Dissolution of Austin Women’s Institute after 92 years of service to the community
“Keep us o Lord from pettiness: let us be large in thought and word and deed.
Let us be done with fault finding and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face without self pity and without prejudice.
May we never be too hasty in judgement and be generous
Let us take time for all things; make us grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straight forward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize that it is the little things that create differences, that in the big things in life we are one.
And may we strive to touch and know the human heart common to us all, and oh Lord, let us not forget to be kind.”
By Mary Stewart in 1904.
Until this year of 2018, since its establishment 92 years ago, the Austin Women’s Institute (AWI) members lived and implemented activities based on the above official creed of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada. Earlier this year the remaining members remorsefully started to prepare for the dissolution of what has through all its years served as a backbone of the rural community.
The glaring realization of a dwindling and aging membership coupled with the sign of the times of gainful employment for women, travel and transportation more accessible, alternative options for people to engage in other specific community causes has resulted in a recruitment challenge. These are all factors contributing to the lifestyle shift of homemakers being there at the end of the day to provide food and comfort to their loved ones who had toiled all day on the farm or in the woods; the days when the women had little opportunity to socialize except for the regular meetings of the AWI.
They have played a central role in community life by supporting education and related activities, sharing their knowledge and skills with each other, comforting the ill and those who have lost loved ones, coming to the assistance of families in need, organizing social events that brought the community together while raising funds to assist students as well as the many causes that meant so much to them.
Their first meeting was held in the home of Mrs. Maude (Asher) Bryant where 20 women from the community congregated to learn more about the W. I. from Mrs. Hillhouse, the president of the Brome County W.I.
During the late 1930s/early 1940s the ladies managed to acquire two vacant buildings located on the road that is now known as Chemin des Pères in Austin. Until the one used for the youth centre was razed to the ground and the other that was used as their meeting place was sold and moved to its current location on a farm up the road, it was also the home of their annual Garden Party that got started in 1942. The Garden Party was always the main fundraiser for the AWI and was an event that continued for over 65 years. In reminiscing about the Austin Garden Party, former members Elizabeth Goodwin and Mayor Lisette Maillé spoke about the various activities that were undertaken to amuse all ages. There was the tea with all sorts of yummy homemade goodies; fancy sandwiches, squares, cookies and the tables were decorated with flowers and pretty table cloths. A bake table was set up with home made fresh bread, pies made of fresh fruit, cookies, squares and cakes, some jams and jellies made from in-season fruit. A craft table displayed hand-sewn, aprons, potholders, dolls, children’s clothes, and knitted and crocheted items too; all made by the members, all for sale. A raffle highlighted three big-ticket items, usually a patchwork quilt, a hand knitted sweater or crocheted afghan as well as a painting from a local artist. “It was Eileen Taylor who introduced the white elephant sale, a room specifically set up to sell second hand clothes, jewellery, household items, and books. “A veritable find of affordable Christmas gifts!” recalled Maillé, who described two of her fondest memories as a child as being the children’s Fish Pond and also the Treasure Hunt Games. Sometimes there were pony rides were organized for the children too. Goodwin regaled the work of all the members and marvelled at how they were able to bring the entire community together for what felt like a homecoming. “It was so much fun to meet up with people that we had not seen for a long time, to catch up on the news of the community.” She said it was an important social event back in the days when social engagements were few and far between.
Because the ladies had contributed to the purchase of furniture and kitchen ware at the Austin Town Hall, the council offered them a location for meeting and hosting the annual Garden Party in perpetuity when they needed a new location to meet.
The AWI’S greatest legacy is notably the founding of the library in Magog by Marjorie Mitchell, Agnes Fisher and Margaret Corbett. According to a 1971 report from the AWI Library Committee found at Brome Missisquoi Historical Society’s Museum in TBL, the first library in Magog opened at then Princess Elizabeth High School seven years earlier (1964). By 1971 the group realized that it could not solely support the library because its demand had become so great. That was when a Citizen’s Committee under the chairmanship of Mitchell, formed to discuss the possibility of the community taking over the library. It was at that point the library became constituted and Georges Girard became president of the board of directors. A report from a 1976 article in the Townships Sun cited that by 1975 the library held over 20,000 books with a circulation of 61,647 in the fiscal year 1974-75.
Ofcourse, there are so many other contributions to the community to be thankful to the AWI for: bursaries issued to graduating high school students, support to school fairs, donations to fire victims, support to the erection of playgrounds, provision of furniture for the Austin Town Council, knitted items for premature babies, lap blankets for invalids, socks for people living in the northern communities of Quebec, outfitting classrooms with computers. They shared their knowledge and expertise amongst each other as well as with other Women’s Institutes that still live on. The AWI never stopped giving and will be remembered forever for those looking because reports and memorabilia have been donated to the BCHS archives. As well, Maillé said there is a plan for the local historian, Snerge Wagner, to undertake the writing of the history of the AWI.