BtST AVAILABLE COPY THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK Friday June 14 1991 Page 3 Womens Institute a part of C life By LISA BOONSTOPPELPOT The Herald As the members of the Limehouse Womens Institute recited their prayer at their last meeting Keep us 0 Lord from pettiness the words reveal a certain wisdom Looking into the Memorial Hall where this group meets and seeing the ladies gathered around the table theyre greying heads bent as they continue let us be large in though word and deed you see that the passage of time has given these women their wisdom As you look down the table you wonder where are the heads not peppered by time the women that would have the energy to make use of the wisdom Where are the youth that will keep the group thriving in the years to come Its a concern shared by many Womens Institute members and leaders in Halton Hills many of whom belong to groups where no member is under old Realizing the lack of youth is fast becoming a concern the worldwide organization is trying to combat declining memberships by revamping the curriculum of the group to appeal to the younger generation Glenda Benton public relations officer for the Limehouse WI ad mits that at first glance the group who may not appeal to the youpger women who with the ad vance of women in the workplace have less time for community organization The in stitutes tradition of being a rural womens organization may also be a detriment to the organiza tions ability to attract new members she said She thinks people should look beyond the obvious And when you do you find there is a lot more to Womens In stitutes than ladies serving meals at a community function and meetings Started in by a woman whose baby died from consuming contaminated milk the organiza tion was designed to better educate rural women Now years later the organization has gone worldwide with 9 million members 237 of which are from Halton Its aim is to assist and en courage women to become more knowledgeable and responsible citizens to promote and develop family and life skills to stimulate and develop leadership and to resolve needs in the community To reach this goal institute members attend workshops seminars conferences listen to speakers and go on tours Armed with their knowledge and their numbers WIs have helped make substantial changes inthe world Theyve actively approached governments and been partly responsible for such government Members of the Limehouse Womens Institute left to right Mary Booth Glenda Benton Kathleen Lawson Eva Patterson Jean Anderson Agnes Swlnkels Doris Brown and Jean met Friday afternoon to get ready for their 70th resolutions as the CanadaUnited niversary celebration held last Sunday grup Is one of the smallest womens In stitutes In Halton Hills but Its members attend every meeting faithfully Herald photo States control for acid rain recycling and the environment agriculture in schools sex educa tion in schools breathalizer and blood tests for drinking motorists and dental and medical inspections at schools Currently members are involved in the issue of living wills Theyve also requested the government to legalize the use of Fathers face increasing stress By DR RICHARD Ever since the beginning of mankind we have been striving for perfection Our natural desire to be the best has propelled us to greatness It has sent us into space and it has enabled us to put nature and technology to work for us We have always believed that a persons reach should exceed their grasp and that nothing but the best is good enough For the perfectionist this tendency to strive can become a painful source of endless stress especially when it comes to the important area of parenting All of us admire people who work hard to improve But it is important to recognize the distinction between trying to be better and trying to be perfect With very few excep tions we would all like to be the perfect parent never making a mistake always acting in the best interests of our children and holding the love admiration and respect of the entire family Most people recognize that perfection is not achievable But many of us strive for it never theless and frustration often results As the gap widens bet ween our ideal image of whom we want to be and the reality of how we see ourselves really perform ing we experience more and more stress and frustration Dads in particular are at of falling int this trap Todays fathers have new expectations that put increased demands on them Not only are Dads ex pected to be incomeearners and excel at their jobs but they are now expected to participate in childrearing and housekeeping activities especially in families where both parents are working The end result of all this expec tation is increased stress And although on a purely rational level they know perfection is im possible Dads begin to think thai they can only really succeed if they become perfect in every way Of course that is not true So here are a few tips to help fathers be Great Dads not Perfect Dads Give yourself credit for the good Dad things you already do Take some time to think about the valuable contribution you make to your family and pat yourself on the back 2 Plan to keep on doing those things Now that youve them and feel good about them keep it up 3 Be honest with yourself Try to decide which of the important Dad things that you should do but rarely get the chance are really worth pursuing Should you reach for them or should some be dropped Even if you never ever play football with your son hell probably turn out okay anyway Ask your son or daughter what he or she most enjoys doing with you and whether he or she would like to do something more often You may be surprised to find youre doing better than you think Or you may realize that sometimes just a little extra ef fort can make a big difference Get some feedback from your spouse and perhaps from a close friend about what they think are the realistic ingredients of a Great Dad Do some reading on stress and how to manage it more effec tively I have found that the IOF Foresters is an excellent source of information on family related topics Parents can call 18002686267 to obtain free booklets on parenting and family stress Finally just the fact that you are taking the time to read this column probably means you real ly are a Great Dad already Thats not an easy title to earn and you should congratulate yourself on caring so much about your relationship with your fami ly- Dr Earlc is President of the Canadian Institute of Stress and Consultant to the Foresters Family Stress Program heroin to ease the pain of terminallyill patients spoken out against pornography and against the legalization of can nabis Not the sort of work one usually associates with WIs The latest challenge the organization has undertaken is the revision at the WI handbook Now it meets the demands of all women Not just rural women said Ms Benton WI member Mary Booth said the changes are for the better Times have changed We worry about things such as drugs and AIDs which were never worries of the older generation They were interested in improved homemaking Along with dealing with current issues and expressing their opi nion on political issues the Womens Institute is also a creative and fun organization and takes an active role in com munity betterment Limehouse members have during their monthly meetings learned how to decorate cakes stencil and make dried flower ar rangements I really enjoy taking part in the workshops and learning new crafts said the groups secretary Jean Kirkwood As for their community in volvement Ms Benton summed it up when she said if someone wants something done in the com munity they come to us On their own the members of the host euchre parties every two weeks host the April birthday party celebrations at Centennial Manor sup port schools with educational kits and organize relief efforts for disaster victims These were the things the Limehouse WI publicized at their anniversary celebra tions held last Sunday in Limehouse Memorial Hall Numerous citizens and members P10N FRIDAY JUNE COMMUNITY DAY -allday- Sidewalk Sale am4Wpm Halton Region Health Unit Open House am alt day- Dr Travelling Good Time Show Bingo sponsor- Georgetown Lioness Club pm- Licensed Patio Garden Happy Sole Line Dancers pm Team Bad Freestyle Bicycle Riders sponsor s Cycle and Ski m00pm Club Display Community Dance to the Buckshot sponsor OTHER ATTRACTIONS INCLUDE Recipe Exchange Helpful Kitchen Foodsiulls Jack Laymans Model Steam Engln and Demonstrations Ropcmaker SATURDAY JUNE 15TH CHILDRENS DAY Lions Club Pioneer Breakfast ill day Sidewalk Sales Library Book Sale Church St Petting Zoo sponsors Display all day Good Time Show all day Face Painter 1000am Ulira Light Plane Display 1000 Alliance Church Sunday School Pioneer Display 1000 Womens Institute Bake Sale St Ruth Oxbow Book Fun Pet Show sponsor Pet Junction James St 3 m Childrens Activity Centre Main and James Sts sponsor Recreation and Parks Department Street Parade Royal Canadian Legion Branch 110 Georgetown Girls Pipe Band World War I Marching Unit Military Cadets Classic Cars 1100 pm Licensed Patio Garden JO pm Bring your decorated bicycles wagons and prams or a parade sponsor Recreation and Parks Department I 00 pm p Pony Rides St sponsor North Star Dry Cleaners pm Georgetown Horticultural Society Flower Show and Strawberry Social Knox Church 100 pm and p m Hills Gymnastics Club Demon stratlon sponsor Eliiabelhs Fashions pm Ice Cream Eating Contest sponsor Cakesot Elegance Bubble Blowing Contest sponsor Up Up and Away Freestyle Bicycle sponsor s Cycle Street dancing to Ambush sponsor OTHER ATTRACTIONS INCLUDE nton Display Pasta Picture Making sponsor Foodstulls Free monaac children under sponsor John Jeweltcrs Free hot dogs children of Halton Hills other groups gathered to celebrate the an niversary and the fact that June is WI month There are six WIs in Halton Hills Ashgrove Norval Silver Woou and Limehouse Bannockburn and Norvals are much like Limehouse with memberships under 20 But the Ashgrove and Silverwood groups are thriving with memberships of and respectively Marion president of the Ashgrove believes the in teresting programs of their group keep the women coming back Because we have a large group were able to get really good speakers she said Moreover this is a rural area and I think many rural women have an in terest in the institute But she too believes the organization should change to at tract women of all ages and backgrounds Any organization has to keep up with the times she said Silverwoods W I can boast of having some of the youngest members in Halton Hills We have fun and we learn dif ferent things about ourselves said president Beth Haines I think some of the women in WI are set in their ways and not will ing to go with the changes of society Were not like that We also recognize that many young women have careers and families and have little time to join an organization she said We know their time is valuable so we spend it wisely Perhaps the most important aspect of to its members is the fellowship The WI has givenb me a lot of friendship admits Limehouse WI member Agnes Swinkels who joined the group nine years ago shortly after immigrating to Canada from Europe FLYERS Watch for these MONEYSAVING flyers inside this edition of THE HERALD CANADIAN TIRE V ACTON AND GEORGETOWN PARTIAL DISTRIBUTION FOOD MARKET PARTIAL DISTRIBUTION If you did not receive your flyer please call our circulation department Monday to Friday 9 am 5 pm