Bervie Women's Institute discusses the environment at November meeting

Environment was the theme when the Bervie Women's Institute met at the hall Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 10 a.m.  

After the usual openings, everyone sang Happy 90th Birthday to Mildred Griffith and enjoyed birthday cake and coffee supplied by hostess, Elsie Schular.  

Thirteen members answered the Roll Call with “What I do to help the environment.”

Reports were given on the Grey Bruce Area convention and the Bruce District Rally, both of which were held in October. Betty Ann Thompson received the Woman of Excellence award at the Rally last week in Walkerton. Bruce County will be holding a County Doors Open event, June 10-11, 2017, in conjunction with the Bruce County 150th celebrations. 

President Sylvia Hasbury presented a 50-year Institute pin to Vi Thompson. 

Guest speaker Katrina McQuail gave an interesting talk on her sailing expedition last November, from Brazil to Guyana, where along with 13 other women, she did water-sampling in the ocean and other clean-up of beaches, etc. She spoke of persistent organic pollutants, as well as the major plastic and toxic issues in our waterways. 
Earlier use of DDT and PCBs (now banned) is still affecting our health and air quality. Everyone is encouraged to reduce the use of packaging and plastics, and remove chemical products from our homes with an emphasis on how we handle our waste. 

The next meeting will be at the Bervie United Church, Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 10 a.m., with our Christmas pot luck lunch at noon. Please bring a friend and a donation for the food bank.