A week ago, Kate Belair and I had our Women’s Institute Information Open House at the Arlington Hotel. It was a huge success with much excitement and delighted feedback.
Especially from the women at the provincial head office who came to offer support. Kate and I met with them for dinner ahead of the meeting. “How are you doing?” I asked Kate. “Nervous,” she said. “What if no one comes?” I shared her worry. It was a bitterly cold night. Threats of snow squalls. Who would want to be out on a night like that?
Almost 100 women, as it turned out. Doors opened at 7:00 and the women were lined up already. So many, in fact, we had to ask the gals who were already WI to meet elsewhere in the hotel to free up space.
We held the meeting in “Hiram’s Tavern”, the cellar bar of the hotel. It is a period pub, with coarsely plastered walls, wooden beams and sturdy walnut tables and benches. Kate and I and our volunteers (bless them!) set up while the visitors enjoyed their drinks.
Kate started the event by taking roll call. She named the names of a dozen women or so. These familiar local names were those of the charter members who formed the first Paris WI in 1905. As she called out Mrs. George Guthrie, Miss Lottie Deans, and so on, a hush fell on the room. It was almost reverent.
Both Kate and I spoke about how we came to learn about and admire the Women’s Institute. Then I put my PowerPoint presentation skills to the test. Yeah, still some work needed there, but Kate helped me get through it. Besides, the audience was a kind and forgiving bunch.
The group learned about the organization. Who, what, and why. In a nutshell – the “who” is “you” and the “what” is anything you want it to be. Arts, gardens, food, health, family, the environment, the community. The WI is an inclusive bunch – all ages, all interests, and “all shoe sizes.”
Why WI? It is an established, non-profit organization with the force of 9000 women in Canada and hundreds of thousands globally. The Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) is the global network of women’s groups. We even have connections with the UN.
We are known historically as “hobbyists and lobbyists” Adelaide Hunter Hoodless, one of the co-founders of the WI, lobbied for pasteurized milk after she learned that poor industrial hygiene was the cause of her infant son’s death. More recently, WI’s have been the motivating force behind reduced speeds in school zones and nutritious food choices in school cafeterias. The Niagara WI’s saw a need for a university in their area so they lobbied for one. Brock University is the result.
I said to the audience, “In the UK, there are over 220,000 members and there are new branches starting up every day. The movement is huge over there. I want some of that.”
In other business, Dana Gignac spoke about our first fund-raising event. We will be holding an accessory swap March 28 at the T.B. Costain Community Center in Brantford. We collected two hampers of non-perishable food items for the “Northern Neighbours Program” and we had a couple of craft tables set up, too. It was our intention that the women would try their hand at a Valentines fortune cookie during the final thirty minutes of the evening. As it turned out, our guests were too excited to focus on crafts. The place was a-buzz with women talking and sharing ideas.
The excitement carried over next day on our group’s Facebook page. Already 40 women have RSVP’d for the March 12th meeting.
I think we’re on to something. Something BIG!
Special thanks:
It was an incredible night. The reason was two-fold: an overwhelming response from the public which was met by the outstanding service of the staff at the Arlington. The gallery below is composed mainly of images courtesy of Sara Naim, FWIC’s Craft Advisor. You can see more of her work on her blog Kisstorta.
Categories: In Other News
Tags: #IAmWI, ACWW, Adelaide Hunter Hoodless, Arlington Hotel, Associated Country Women of the World, brant_WI, FWIO, Hiram's Tavern, New Brant WI, Women's Institutes, Women’s Institute
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Reblogged this on The Federation of Women's Institutes of Canada and commented:
Here’s a blog post I wrote about our Information Open House for our new WI. Lot’s of images, including one from the first Paris WI in 1905.
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Well done Maggie
I love the pictures along with the great read!
Cathy B
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Thank you, ma’am!
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Looks like fun 🙂
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Oh yes. It took me three full days to come down from the high.
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All this is what’s been keeping you out of the blogging eye, I’m sure, Maggie – and I’m FULL of admiration ! That last bit of artwork is wonderful, and explains every bit of your enthusiasm. If I were up there, I’d join in like a shot !
Well done you ! – it must be super to feel part of such a body.
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You are absolutely correct, M-R. All of my attention lately has been on this group. If you can’t join us, the CWA might interest you! Thanks for stopping by to join the fun. 🙂
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It looks like a wonderful evening. Super post !
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Maggie – I’m happy for you; proud of you and oh so grateful ‘we’ (globally) have women like you. It is so touching that you read the founders’ names, and brought that connection to your attendees. It was also encouraging to see women from varied ages and, most likely, backgrounds, especially on a night when weather could have interfered. All your hard work paid off!
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Thank you, Sammy. It all has happened so easily, and with very little maneuvering on my part. As if I’m being carried along. A crazy ride and tons of fun and learning.
Reading the founders’ names was a stroke of genius and the credit is all Kate’s. The feeling in the room was palpable.
The oldest was perhaps in her eighties and the youngest in her fifties – days, that is. 😉
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😋💋💞
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Sammy D., from whence come those emoticons, please ?
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Do you have an I-pad? They are a free emoticon app I downloaded. They are in a toggle key on my keyboard.
Supposedly WordPress has a way to make emoticons, but I’ve never figured it out ! You might search their ‘Help and Support’
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Oh, I have access to WP’s, Sammy; but yours are SOO-PEE-REE-R. [grin]
Alas that I have nothing but two desktop PCs …
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How exciting Maggie!! Now I know why you crashed into an inert state this week … the after-effect of a huge SUCCESSFUL event! 🙂
A hundred women at your inaugural event? … that’s a grand slam home run!
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Yes, yes it is! Wanna know what else is spooky, besides naming the names from the 1905 rolls and the chills that induced? The first WI formed exactly 118 years ago TODAY in Stoney Creek and they had about 100 women at the inaugural meeting!
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It sounds less spooky and more like a very good omen 🙂 I hope you feel as proud as you should be!
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Wow. Just wow. We don’t have anything like this around me, and I’m envious. I can live vicariously through you however and I can miss you.
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Hi Stephanie!
When I’ve been researching the movement, it seems to be centered in Commonwealth countries – the UK, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand. I think something similar in the US would be a sorority, but that most often requires an affiliation with an educational institute.
I will do my best to make your vicarious experience as enjoyable as possible! 🙂
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Well done, lady!
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[grin] Thanks!
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Complimenti, avete tanto entusiasmo e questo è di grande aiuto per raggiungere delle mete!
Patrizia
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Maggie, in case this saves you doing a translate job, Pat is saying “Congratulations, you have a lot of enthusiasm and this is of great help to achieve the goals!”
And I might add that she told me (in a comment) that she’d been unwilling to visit your site because she hates the thought of zombies, but was delightedly surprised when she did ! 🙂
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LOL – that’s such a treat, thanks for the assist with the translation!
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Grazie! Che meravigliosa commento. 🙂
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I love hearing about empowered women taking action and effecting change, and it’s exciting that you are spearheading a chapter involved with that. Great work, Maggie!
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Thanks, OB. Baby steps. One at a time.
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Congratulations on the success of the event! It sounds like it was fun too.
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Thank you Dan – we try to keep a mix of business and social/fun/silliness.
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“All work and…” Some lessons are important Maggie.
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Everybody had fun and good time, you can see it in their eyes and in their faces. Well done Maggie!
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You know what? You are so right! Look at all those ear-to-ear grins! Thanks for that! 😀
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Sounds like a rousing success! I expected no less–good on you, Maggie!! So proud.
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You are the best. I am so moved. 🙂
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I love that Margaret Mead quote and your happy photos, too!
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Thank you! The quote was very well received.
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Maggie, what a wonderful post! I shall send it on to one of my close friends who is involved in the CWA, country women’s association in Australia. I think they have a similar ethos. Come to think of it, I’ll send it onto my son in law’s mum, who lives in Manitoba!! Well done and congratulations on your presentation!
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Ah, thank you! I am Facebook friends with several of the CWA groups and also one or two women in the Manitoba district. I think they’ll enjoy it, especially since it was social media that drove the whole event.
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And I quote: “It all has happened so easily, and with very little maneuvering on my part. As if I’m being carried along.” The Brilliant always make things look easy. That would be you 🙂 Kudos and may the wave continue!
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🐻
hugs to you, my biggest supporter. Thanks, Steph.
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I suspect you got such an outstanding attendance BECAUSE of the cold night. What an absolutely wonderful enterprise you’re involved in, Maggie. Kudos to all involved. And my husband thanks the WI, too. He’s a Brock alumnus.
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LOL – well, now that’s just a delightful coincidence! You are probably right about the cold. I’m just a wuss when it comes to temperatures.
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Great read, Maggie. For anyone in the U.S., there is a (somewhat) similar organization here, founded in 1931 for women as a “What to Read ” club. It evolved into a social, cultural and service group, not affiliated with any academia. Beta Sigma Phi. Lots of info online. Thanks for your commitment. Van
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Now there’s an interesting coincidence. A friend was telling me about Beta Sigma Phi. Apparently there are at least a dozen chapters within reach of us. Yet we had no idea they existed. Almost like a parallel universe. Thanks for your comments, Van!
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It was a great benefit to those of us who move a lot, I was able to connect with a chapter in every city. It seems to be an aging organization, not too many young women getting involved. Maybe their lives are just spread too thin ?
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That certainly seems to be the situation with WI. That is, membership peaked in the 60’s and has dropped from 55 thousand to just under 9.
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This is so inspiring! Thanks so much for posting this, Maggie. Hopefully, others will soon follow in your footsteps.
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Oh, I hope so, Annemarie! Thanks for stopping by with your encouraging words!
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Great to get a bit of background. Inspirational
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Thank you, Irene. It seems that the time is right to reintroduce the WI.
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I have to admit that I have always thought the CWA (I think that is the Australian equivalent of the WI) was exchanging recipes and knitting socks. A social outing for isolated women. Perhaps I was wrong regarding the activities and as we become a society which is increasingly isolated it can only be a good thing to be joining and working together. It may be the perfect time to promote it again.
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CWA = WI is my take, yes. And yes, we are still as isolated as ever, even if we live in urban centers. Plus, in my opinion, our governments are not doing what they need to do to take care of the citizens. While we lobby for change from the administration, we provide whatever help we can to mitigate the difficulties of those in need. Which, I realize, is a very slippery slope. The more we do on our own, the less the government needs to be involved.
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That is the same the world over governments not fulfilling the role that I believe they should. The WI sounds like a good place to work for change.
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PHEW! Always a scary moment when you’ve done all that preparation and you wonder if anyone will turn up. Looks like it was a wonderful event!
So when are you doing the calendar? Isn’t that what WIs do? You know, calendars. [nudge nudge wink wink say no more]
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Say no more, indeed! LOL . I came across a cartoon a while back. It depicted a WI fundraising committee debating the merits of a Calendar Girls calendar. “Na. That’s so cliché and tired. Let’s do something original, like knitting or something!” Knitting and crocheting, of course, are all the rage right now.
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Yeah, nude calendars are so last decade. Gotta keep hip and happenin’ with those weirdo things the young ‘uns is doin’. Like doily making. A doily calendar! It’s a winner. You can have that tip for free.
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Why thanks! I’ll be sure to send you a copy!
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Maggie, this is wonderful! It sounds like such a fun, creative, service-oriented organization, and how wonderful that the interest level and attendance were both so great! That is exciting! Thanks for sharing!
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Hi Dixie – it’s a whirlwind ride, being among such energy!
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Girl Power! 🙂
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You betcha! Thanks!
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