Care for a spot of tea?
Within the past couple of years several local fairs have been working to create spaces where nursing mothers can go to get away from the crowds with their babies. According to Stanstead County Women’s Institute President Dyanne Saanum, the Ayer’s Cliff fair took care of that idea over 90 years ago.
“They rented a room in the little brown hall, which is across the street from the fair grounds,” Saanum said, explaining that the idea for what was then referred to as a “rest room” was first proposed in 1926. In 1926 the current tea room was built and it has been operated by the Stanstead County Women’s Institute ever since. “Everyone got together and decided it would be better if it was on the grounds itself,” the president added. “Somewhere along the line they decided to serve lunch too.”
Although the main purpose of the space has shifted since those early days Saanum said that it’s not unusual to see people still come by to use it for its original purpose.
“We had a nursing father who came in to feed his baby about, maybe five years ago? He sat in the rocking chair and fed the baby,” she said. “We’re still there and we’re still doing the same thing.”
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday the tea room will be open during the day to serve tea, coffee, lemonade, iced tea and chocolate milk to drink, as well as scones, tea breads, doughnuts, biscuits, cookies and other treats to eat as long as the food lasts.
“We ask for a donation,” Saanum said, with regard to payment, explaining that the money raised goes back into the community in a variety of ways including scholarships in local schools.
While the president said that the Tea Room remains a popular tradition at the fair, with perhaps as many as 100 people coming through per day, the organizers face a familiar problem.
“We’re like the churches, we’re getting smaller and smaller and smaller,” she said, noting that there are as few as eight to ten people still active in the group to get work done each year.
Phyllis Dustin, another member of the Stanstead County Women’s Institute, explained that at one time the county WI was made up of several branches who would each take a day of the fair. As time has gone on and the branches have shrunk, the groups have started to work as one to get the job done.
“They haven’t officially joined as one yet, but they’re working as one rather than as individual branches,” she said. “We’re all helping out.”
Dustin said that the main issue is a lack of renewal, as the ladies currently involved with the group range from 65 years of age up to 92.
“We have a couple in our group who are 92, but they’re not working that much anymore,” she said
One change to the way the Tea Room will be run this year is the fact that on Friday service will be offered by the Ascot County Women’s institute.
“We used to be open 3 days but Friday we weren’t able to do it, so members from Ascot County are coming to use it,” Saanum explained. “We’re sharing.”
Even if the younger generations are not refilling the ranks of the Women’s Institute, the Stanstead County president said that the people who stop in for the fair every year still have a connection to the group.
“Quite often the people who do come through, their mothers have been in the Women’s’ Institute,” she said. ”They know what we stand for.”