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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-04-15, Page 11Valerie GnnesILucKnow Sentlne Ontario Volunteer Service Awards 2014 Three members of the Purple Grove WI who were honoured at the Ontario Volunteer Awards in Stratford on March 18, 2015 were unable to attend the ceremony. Largaret McInnes (front), longest member, presented the awards to Marilyn Reid, Maureen Collins and Joyce Farrell at the April 1 meeting of the Purple Grove WI Many members of the Purple Grove Women's Institute have received the Ontario Volunteer Service Award, including 6 members who were honoured in 2014. Past and recent winners proudly posed at the April 1, 2015 regular meeting. Front from left: Wilma Sutton, Maureen Collins, Shirley MacDonald, June Elliott, Largaret McInnes. Back from left: Deanna Scott, Marilyn Reid, Joyce Farrell, Mary Anne Kukoly. Absent: Janet Nixon. Wednesday, April 15, 2015 • Lucknow Sentinel 11 Volunteering is a way of life Long-time members of Purple Grove WI Valerie Gillies Lucknow Sentinel The women of the Purple Grove Women's Institute gathered in the home of one of the members for their reg- ular meeting on April 1, 2015. One of the items on the agenda was to present the Ontario Volunteer Service Awards to the three mem- bers who had been unable to attend the ceremony in Stratford on March 18. Before the meeting began, the ladies present were asked to share their thoughts and experiences on being long-time volunteers. Many interesting points came out as the discussion progressed. Immediately the first rev- elation that came to light was that when one decides to become a volunteer, you find that you must commit to more time than you had bar- gained for. This point was unanimously agreed upon. Some of the things that the Purple Grove WI do is cater- ing, which would include for the Lions two to three times per year, as well as for other organizations; organizing and holding weddings and showers; community Christ- mas concerts; food booth and display at the fall fair; and laying a wreath on Remembrance Day. It was explained that the catering has grown, as when the ladies put on their first din- ners, they were so good that people just kept asking them to cater to more and more types of gatherings. In the past, the WI was responsible to supply lead- ers for the 4-H Homemaking clubs. This is no longer the case as the 4-H organization has changed drastically over the years. Once the Ontario Department of Agriculture and Food no longer had Home Economists to organ- ize the clubs, the WI was no longer involved. Many mem- bers commented that they had enjoyed the Senior Courses offered through the 4-H programs which afforded WI members the opportunity to attend the courses to learn different skills to take home and teach to the rest of the group. Purple Grove WI came into being in February 1947. Longest serving member, Largaret McInnes, joined the following summer in 1948. She shared that in one of the Senior Courses she took the members, "learned how to cook meat. It was a good thing, too, because before that a lot of the women used to ruin a lot of good beef and turkey from cooking it too hot." Perhaps bringing this particular lesson home is partly why the catering has been a staple of WI revenues. Although the Department no longer offers Senior Courses, there is now the Rose Pro- gram to share knowledge. Being part of the WI affords opportunities to work in other communities and programs offered at the District level. One such pro- ject is arranging for demon- strations for the Women's Program at the Heritage Farm Show in Paisley each year. The Purple Grove WI has the opportunity to work alongside other WI groups as the District level programs draw from those groups close to the community where the projects take place. Projects reflect the local area. The benefits of being members of Purple Grove WI include making friends, learning new skills and broadening horizons as par- ticipation naturally builds through the years. The con- sensus was that holding office gave opportunity to learn the most skills, many of which were very useful in other parts of members' lives, particularly in other commu- nity groups. One member quipped that the WI was often referred to as the "Rural Women's University; teach- ing people skills, organization skills, business skills and how to run a meeting. This led to a debate about how many other groups each member was involved with. Many found it hard to count, which illustrates that the vol- unteer experience really is a lifestyle for a lot of women. It was decided that within the group, the average would be that each member is a mem- ber of 5 additional organiza- tions or groups in most years. These included organ- izations in the agricultural field such as the fall fair and other agricultural groups, church groups, community groups and more. Asked what has changed over the years for the Purple Grove WI it was overwhelmingly agreed that the biggest challenge is the age of the members. There are fewer members than in earlier years and the ones that are still members are older. The amount of work involved is getting harder for the smaller aging group to handle. The ladies present reminisced of when they were growing up in the WI. The WI was just seen as a part of their life experience. Mothers brought their chil- dren to the meetings as it was the only way they could attend. The young mothers were glad to pass off their babies for a while and the older mothers were just as glad to take them. It was recounted that the children were just as eager to go to the meetings as the mothers. These children grew up as a group and understanding what the WI was about and what all it did for the com- munity. As the children grew up the daughters automati- cally joined as members when they married. Over the years the rural population has changed. It used to be when someone new moved into the commu- nity they would join the vari- ous community groups, including the WI. This was a great way to become part of their new community. This is often not the case anymore. New residents do not feel the same sense of community as the long-term residents. Younger generations are leaving the rural communi- ties, causing the group to grow smaller. The Purple Grove WI ladies agree that there was a shift away from volunteering for a lot of years, but people are coming back to wanting to be involved. Not all WI groups are shrinking. Some areas are having success at bringing in younger members. New groups are being created, some in the more urban cen- tres starting outwith as many as 90 new members. At the end of the discussion it was disclosed that each year the WI must submit the num- ber of volunteer hours logged in by members to the Prov- ince for their statistics. In 2014 the total volunteer hours spread over 17 members of Purple Grove WI was 1,140. Of course, this total is just for this WI group, not the many other groups to which these same ladies unselfishly lend their time and talents throughout the year.