The Coningsby Women’s Institute meets monthly at members’ homes.
Although in the past it has been an afternoon meeting with a light luncheon, lately we’ve been so busy we expanded our meetings to full days.
The November meeting hosted by Clara Booi was remarkable. Remembrance Day holds a special meaning to many of the women because they experienced the war. We heard first hand accounts of life in Holland before, during and after the war from a woman’s point of view.
Stories were not about the horror of war but about how to survive and keep hope in the midst of terrible conditions. Another story was of having to search bombed buildings in London after an air raid looking for injured persons and finding one old lady in a closet with a pot on her head asking if it was OK to come out. We can’t even imagine such things, living here in Erin.
December’s meeting was at Lilli Lockhart’s and winter had settled in by this time. We enjoyed a wonderful pot luck lunch but ended our day early due to the weather.
Our sister group from Coningsby-Tattershell England is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year and we decided to make a quilted candle mat for each of their members.
January’s meeting at Marie Harris’ was a full day of cutting, sewing, and pressing. We made 27 gifts and even though the day was terribly cold we shared warm friendship and conversation as we worked.
The next two meetings were hosted by Freda Leenders and Pat Dauphinee, where we made more candle mats and greeting cards.
Everyone likes to learn to do new things and to do old things in new ways. We learned about vague and confusing package labels, imported milk and its threat to our dairy industry.
Our group intends to write letters expressing our concerns to those industry leaders and politicians whom we think can help make a difference.
In March, three of our members travelled to England to celebrate with Coningsby-Tattershell. Myrtle Reid, our president, took special greetings from Mayor Rod Finney, MPP Ted Arnott and MP Michael Chong, along with our gifts and best wishes.
The April meeting was the annual pot luck luncheon and was hosted by Donalda Switzer at her daughter-in-law’s home on April 10.
Interested girls and women can contact Myrtle Reid at 833-2669 for information on our coming events.
Meetings are usually held at 1:15pm on the first Thursday of the month, and guests are always welcome.
For more information about the larger organization of the Federated Women’s Institute of Ontario go to www.fwio.on.ca
