up by Patrol Leader and introduced to Leader/s

All the girls recite their Promise with the girl.

Recieve their badges and books are welcomed into the Unit.

Followed by a campfire.

Link to the next section: Junior Guide to a Guide Unit

Both Units present as well as the parents of the girl going up

Place: in a park that has a bridge

Junior Guides holding candles on one side of the bridge

Guides on the other side of the bridge

Guide Leader walks over the bridge to the Junior Guide, holding a lantern. She meets the Junior Guide who has walked through her Unit ranks and said goodbye. The Guide Leader guides her over the bridge to the Guide Unit.

The Guide Leader presents her to the Unit and gives her the Making Tracks badge. She then invites the Junior Guide Unit and the parents to join in a campfire.

[Note from webmaster: this sounds very much like a Bridging Ceremony, which is used by Girl Scouts in the USA, except that Bridging Ceremonies seem to have several girls going up at the same time. See a description here.]

Junior BP Presentation

What

• Canadian Vespers
• "Journey" - step on badge/clause = achievement
• Stage production

Theme: ‘Red Carpet’

• spotlights
• paparazzi
• interviews - key people involved
• autograph book - all who attend
• fashionistas
• pink lemonade (this is a direct steal of the tradition of Baulkham Hills Bat-Tacular Guides, who drink a formal toast to each award recipient, in a "champagne" colour of her choice [lemonade with food colouring] - we have a special goblet that the recipient drinks from - feel free to steal this idea!)
• appetisers

Award Ceremony

• envelope ...
• presented by ...
• "To receive the Junior BP Award tonight ..."
• "And the winner is ..."
• Big screen ... the journey so far
• Powerpoint presentation of badges, pictures, events attended, clauses completed
• Thank you speech
• After party

Invitation list

• leaders - past, present, Region team, District Leader
• family
• local representatives - MP, Mayor etc
• teachers
• family friends

Links

For other sites with ceremonies, have a look at the following ones:

Sutherland Shire Region has a guide to planning and running a Junior BP, BP, Focus or Queen's Guide presentation: http://www.ssrguides.org/resources.php?sub=ceremonies

Scouting Web Ceremonies - lots of Girl Scouts USA ceremonies here:
http://www.scoutingweb.com/ScoutingWeb/Traditions/Ceremonies.htm

Girl Scouts USA Ceremonies in different categories: http://gsleaders.org/files/cerindex.htm

More Girl Scouts USA Ceremonies: http://www.kidslist.uc.edu/kidslist/gs/neil/cerem_contents.html

Ceremonies page at the Guide Zone: http://guidezone.e-guiding.com/i_ceremoni.htm

Some Canadian ceremonies: http://www.oshawadivision.com/F04resources/Ceremonies.html

Ceremony ideas for the Cub Scout leader: http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/ceremonies.html

Go to your favourite search engine, and type in Scout ceremonies. That will give you lots of hits. They may not all be suitable for Australian Guiding, but you might be able to glean some new and exciting ideas.