Centenary celebration for BB sister organisation

In 1919 the 1st Larbert Girls’ Guildry was set up in the West Church under the ‘‘guardianship’’ of Margaret Wade, the sister of Callander Wade, a BB captain in the same church.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Jun 2019, 13:00 BST

This ‘‘sister’’ organisation of the BB had been set up in Glasgow in 1900. In 1968 with the amalgamation of different groups in England and Ireland the Girls’ Brigade was unified. Hence ‘‘another centenary’’ as current captain Sandra McLennan welcomed people to share memoriesa in the church hall on May 18. The projection of events past, many pictures and memorabilia on display evoked the usual “do you remember” conversations. A former captain, Mrs Elsie Aitken, was able to attend along with her husband, John, who was the BB captain from the 1990s. Many will recall Sandra had her own BB connections having lived in Carronvale House where her parents were employed looking after the house. Like many GB companies, 1st Larbert has had its ups and downs and depends for its continued well-being on the support of parents wishing their girls to be raised in a background to ‘‘Seek, Serve and Follow Christ’’. Our congratulations to this sister group in its achievement. The annual inspection of 2nd Larbert Company of the BB took place at Larbert Old Church on May 17 when Lt. Col. Grant Inglis was the inspecting officer. He presented, amongst many awards, the President’s Badge to Alex Whitfield and Queen’s Badges (BB’s highest awards) to Daniel Dickson and Lewis Niblo. He complimented the boys, officers, parents and friends for their encouragement and support. On Sunday, May 19, nine of these senior boys and two officers were off to Edinburgh representing the battalion in the Guard of Honour at the opening of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Their day was nearly prolonged when their minibus was blocked in but a resident’s help allowed them to conclude their day at McDonalds.