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saw the beautiful 265ft Cy-- clorama (mural on the round) painted by Heinz Baugel. This took 14 years -- 10 years' research and four to paint. It tells the story of the Amish people from the cru- cifixion, through Switzerland where the Anabaptists started, then to Germany and Holland and finally America. We were not al- lowed to take photos, and I feel no words can describe it. The highlight of the four days was a trip to an Amish farm where we had a ride in the buggy, and went to the home of the Raber family for a proper Amish dinner, with huge bowls of food and fruit pies never to be forgotten. All this with no electricity, but all the women in the family helped. Off to Niagara and a trip on The Maid of the Mist, an experience of a lifetime. We all survived, wet but exhila- rated. So many places were visited from here -- the but- terfly farm, the winery, the whirlpool and on Victoria Day we had fireworks from the Skylon Tower. At Niagara on the Lake our team leader (me) almost went bankrupt in all the lovely shops! Then came the highlight of our holiday. We arrived at Stoney Creek to have a lovely lunch with the ladies. On a guided tour of the museum and the home of Erland and Janet Lee, some of us were a bit overcome with the awe of the occasion and we really felt part of the history of the Institute. We all read the JULY 199i Jess Egerton, Pauline, who is in charge of the museum, Kay Wragg, Ontario chairman Marg Harris, Shirley Wallace and Christine Thomson. constitution and saw the ta- ble where it was originally signed. The constitution does not seem to have changed much -- some of us bought copies to bring home. Marg Harris, Ontario's chairman, arrived at 5pm, and Shirley Wallace handed over the Caithness glass bowl with the SWRI badge on one side and the Canadian badge on the other. All the ladies were de- lighted with the gifts of Ru- ral bags and cookery books, and we were so proud to be the first overseas visitors to share their birthday celebra- tions. The next day took us to Niagara Falls where we were entertained by over 40 ladies and some of their husbands -- Niagara Falls institute has 11 members so they came from other institutes in the area. We had a super lunch and many new friend- ships were made. There seemed to be a lot of Scottish ladies and by the end of the day they were all a bit home- sick. We took everyone out to dinner and again many gifts were exchanged. I hope all the group are good letter writers! As I sit on the Jumbo jet and write this tale of our 12 days in Canada, I feel very privileged to have been where it all started and very proud of the group of mem- bers who went across the Atlantic and made the name of SWRI a first in the Cente- nary celebrations. 23 Scottish Women's Rural Institute Home & Country Magazine July 1997 edition c/o Jess Eggerton