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A WI Success Story By Jean Tandberg Do you remember that old song that went: "I found a million dollar baby in the five and ten cent store?" Well. that is how I feel about the Women's Institute. Who would ever expect to find such a prestigious organization in a small, out-of- the-way place like Aspdin? The women of Aspdin in the Muskoka District had enough foresight to organize a Branch of the WI back in 1948. It wasn‘t easy; not one of these ladies drove a car. Womenjust didn‘t drive back then. Some of them walked miles tn attend a meeting, most bringing their preschool children with them over unplowed roads in winter and fighting annoying mosquitoes in warm weather. and never missing a meeting. Just imagine! Reading through the old minute books is areal “eye opener." When our local fall fair was floundering and threatening to close down, who came to the rescue? The Aspdin WI ofcourse! The fair is now 1 17 years old and still going strong. thanks to WI! In spite of our history and strong commu- nity efforts, however. the day came that our Branch was down to two members. Age and health had caught up to us and some members had moved away, Two memâ€" bers? Yes. we were down to two members! Neighbouring Branches suggested we dis- band and join them, Everyone was most welcoming. but the two of us hung on for over two years. So when the realization hit that we couldn't go on like this indefi- nitely, we decided to get busy and recruit additional members. But how? For years. every where, at all levels of the Institute. that seemed to be the question. How? At District, Area or the provincial l0 Home 8. Country, Spring 2003 Ten of the 12 members are shown here from left to right: Pat Miller, Mary Carpenter, Juan Risro, Doreen Allen, Darathy Pollard, Betty Howes, Betty Galloway, Shirley Roberts. Lot's Stead and Jean Tandbarg. level, the same question was asked. How? And ifyou sat back and listened at any one of these levels. you heard the same thing: “The Institute is not the same now. We used to have all these courses through the Department of Agriculture." The Depart- ment would give courses on everything. from smocking to handling finances, from baking bread to understanding that modern invention the microwave, from needle- work to gardening. The list was endless. The Department of Agriculture would choose a craft or subject and the Home Economist would organize and teach it in a locality. The Home Economist would send out notices to each Branch. She asked each Branch to send at least two members or more to take the course and then go back and teach it to other members and to their community. I attended and enjoyed all of the courses. and I missed them when they were no longer offered. We thought ifthese courses were so important. and believe me they were. we should do something about it. And we decided to do just that! We organized a Branch Meeting for l0 am, followed by a potluck luncheon (and who doesn’t like getting together over food?) and an afternoon of crafts, We inâ€" vitetl everyone in the neighbourhood to join us, no charge, just to come and enjoy and learn. In the beginning, no one was actually invited tojoin our Branch. But in no time we had l2 members. Our schedule has changed to accommodate our memâ€" bers, but we are still learning. There are always new topics to choose from and the speakers from the different organizations are glad to come, ifnsked. And here, in a small place like Aspdin, the list is endless! Fiftyefour years of WI and I am still learning and enjoying. And we are not so remote any more, Nearly all of the ladies drive a car, our roads are plowed and paved and Aspdin is no longer such an outiofith way place. Our members still sew and Rh. help out in the community and learn and enjoy it. Our attendance is above average and the participation and fellowship is whole hearted. Icould go on and on. but you will have to excuse me. Ihave :1 WI meeting coming up that I can't miss! Good luck with your recruiting! Furmers' Week Proiect What do hungry young farmers want for lunch? Why load, of course! For the past few years. six Grey and Bruce WI Branches have worked to- gether during the first week of January to provide meals for Grey-Bruce Farmers' Week. Centre- ville, Elmwood, Lambash. Louise, Malcolm and Solway Women's Institute members brought pies and provided 671 meals that week. On Beef Day, members prepared for 190; but by 11 am. the word was out there would be 240 people requiring lunch. Did this faze our Institute members? No! They peeled more potatoes. ad- justed the amount of vegetables and cut more pies to let our farmers have another hearty me. Laughter and hard work mingle as we enjoy ‘ working together for Farmers’ Week, Submitted by Helen Weirmeir, Louise WI, Grey.