Four of us were able to attend the book discussion group over lunch yesterday, but we were able to talk about a dozen or so books. Marian brought her copy of Significant Lives, which was self-published by our club a number of years ago. She was on the committee to produce it and told us many interesting anecdotes.
Leslie took notes with her beautiful script:
Our Dining out group went to Pinecroft yesterday…. A quintessential autumn delight. The drive on the backroads included fields of pumpkins and forests in dazzling reds, oranges and golds. Pinecroft is a cluster of log cabins nestled in the woods, complete with pottery studio, gift shop and restaurant. The food was sourced locally and beautifully prepared. Homemade soups, grilled cheese and BLTs, top notch Caesar salad (possibly my new gold standard!), and so much more. I think we were high on autumn because the laughter and joy at the table was ….delicious!
Your new Program Committee lost no time in searching for interesting and engaging speakers for our 2023/2024 monthly meetings. Therefore, we are happy to announce that in September we will welcome Glenna Young and Akela, her service dog to speak to us. She will outline how service dogs are trained, the various roles they can play, how we, as the public, should behave and interact with service dogs.
Akela is a unique service dog in that he and Glenna help train other service dogs. Akela is a German Shepherd and very well behaved. However, should anyone be allergic to dogs, or have any fear or discomfort around a dog we are happy to be able to offer the Zoom option for our meeting.
Way back in 1989, CFUW Brantford had the radical idea of publishing a directory of local women who worked in a variety of careers and professions. These women agreed to be featured in a thumbnail article in the directory, which was distributed to schools and libraries throughout the county. They also agreed to answer students’ questions about their career paths. This was long before google was a thing, but we were mentoring women to think beyond the stereotypes.
Here’s a selection of profiles from that directory.
In 1998, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of CFUW Brantford, we researched, wrote and published a book on the history of women in Brant County, called Significant Lives: Profiles of Brant County Women. (2000 copies sold). The Library and some Executive have copies if you would like to read this lovely book.
Following the publication, some of us lobbied to have the names of these women used as street names in the city. With the help of Councillor Marguerite Ceschi-Smith, we now have almost 20 streets named for the women.
September – Glenna Young, and her dog Akela, will demonstrate and explain the value of service dogs.
October – Anca Gaston, wildlife photographer, will bring her beautiful artwork to discuss with us.
November – Justice Gethin Edward, a local judge, will talk about indigenous justice from both sides of the bench.
December – No meeting but there will be a Christmas social.
January – TBD
February – TBD
March – Mieke Schroeder will lead a panel of recent refugees as they describe their journey from home to Canada.
April – Joan Grundy, author of A Deepening Life, will address spiritual growth and emotional well-being.
*Please note that our meetings will continue to be hybrid, except for January and February meetings which will be on zoom.
The biking group makes a favourite stop on the Waterford trail. The CFUW biking group cycle weekly from May to Sept.
It was such an enjoyable lunch and book chat today, with varied discussions and a bevvy of books! The photo shows some of them, although the one on the left with the lavender book mark was not read, even though the author was at the table. That’s because this is the Ukrainian language edition of Marsha’s novel, Stolen Girl! Jean, our resident historian, brough three fascinating older books, shown above: Man and his world, which we all remembered from high school, Herstory III and a charmingly illustrated book called Still Glides the Stream. Norah told us about the book she’s reading, pictured above, called Lady in Waiting, and she’s really enjoying it. Our newest participant, Jeanne, had an eclectic and interesting variety:
As did Marsha:
