Scrapbook FWIC 1997 Convention

              THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR Monday, June 23, 1997-
a women's institute conference Saturday.
Ted Brellisford. The Spectator
Astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar, former McMaster University neurologist, spoke at
Bondar tells Wis to blaze a path
Youth need mentors, Women's Institute conference told
By JOSH BROWN
The Spectator
HAMILTON Indebted to the past; committed to the fu­ture.
That was the slogan used by the Federated
Women's Institutes of Ontario during their
100th anniversary conference at Hamilton
Place last week.
And what better woman to represent the
" changing role of women than Saturday's
keynote speaker, Dr. Roberta Bondar.
A former McMaster professor, Bondar has
just finished a book, starred in an IMAX film,
has honourary degrees from 20 universities
in Canada and the United States, holds a pri­vate
pilot's licence, swims in shark- infested
waters and is currently researching the ef­fects
of weightlessness on the blood flow to
the brain. .
Oh yes, she also flew aboard the space shut­tle
Discovery in January 1992.
•• " She's done a lot for women all around the
world, but the fact that she's Canadian makes
us all really proud," said Mildred Keith, presi­dent
of the Federation of Women's Institutes
of Canada.
Bondar was welcomed by a group of distin­guished
guests including British High Com­missioner
Sir Anthony Goodenough, Stoney
Creek Mayor Anne Bain, Ontario's deputy
minister of agriculture and food Ken Knox, as
well as more than 1,900 Women's Institute
members from around the world.
It was 1897 when a small group of women
facing changes brought on by the industrial
revolution started the organization. They had
a dream to give women a public voice and de­velop
their minds and skills. One hundred
years later. Bondar, a Sault Ste. Marie native,
echoed the importance of keeping the dream
alive.
Dreams
She said she always wanted to be four
things when she was four years old; a doctor, a
scientist, a photographer and an astronaut.
Her parents were keen and let her follow her
dreams, which she said was very important
growing up.
" I had a great collection of rocket models as
a child." said Bondar. " But in high school I
bent to peer pressure and starting playing
sports. I threw the models out of my window
and almost trashed a dream.
" I wanted to belong to social groups at
school but I would think about space at
night." ^
Later in life, when she figured out that she
really wanted to be an astronaut, her mom
gave her a big box with a red bow out for her.
Inside were all the space models from her
childhood.
" My mom hid them in the attic all those
years. Mothers know stuff," said Bondar.
She said while it's important to achieve a
goal, it's just as important to always have a
new goal. It's the only way to move forward.
Before blasting off from the packed theatre.
Bondar complimented the FWIO for helping
women realize their importance in society,
and paving the way for the future generations
of young women.
" It will be a difficult struggle. We constantly
have to have mentors and monitors in the
community and I think the Women's Institute
is case in point of someone trying to make a
change."