Fondos - Amherst Island Women’s Institute fonds

The Amherst Island Women’s Institute was founded by Miss A. Hollingsworth in 1900. This branch was a part of the Lennox District Women’s Institute, which later amalgamated with Addington District to make Lennox and Addington District Women’s Institute. It was one of the first created and it began with twenty-five members. One of Amherst Island W.I.’s first accomplishments was establishing a library in order to promote knowledge of domestic science. This library was enjoyed for many years, especially when it was sent overseas to hospitals and was made available to servicemen during World War II. During World War I and World War II, Amherst Island Women’s Institute was involved in Red Cross work, including sending money and hospital equipment overseas, as well as knitting many pairs of socks. A prominent member of the Amherst Island branch was Laura Rose Stephen, who was an official organizer and lecturer for the Women’s Institute. Laura Rose helped design the Women’s Institute crest in 1903; it was an oval in blue and gold with a small maple leaf at each end and the Institute motto engraved on the banding. Throughout the years, the Amherst Island Women’s Institute has supported athletic and academic excellence in local schools by providing dictionaries, pens, pencils, and other prizes. In 1990, a local resident, Mr. Ameriks donated $2,000 to the Amherst Island Women’s Institute for kindness rendered. Each year, interest on the money from the donation is applied to the Ameriks Scholarship Fund for Amherst Island students. Amherst Island Women’s Institute is one of the few remaining active branches in Lennox and Addington County. In recent years, they have been concerned with promoting environmental issues, such as Natursac (a biodegradable plastic bag) by making it available on the Island, and appealing for a new recycling facility for the Island. They have also purchased a sound system and overheard projector for school and community use, plan and host the annual senior citizens dinner, and helped to purchase a commercial dishwasher for the Amherst Island Community Centre. A large community project initiated by the branch was restoring the stone fences at Pentland Cemetery. This project was made possible through support of a grant from the Greater Kingston Community Foundation. The committee hired an expert on stone fences, who taught many locals how to construct the fence. The fence was completed in 2006, over two years since the project began. Amherst Island branch emphasizes enriching communities beyond the Island by being involved with funds and awareness for “Grandmothers to Grandmothers” which supports orphaned children in Africa and their grandmothers, and for collecting patterns for Guyana that go to a women’s self-help group supported by the A.C.W.W. Some of the regular fundraisers that they host are: summer refreshment stands and bake sales, an Amherst Island phone directory, an annual calendar of historical Island photographs, and “Pennies for Friendship” which goes towards a “Clean-Water-for-All” fund that finances sanitation projects around the world. Some of the recent donations made by the Amherst Island Women’s Institute were to CNIB, Lennox and Addington Senior’s Outreach Services, Salvation Army, Canadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Arthritis Society, Samaritan’s Purse Canada, Neilson Store Museum, CJAI Radio, and Women’s Project. Also, the Amherst Island Women’s Institute, due to the efforts of Jean Baker, was responsible for starting a Province-wide affiliation with the Lung Society to reinforce the information that most of pollutants that people are exposed to are produced in the home. Overall, It is evident that the women of Amherst Island Women’s Institute enjoyed their time working together, growing and learning together. The Tweedsmuirs of Amherst Island contain information on Island news and issues. Amherst Island has produced four volumes of Tweedsmuirs since the 1960s; all originals are held at the Lennox and Addington Museum and Archives, with copies on the Island. Most of the materials within the Tweedsmuirs were compiled by Leslie Gavlas, who was the latest Tweedsmuir Convener as of 2005. Some of the most significant subjects within the collection are: quilts (including the Pineapple pattern, which is popular on Amherst Island), original Amherst Island Women’s Institute Constitution and by-laws, small histories of local personalities, house and community histories (including Stella), information on the local Irish stone fences in the interest of restoration, the Hoodless stamp, anniversaries, tartan design, articles on ferry and transportation, copies of Amherst Island Beacon, and obituaries of local people. The past Women’s Institute Presidents of Amherst Island were: Elizabeth McDonald (1901-1926), Elizabeth Scott (1926-1929), Mabel Instant (1929-1930), Mary Emma Fleming (1930-1933), Ella McMullen (1933-1935; 1941-1942), Leith Kilpatrick (1936-1938; 1950-1951), Margaret White (1938-1939), Mary Gibson (1939-1941), Georgia Glenn (1942-1944), Genevieve Fleming (1944-1946; 1958-1960), Nellie Neilson (1946-1948; 1960-1962), Edith Nightingale (1948-1950), Nanetta Glenn (1951-1952), Reta Miller (1952-1954), Marian Glenn (1954-1956; 1964-1967), Gene McDonald (1956-1958), Lulu Strain (1962-1964; 1976-1978), Myrtle Veech (1967-1969), Anna Hitchins (1969-1971; 1972-1973; 1986-1988), Helen Miller (1971-1972), Ena Baker (1973-1976), Phyllis Strain (1978-1980; 1990-1992), Irene Glenn (1980-1982), Georgina Allison (1982-1984), Jackie Sylvester (1984-1986; 1995-1998), Ida Gavlas (1988-1990), Jean Baker (1992-1995; 1999-2000), Audrey Miller (1998-1999), and Nancy Henshaw (2000).