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

to take back to their branch members. It was a moment of vindication for me. I was elected to the office of Provincial Pres- ident in the fall of 1947, and all that Wlfltef my thoughts were with our organization. What oculd be done to help the individual member realize how important she was and how impor~ tant was the work that she was doing? What could be done to raise the sights of the Wom- en's Institute member as to the overall value of our work? The higher up the hill one climbs the greater the vision and the greater the apâ€" preciation and understanding of our work. How could we get together to know one another better. â€"~ to share mutual problems and mutual achievements? â€"â€" for from every human contact something is learned. We had large Convention Areas in the Province where there was sometimes an interchange of Area Presidents. but we had no Provincial interâ€" change of members, ideas and problems. Why not a Provincial Conference? But how? How to work it out? How could one expect a small Branch in Rainy River to finance sending an ullicer to a conference at Guelph? A presi- dent of an Institute near Guelph or in Southern Ontario could drive there in an hour or two in practically no expense. The only way was. a pooling system. by which the Guelph Area member would help to finance her sister member from the north and west. Would the members agree? Would they be willing to pool their finances so that all members might have the same opportunity to uttcnd‘.’ I remember stepping out of the chair at the Board meeting in May [948 that I might preâ€" sent this idea to the Directors. It wasn't easy to persuade those canny Directors of 1948 that it could work and would work if they all got behind the idea: but after lengthy discussion the} approved the idea as being valuable and workable. So plans went ahead for :i Confer- ence in the spring of 1949. You can imagine the time and effort thnl went into planning that two day program for to prose Il'iL‘ll the Conference must provide exâ€" cellcnl thought. suggestions and leadership We \L‘l lhc pooling fee at $30.00 and I understand that that pooling l-L'C proved right and stood for many years: The Miners called in for that first Confer- ence were Area Chairman and Secretaries. Dis- trict and Branch Presidents and Secretaries. The majorin of the delegates came in the night belon: tor a get-acquainted party. Here they more served by members of the Provincial Board who did their best to help the ladies get acquainted with each other. It was a happy evening. (he of the highlights of our conference pro- gram was to show the delegates how the Pro- 11 vincial Board functions. When the morning .. .. sion opened, the Board members were i. u seated around a table on the platform. 7 subjects were discussed (a) The Ontario \‘t .. en’s Institute Scholarships (b) The Wom Institute Summer Holiday at Guelph. Excellent addresses were given on sub. pertaining to ways that would help member better home making and program plan]. Tributes were paid by O.A.C. officials to Ontario Women‘s Institutes. The late Colonel Kennedy. then Minisit Agriculture, stated, “We people who lit. rural Ontario are church-going. peacealo and law abiding. but we must go outsid. our homes to help others." Miss Florence Eadie, then Supervisw Junior Extension, spoke on Junior work » importance in rural development and the l for trained leaders. Other speakers were Miss Mary Collins. ior Home Economist, Department of F sion. Washington DC; Mr. Tolton. Dir. of Public Relations O.A.C.; Mrs. J, E. H. spoke on Snags and Snails in Women‘s Insl work. Miss Anna P. Lewis. then Director. s on Extension Service and outlined changi a new Hand Book; and Miss Helen MCKL’FL then a Home Economics Supervisor, spok Program Planning. My own contribution was a few thought the subject. “The Qualities of an Ideal Ins: Member." and I spoke of my liking foi word enthusiasm. Nothing was ever (to plished without an enthusiastic beginning you are enthusiastic you have a sincere I that what you are doing is right. It is a ‘- I still love and emphasize. Later we broke up into discussion gt with Board Members as leaders. Branch t gates discussed such topics as, “Do you a yearly program? Do you remember the 3- member in program planning? Do you good times? Do you welcome new-comers As a basis for their discussions the Dr Officers used. “Were you satisfied with ‘ latest District Annual Meeting? How Colll be impr0ved? Should branches in a di' have common projects? Convention Area Officers discussed topiCS as. “Did you enjoy last year‘s Con tion? Was it worthwhile? What feature did enjoy the most? What new features are planning? Should Area presidents visit DiM Annual meetings? What emphasis should placed on panel discussions, outside spe.il and recreation at conventions? I feel these questions are just as pcrlil1 “may as they were in 1949. There isn‘t time to tell you the findings of these dillcr discussion groups. They were reported hl‘ leader to the Whole assembly. If you are in! HOME AND COUNY- -