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The Citizen, 1987-03-18, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1987. PAGE 5. Women’s Institutes have changed communities in 90 years BY KEITH ROULSTON One of the most important institutions in the development of Rural Ontario reaches a milestone this year, but many people worry about its future. February marked the 90th anni­ versary of the first Women’s Institute meeting in Saltfleet town­ ship, Wentworth County, a time for the organization to look back with pride even while some branches in Huron county have disbanded and others teeter on the edge of having to call it quits. The Women’s Institute has played a major part in the development of nearly every vill­ age and hamlet in the province, and particularly in Huron County. If not for the decision of the Blyth W'omen’s Institute to purchase the land for the erection of Blyth Memorial Hall at the end of World War One, for instance, could there be a nationally famous Blyth Festival today? In many other communities it is the Women’s Institute Hall that acts as an unofficial community centre. Yet faced with a declining farm population and heavy competition for the time and energy of younger women in the communities, the future of many branches is in doubt as the current membership ages, and is not replaced by new blood. The Women’s Institute move­ ment arose from an earlier organ­ ization for men: The Farmers’ Institute. The Ontario government sponsored the Farmers’ Institute in 1884 as a way of getting information out to the farm population of the province. It brought farmers together to dis­ cuss the latest developments in agriculture and helped improve farm efficiency. While the Farmers’ Institute was fine for men, there was still a big gap in providing information to rural women for their needs, as Adelaide Hoodless noted in 1896. Erl and Lee, a young farmer who was secretary ofthe Wentworth County Farmers’ Institute, organ­ ized a ladies’ night and asked Adelaide Hoodless to speak to the meeting. Thirty-five women at the meet­ ing indicated they would be interested in organizing a group. Stoney Creek hosted the first meeting of the Women’s Institute in February, 1897. It was the beginning of a movement that spread around the world. For women in isolated rural communities it was a godsend, a chance to get out of the house and talk to other women about common problems, a chance to hear speak­ ers on various topics of enlighten­ ment. The movement expanded quick­ ly across the province and some of the oldest branches are in northern Huron. The Ontario government aided the organization of new branches by offering a $10 a year grant to assist in holding meetings. A branch in Colborne township wasorganized in 1900. Early in 1902, a branch was organized in Gorrieandin 1903 the Bluevale and Ethel branches were organized. Londesboro was first organized in 1909 but disbanded in 1941 in favourofthe Red Cross Society, before being reorganized in 1950. Blyth was formed in 1910 and Belgrave the year after. The Dungannon branch started in 1914 and Auburn formed in 1922. Walton was originally organized in 1915 but somewhere along the line disbanded, then was formed again in 1956. Brussels Majestic was formed in 1939 and given the Majestic name in honour of the first visit of the King and Queen to Canada that year. The interests of Adelaide Hood­ less are still the basis of the W.I. movement today. Mrs. Hoodless was, as the Canadian Encyclopedia puts it, ‘ ‘jolted out of a comfortable middle-class life when an infant son died in 1889 after drinking impure milk.” She devoted the rest of her life to women’s causes, particularly to the better education of women for motherhood and household management. Over the years those have remained the goals of the Women’s Institutes. Today one of the major projects of the organiza­ tion is the support and sponsorship of 4-H homemaking clubs. Often it Goals remain the same is the W.I. members who end up leadingthe clubs. The Institute often holds short courses for their communities, with Institute mem­ bers who have attended courses from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food doing the instructing. Mrs. Hoodless’ concerns echo today in one ofthe international projects of the Institute to provide clean, safe drinking water in Third World countries. But while those have been the main goals in the organization over the years, other important services to the community have been added. Often the best sources of local history come from the ‘‘Tweedsmuir Histories”, scrap­ books kept by a history convenor in each branch dealing with all the important happenings of the com­ munity. In some cases, it has been the Institute that has spearheaded the publishing of local history books, often based on the invalu­ able information in those histories. Over the years the Institute has mixed good works and education with socializing. For the young mothers isolated in farm homes early in the century, the chance to meet neighbours over tea and sandwiches was probably as at­ tractive as the intellectual stimula­ tion of the speakers and pro­ grammes. Today the social aspect of the Institute is still strong. “It’s been good for me,” said Lenora David­ son , president of the Blyth branch. She has only been involved in the Institute since she moved to Blyth in 1981. A retired nurse, she looked to the Institute as a way of getting to meet new people. In many communities the W.I. ladies combine work, service and socializing in serving meals for local community events. In Wal­ ton, where until recently there was no restaurant of any kind, the Institute ladies began the practice of holding businessmen’s lunches Feeding the community once a month, filling the basement of their hall when they did so. This weekend the ladies of the Ethel Institute will be serving up pan­ cakes, sausages and maple syrup at the Maple Keys conservation area nearby. And many commun­ ity banquets and the ‘‘country suppers” of the Blyth Festival are served by north Huron Institute members. But the problem of an aging membership which is generally declining is pointed out here, too. The Blyth W.I. is not serving many banquets anymore, Lenora David­ son says, because so many of the membersaren’tabletodo the work any longer. The driving generation that brought the Institute through the thriving years of the post-war era, through the 1950’s, ‘60’s and ‘70’sis now in retirement age, less able to take an active part and less in need of the information on raising children and managing a home than they were when they were younger. Finding new, youn­ ger members seems to be a common problem with most bran­ ches in the area. There has been criticism that the W.I. is not meeting the needs of the young women of today, but Geraldine Campbell, public rela- tionsofficer of the London Area Women’s Institutes, in a recent press release on the 90th anniver­ sary calls this ‘‘unjustified”. ‘‘Maybethe younger members are not in all the executive offices at all levels, but they are there, ’ ’ she said. ‘‘Asyoung parents, they will in time have a more active role. After all, the motto of Women’s Institute is ‘For Home and Coun­ try’. The training and skills learned at Women’s Institute meetings are applicable to any woman in any walk of life.” HelenCraig, President of the Walton Women’s Institute, says there have been efforts in the last couple of years to address more of the concerns of the younger members. She points to the program of the W.I.’s in south Huron to put together kits for the schools to educate children about where their food comes from. There is an awful difference between the background know­ ledge about farming in the school children of today than in those of a generation ago, even in Huron county, she points out. It isn’t so much the lack of programming for younger women as the huge number of competing activities that is keeping numbers in the institutes from growing, most seem to agree. ‘‘There are too many other meetings,” said Jean Nethery, secretary-treasurer of the Blyth branch. Even for the older men)- bers there is a competition for time, she points out, as senior citizens groups have come into being, providing entertainment and tak­ ing members on bus trips. The emphasis on physical fit­ ness has meant younger women tie up large amounts of time in sports and recreation, said Helen Craig. If they aren’t playing themselves, they’re probably watching hus- bandsorchildren play. (In Walton, the Institute has even helped this trend by donating to the ball park beside its hall). In Blyth the membership situa­ tion is getting serious enough that Lenora Davidson worries about the futureofthebranch, even though a younger woman islikelyto take over the presidency in the next few months. If the Blyth branch did close, it would join branches in Clinton and Goderich that have disbanded in the last few years. Other branches also face a mem­ bership that isn’t growing, but are in a stronger position at least for the time being. While the member­ ship in Walton, for instance, is not growing, the group is a “good spirited” bunch, Helen Craig says. Despite worries about the fu­ ture, the Women’s Institute at 90 is still aformidableorganization. The London area alone, Mrs. Campbell said, has 114 branches in 10 districts. Over the years these branches have made tremendous improvements in the personal lives of members and in the collective livesoftheircommunities. Forthat reason the future of the organiza­ tion, as it moves on to this centennary, is important not just to the Institute members but to the entire rural community. The International Scene Meanwhile, back at the workers' paradise BY RAYMOND CANON Whenlwas travelling around the Soviet Union, under the watchful eye of a personal guide of course, I was frequently asked just how much some of my clothes cost and, above all, the price of my car. I was driving a brand new Renault at the time, one which I had picked up in Paris and, after a trial run back to my old stomping grounds in Switzerland, I had set out for Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union. I got the impression that none ofthe people I chatted with had ever seen such a car and hence the curiosity. Having become long ago ac­ quainted with the vagaries of foreign exchange rates, I knew that there was no point in telling my Russian acquaintances what the price would be in Canadian dollars, Swiss francs or even Russian roubles. It had to be put in a way that they could understand and so 1 hit upon the idea of telling them how long it took me to work in order to afford to buy such a car. To cite one example, if you earn $40,000 a year and you buy a car costing $10,000, then the real cost of the car is three months’ work. That worked beautifully! They understood at once and needless to say it made a real impression on them since they had to work much longer than we did in order to afford to buy the same style of car. Then, too, there was the question of how long I had to wait for the car. “Notatall.” Ireplied, ‘‘Iordered it and it was waiting for me in Paris when I got there. I actually drove it away the same day.” Consternation in the ranks! They were used to waiting months or even years and it soon became quite obvious to all listening to our conversation that we were light- years ahead of the Russians when it came to the price and availability of consumer goods. I assured them that I was not exaggerating one iota; while you might have to wait a short while for a specific model of a car, for the most part you could walk into a dealer and, if you had the cash, you could drive away with a new car. More consternation in the same ranks! I have often wondered just how my acquaintances or their off­ spring were making out in the consumer goods business. Recent­ ly my questions were answered, at least to a degree, by a report issued by Radio Liberty in Europe. The researcher, using the same system as I did, was able toprovide a rough idea of how the average industrial worker in Moscow fared. Not too well yet, it seems. It takes a Moscow worker 51 hours of work in order to buy a “weekly basket” of groceries for a family of four at the average Russial level of consumption; this is between two and three times longer than that required in Washington, London, Parish and Munich. To zero in on some of the items in this weekly basket, 20 eggs are worth 100 minutes of work in Moscow, 10 minutes in Wash­ ington and 20 minutes in London. If you decide that a good stiff drink of vodka iswhatyouneedto forget your problems, a 26 oz. bottle will takeyou nolessthan851 minutesin Moscow which is 5-9 times longer than in the four western cities mentioned above. Getting back to the car which I mentioned. A medium-sized car in Moscow requires seven years work timebutonlyoneyearinMunich. It all makes me realize that things have got worse over there since I crossed the border, not better. Is there anything, you might ask, where the Russian worker is better off than we are. The answer is yes, there is. Rentshavenotrisenin Moscow since 1928 so that it takes almost five times as much work in Washington to get a flat as in Moscow. Keep in mind, however, that flats in Moscow are small and frequently of less than satisfactory quality. It has been calculated that the living space for each Russian is approximately one-third that of an American living in Washington or any other city on this continent for that matter. Now can you understand what sort of catching up Mr. Gorbachev is going to have to do. Small wonderthat he wants to have some form of agreement with the Americans on arms control. The Russians can afford guns and butter even less than we can.