Pine Lake History - 1956-1975

              FEDERATED NEWS, SUMMER 1973
FROM 0 TO 10 FROM 10
Sheihh Drover
The provinces presentation was the high­light
of the whole Convention both from
the point of finding out what other pro­vinces
are doing and for the warm feeling
of fellowship and pride everyone seemed
to feel as members of this National Organ­ization
and as Canadians. When the even­ing
ended everyone was enthusiastic, ex­cited,
more relaxed and more communica­tive
with one another.
You may well ask what caused nil this,
l i t was all brought about by what must be
I described as the best presentation ever
| put forward by the provinces.
Newfoundland opened with its group of
seven doing a jig while singing a local
folk song recognized by many across
Canada who watch T. V.' s All Around The
Circle. They followed with a talk on com­munity
development projects being under-
; aken by local Women's Institute Branches
ind this was accompanied by slides of the
stand's rugged and beautiful scenery.
The Garden of the Gulf. Prince Edward
Island, followed with a superb slide, com­mentary
and music presentation of a recent
project of theirs to document all the island's
rhurches many of which were built in the
Mttf 1800s. The 165 ft. steeple of one of
these built in 1860 has served for many
seasons as a landmark for the gulf fishing
fleet.
Nova Scotia shared their good fortune
with us when they showed slides of and
told us about an old grist mill and farm
home dating from 1841 which was bought
by a local resident, restored and turned
over to the Women's Institute of Nova
Scotia for administration. They opened it
to tourists and local people selling them
buckwheat flour as fast as they are able
to bag it. This new project which keeps
WINS involved and busy is also very
exciting to them and to us all — a good
place to visit on your next trip to Nova
Scotia!
Being the only province with completely
bi- lingual branch of French speaking mem­bers.
New Brunswick opened with a tape
of one of their members singing a beauti­ful
traditional ballad. Their very* able
presented program was about their new
Curriculum Development Training Pro­gram
which call for all their members to
go WILD ( ie W. L Leadership Develop­ment*.
This Wild program is set up in
such a way that each of the skills needed
Jfor good leadership is identified. Informa­tion
on this skill is then gathered, put into
packages and labeled ready to be sent to
any member needing help in any area e. g.
a package on " Conducting a business
Meeting" or " Communicating with the
Public."
This New Brunswick WILD program is
l i n the developmental stages itself but it
I is hoped that the program will be com­pleted
and ready for full use within three
years.
Our friend Johnny Appleseed is on the
[ trail again but this time its the Quebec
" Vomen's Institute that is promoting the
apple. They have produced a cookbook
which was first sold on Apple Festival Day,
August 19, 1972 and contained 145 tested
apple recipes and hints showing consumers
the many uses which the apple has. It was
also helping the apple industry at the same
time by encouraging the public to use
apples more. This was very well put across
to the more than 400 of us who sat, with
mouths watering, looking at the apple
display that " apples are good eating."
Ontario took us in slide commentary to
their 75th Anniversary Celebrations. We
went with them to the Erland Lee Home­stead
where in 1897 Mrs. Lee wrote the
first draft of our constitution. The home­stead
has been beautifully restored and
furnished in pieces of the period — a place
Ontario can be proud of and another
for us all to visit as wc travel acre
Canada.
Travelling across Canada we reached t
Gateway to the West — Manitoba a
were introduced to their Mighty Minis.
Since 1948 they have had leadership train­ing
but in the 1960s become concerned
about their drop In members. By 1965 new
programs were planned. Still not many
new members came. Then in 1969 the
Mighty Minis were born. Under this pro­gram
workshops are taken to the different
areas and are run for only one or two
days, with small informal discussion
groups. At last, success!
Manitoba members have been quite active
in other areas with projects including:
recycling of trush, surveys of V. D. in I
Schools with the view to getting the g
ernment to increase grants for immuni
tion and research. Marketplace projects
help the consumer become more aware
prices and quality of goods. Manito
thanks in part to the Mighty Minis ht
attracted new and younger members whic
will surely strengthen our whole organizi
tion.
With the Saskatchewan ladies and m
others we went down to the Bluebird Ti
A recent Saskatchewan project was pron
ed by Rachael Carsons Silent Spring
Bluejay Magazine. To help save the b
birds, small houses are built across
country about V2 mile from homes and
such a way that swallows won't nest tb
It's the hope that these trails will ext
from Winnipeg to Saskatoon. This i:
unique and interesting project which sh<
our Women's Institute members is t
another role — that of protector of threa
ened species.
No summer program would be complete
without the warning Be Water Wise.
Alberta brought as the first in skit form
and then an actual account of a project of
Pine Lake Women's Institute, whose mem­bers
were concerned that their children
were .' t learning to swim. They decided to
change this and became the 1st women's
group in Canada offering Red Cross Swim­ming
on an open beach. After that a pro­gram
was worked out whereby more than
100 children were bussed 100 miles round
trip to Red Deer for lessons. They also had
family swimming. They left with us these
thoughts — " The Family is one of Nature's
Masterpiece" — " He Who joins in sports
with his own family will never be dull."
British Columbia has breathed new life
into its groups with Drama Workshops.
Although people often are afraid to try
something new Drama seems to have taken
hold in many areas of British Columbia,
with members creating and performing
their own skits. They closed their presen­tation
with a poem on the beauty of British
Columbia.
Thus ended our Colourful Mosiac of
happenings in Women's Institutes across
Handicraft — ( Macrame Tote Bag)
1st — Clearview W. L Alberta
Gertrude K i c h a r d s presents trophy.