Who can attend:   Sparks, Embers, Guides, Pathfinders, Rangers, Trex, Adults
Cost: No Cost
Event Planner: Carolyn McCarthy
Location: Beechwood Cemetery
 

Description: 

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands would like to host Ottawa area Girl Guides on May 4, 2025, to commemorate our Dutch Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands.

The event will be held at Beechwood Cemetery/National Military Cemetery in Ottawa, consisting of several elements. We would welcome the girls with a talk by the Dutch Ambassador, Her Excellency Margriet Vonno, and Military Attaché for the Netherlands, and hopefully, a wonderful woman who was part of the Dutch resistance in World War II.

The Girl Guides would be hosted for a special lunch called a Freedom Meal.  During lunch, they would have discussions about what freedom means to them. 

After lunch, we will have the Girl Guides do an activity of writing a message of thanks to a fallen soldier buried at Beechwood, and then we will place the messages at the grave sites.

At 1:30 p.m., they would participate in our annual remembrance ceremony (about 20 minutes long), and a designated Girl Guide will lay a wreath representing the youth. There would be three wreaths altogether – One by the Ambassador representing the Netherlands, one by the Girl Guides of Canada, and one by Veterans.

After this there is a reception (coffee, tea, cake) dedicated to allowing the Girl Guides to meet members of the Dutch community.

For more information and to register, please click here.