Home & Country (Fall 2007)

              Home & Country
Alberta Women’s Institutes Fall 2007
Mission Statement
Women of all ages who
achieve change through
personal growth, communi-cation
and education.
Dates and Deadlines............... 2
FWIC Calendar Offer............ 2
Acting President Elect............ 3
FWIC Report......................... 3
District Reports............... 4 & 5
Convener Reports ......... 6 & 7
Prince Edward Island.............. 7
AWI History Project............... 8
FWIC President..................... 8
Handicraft Winners............. 10
Grandmother, Mother & Me 10
In Memoriam....................... 11
Branch News........ ......... 9 & 12
In this issue:
Alberta Women’s Institutes
5405- 36 Avenue
Wetaskiwin, Alberta T9A 3C7
Phone: 780- 312- 2440 Fax: 780- 312- 2482
Email: abwi3164@ telus. net
Executive Director
Fern Killeen
Darlene Wicks, President
President’s Address
N ew technology is being used to
help preserve our Alberta history.
Mae Deans, former AWI Executive
Director and Dr. Evelyn Ellerman, Athabasca
University felt the Books of Remembrance
are extraordinary documents and came up
with the A. W. I. Legacy Project. They took
our A. W. I. Books of Remembrance 1 & 2
from the Provincial Archives and had each
page electronically scanned. This electronic
process preserves the documents longer than
the pages in the book. They are creating a
database that gathers facts about the pioneer
women of A. W. I. and gives us a better picture of the background of our past leaders.
A future plan is that we will be able to see all the data that they have collected on
a web site. This would make the documents accessible to everyone and would
give a history of the contributions that the A. W. I. women made to our province.
So, ladies, the people from Athabasca University are very interested in
scanning photographs that reflect the life and work of A. W. I. This will be done
at a central location in various places around Alberta. They are interested in
scanning minute books from closed branches, capturing Book of Remembrance
3, the Life Membership Book and the Books of Remembrance at the District and
Constituency levels. We need to preserve our history so if you know of members
with records of branches that have closed this is the time to ensure that these
records are preserved.
The Provincial Archives is interested in doing a show and tell event to
help people and branches prepare and preserve their documents for possible or
eventual deposit. To look at the Provincial Archives of Alberta’s new searchable
online database of its holdings go to – http:// hermis. cd. gov. ab. ca.
On- line education is the latest opportunity for people to get an education
and still be at home. Shauna Wagner earned an agriculture financial certificate
from Olds College in Olds, Alberta, without leaving her farm in southern
Saskatchewan.
Wagner is one of a growing number of students who are forgoing desks,
chalkboard and campus life for the virtual classroom. Almost 5,200 students
are registered for classes this year through eCampus Alberta, a partnership of
15 Alberta colleges and technical institutes that offer on- line education. Student
enrolment is up 45 percent from last year and officials anticipate more than 7,000
students will take their classes over the internet next year.
Raul Rescanski, a communications officer with eCampus Alberta,
said most students are women who already work and have a family, but want a
secondary education. “ They like the flexibility of the classes,” Rescanski said.
“ It gives them the flexibility to do it from home.” wi