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By Nola Tait if from July 12m 14, the Southwestern Area 7 ‘. Women’s Institute hosted the Federated Women‘s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) Conference ‘96 at Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology. About 260 Institute members. including spouses and friends. from across Ontario gathered for the summer conference. “The Back Roads to History Tour" began on Friday afternoon. Buses left for Uncle Tom‘s Cabin Historic Site near Dresden and The Oil Museum of Canada in Oil Springs. For late comers. a self-guided walking tour of the College Grounds or wagon rides around the campus had been organized. After a beef supper on Friday evening, Conference '96 was officially opened with a parade of flags Addresses by the FWIO President, Marg Harris, the Federated Women's institutes of Canada (FWIC) Presi» dent, Charlotte Johnston. and the Associated Country Women of the World Area President for Canada. Peggy Knapp. followed. Several local dignitaries also brought words of wel- come and good wishes to the Women’s Institute. Irene Tennant. a Junetown WI member from Eastern Ontario. brought laughter to the crowd as "Dizzie Lizzie." her alter persona. presented a monologue about gardening On Saturday morning. Mary Janes. Provin- cial Public Relations Officer and Chair ofthe Safe and Healthy Communities Committee. along with other members of the Executive. presented a skit introducing the new focus. Members are continually looking for new ways to keep their communities “safe and healthy.“ Panicipants were asked to imagine themselves floating above their community. They were asked what they saw, what im- provements they would like to see, and what itmight be like in the year 2020, The answers to these questions they were told, depends on us. The Companion Tours to a mushroom plant, an antique display. the John E. Smith orchard and Point Pelee National Park de- parted Saturday moming. The afternoon was filled with a variety of workshops: each reg- istrant chose two of the ten workshops offered. A great turkey banquet followed the busy Saturday afternoon. And guest speaker Alec Henry entertained the gathering with many funny tales of life. Pat Milliken. Farm and Rural Resource to Home A Country. Fall '96 "! lili/i iii/11'i.»(iiiiifl/ri/il' Lilo/Midi (i/flfiiifi'i'i’r / ill’t‘iiijl JiJIi/Jiii’yfi i'i/",';i;vi/scl” F77 ’ I, it, (nib A Chill-went? “1" l'.-iill.l'ml|i l Minister with the United Church of Canada. was the guest speaker at an interfaith service on Sunday moming. She used her gift ofstory teliing to make it a special occasion. Confer- ence '96 closed with a plenary session. with Marg Ham's, FWIO President, speaking. Nuiu Tait wax u member of the Conference ‘96 Planning C tmimilier and is a member oflhe Auglrrinr Women '5' lnsliiule in biman Suit!!! DlSlI'IL‘l. Joan King (left), Chair of the Conference ‘96 Committee, and Donna McGuire (light), Confer- ence '96 Committee member and Curatar/ Manager of The Oil Museum of Canada in Oil Springs, are pictured above awaiting the depar- ture for “The Back Roads to History Tour.” Conference partici- pants are pictured above leaming “The Art of Candle Mak- ing," just one o! the ten workshops of- fared, These workshop participants had many questions about car mainv tenanee as they peered under the r hood.