Summer seemed to arrive late this year so I hope that means we will have a beautiful Fall to enjoy your Area Conventions. I look forward to meeting with WI Members across the province to bring you the latest information from your Provincial Board. Thank you for all the invitations to your special anniversaries that were celebrated throughout this year. May you celebrate many more milestones as you continue the work of the Women’s Institute through fun and fellowship, great programming, advocating for change and getting involved in your communities. Almost 100 Members including some spouses represented Ontario by attending the 18th National Convention ofthe Federated Women's Institutes of Canada held in Charlottetown, PEI. The 90th Anniversary of FWIC was celebrated through the theme: Women Inspired, Women Involved] Can Achieve Anything. The sun shone all week as the attendees participated in the various aspects of the convention, gathering with old friends and meeting new ones. Tours were available to learn more about the smallest province in Canada. More from the PEI trip can be found on page 8. Several inquiries have been received regarding the Tweedsmuir Histories. The Provincial Board is looking into ways and means to protect and share the history of our communities across the province. The Tweedsmuir Manual is being updated and a form will be created for each level of the organization to use when completed books are stored at museums, libraries, etc. Several costly maintenance items at the Erland Lee (Museum) Home have been brought to the attention ofthe Provincial Board. This information will be shared with you through a letter to all the Branches. The Board will be looking for your ideas and suggestions to determine to the future of the Lee. A new Strategic Plan for FWIO is being developed through input from you the Members and it will be in place for the coming year. Watch for more information! As Area Conventions draw near I challenge Members to take that next step to apply for an open provincial position. Not only does this give one a learning curve but gives you a better prospective ofour organization. Have a great Fall and enjoy our Canadian colours! Yours for Home and Country, Joy W Wham. at“! 31mg Check out the new Blue Ribbon Award in this issue of the Home & Country ROSE Garden! Throughoutthis and future issues, you will see stories marked with a Blue Ribbon Award. This is to acknowledge all the hard work and dedication that goes into planning a ROSE Session in your community. We know that planning ROSE Sessions can be time consuming, and sometimes challenging and we want to ofï¬cially thank Branches and Members that GET INVOLVED in the ROSE Program. When you submit your stories and photos for consideration in the newsletter â€" be sure to let us know that it is a ROSE Session. If we have received the ROSE Session Proï¬le Form, you will be acknowledged as a Blue Ribbon Award Winner! Stay tuned for more details on the Blue Ribbon Award program...but in the meantime, send in your ROSE Proï¬le Forms and newsletter stories to be included. ‘ CALENDAR" Provincial Board Meeting November 17719, 2009 AGM @ Kempenfelt Centre January 6, 2010 i (see page Ii) for more details “ “210mm?†a‘cï¬ï¬ï¬e‘: 3