Home & Country (Spring 2008)

              Home and Country Spring 2008

Acting President Elect
Zella Pimm, Acting President Elect

M

embers, here are a few dates you could celebrate in your branch or community:

April 29 each year - ACWW Day March 31, 2008 - deadline to submit nominations to the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame June 3 - 5, 2008 - AWI Provincial Convention in Camrose January 1, 2009 - deadline for entries for the Tweedsmuir Competitions, which should be sent to the AWI Office. Don't forget to plan for Alberta Women's Institutes 100 year celebrations.

FWIC

Elizabeth Rushton, FWIC Executive Officer

T

he FWIC Executive met last November in Ottawa where we spent a busy time at our meeting. As always, reports were received from all the executive and committees, finances, the office, the Hoodless Homestead, competitions and so on. A short side trip to the Canadian Museum of Civilization was also enjoyed, particularly to see the new Face to Face exhibition. This tells the stories of 27 men and women who "built Canada, led it in peace and war, created its institutions and inspired us all". Adelaide Hoodless is featured in the We Founded section. Other women featured include Nellie McClung, Madame Jeanne Sauve, Gabrielle Roy and Lotta Hitchmanova. We were given a guided tour, as we were the first group associated with a featured Canadian to visit the exhibit. The Museum is well worth a visit, but be prepared to spend a day or two to see it all. I was also able to visit the Canadian War Museum before our meetings started and it is also well worth a visit, and is very moving and thought-provoking. Sheila Needham and Ruth Blenkhorn laid a wreath on Remembrance Day on behalf of FWIC, but due to flight times I was unfortunately not able to stay for that ceremony. Under the Agriculture report, we were all asked to encourage our members to write individual letters to the Canadian and Provincial Ministers of Agriculture, leaders of the Opposition and local MPs to express our concern regarding the number of farms closing in Canada. Again, we were also asked to encourage our members to buy and ask our local stores to sell local products. As you no doubt know, this is also becoming a large environmental issue with the use of fuel to transport goods, fruit and vegetables to us year round. Plans for Convention 2009 at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown (the 90th Anniversary of FWIC) are well underway. It will start on the evening of Tuesday, June 16, 2009 and the closing banquet will be the evening of Saturday, June 20, 2009. In between there will be business sessions, elections for a President-Elect, workshops, a full tour day, reports, resolutions, and an ACWW report. It will be a busy but fun time! You will be advised when registration packages are available. Darlene Wicks and I will be attending the next full Board meeting in Montreal June 13-16, 2008. In the meantime, thank you for your support of the International Peace Garden project (Don't forget to include a visit there in your travel plans this summer!), and if I can help you with anything relating to FWIC, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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