Home & Country (Fall 2007)

              Alberta Women’s Institutes
10
Section A Knitting
1 Viola Rowe............... Berwyn W. I.
2 Mary Lawrence...... Balmoral W. I.
3 Evelyn Cressey.... Ridgewood W. I.
Section B Crocheting
1 Lillian Wilhelm .... Drayton Valley
W. I.
2 Bernice Willsie... Cottonwood W. I.
3 Wilma Hansen.... Cottonwood W. I.
Section C Sewing
1 Brenda Willsie... Cottonwood W. I.
2 Trudy Downey.... Ridgewood W. I.
3 Mary Lawrence....... Balmoral W. I.
Section D Quilting
1 Trudy Downey.... Ridgewood W. I.
2 Trudy Downey.... Ridgewood W. I.
3 Darlene Hallett.......... Jackson W. I.
Section E Stitchery
1 Bernice Willsie... Cottonwood W. I.
2 Brenda Willsie... Cottonwood W. I.
3 Mary Lawrence....... Balmoral W. I.
Section F Artwork
1 Jean Richards........... Coburn W. I.
2 Wilma Hansen.... Cottonwood W. I.
3 Jean Boustead........... Duffield W. I.
Section G General
Handicraft
1 Eileen Fedderson... Leslieville W. I.
2 Brenda Willsie... Cottonwood W. I.
3 Blanche Cunningham Cottonwood
Section H Over 70 years
1 Shirley Schrader Cottonwood W. I.
2 Lillian Wilhelm Drayton Valley WI
3 Mary Lawrence....... Balmoral W. I.
Section I Over 80 years
1 Marie Olsen............... Jackson W. I.
2 Lucie Owen.......... Round Hill W. I.
3 Viola Rowe................ Berwyn W. I.
Provincial Handicraft Report
Bernice Willsie, Handicraft Coordinator.
H ere we are already fall and time to start thinking about handicraft for
2007- 8. Your handicraft list will not be changing this year. We are still
using the mauve coloured list. If you do not have a list please call 403-
224- 3153 and I will be happy to mail you a copy.
Please watch for your entry information for the 2008 Handicraft
Competitions in the winter issue of Home and Country. We are trying to obtain
some sponsorships to help pay the expenses of the Handicraft Competition, and
any donations are appreciated.
Please be sure to send your handicraft reports to me before the end of
the year. Happy crafting!
2007 Handicraft Competition Winners
Section J Over 90 years
1 Mary Colley............... Acadia W. I.
2 Edith Blades......... Round Hill W. I.
3 Belle Tindal................ Acadia W. I.
Section K Photography
1 Brenda Willsie Cottonwood W. I.
2 Martha Early........ Round Hill W. I.
3 Frances Bogner......... Berwyn W. I.
Alberta Women’s
Institutes Competition
Award
1 Brenda Willsie.... Cottonwood W. I.
Myrtle Olson Roberts
Hyer Doily Award
2 Bernice Willsie... Cottonwood W. I.
Edna May Ridley
Quilting
1 Blanche Cunningham Cottonwood
Branch Handicraft High
Points Award
First ............................. Berwyn W. I.
Second ......................... Bashaw W. I.
Third ..................... Cottonwood W. I.
Grandmother,
Mother and Me: Me
and the Women in My
Past
Marsha Chanin, Manitoba WI member,
Tweedsmuir Competition 2006 National
Winner.
Reprinted with permission. Her submission
included a number of photographs that have
not been included here.
G randma was a bitter old lady. I
suppose life made her that way
but I never knew about that.
After Grandpa died she and her stuff
came to live with us. Her carpet was
on our living room floor and when I had
friends over she’d yell at us when we
walked across it. My Mum told me that
when she was little Grandma made her
drink the blood that oozed out of meat
because she considered it healthy.
I do remember a good time
when Grandma showed me how to
make a dress for my little doll. She
hand sewed it out of blue and white
floral cotton. I thought it was beautiful.
Another time she gave me a pretty heart
shaped locket with an enameled rose on
it.
She was senile, as they called
her condition in those days. She hid
her food in her room and put her
nightgown on over her clothes. Mum
found her very difficult to look after.
One night Mum found her peering out
the curtained window on the back door
with a lit match in her hand. She said
she was trying to see if it was daylight.
That incident solidified the decision to
put her in Essondale, the hospital where
they kept ‘ mental patients’. It was sad
for Mum to visit her because Grandma
didn’t recognize her anymore.
a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a
Continued on the next page
Mum grew up in the family nursery business and loved flowers. She
spent many mornings in her garden weeding and planting. After lunch and a
catnap, if she wasn’t going back to her glorious flower beds, she’d change out of
her work dress and put on a clean house dress to walk downtown for groceries.
Judging by the old family pictures from the 1920s and maybe a little
earlier the group of young people that my mother hung out with had lots of fun.
They must have spent a lot of time at beaches and picnic sites fooling around