1931 - Annual Convention

              S E V E N T E E N T H A N N U A L C O N V E N T I ON 69
REPORT OF A. W. I. E X H I B I T A T C. N. E .
Mrs. Wellington Huyck, Strome.
The 1930 Canadian N a t i o n a l E x h i b i t i o n at T o r o n t o saw a very creditable
exhibit placed in the east wing of the women's building by the Federated
W omen's Institutes of Canada. Six of the nine provinces were represented,
Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and A l b e r t a each had a
booth in which was placed their particular exhibit with a representative W . I.
woman in charge. Nova Scotia sent their good ship W. I. N. S., which occupied
a space in the centre of the wing.
The A l b e r t a booth, which depicted some of our public health work, was
colorful and attractive. A large painting of the Beaver mountain range framed
by evergreens made an artistic background, while a foreground of earth and
rocks at the mountain base sloped gently away into grassy range and prairie
g r a i n field.
On one side, near the mountains, stood a miniature, quaint log cabin— the
nurse's home at Mahaska. In front of it was a man w i t h his horse and dog,
evidently just arrived to seek assistance from the uniformed nurse who was
d r a w i n g water from an adjacent well.
On the other side and beside a ripened grain field stood a model of the
F a i r v i ew H o s p i t a l.
[ The nurse's home at Mahaska was built by five Women's Institutes of the
M a c l e o d Valley, and the F a i r v i ew hospital in the Peace River country has
been owned and operated by the F a i r v i ew Women's Institute for the last
s ix years.]
A t the front of the booth stood four models telling the story of A l b e r t a ' s
t r a v e l l i n g clinic. The first model showed the trucks and cars c a r r y i n g doctors,
nurses and equipment just arrived at the country school. The equipment was
being unloaded and set up in the schoolhouse. The second model showed
the interior of the school on examination day; the third showed operations
and the fourth was the happy scene of recovery. A l l these models were very
r e a l i s t i c and with several large clinic photographs and a couple of easily
understood charts made the story of the clinic very plain to one and a l l.
On a table at the side were pictures of some beautiful babies. " Alberta's
fairest products," w i t h samples of food that go to make the healthy child's diet.
This booth was made possible by the co- operation of the A . W . I , with our
P r o v i n c i a l Department of H e a l t h . The department sent the models, pictures
and charts t e l l i n g the story of the t r a v e l l i n g c l i n i c , and the A l b e r t a Women's
Instifutes sent the models of the nurse's home and hospital.
A l l these models were the work of Miss Clementine Poitras of Edmonton,
and they were so cunningly designed that those in charge had to be ever alert
in order to keep the hands of not only the children but also of many grown
ups off them. The P r o v i n c i a l W. I. Convener of P u b l i c H e a l t h and Miss
Kate B r i g h t y , Supt. of P u b l i c H e a l t h Nurses, were in Charge of the booth.
Miss B r i g h t y was sent down to T o r o n t o by the Department of H e a l t h.
On A l b e r t a Day a luncheon was served on the balcony of the Women's
B u i l d i n g . Favors were place bouquets of wild roses. Alberta's provincial
flower, and the place cards were of the same design, these being made by the
c h i l d r e n of the Red Cross hospital. The menu included w i l d strawberry tarts
made from strawberries picked and canned by some Women's Institute mem­bers
of the Peace River district.