Iris Richards knows what it means to "lend a hand," as the old Brownie motto goes.

The 95-year-old Yarmouth, N.S., resident was presented with a pin for her 75-year membership with the Girl Guides of Canada earlier this month.

Richards told CBC's Information Morning that the presentation was a complete surprise. She received the honour on Nov. 10 during a meeting of the Trefoil Guild, a social group for adult guides.

The three women who drove her to the event kept it secret, she said. When the presentation began, "I thought to myself, 'Darn it all, why didn't they tell me?'," Richards said.

The two-hour event was "very nice," she said, and it helped her remember a rhyme she hadn't recited in years: "We're the Brownies, here's our aim, lend a hand and play the game."

Richards first became a Brownie in Glace Bay in the 1920s. In the 1940s, the school teacher started a Brownie group in Yarmouth. She went on to work for the district and become a division trainer.

Nicknamed 'Gopher'

She used to work at a summer camp for Girl Guides where she was known by the nickname "Gopher." Richards worked in the kitchen, where she did the tasks nobody else wanted to do.

"I was just the garbage person," she said.

Iris Richards (far right) was awarded her 75-year membership pin and (from left) Trish MacDonald, Ruth de Molitor, and Kathy McKay were on hand to celebrate with her. (Crystle George)

Richards's goal was to become a "First Class" or senior guide, but there was one activity that stood in her way: swimming. So, she spent 10 days one summer learning "the dog paddle."

"I was doing fine until they said: 'Come on gopher, come on gopher,' and then I started to laugh," Richards said.

"That was the end of that."

She had to start all over again, but two hours later she said she managed to pass the test.

Met Princess Margaret

In 1958, Richards said the mayor of Yarmouth called her home from vacation in Cape Breton so she could train one of the Girl Guides to present Princess Margaret, who was touring the province, with some flowers.

"That was really funny," she said. "We were all dressed up."

Princess Margaret saw them and came over to meet them.

"I don't think she knew what she was doing either, to tell you the truth."