Pickardville W.I. Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Source: AWI Collection

Transcript: 50th Anniversary
Fifty ladies attended a tea in had picked up the torch and car- the Pickardville W. I. and Mrs. K.
the Westlock United Church hall ried it well. Arlow, on behalf of t h e Indepen-on
Friday afternoon, January 12, A P ° e m titled " H o w ^ Y° u " dence W. I. presented an engraved
1973 to celebrate the 50th anniver- was then read by Judy Stefan, gavel.
f r>- i j •„ TO x followed by everyone singing Courtesies for the day were then
sary of the Pickardville W. I. P r a i r i e R o s e > t h e s o n g w r i t t e n g i y e n b y A u d r e y L J g
The tea tables were beautifully by Mary Mercier and dedicated E a c h o f t h e p r e s e n t members
decorated in A. W. I, colors of to, t h e A - W I - a n d ™ r c i t i z e n s was a hostess at a tea table. At
ot our province
deep blue and white and accented P e g g y B r o w n " t h e n introduced t h i s P o i n t o f t h e P r ° g r a m they
with gold candles. The head table the guest speaker ' ~> an Hollands lit; t h e c a n d l e s a t t n e i r table s and
was backed with a large gold ?°" " nter ^ . S f j t M e n. jP0. y ewd hob y gaalvL e Hai « titma lekl yi nmc leusdsead ge T ™ ea arid a glo* vei* y' ? lu n^ ch 0 d e theMn"
ters Pickardville Women s Inst!- recognition of the many good served. Pouring at the head ; able
ed} V \ b^ y blue * srtr eamers Trli ns Taiblte w o r k s t h e A - W J - ] ' a v e a c n i e v e d were Mrs. Katharina Stefan rep- a n d s u g g e s t e d w e g e e k m o r e ^ ^
was centered with a lovely large l i c i t y o n l o c a l endeavours. We and Mrs. Chorlotte Gower repre-cake
decorated by Fanny Sterling w e r e l e a s e d t 0 h a v e D a n menbers The
behind which was a lovely floral d h j if r » n , n r h v with . « . bt- n ™ S i n e e c - r i v manners, ine
hmiaupt sent bv the Westlock W I „ <. „ Y 0 ? ^ 3 anniversary cak e was cut by the
A- W. I. by everyone present, and the Pic-
Also set up in the hall was a Mrs. Kay McMillan, provincial karville W. I. wish to take this
table with backdrop containing secretary- treasurer, presented a opportunity to thank all who sup-historical
material and greetings^ Golden Anniversary certificate to ported our function.
received from v, ariou s people an^ * ——
organizations. Of particular inter­est
was the life membership pin
and picture of the late Mrs. T. II.
Gower an extremely active mem­ber
of this group fcr 36 years.
Visitors were greeted at the
door by Mrs. J. Pollard who was
in charge of the guest book.
The program began with the
signing of O'Canada, followed by
the Institute Creed. M. C. for the
afternoon was President Peggy
Brown who then gave a few
words of welcome and tribute to
the early members, seven of
whom were able to attend, namely
Mrs. A. Adam, Mrs. Annie Glebe
Mrs. Lawley, Mrs. J. Halwa, Mrs
Delia Craddock , Mrs. Charlotte
Gower and Mrs. S. Yeomans.
These ladies were brought for­ward
introduced and asked to say
a few words. Corsages, made by
Phyllic Chapotelle in deep blue
and white, were pinned on each
one by Audrey Lang. Then every­one
sang the Institute Rally Song
accompaniel by Mrs. Tom McMil­lan
at the piano.
This club disbanded in 1949 but
was re- organized in 1953. Four of
the reorganizing members were
present who were then brought up
to the front, introduced and each
said a few words. These mem­bers
were Mrs. Rose Victoor, Mr.
Irene Marshall, Mrs. Florence
Lambert and Mrs. Charolette
Gower. Another song, titled Al­berta
was sung by all present.
Then the present members were
brought forward and introduced.
They were: Secretary Audrey
Lang, Treasurer Judy Stefan, His­torian
Margaret Hanlan ( member
16 years), Mrs. J. Pollard ( mem­ber
12 years), Mary Pollard ( 12
years), Katharina Stefa n ( 11 yrs)
Phyllis Chapotelle and President
Peggy Brown. Absentees also
mentioned were Arline Alters ( 11
years) Judy McCarthur and club
reporter Ruth Pollard.
Margaret Hanlan then gave the
history of Pickardville W. I. In
the early days it was a very ac­tive
group, preparing baby bun­dles,
Christmas hampers and
helping physically and financially
in the community wherever it
was needed. During World War II
they prepared parcels for our
servicemen overseas, stipulating
that everything in them ( including
candy) must be homemade, and
also purchased cartons of cigaret­tes
to include in each parcel.
Their spare hours at that time
were spe'it knittirg for the service­men
and they contributed greatly
to thi s worthwhile cause. After
reorganizing, the group contained
to be active in the community. Be
sides doing things previously men­tioned,
they furnished the kitchen
in the Pickardville Curling Rink
and donated a curling trophy for
many years. They also spearhead­ed
a drive for a piano and libr-ry
in Pembina Lodge and donat­ed
a bookcase for this project.
One of the many things they did
to raise money was running the
food booth in the Triple ' J' Auc­tion
Mart. The present group
raises money through doll clothes
sales, selling cotton wiping rags
and cards. Any donations of rags
would be gratefully accepted by
any of the members: In 1971 they
raised money to buy a special type
hearing aid for a W. I. member.
Next on the program were two
dances d o n e by Peggy Brown and
Jenny Sterling, attired in old fash­ioned
clothing.
Past and present constituency
convenors were then introduced
by Mary Pollard. Past convenors
Mrs. Mary Squair, Esther Brown
and Gladys Doherty said a few
words, Mowed by present con­stituency
convenor Mrs. Florence
Cameron bringing greetings from
the Pembina Constituency. Later
in the afternoon, another past
convenor, Mrs. Ida McMillan ar­rived
and was honored also.
Mrs. Nellie Whitson of Edmon­ton,
Provincial 2nd vice- president
then gave a timely message in
which she stated the present group