Girl Guides with Calgary Stampede in their hearts to now wear it on their sleeves

Ayla Loewen-McKnight, left, and Emma Greig hold up Calgary Stampede parade volunteer patch they will earn in Calgary, Monday, June 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — Girl Guides who hold the Calgary Stampede in their hearts will now wear it on their sleeves.

The organization has created an official badge to honour the young women who yearly don cowboy hats, white gloves and kerchiefs to walk in the parade that opens the 10-day event of music, midway and rodeo.

It’s a fitting recognition for two hours of marching and smiling, smiling and marching, until jaws ache and feet throb.

And don’t forget the horse poop.

“You’re always dodging around the poop when you walk, specifically depending where you are in the parade,” guide Emma Greig said in an interview.

“If you’re the people (walking) before the horses you don’t have to dodge anything, but if you’re after the horses you’re dodging,” the 16-year-old added with a laugh.

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Guide Ayla Loewen-McKnight, 17, said it’s fun but taxing. “It’s actually smiling at people for so long and keeping that nice smile, waving and picking the people you actually wave at. As soon as it’s done it’s, ‘Oh wait, my feet actually hurt.’”

This year’s parade goes Friday. Loewen-McKnight and Greig are now route veterans, each participating in their third walk.

On that day, about 40 Girl Guides arrive on the parade route at 6:30 a.m. and spend more than two hours on their feet.

The Guides have been doing it for 80 years, helping showcase award-winning entries in the parade by carrying banners along the route.

Usually the reward is water, potato chips and a Stampede gate pass.

Starting this year it’s an official blue Calgary Stampede Parade volunteer crest, with the three leaf-trefoil in white, which is the official, globally recognized symbol of Guiding.

“I thought it was really cool. It’s a nice thing to get after that long walk,” Greig said.

“A lot of times people are more looking at what’s going on behind you because it’s probably a little more interesting, but you still feel people looking at you.”

The badge is the brainchild of Christina Smith, a longtime Stampede Parade volunteer and one-time Girl Scout herself. She competed in Olympic bobsled at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Smith said it’s about tangible rewards that fire the imagination and rekindle lost memories.

“As an Olympian, I feel that my participation medal was the thing I can look back on and really cherish,” she said.

“These are things that plant seeds within the younger generation to potentially give them something to aspire to and volunteer further.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2026.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press