Submitted by the GSCO Global Action Committee
On Friday, July 31, Our Chalet celebrates its 88th Birthday! Girl Scouts of Colorado sends their best wishes to Our Chalet, one of the five World Centres of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. This is going to be an exciting and fun week with five days of celebration for this birthday! Do you like it when your birthday celebrations spread out over more than one day? If so, watch the GSCO Blog each day so you can celebrate with girls from all around the world.
Switzerland, a small mountainous country located in central Europe, is a lot like our home state of Colorado! While we are well-known for the Rocky Mountains, Switzerland is well known for their snow-covered mountains called the Swiss Alps. Like Colorado, most of their mountain peaks are more than 13,000 feet with the most famous one (The Matterhorn) standing 14,692 feet tall!
High up in these Swiss mountains, there lies a Girl Scout World Centre called Our Chalet. Our Chalet opened its doors in 1932 and has been providing adventure and friendship to Girl Scout troops, groups, families, and individuals of all ages ever since. Guests come from all of over the world to participate in activities like skiing and ice skating in the winter and hiking and climbing in the summer. Girl Scouts can even attend special programs throughout the year which focus on outdoor adventures, leadership development, and international friendship.
Traveling to Switzerland also brings opportunities to try many specialties including fondue, swiss chocolate, and more than 450 different kinds of cheeses! You might also get to see Black Nose Sheep high up in the Alps or hear Alphorn blowing or yodeling in a local mountain town. Did you know that the children’s book “Heidi” was from Switzerland? What fun facts do you know about Switzerland?
We are off on a great adventure this week at Our Chalet in Switzerland! First, we will take a virtual tour of the Centre. Watch at least the first 20 minutes of this video as they tour you around the chalet (house) and the grounds. The rest of the video is showing you what to take in your backpack for a week’s trip to Our Chalet.
Now, do you know where in the world Switzerland is? Check out this link and you will find the flag and map of Switzerland with an arrow to the general location of Our Chalet. For fun, check out the Switzerland Maze and see if you can find your way through the country! Can you locate Our Chalet on this map?
Did you know that each World Centre has its own special song? Well, Our Chalet’s song tells about the mountains and the big sloping roof on the building. Listen to the song here and then sing along.
You can stay at Our Chalet for just one night or several weeks. No matter how long your stay, you’ll meet people from all over the world and experience Girl Scouting like never before. How exciting to know that Our Chalet has just been opened to a limited number of guests as restrictions are starting to be lifted in various countries of Europe. Get your passports ready and meet us at Our Chalet in Switzerland!
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.