A glimpse at the Women’s Institute
Organization loses provincial funding while many chapters struggle to survive
Each month, in halls and churches across Nova Scotia and throughout the world, women continue to gather to share mutual kindness, delicious food and a common goal of helping others in their own communities and beyond.
The New Tusket Women’s Institute (WI) is one of these groups and members met recently around a table in a church hall deep in the rural countryside to discuss donations to local charities, knitting patterns for hats for premature infants and an upcoming silent auction fundraiser.
At their meetings there is no talk of politics – it’s not a rule, just a general sentiment, that controversial topics are parked at the door. New Tusket WI president, Karleen Gale, believes it might be one of the reasons the women in the WI get along so well.
“Over the years, I’ve been involved with many groups – even church groups – where there’s a lot of arguing and bickering, but I can honestly say I have never come across that in the WI,” she says.
Gale adds that it might also have something to do with their oath that states ‘no unkind word our lips shall pass.’
“We do seem to go by that – and this just a really good group of people,” she says. “We do our work quietly.”
BEING INVOLVED
Leota Lewis, vice-president, has been part of the New Tusket WI since 1979.
“I came here with a group that did a presentation and they invited me to come back,” Lewis says, adding that the best part for her has been the connections with other women in the community. “I like the people and they do a lot of good.”
Phyllis Stewart doesn’t remember how many years she’s been part of the New Tusket WI, but she does know she was one of the founding members.
“I don’t remember how old I am, but I know I’ve got older every year,” Stewart laughs. “I helped get it started. I was the one who made sure there were dishes in the pantry and tea made for lunch.
“We always have fun doing things together, and still do,” Stewart says. “I’ve seen a lot of change over the years, and a lot of people come and go. But when you live in the woods in the country you have to get involved with the community.”
Elinor Keter is one of the new WI members. She moved here from Saskatchewan, but wasn’t part of the WI there.
“One of the reasons I love Nova Scotia is the history. The history of the WI appealed to me the same way,” Keter says.
For 10-year member Maurine Mullen, one of the things she loves best about the New Tusket WI is the friendly and inclusive group.
“When I’m in this room it’s like there is no world outside,” Mullen says. “When I’m here, I’m happy, and we all get along so well. I love Members of the New Tusket WI held a fun games night for their February meeting – a meeting strategy that is often used for a mid-winter meeting to lighten up the dark days and to accommodate absences in case of bad weather. it. I try to get new members so we can keep it going.”
Membership continues to be an issue for women’s institute groups across Nova Scotia and the country.
“Our group is getting smaller. We’ve lost several members in the last year or so, and many of our members are getting older,” Gale says. “We don’t seem to be able to attract young people – maybe it’s just not enough fun for them.”
That being said, there were many laughs at their February meeting. The mid-winter meeting is often planned as a games night, where members are invited to bring along their favourite board or card games. Gale says it’s a useful strategy for evenings when the weather could be bad and they might not have a decent turnout. The first 20 minutes of the gathering is set aside to review minutes, discuss new business and share something about themselves – this month it was their favourite form of exercise, next month they’re doing show and share of their favourite secondhand items.
But the organization has also offered leadership development, with the opportunity to serve on the local executive or as a district director or even at the provincial executive level. Several of the New Tusket WI members have done one or two or even all three of those.
ITS HISTORY
While many may never have heard of the Women’s Institute, it has a proud Canadian history, started by Adelaide Hoodless in Stoney Creek, Ont. in 1897 after the death of her infant son due to drinking impure milk. Hoodless, along with Erland Lee, helped create an institute for women to help them learn how to take better care of their families, become responsible citizens and community leaders. The first WI chapter in Nova Scotia was formed in Salt Springs, Pictou County in 1913. In 1919, the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada was formed to co-ordinate the work of the provinces and it became the rural voice for women in Canada. However, the WI movement was not confined to Canada – it spread throughout the United Kingdom in the early 1930s and soon, the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) was formed.
Today, the ACWW has more than seven million members in more than 70 countries. In Canada, some of the social progress the WI is credited with starting includes early counselling services for farm families facing economic challenges, developing training courses in safe canning and preservation of food, supporting ‘Well Baby’ clinics, establishing bookmobiles in rural Canada, lobbying for the creation of Brock University, and the creation and funding of public milk programs in schools. February marks the birthday of founder Hoodless and around the country WI members mark the occasion with WI Week.
The New Tusket WI marks that week by baking muffins – lots of muffins – that are then delivered to local schools as a special treat for students, staff, bus drivers and janitors.
Some of the other work the New Tusket WI has achieved in past years has been the purchase of breast pumps for young moms, bursaries for Grade 12 students, clean-ups of local highways, quilts and knitted hats for premature babies at IWK, taking meals to seniors and regular donations to a woman’s shelter and a youth’s shelter, to name a few. The small group is also close to achieving their target of 150 donations of items to local and provincial organizations in honour of Canada’s 150th. But the women also get together to share food in potlucks, lunches at their monthly meetings, visits to their twin chapters and other provincial meetings.
Education plays a large role in their regular meetings – they usually have a speaker who delivers news of the world or charitable work on a global scale. Last month, they gained a deeper understanding of human trafficking from a young psychology student study- Leota Lewis, vice-president, has been part of the New Tusket WI since 1979, and filled in as secretary at the February meeting. ing at Liberty University in West Virginia. Next month they’re dedicating their time to a silent auction fundraiser, raising money to add to their donation pot. Organizations can also apply to the WI for a donation for their cause.
FUNDING ISSUES
Women who join the WI pay annual dues – in the 20 years since Gale joined the organization, the dues have gone from $5 to $20, an amount she said that drove some members away in protest. However, now Gale is very concerned that their non-political organization’s days may be numbered because of a political decision at the provincial level. The Liberal government has informed the WI that their significant annual contribution to the organization will end this year. Gale says there have been provincial conversations about how to make up those funds, with the possibility of increasing membership dues mentioned – a situation that Gale says will make recruiting new members even more difficult.
“We really have no explanation about why they took away the grant,” Gale says. “I do realize Stephen McNeil is trying to keep a balanced budget so I guess that’s what’s happened, but we depended on that money to operate our office in Truro.”
Gale mentions the many groups that have now ceased to exist in their own district – Clare, Digby, Acaciaville, Bear River.
“My fear is that before too many years, it will cease to exist,” Gale says. “I guess if it were only us that were going downhill and every other group in the province was going well, that would be a different story. But every meeting we go to we hear about this group has closed up or that group is closed up, so it really affects our optimism, but there’s nothing we can do.”
Gale even wonders if the Wi has outlived its place in society, saying individual organizations now do some of the work their organization pioneered – like raising funds for cancer or international disasters. But then, who would do the knitting for the babies or sew the quilts for the hospital?
“I’d like to think that we could keep going,” she says. “We didn’t have any new members for the longest time and I was thinking, ‘Oh no, we’re going to have to close up.’”
But in the last eight months, the New Tusket WI has had three new members sign up and Gale is now cautiously optimistic that this deep-rooted Canadian women’s organization can and will survive in Digby County.
“These new members have time and they seem to be really enthused about it, so it’s encouraging – we might come out of it all right,” Gale says.
There are two WI branches remaining in the Digby District – the New Tusket WI and the Islands Branch based in Freeport.
To discover more about Women’s Institute visit
www.winovascotia.ca.
For more information about joining the New Tusket WI, contact Roberta Journeay at 902-837-5623 or by email: rosejourn@hotmail.com.
New members are always welcome.