Marjorie Durnford Marjorie Durnford The Guelph Township West End WI’s Tweedsmuir History Book has been a labour of love for its curator, Marjorie Durnford. She has been working on it since 1962 and has been curator for most of those 49 years. Sharon Currie, President of West End WI, has described the Tweedsmuir as a "tremendous legacy for our community." Through the years, many West End WI Members have helped to write articles forthe ‘ Tweedsmuir, but Marjorie has been the chief researcher and typist â€" she still uses an old Underwood manual typewriter! There are seven large volumes to the Tweedsmuir, and they are about to be moved from Marjorie‘s care to the Wellington County Museum and Archives. In 2004, the Museum began a project to digitize the Tweedsmuir Histories in Wellington County. Many, including the West End books, are now available on the museum‘s website. Marjorie will be 94 years old in August and still keeps the Tweedsmuir up to date. She and the West End group plan to continue adding to the books after they are permanently housed at the Museum. The Members have also hosted a number ofTweedsmuir Book shows over the years. Marjorie, herself, has spoken at more than 150 showings and sometimes charges a small admission fee, which is often donated to an FWIO project. Marjorie’s fellow Members hold her very dear to their hearts, as does the staff at the FWIO Provincial Ofï¬ce. Whenever Marjorie pays a visit to the ofï¬ce, she takes staffon a walk down memon/ lane. What you may not know, is that Marjorie called our current headquarters her home from 1929â€"1944. Marjorie truly is a part of our history â€" in more ways than one! FWIO IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF THE RURAL VOICES NETWORK PROJECT! FWIO is launching a 1â€"year research project,funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, to develop a “Rural Voices Network†(RVN) that will involve a broad consultation with rural community members, organizations, and municipalities of Ontario to identify the barriers to civic engagement. Activities will include a literature review, survey, 9 community forums, webâ€"based engagement strategies and establishing collaborative networks. The project report and recommendations that emerge from these activities will enhance the work of rural volunteer organizations and citizens. 3 MAJOR GOALS OF THE RVN PROJECT: COMMUNICATE: Amplify the voices of rural community members to express their needs around civic engagement. Foster an online community to discuss civic engagement issues in rural communities. COLLABORATE: Facilitate co-operation among various organizations that work towards a common goal of rural community development. Ontario Fondatim Trillium Trlllium Foundation .V‘ dc I'Onrtir'w- COMMUNITY: Empower rural community members to engage in important discussions around civicengagement, collaboration and volunteerism. The development of the Rural Voices Network largely depends on FWIO Members promoting participation in the research project amongst Members and rural citizens via: online and mailâ€"out surveys, community forums, and recommendations to the RVN team of potential networks at the local community level who can contribute to this project. For more information, visit www.ruralvoicesnetwork.ca or contact the RVN team: Naomi Cho info@ruralvoicesnetworkca or Manon Germain manong@ruralvoicesnetworkca - by phone 519-836-3078.