AWI President's Newsletters

              Many of M r s . MacDonalds s u g g e s t i o n s were s u b m i t t e d to F e d e r a t e d I n s t i t u t es
ocf Canada and u s e d in t h e 1C67 H a n d i c a f t C o m p e t i t i o n s . A C e n t e n n i al
p r o j e c t " Make A l b e r t a More B e a u t i f u l and S a f e r f o r L i v i n g " , was w e ll
a c c e p t e d by members. Many areas of A l b e r t a have the I n s t i t u t e s to thank
f o r improvements. T h i s s u g g e s t i o n changed to " Make Canada B e a u t i f u l " , was
a c c e p t e d by F e d e r a t e d and c a p t u r e d the e n t h u s i a s m of members a c r o s s Canada.
The " Book of I d e a s " , c o m p i l e d m a i n l y by M r s . Geo. R e i n h a r d t and M r s . Myron
( Iviada) Kemper was p u b l i s h e d . A copy was sent to a l l b r a n c h e s and 200 c o p i es
d i s t r i b u t e d at A s s o c i a t e d C o u n t r y Women of t h e W o r l d c o n f e r e n c e , L a n s i n g,
M i c h i g a n , U. S. A. i n 1968 c o u r t s y R e i n h a r d t R a n c h e s , C a r d s t o n.
K e y n o t e speaker at the F e d e r a t e d Women's I n s t i t u t e C o n v e n t i o n at
B a n f f i n 1973 M r s . Fdna C l a r k , P o l i c y L a i s o n S e c r e t a r i a t , D e p a r t m e n t of
A g r i c u l t u r e . She spoke on the C h a n g i n g R o l e s of Women and t h e many
c h a l l e n g e s f a c i n g them w h i c h can be met w i t h e d u c a t i o n , common s e n s e and
w o r k i n g t o - g e t h e r e s p e c i a l l y n o t i c e a b l e i n r u r a l A l b e r t a.
We have come a l o n g way i n t h e l a s t 66 y e a r s and o u r r o l l and needs
i n r u r a l A l b e r t a a r e c h a n g i n g as time and change marchs on.
In the y e a r s l e a d i n g up to 1975 a l o t of f o o t work was done and i n
A p r i l a f i v e year l e a s e was s i g n e d f o r t h e f i r s t P r o v i n c i a l O f f i c e out­s
i d e a p r i v a t e home. Mrs. Ruby R i t c h i e was h i r e d as t h e new S e c r e t a r y -
t r e a s u r e r . A long time dream became a r e a l i t y.
F o l l o w i n g a Government i n t e r v i e w w i t h D o c t o r H. H o r n e r , M i n i s t e r o f
A g r i c u l t u r e , a g r a n t of $ 25,000 was g i v e n to t h e A l b e r t a Women's
I n s t i t u t e to a s s i s t w i t h E d u c a t i o n a l P r o g r a m s , { a f i r s t ).
D e p a r t m e n t of A g r i c u l t u r e a s s i s t e d i n t h e n u t r i t i o n programs and
c o u r s e s in L e a d e r s h i p E d u c a t i o n and i n n o v a t i o n to d e v e l o p e b e t t e r ways
to o r g a n i z e and i n v o l v e r u r a l f a m i l i e s i n p l a n n i n g t h e i r f u t u r e.
From a c r o s s Canada e l e v e n nominees were s u b m i t t e d f o r t h e " G r a c e E.
F r y s i n g e r F e l l o w s h i p , " award. M r s . M a r i o n A l e x a n d e r was c h o s e n to
r e p r e s e n t Canada and v i s i t the U n i t e d S t a t e s f o r one m o n t h . An e x c h a n ge
from the U n i t e d S t a t e s i n t u r n , was h o s t e d by C a n a d a . This was a
m a r v e l o u s o p p o r t u n i t y f o r h e r and we t h i n k Canada i s f o r t u n a t e to be t h e
f i r s t c o u n t r y to be s e l e c t e d f o r t h e f i r s t exchange to b e n e f i t from t h is
awa r d.
E x t r a w o r k s h o p s were h e l d i n b o t h D i s t r i c t s 1 and 4 due t o t h e g r e a t
d i s t a n c e s to t r a v e l . T o p i c s s t u d i e d ; Back to B a s i c s , C l o t h i n g and T e x t i l e s ;
Home D e s i g n ; F a m i l y LIVING AND Home Management.
To- day we s t r u g g l e , not f o r t h e s a n i t a r y o r p h y s i c a l needs to b e t t e r
our homes, but t h e s t r a i n and s t r e s s t h a t go hand i n hand w i t h a f f u e n c y.
Evedence of s t r e s s i s becorrming a g r e a t c o n c e r n i n many c o m m u n i t i e s.
A l b e r t a T a r t a n chosen f o r I n s t i t u t e b l a z e r i n 1976.
Laws A f f e c t i n g Women, eg. M a t r i m o n i a l P r o p e r t y Laws, W i l l s and
E s t a t e s , and Where a r e your i m p o r t a n t documents? Ca1 B r a n d l y , L e g al
S p e c i a l i s t , Department o f A g r i c u l t u r e i n s t r u c t o r has t r a v e l e d r u r al
A l b e r t a e x t e n s i v e l y.
A t the 1977 C o n v e n t i o n a g r i c u l t u r a l r e l a t e d p i c t u r e s c o m p i l e d and
put i n t o albums r e p r e s e n t i n g 27 o f t h e 32 c o n s t i t u e n c i e s . P i c t u r e s and
c a p t i o n s p i c k e d from a l l c o m p i l e d and p r i n t e d i n t o a book named " Y e s t e r d a y ".
The A l b e r t a Women's I n s t i t u t e s d i d t h e f o o t work for A l b e r t a and
d i s t r i b u t e d the q u e s t i o n a i r s t o 100 r u r a l f a m i l y women r e p r e s e n t i n g a l l
a r e a s i n t h e p r o v i n c e . In J a n u a r y 1979 t h e " C o u n c i l on R u r a l D e v e l o p ­ment,
Canada", p u b l i s h e d " RURAL Women's S t u d y " , on t h e i r work, t h e i r needs,
and t h e i r r o l e i n r u r a l development. Page 5.