Pine Lake History - 1976 - 1989

              RAIGH ROE
Family break up
` serious crisis'
By ELINOR FLORENCE
RED DEER ( Special) - The
breakdown of the extended family
is one of the most serious crises
facing rural people in developed
countries today. says Raigh Roe of
Perth, Australia, president of the
Associated Country Women of the
World .
Dame Raigh Roe visited Red
Deer March 13 as a guest of the
Alberta Women's Institutes and
Women of Unifarm . both member
organizations of the ACWW.
The Associated Country Women
of the World is the world's largest
rural organization, with 8 .5 million
members in 64 countries .
About 300 AWI and Women of
Unifarm members attended the pot
luck dinner and reception at Mi-chener
Centre, including the
Women of Unifarm president Leda
Jensen
Women's
national president
of the Women's Institutes, Senator
Martha Bielish of Warspite and
AWI president, Marie Plainer of
Peace River .
Roe, a farm wife and mother of
three grown sons. said there is too
much of the " I'm all right, Jack"
attitude of non- involvement in
Western society today .
She said during the 198bs more
attention will be paid to the role of
rural women in developed coun-tries
like Australia, Canada and the
U . S .
" The breakdown of the family
with an accompanying drift - or
should I say gallop - to urban
centres leads to many pressures on
young people," she said .
" I have great sympathy for
young adults today who have lost
their support systems in the form of
the extended family." The extend-ed
family includes not only parents,
but grandparents, uncles, aunts and
cousins .
-
Roe drew applause with her
comments on day care centres,
which she said are necessary only in
some situations .
" I don't believe the government
should be providing child care
centres for parents who simply
prefer working," she said .
" One of the parents, and I don't
care which one, must be at home to
Po
rovide the child with securtty and
ving care. If a woman feels her
contribution to the community is so
great that she cannot discontinue
working, she , h- id ueil to have a
child or remaun ~ hildle""
Neighbors
Turning to the aims of the
ACWW, Roe said the association
must attempt to forestall the im-pending
situation where people
don't get involved with their neigh-bors,
" not because they don't care,
but because they are afraid."
She said communities, both rural
and urban, must replace the ex-tended
family by providing support
to the individual .
Roe married her husband during
the Second World War and move
to a 4,000- acre farm in Western
Australia . " never have-except
in a picture book ."
Through a government land plan
to encourage more farming, Jim
and Raigh Roe built their holding
to 16,000 acres and raised wheat,
malting barley, sheep and Hereford
cattle .
Six years ago they gave each son
a portion of land, sold the re-mainder
and moved to Perth .
" There is not the same rapport or
understanding among neighbors
to the city like there is to the
country," Roe said.
This is her first visit to Canada .
She is enroute to the association's
administrative offices in London .
Engtana, wntcn supervises such
programs as aid to developing
countries, education . agriculture
and family planning .
She was elected president at the
1977 triennial world conference of
the ACWW and has spent much of
her time in the past three years
travelling to member countries and
meeting rural women .
Roe's distinctions include com-mander
of the British Empire, a
justice of the peace, and serving as
the only woman on the Western
Australian Wheat Council .
43 W. I . ladies impressed by
overseas visitor
by Sheila Jeffares
A very special occasion
was celebrated in Red Deer
when Dame Raigh Roe of
Perth, West Australia,
president of the Associated
Country Women of the
World, made her only stop
in Alberta during her
current tour of Canada .
Dame Raigh Roe, whose
title was conferred by
Queen Elizabeth, visited
Red Deer as a guest of the
Alberta Women's Institutes
and Women of Unifarm,
both member organizations
of the
TheAACss= oc'iated Country
Women of the World is the
world's largest rural
organization, with 8 .5
million members in 641
countries .
About 3110 A . W . I . and
Women of Unifarm mem-bers
attended the pot luck
supper and reception at
Michener Centre, includipg
Women of Unifarm
president Leda Jensen,
A. W . I . president Marie
Plaizier, and former
national president of
Women's Institutes,
Senator Martha Bielish .
Mrs . Roe, a farm wife
and mother of three grown
sons, said the breakdown of
the extended family is one
of the most serious crises
facing rural people today in
the developed countries of
the world . " The breakdown
of the family with an ac-companying
drift- or
should 1 say gallop- to the
urban centres leads to many
pressures on young
people," she said . " I have
great sympathy for young
adults today who have lost
their support systems in the
form of the extended
family ."
The extended family in-cludes
not only parents, but
aunts, uncles, cousins and
grandparents .
Turning to the aims of
the ACWW, Mrs . Roe said
the association must attem-pt
to forestall the impen-ding
situation where people
don't get involved with
their neighbors, " not
because they don't care, but
because they are afraid ."
She said communities,
both rural and urban, must
replace the extended family
by providing support to the
individual .
She said the aim of the
world- wide organization is
" caring and sharing," and
added, " we must never give
up hope for peace in the
world ."
Hon. Martha P . Bielish
The Hon . Martha
Palamarek Bielish of Smoky
Lake George Godel of
4thabasca and Dobson Lea of
Jarvie three Albertans with an
outstanding record of service
to agriculture, have been
iwarded the highest honor
Their peers can bestow, en-
'. rance to the Alberta
lgriculture Hall of Fame .
Agriculture Minister Dallas
ahgtidt . when making the an-touncements,
noted that each
ias made a worthy contribu-ion
to agriculture provincial-
, . nationally and inter-tationally
while helping to im-
) rove rural life in their local
ommunities .
Hon . Martha Palamarek
Bielish, a dedicated
humanitarian . has continuous-ly
worked to improve the
quality of life, especially for
those in rural areas . Active on
a variety of committees and
councils, whe has made a
special contribution to
Women's fnstitues . She servrd
four years as provincial presi-dent,
three years as nafnal
president, and has
represented the organization
at several international
gatherings . In 1975 she was
presented with the Woman of
the Year award by the Alberta
Women's Institue . Two years
later she received the Queen's
Jubilee Medal . As recognition
for her work at the communi-ty,
provincial and national
level, she was appointed to the
Canadian Senate in 1979 .