The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The President’s Corner Mrs. Leonard Trivers, President F.W.|.O. be in the grip of winter. I hope that you will all have had a blessed Christâ€" mas season and that the New Year will bring you peace and satisfaction. W HEN THIS ISSUE reaches you we will We are continually being reminded of the changing pattern of living in these fast-moving years. Nowhere is this change more apparent than in the life of a rural family. Not too many years ago the farm woman could expect to settle down after Christmas to a peaceful twofimonth period of knitting and quilting, with frequent pauses to feed the hungry wood stoves, while the storm winds howled about the house. Remember the frosted window panes, the cold trudge to school on stormy mornings, the sleigh-ride parties and the long- awaited visits from neighbors and relatives to break the monotony? Today the snowplows thunder past through the drifts by day and night so we may travel in heated comfort; the buses whisk our children off effortlessly to school; and every winter day is as busy as summer with its round of meetings, pleasure trips and curling. Those who have never lived in the days of fewer conveniences can but shudder to think of those primitive times; those of us who remember the more leisurely pace of living, and how much we appreciated the opportunity for a community gathering of congenial people, sometimes find ourselves wondering â€" is all change for the better? I do not know what your opinions are. I am quite sure there is no out and dried answer to a debate on the subject, though I am also sure that none of us would wish to bring back everything connected with life in the “good old days." I do think, however, that it is good for us to stop now and then to consider our present way of life, what we have gained, what. if anything, we have lost, and what we should attempt to change in the future. Leach ers in adult education today have a name for such an activity. They call it "evaluation." If you attend a large conference or leadership 4 training school, shortly afterwards you will re. ceive a questionnaire asking your opinions as to its success or failure, and for suggestions for improvement. From the replies, the peo. ple responsible for the program assess Whether or not they have achieved their purpose, it “cm in they have come short of their goals, mi 50 they receive direction for further progn... I have seen these evaluation sheets used In advantage at a few area conventions. 'oud An “evaluation,” then, is an examinalai‘ . or any undertaking. It begins with the for: m conclusion that such an undertaking [HUM we a goal or purpose It goes on to leap the opinions of those concerned as to hou -,L-|| we are achieving our goals. Finally, i: .y-,,. vides a signpost to show where Chan; it they are neCessary, should be made, ~ :he beginning of a new year, every one 01' H she is a thoughtful person should do an t In. lieu of her own life pattern. What an. iur goals? Should there be some changes mu- 0ur work as Women’s Institute mu m may well be made the subject of eval ill. As a branch, or as a provincial organl- in what are we trying to achieve? We hm or main aims and objectives set out : wur definite purpose in Women’s Institute m. ~I.'l'- ship. How well are we fulfilling our pt wt“! In your opinion is your community a .mr. safer, friendlier, more tolerant place l- N there is a branch of the Women‘s ln‘ rlL'il Are you a better homemaker, a happiu, its and mother, and a more useful citizen L IO your membership in Women's Institnlt Do other women in your locality want to h me members through seeing the effects of m- bership in your life and that of your -m- munity? If we can give an affirmative 1 st to all of these questions we can l’lOl’lE\i .iy that we are achieving our aims. We might go on from here to an evali on of our programs. An expression of t M opinion here may give us a glow of s;:- w- tion, or it may point out the reason for t “E attendance or dwindling membership, \‘0 business attempts to carry on without a r W stockâ€"taking of its assets and liabilities. l m. at the beginning of this year take time it 'M‘ a look at ourselves, to give credit where LII! is due and to redirect our efforts when M? are missing the mark. We have accomp! ml much together since 1897, but in the we 0i one of our convention speakers, quoting “"l Robert Frost: “I have promises to keep. \"J miles to go before I sleep, And miles :10 before I sleep." V Mary T, ,grs. HOME AND COUNIRY