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

Seminar 21 success! More than 60 women from rural and agricultural settings throughout Northern Ontario gathered in Sturgeon Falls March 20 and 21 for a seminar aimed at sharing common goals and interests. The Veuve River Women’s In- stitute which chartered in September I983, sponsored the seminar. Janet Parsons. President, said she was very pleased with the large turnout, quali- fying the event as a success. When asked why they organized the seminar, Mrs. Parsons said, "We wanted to learn about so many things that a seminar approach was the onâ€" ly feasible way." Rural women from across North- ern Ontario were invited to par- ticipate. “The Veuve River Women’s institute members offered to billet out~ofrtown participants to reduce accomodation costs," said Mrs. Parâ€" sons. Participants for the workshop came from as far away as Matheson. Mary Ellen Levac. publicity chair~ man for the conference, said “The response from the urban community was impressive. Everyone seemed to know about this seminar. We actually made an impression in town." Although four persons were on the organizing committee. Mrs. Levac explained, “all members ofthe Veuve River Women’s Institute were responsible for making the seminar such a big success." The agenda included a presenta- tion by Terry] Ledoux, 21 colours and make-up consultant from North Bay. “Knowing what colours suit your skin tone results in a saving of money when purchasing clothes and design- ing your wardrobe," she said. “Also, knowing that you are wearing the right colours makes you feel good about yourself," she added. Kristina Maus of Concerned Farm Women, spoke at length about a survey conducted among farming operations in Bruce and Grey Coun- ties: the survey was the basis of a book called The Farmer Takes a Wife, written by Gisele Ireland, who was also on hand to chat with seminar participants and autograph copies of her book. Ms. Maus said 67 per cent of farmâ€" ing operations in the survey area are owned jointly by the husband and wife. 19 per cent were owned solely by the man and two percent are own- 8 ed solely by the woman. The balance is made up of family owned corpora- tions or other legal partnership arrangements. 1 On a sombre note, she said 86 per- cent of the farming community surveyed is worse off in 1982 than in 1976, with product prices, input prices, interest rates, foreign land ownership and provincial and federal government agricultural priorities and policies as the main culprits. Ms. Maus said the four major aspects of living on a farm which ap- peal to women are the country life in- dependence, rural values, and the en- joyment derived from the production of food. West Nipissing Planning and In- dustrial Board chairman John Bed- dows, a business teacher at Northern Secondary School in Sturgeon Falls, told seminar participants they are “Key personnel" in their farming business, He explained certain advantages of forming official partnerships, limited partnerships or incorporating the farm business, when it comes to ques- tions of ownership with the husband. “The best advice lean give is to write down what you feel you would want from your business organization," said Mr. Beddows. “And, see an ac- countant and a lawyer when prepar- ing business partnership agreements and your will.” Ontario Farm Safety Association representative Marilyn Sewell told the women gathered for the seminar, “Being aware is your best protection.“ She said an average of 40 to 50 i Signing their book The Farmer Takes a Wife are left. Giselle Ire/arid. author. people are killed in farming accidents annually in Ontario, and of those fatalities, up to 25 per cent involved youngsters under the age of 16. Ms. Sewell said farm operators should at least be familiar with emergency procedures in order to lie prepared in the event of an accident John Rowsell of New Liskeam College of Agriculture Technolo- explained that computers "his manipulate information very quickly." Mr. Rowsell stressed the imp. . tance oftakinga course in compui ‘ before purchasing, “to find i l whether you are going to like 11‘ it." He said a computer system ft medium-sized farm would cost ah $6,000 while one for a large lit would be $9,000 dollars. Dr. Jane Deschesne of Sturg Falls gave a lecture on wom- health, followed by a presentatiOi assertiveness training by Canat: College West Nipissing coâ€"ordin. Gaetan Serre. Mr. Serre said one of the n. rewarding features of assertiveit training is getting men and WOmEl‘ become more aware of [it potential. “It is very important when tak a personal inventory to take a ii at all aspects of your life. “Our Creator made us the way were. We all have the potential to successful in life,” said Mr. Sen The seminar concluded with a ti ofa local dairy farming operation Delormdale Farm. i it and “5mm MW" lmmmmr' 10’ ” PWHCIDam m the Northern Ontario Rural Womens Seminar, Linda Scftuber of Cache Bar.