Bruce County District W.I. holds 26th annual meeting in Chesley

The Bruce County District Women's Institute held its 26th annual meeting, May 22, at St. John's United Church in Chesley.

Thirty members and guests were in attendance from nine branches in the district.

President Bren de Leeuw called the meeting to order. Roll Call was "What are your five Rs?" With such answers as Rest, Rejoice, Renew, Refresh, Retire, the members were thinking outside the traditional Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, Repair and Refuse environmental mandate.

Guests from Grey County included secretary Myrna Casemore, and Linda Tottenham, Grey County president and Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) board director. Oliphant, Purple Valley and Purple Grove branches were hostesses.

The list of district directors was ratified by Linda Tottenham. Minutes of the 2024 annual meeting were adopted. Annual financial statements were prepared by interim treasurer Michelle Phillippi and reviewed by financial examiners Karen Thompson-Riley and Fran Farrell.

Linda Freiburger gave the ROSE (Rural Ontario Sharing Education) co-ordinator and Roots of Bruce reports. Volunteer hours reported were 6,299 hours in the district, and donations were $8,335.95.

Scholarship chairperson Charlene McEwan reported that Ibrahim Shad of Port Elgin was the District Open Scholarship winner and Jayden Quesnel of Lion’s Head was the Apprenticeship Scholarship winner. Excellent applications were received. No Tweedsmuir report at this time.

The Area Voting Delegate Alyssa Phillippi reported that she attended the FWIO annual meeting in January and is looking forward to coming to branch meetings and events and representing Grey-Bruce at the provincial meetings.

Michelle Phillippi is chairperson of the International Plowing Match (IPM) Quilt Committee  and welcomes W.I. branch participation and sponsorship. It is also the 60th Anniversary of the Bruce County Tartan this year.

The nomination report was given by Sherry Menary and the following executive members were installed by board director Linda Tottenham: past-president Ellen Waye, president Bren de Leeuw, vice-president Betty Anne Thompson, secretary Marion Leifso, treasurer Flora Becker, ROSE co-ordinator Linda Freiburger, PRO Ellen Waye, scholarship committee Charlene McEwan, Fran Farrell and Linda Freiburger, financial examiners Karen Thompson-Riley and Fran Farrell, Tweedsmuir co-ordinator position is vacant.

Entertainment was provided by the Oliphant and Purple Grove branches, using recycled materials for garden transplants and re-purposed worn items into something else.

After a lovely lunch of salads and cold meat, prepared by St. John's United Church members, the ladies welcomed the guest speakers Amanda Saxton and Kim Armitage of KEAN - the Kincardine Environmental Action Network.

They gave an excellent presentation on the ways and means of more environmental recycling of much of our waste. Their main focus is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to find recycling depots for more of what regular blue boxes cannot handle. They are adamant that we reduce and rethink the use of plastics as they are contaminating our water sources.



Speakers Kim Armitage (left) and Amanda Saxton of KEAN

Recycling and re-purposing clothing, furniture, and other materials saves us money, and sharing equipment with other families makes better use of our resources. They were thanked by Purple Valley member Barrie Owen.

The In Memoriam was conducted by Purple Valley branch.

President Bren de Leeuw gave a report of various activities she attended during the year and looks forward to more events and attending more branch meetings.

The silent auction items raised $284 for district expenses. Coming events include the Grey-Bruce Area Convention, Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Williamsford Community Centre; and the Bruce District W.I. Rally, Oct. 23, in Chepstow.

The meeting closed with the Royal Anthem.



The Bruce County District W.I. executive includes Fran Farrell (left), Marion Leifso, Charlene McEwan, Linda Freiburger, Brenda de Leeuw, Betty Anne Thompson, and Flora Becker



District Directors at the Bruce County District Annual