The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Mrs. Jos. Haggerty, Pres. F.W.I.C., inlroducing Mrs. van Beekhoff at the Officers' Conference, Mrs. leonnrd Trivers, Pres. F.W.l.O.; Mrs. Everett Small. Chairman; Mrs. Van Beekhoff. “Let us work with happiness, Let us live with bright mind Let us speak to each other with harmony Let us start working today with a smile." Mrs. Trivers spoke on the second line of the motto: "Let us live with a bright mind." A bright mind she suggested would he a cheer- ful, optimistic, alert, aware mind with somc- thing of a child’s eagerness. And it would mean more than that, fulfilling its part of the scriptural pattern of growing “in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man." “Never in this country has greater emphasis been placed on stature,” she said. “We are constantly being told about the food. the rest. the recreation we need for the sake of our health. We know that each of us has a re- sponsibility to be in favor with God. We were never so concerned about the favor of manâ€" how to make friends and influence people. But what about growing in wisdom? What . about our minds?“ “We listen to the television comedies and the soap operas on the radio, but when an educaâ€" tional program comes on do We turn it off? We read magazine stories and novels perhaps. but when did you last read a nonâ€"fiction book? ‘Do you read the whole front page of the newspaper apart from the accidents and scan- dals? Could you hold your own in a current events discussion with your own high school children? A Canadian psychiatrist says that Canadian people are Using only about ten per cent of their brain potential." Mrs. Trivers observed that we are becom- ing known as a race of Hedonists. pleasure seekers, when we should be concerned with the problems of our own families, our com» munities and our government. And she asked if our Institute programs are offering a chal- lenge to our minds. The bright mind is an enthusiastic mind; we should rekindle our ear- lier enthusiasms and put them to work. it has been proved, the president said. that people can learn at seventy as well as at seventeen. FALL 1963 “The bright mind thinks for itself." Mrs. Trivcrs said. “but the present trend is not to respect individuality but to look for security and being one of a group. We train our chil- dren for certain jobs because the pay is good. there are plenty of vacancies and fringe bene- fits. not because this is the job where they will be most fulfilled and most useful." An- other thought to ponder was: “We criticize communism but by being materialistic. always trying to leather our own nest, wc subscribe to the same doctrine." The Changing Role of Women "The years come and go and thcrc are many changes: and the challenge of change is perhaps greater for no single body of knowl- edge than for home economics. How do these changcs affect our program?" asked Miss Hclcn McKcrchcr. Director Home Economies Extension Service of the Ontario Dcparlmcnt of Agriculture. Among changes in the role of women Miss McKcrcher lislcd the steadily lowering age of marriage now invading not only colleges but also high schools; the span of life for women being about six years longcr than for men makes an economic implication for widows; the psychological. social and lci- surc needs of aging persons. most of whom will be women. presents a challenge to Women‘s Institutes; the mobility of families which mcans that girls“ vocational or profus- sional education must be adaptable to change of residence; the mechanization of agriculture and the rural lo urban shift of population; more women working outside the home since labor-saving equipment reduces the work of housekeeping and because some families find it hard to make ends meet without the wom- an’s earnings. "Statistics indicate that we must not confine ourselves to preparing the individual for local life or narrow nationalism.” Miss McKcrchcr 9