This page was last modified on November 10, 2008.

Branch Report delivered at the District Convention, September 22, 2007

The Southampton Women's Institute is comprised of eleven paid-up members, ten of whom are active. Meetings are held the first Monday of the month.... We generally take turns hosting meetings in our homes, but on special occasions, when we need more space, we meet at our local community hall. ... We recently increased our monthly dues to a "toonie".

Every meeting is begun with Oh Canada, Mary Stewart's Collect, the Salutation to the Flag, and God Save the Queen and ends with convenors reports. We answer roll call with items for donations; cards for birthday, sympathy, and get-well greetings; and sometimes just plain fun responses. At the end of the meeting two members provide refreshments, and the hostess distributes prizes for lucky cups, etc.

As a branch of the New Brunswick Women's Institute, we are able to meet all of our provincial and district commitments. We are pleased and proud that one of our members serves on the W.I. Home Board. We donate regularly to the W.I. Home, our local community hall, school breakfast programs, the women's shelter,and the food bank. This year, we made a donation to the church in our community, and we collected goodies for a basket for the Nackawic seniors' complex.

We normally break for July and August because members are traveling or entertaining. We hold our June meeting at a member's cottage or do some sight-seeing, then meet at a restaurant. In June 2006, one of our members relocated to Fredericton, so we held our meeting in her new home, then enjoyed supper at Swiss Chalet.

We resumed our monthly meetings in September of 2006. In that month our Institute, along with Keswick Ridge and Otis-Culliton, hosted the fall convention at Keswick Ridge. We entered all three exhibits, winning second prize for two of them.

In November, we have always purchased and placed a cross at the Remembrance Day Services in Nackawic. The last few years we have instead made donations to the Southampton Legion because of financial difficulties due to the decrease in membership. Also in that month, we enjoyed hearing about her trials and tribulations in the workplace from guest speaker, Ruth Stairs. She has been working in maintenance in the school system since 1974. At that time, women made less salary than men because they were not allowed to be unionized.

Ladies from the community were invited ... to our Christmas meeting in December. The annual review of our Christmas card list, which is shorter each year as former members pass on, is a sad reminder of the dwindling membership of all of our Women's Institutes. On a brighter note, we had our gift exchange, and all members provided entertainment, which included poetry and prose readings, songs, and contests.

In January, guest speaker Edgar Gallabois explained how his company, Verify RX, has devised a drug monitoring program because of prescription abuse. The program could save our provincial government $25 million annually, once implemented. January's meeting wasn't all business. We conducted a "Show and Tell" for entertainment. Members brought in many family treasures and antiques and the stories to accompany them.

In February were pleased to welcome a new member, Eileen Fox, raising our number to eleven members. Guests for the evening were Michelle Dymond and Jessica Dore from Dymond Cut Salon in Woodstock. They gave facials and manicures and make-overs and taught us simple home solutions to make-up problems.

Some of our members attended an evening sponsored by the Otis-Culliton W.I. for Heritage Week in March. Speaker Richard Blaquiere spoke on Canadian Rights and Freedoms.

Our annual elections were held in April. Everyone had done such a wonderful job during the previous year that we decided to follow that old rule, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"!

Two of our members attended the annual spring meeting in Nackawic in April, and one attended the provincial convention in Woodstock in May. In June we donated a $100 graduation prize to a deserving student from Nackawic High School.

This past year has not been one of our more noteworthy ones. Our members are no longer young. We can no longer conduct the big, impressive fund-raising projects that we once did, so our good deeds are fewer and further between. However, we take pride in what work we do accomplish, and we hope to continue to be a worthy and viable presence in our community.

Respectfully submitted, Susan Orr (506-575-1112), Secretary, Southampton Women's Institute. Other members of the executive are President Katherine Dore (506-575-8171), Vice-President Norma Dore (506-575-8928) and Treasurer Bernice Flemming (506-575-2641).

© Copyright 2007 Sheila Washburn