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

Magazine becomes networking vehicle Networking has been the catch word of the 1980’s. Like many, at first, 1 thought this was just a trendy, new word. Now I realize this word has finally identifiEd what many people have been doing all along â€" :Jlking to one another. And perhaps to go slightly beyond dSl talking, networking is talking to .ne another and making it count. I “ave observed that evaluation forms mm many of our programs are re- urned with comments like, “The trance to talk to other people like 'lyself about similar concerns was in- aluable," or “I didn't realize other veople had problems like mine". Net- .orking is valuable because it allows ,ieople to share solutions and re- ources towards the improvement of heir lives. Last fall in Prince Edward Island, rarm women from across Canada .ointed out the need for a national uformation network for their group. ‘rior to that, Ontario rural women ilSO recognized a similar need. as .uas documented in Molly McGhee's Women in Rural Life study. The question of how to address this need. particularly in Ontario, has been of noncern to the Ministry of Agricul- ‘ure and Food as well as several rural vomen’s organizations. A publication, available to every rural/ farm woman in Ontario would be the logical solution to this network need, however, it occurred to us that yuch a publication would just be a duplication of Home & Country magazine. At the filament, about 26,000 copies of Home & Country are distributed across the province to Women’s In- stitute members and to any other interested person who requests it. The magazine not only provides informa- tion about the WI organization, but also resources for program planning, ideas for improving leadership skills. coming events in Ontario, and infor- mation on issues such as pornograâ€" phy, child abuse, agriculture, pen- sions for women etc. In short, there’s something of interest to everybody. At the April meeting of the Fed- erated Women’s Institutes of Ontario Board, the idea of using Home 8: CW1"?! as a provincial networking tool for all rural/farm women was appeared. It. was pointed out that in Editorial Carol Stewart-Kirkby no way would the WI content of the magazine change. it would merely be made available to any group or in- dividual requesting copies. And if a group has a notice of a special event or a program resource. it would be included. There are quite a few benefits to this idea. First of all. there won‘t be the extra cost of producing another publication. Wider distribution of Home 3: Country means information about WI activities and programs will be made known to more people, This will not only improve the image ol‘ WI, but may also encourage new members. And, Wl members will have the opportunity of being in touch with people with similar con» cerns, but possibly new solutions and resources. So far, several groups in Ontario have requested copies of Home & Country. i expect as word gets out about this opportunity, more will want to be added to the mailing list, In your next ‘ i; . HOME ~1f& Country eguest editorial. Her A in or Not to Join i look forward to hearing from them C I I I I would like [0 take this opportuni- ty to welcome two new members to the Home .3.- Countr) Editnrlal C um» mittcc. They are Belly Ann Mollurd of Parkliill and Shirley lo} ol [’07 wassan. The editorial commutcc pro- iidcs me with consirucritc Ll‘lllLle and helps to plan upcoming issues oi the magazine. It you how an} ILlL'Ll\. please pass them along to n conuqu Ice member. .-\l\o. lhunks to Margaret Lcuiy and Shirley Bird for scl’Vll’lg so cap-ably on the commiltct‘ tour the last year. I 1 I O I would like to tiller :1 couple ol small reminders. The first one l\ ll you are requesting \‘OlllCllllllll. uhcihcr it be supplies, Home & Country or other inl'orniulion from the ol't'icu here in Guelph, please include your postal code on your rclurn uddrcxs. We consider an address incomplete M the code is missing â€" and so does the pml ol'l‘iccl ll' you lift sending phulogi'uplis in Home 8: Country. please do nol \ulr mil colour pholm “Inch are either blurry. very dark or \cry light. Do not send polairoid photos. they mil not reproduce or“ ul till. ACWW IN IRELAND Reports from Ontario delegates to the ACWW conference will be leaf tured in the October, November, December issue. PR POINTERS District Public Relations Officer H 6'; C July, Aug. Sept. I‘ltth ,‘l