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

THE FEDERATED WOMEN'S INSTITUTES OF INTARIO An Organimtion lat Personal Growth and Community Action Vol. 66 No. 3 FWIO omce a 7332 Wellington Rd. #30, RR 5 Guelph ON N1H 6J2 Mrs Lynn Ruigrok To date: $59I,733.7I Goal - SI million Fall 2000 NTRY A Mysiery Solved By Marion E gener The Niagara District Women‘s Institute has been involved in the search for an historic plaque. which disappeared from the Peace Bridge about40 years ago The plaque commemorated an impor- tant ceremony that took place on June if). 1936, involvmg delegates returning from the |936 Washington Conference of the Assocmted Country Women of the World (ACWW). All traffic was halted on the Bridge as repre- sentatives of the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada (FWIC) and the Federal Home Bureau in the United States unveiled a plaque celebrating the friendship and cooperation of rural women across a common border. The event was broadcast nationally and interna- tionally. The ACWW President Mrs. Alfred Watt spoke briefly. Several hundred people. including W1 members and the public listened to the speeches from Canadian and American officials with the aid of loudspeakers. The Peace Bridge had only been closed to traffic one other time. for the Bridge in- auguration in I927 attended by Edward VII, then Prince of Wales. Appeals from WI member and local historian Bey .lewson in the late 19805 and early 19905 to local authorities for information about the lost plaque proved fruitless, More recent efforts also proved fruitless, until the District went public. Using a 1936 Buffalo newspaper photo of the Peace Bridge cere» mony. a cardboard facsimile of the plaque was reconstructed. This was included in several displays in local libraries and letters were sent to newspaper editors in both countries. Celebrating the find are, from left to right, Jerinne Parteaus â€" Lincoln District President, Marion Egerter n Lincoln District and Hamilton Area PRO, Bev lewson â€" local historian and Bowen Road WI member, and Doryne Levers M Niagara District Prestdem. The Niagara Falls Revieii‘ (headed to run a story about the search. including a photo of the model plaque A few days later. the lovely bronze plaque. in excellentcondition, was anonymously returned to the side porch of the le“ son home in rural Fort Erie Success at last' Butas this ceremony was researched in microfilms of old newspapers on either Side of the border. another mystery cropped up' The June in 1936. issue of the Niagara Falls Eiwung Rt’YLEH revealed a picture of the ceremony. hut \\llll a different plaque! Further research revealed that at the cere~ mony on June in. a facsnniie plaque was used. possflle because the larger one was not read} This plaque has yet to be found. On July 29. 1936.51x weeks later. the real plaque commemorating the June is“ "Pilgrimage of Friendship" was unveiled before se\eral hundred Canadian and American women. and again the Bridge was closed to traffic Aug ust Board Brielings Getting the Most Out at Media 6 latte! to the Edilol 2 ROSE Health Program Report 7 President's Column 3 Towards 2001 May Board Briefings . ‘7 Focus on USA S Tweedsmun [commitin Edoation coma 310' Donations ‘3 Cross Country (aleniiai tom Foflouilnioin‘iaiion li: