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Left to right: Mrs. J, E. Houck, recent delegate to U,N.; Mrs. Gordon Macâ€" Phutler, President F.‘W.I.O; Dr. C. D. Graham, Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Ontario; Miss Helen M:- Kercher, Director Home Eco- nomics Service, Extension Branch. Ontario Department of Agricultural O.A.C. Photo be applied to those needs. We look to you as leaders to help keep us up-to-date in this." The Director felt that the basic short courses in Food and Clothing are as important as they ever were for the economy, health and happi~ ness of the family. At the same time new problems are arising While labor saving devices simplify house~ keeping, homemaking is becoming more com- plicated. The question of whether "to make or to buy” is becoming more and more a ques- tion for every woman to answer. Confronted with so much advertising and so many ways of spending, even beyond the family income. the homemaker needs to betwell armed with consumer information and a keen understand- ing of her family’s real needs. There are im- portant decisions to make in other fields of home management too, and Miss McKercher felt that the time has come to place most of the demonstrations on “how to do" in the hands of competent lay leaders, leaving some of the more complex, decision-making plans to the professional worker. Miss McKercher spoke with enthusiasm about the success of the “local leader" method in 4-H Homemaking Club work and predicted that the system would function just as effec- tively in senior work. It would also enable extension services to reach more women, and would develop more women through their eX- perience as lay leaders. Conferencesâ€"Past, Present and Future Mrs. J. R. Futcher, who eight years ago. during her term of office as F.W.I.O. Presi- dent, inaugurated the first Officers‘ Confer- ence told of her anxieties that the women might not turn out, that the Institutes might not be willing to pool the cost, and that if the officers did come the conference might not seem to compensate them for the effort. Then what a thrill it was for her on the first morning of the conference to welcome six hundred delegates from as far away as Kehora and Timmins and the Ottawa Valley right up to the outskirts of Guelph and to see the SUMMER 1956 number increased by day-visitors to nine hunâ€" dred before the conference was over. The idea of holding a conference for officers from all over the province, Mrs. Futcher ex- plained, grew out of the feeling that a big weakness of the provincial set-up was that the institutes worked in isolated groups. The thirteen convention areas had no way of shaiu ing their problems. In a province-wide con- ference the women would (1) gain an overall picture of Institute work, (2) they would gain inspiration and a new vision, (3) they could pool ideas, try to find an answm‘ to general problems by discussing them together, (4) women from all over the province would come to know each other, (5) by arriving at a common conclusion on questions of the day they could speak with one voice â€" 45.000 of them lining up together on provincial and national issues, t6) everyone could have a good time, go home refreshed in mind and soul. A Summer holiday for Institute members was planned for that same year. with the idea that while only officers could come to the conference, Institute members might have a few days of relaxation and entertainment at the College. Mrs. Futcher reviewed the highlights in addresses and discussions at the conferences over the years. Many of the speakers were international figures “And.” she said, "we didn't bribe them or chloroform them to get them here." One fact brought out at every conference was the delegates' desire for more time for discussion among themselves. By way of suggestions for future conicre ences. Mrs, Futcher stressed the importance of keeping up with the trends and needs of the times. She said: “I suggest an interâ€" national flavor in next year's programme. Our delegates will be home from Ceylon, alive to the needs of the East and the problems of less-favored countries. Link their findings with an up-toâ€"the-minute address by Dr, Hannam of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers, an organization which believes that foodâ€"the lack of it here, the 13