Activities

Book Sale -  The Book Sale, organized by Loreen and Jackie, was held on May22nd, 2010, as a fundraiser. Members contributed many books for the sale.  Scheduled to be held on Saturday morning, plans had to be changed due to the inclement weather. So the tables were set up on Sunday morning and the books were put out for display. Many members helped that day with the sale. The sale went well. Unsold books were boxed up for future sale opportunities at garage sales and at the  Afternoon Garden Tea being held in August. 

 

Bruce County Museum -  Our meeting in October, 2006 was held at the Bruce County Museum in Southampton. After a dinner meeting we made our way up to Southampton where we were warmly greeted by our guide, Volunteer Resource Assistant John Smith. The first gallery we visited held the exhibit Threadworks, an exhibit of wearable art. On display here were  beautiful quilts, exquisite smocking, knitting, painting, hooking and creative sewing. Much time could be spent here admiring the creative works on display. Our guide then lead us through the main halls of the museum. The main areas are land, water, living on the land and living on the water. We learned about the geology of the area, history and how the land and water affected us, the early farm implements and life on the water. There are many interactive displays for visitors to use and activities provided for children. The final gallery  visited contained an exhibit of  artist Paul Kane's works. These paintings will be on display until November.
The new addition to the museum is spacious and provides an excellent setting for the artifacts and exhibits. We spent the last few minutes of our evening at the lovely gift shop.

An English Garden Tea Party  was held on Sunday August 20, 2008, at the home of one of our members. This event was held to raise funds for our annual bursary that is presented to a graduating female student from our local high school who is going on to university. On Saturday many members gathered at Marilyn's to learn how to make fancy sandwiches. We used many loaves of bread preparing the sandwiches. Members also baked scones, squares and cookies. Sylvia provided home-made strawberry jam and Marilyn made chocolate coated strawberries.
On Sunday morning we gathered to set up tables on the beautiful wrap around veranda, added many baskets of flowers, set up the white elephant tables on the boulevard, get the croquet games set up in the gardens and started to arrange plates of sandwiches and sweets.
Two seatings were offered - 1:00 and 2:30. As our guests arrived, they were greeted by a hostess, signed the guest book and shown to a table. Members served the guests sandwiches, scones, sweets and tea, coffee or lemonade. Soft background music added to the atmosphere. After tea, some guests played croquet and others perused the white elephant tables. The event was well received and the weather cooperated. We enjoyed a lovely day. After our guests were gone, members sat down to enjoy a tea as well. 
                                   

The Calendar Girls  participated in the 2006 Super Cities Walk for MS held on Sunday, April 23. The organizers of the annual walk held in Kincardine are Susan Shedden and Brian Churchill. The walk consists of three distances:  2km, 5km and 10km. Last year the Calendar Girls had participated in a fundraiser by making a calendar with half the proceeds going to the new Bursary Trust Fund for a mature woman going on to further education and half the proceeds going to the MS Society. The Calendar Girls also participated in the MS walk last year.

March Trip - 2006  Four of our members plus a husband and a friend were off on an art history trip with the local high school art history class to Italy and France. Upon arrival in Rome, we met our bus and were taken to our hotel. On the way we passed the coliseum, the forum, Constantine's Arch and several other sites.
The next morning, our guide met us and we were off on a tour to the Trevi Fountain where we tossed a coin over our shoulder into the fountain, the Prime Minister's home, the Pantheon, and the Piazza Navonna. After lunch we entered Vatican City and visited the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Cathedral. During the next couple of days, we visited the Church of St. Mary's of the Angels, the Borghese Gallery, the Catacombs,  the Spanish Steps and the Piazza del Popolo. We walked miles and made good use of the Rome Metro system.
Leaving Rome by train, we arrived in Florence where we checked into our hotel and then went on a walking tour to orientate ourselves. We walked to the Baptistry and Duomo, the Uffizi and on to the Ponte Vecchio. After lunch a guide took us on a more detailed walking tour. By now the weather was cold and windy. We were glad to have hats, gloves and scarves. The next day we toured the Barghello, had lunch on the patio of a bistro and then went to the Palatine Gallery at the Pitti Palace. We did lots of shopping, ate a lot of gelato, the rich creamy Italian ice-cream and visited more galleries.
From Florence we took the overnight train to Paris where we were met by our guide and bus and taken on an orientation tour of the city before we checked into our hotel. After some instruction on how to use the Metro we were off to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. What a busy area!
While in Paris we visited the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay, Versailles, the Musee Rodin, the Pompidou Centre, Notre Dame Cathedral on the Ile de Cite and the Eiffel Tower. The Metro system is terrific and easy to use if you pay attention to the direction you're going in. On the last Sunday we went on a night boat trip on the Seine River to see Paris lit up. What a beautiful sight. The bridges are so interesting with sculptures that you see only from the water and one bridge had gargoyles on both sides. Some of us went to Chartres, a small town an hour's train trip from Paris. The Chartres Cathedral was dedicated in 1260. The town is quiet with a wonderful walking area by the river. As it was Monday most of the shops were closed but we did enjoy cookies and cappuccino at a boulanger. It was a relaxing day after the bustle of Paris.
The two weeks went by so quickly but we have wonderful memories of the galleries, churches and museums that we visited, the great people  on the trip with us, the food and the shopping.
 

Loreen Ambler, one of our members, was in Toronto on September 16 for the launch of her book "Quincy and His Quilt: A Northern Adventure". Loreen, also a member of the Women's Institute, entered her story in an Ontario wide competition sponsored by the Women's Institute. The theme of the story was to be about quilts and bears. Loreen's entry was the winner. Her book is dedicated to her grand daughter Sarah. Copies of her book are available at fwio@fwio.on.ca

Doors Open Kincardine is being held in Kincardine this coming October 15-16. Many new sites as well as some sites from last year will be open to the public plus there will be entertainment as well. Many of our members have volunteered to greet people as they arrive for a visit. For more information visit the website at Doors Open Kincardine

The Summer of '05 was an active summer for our members. As a fund raiser, Marilyn made the best chocolate chip cookies to sell at the highland games held here on the July long weekend. Members gathered at her home to individually wrap the cookies. Kathleen made labels for each cookie. Kathleen and Linda sold the cookies at the games.
On July 13th., some of our members headed up to Owen Sound for the Garden Club's annual tour of gardens. Many lovely gardens were viewed.
The Breakfast Club continued to meet on the second Tuesday of the month. Many issues have been discussed - Sharia Law, Great Lakes water, pesticides.
 On July 28th. the Calendar Girls finished a great fundraising event by presenting a cheque to the high school for the new Bursary Trust Fund for a mature woman going back to school to further her education. A cheque was also presented to the local MS Society.
Habitat For Humanity constructed two homes in Inverhuron during the second week of August. One of our members helped organize the food for the week. Many of our members contributed baked goodies for the Monday morning coffee break.
 

The Fall Gathering in Cambridge to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a CFUW club took the theme: “Bridges N’ Spires” 

The morning speaker was Barbara Veale, of the Grand River Conservation Authority. Her presentation was called, ”Our Heritage Grand River.” 

The afternoon speaker was Kenneth McLaughlin, history professor at the University of Waterloo. His slide presentation was titled: “Without our Past, How can we know it’s Us.” 

Melanie will give a summary of both these presentations at our November meeting. 

The three CFUW Kincardine members who attended will provide summaries of the three workshops: Leadership – Kathleen, Membership Development – Melanie, and the Art of Resolutions – Sylvia 

The day closed with a tour by the School’s director of the new School of Architecture, University of Waterloo. It was a conversion of an historic textile mill into a modern high tech university on the banks of the heritage Grand River
 
Fall 2004 - Trip to Rome:
Recently two of our members spent a wonderful week in Rome, Italy taking in the sights, visiting bookshops and various other shops, going to museums, sampling gelati - the great Italian ice-cream - and other delicious Italian foods. Our hotel was centrally located, near the Roma Termini - the main terminal for buses, subways and trains. Many family run Ristorantes were nearby.
It was thrilling to visit the ancient sights of Rome - the Forum, Colosseum and Pantheon. We went past the Circus Maximus then toured the Basilica of St. Paul.
We walked through some of the historic parks such as the Villa Borghese, strolled down the Via Veneto, and visited Vatican City. The traffic in Rome is fast moving. Scooters and motor bikes were everywhere. We did take the bus once and used the subways several times.
We took a side trip to Tivoli to visit the ruins of the Villa Adriana. Then we went on to the Villa D'Este to roam through some beautiful gardens and see many lovely fountains.
Of course no visit to Rome would be complete without a trip to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Yes, we did throw a coin over our left shoulder into the fountain so hopefully we will visit Rome again.