Category Archives: Meetings
January speaker: Susan Gamble, journalist
Susan Gamble’s long career in journalism began in 1979 at the Brant News. She went on to become one of the first female television news photographers, working with her husband at CKCO-TV in Kitchener, travelling around Ontario capturing events on her wind-up Bell and Howell camera at first, and later on video, for the evening news. In 1980, Susan began writing for the Brantford Expositor, first in the real estate section, and later with a light-hearted column called Word Has It. Susan covered scams, local interest stories, and events featuring Brantford people from many walks of life. Her columns were heart-warming, informative and often amusing, and had a loyal readership. Eventually, Susan took on the role of investigative reporter, winning several Ontario Newspaper Awards, and a nomination for a Canadian Newspaper Association Award.
Susan will talk to us about her career in journalism, her Expositor column, as well as her work as a court reporter. Susan will also inform us how to be more discerning consumers of news in the age of disinformation. Susan will join us on zoom on January 24, 2024.
Our Speaker for the November 22 General Meeting
The Honourable Justice Gethin Edward was born and raised in Brantford, and is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
He attended Pauline Johnson Collegiate in Brantford, the University of Waterloo, and received his law degree through the
University of Western Ontario. Justice Edward began his law career with the highly respected firm of Howard Staats, where he
practiced law for 14 years, after which he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice. Justice Edward has taken on complex
projects such as the founding of the Indigenous Persons Court of Brantford, sometimes called the Gladue Court. He changed
how medicine was practiced in Ontario in his 2014 ruling that Aboriginal people have the right to use traditional medicines and
health practices for themselves and their families, a controversial decision at that time. In his personal life, Justice Edward has
been married to Vicki for 34 “wonderful years” and has two children. Justice Edward is generous with his time, often speaking
to local community groups, and we look forward to his talk to CFUW.
September speaker
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.
Upcoming Topics and Speakers at CFUW General Meetings 2023/2024
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.
November general meeting topic: Human Trafficking
The CFUW Brantford General Meeting Program on November 23, 2022 featured Hannah Blackburn, Police Officer with Brantford Police Service, and Shelly Prendergast, a Victim Support Worker with Victim Services of Brant. Their topic was Human Trafficking, a serious and disturbing fact of life in Canada today, including Brantford and Brant County. The target is mostly girls, many of whom are very young, and women. The audience was very attentive to the PowerPoint presentation and had several questions afterwards. The dedication and commitment of the presenters to this grisly topic is to be admired as they work to gain the trust of affected persons and their families, to refer them to community agencies that can help and to educate the public.
More photos from AGM
Mary Jane Waszynski, Regional Director, CFUW Ontario, attends Brantford AGM
We were pleased to have Mary Jane Waszynski, Regional Director, CFUW Ontario, attend our AGM on May 22nd at the Brantford Golf and Country Club. Mary Jane gave a brief presentation and also assisted in handing out certificates to long standing members.
Avery Kadish awarded 100th Anniversary Scholarship
Centenary Award Winner Announcement
Six outstanding young women were nominated by local high schools for the 100th anniversary scholarship. After much deliberation, the Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce that the winner is: Avery Kadish of Brantford Collegiate Institute.
Well-known as a talented musician and performer, Avery is also an honour roll student who was accepted at several universities, and will be attending Humber College this September for a Bachelor of Music. She participates in BCI’s Laurier program for exceptional students, and is in a Specialist High School Major program with an Arts and Culture focus. She is active in the LINC mentorship program which supports grade 8 students as well as an anti-bullying program in local elementary schools. Avery created an original song from the personal stories of students, and performs it as part of the program. Avery uses her musical ability to support the many activities at BCI. She has taken roles in BCI’s musical productions, sung at Remembrance Day services, and is helping to offer arts workshops to local grade two classes through the Laurier program.
Avery has completed hundreds of hours of volunteer work all while developing her professional career – recording albums, performing at venues such as Roy Thomson Hall, Koerner Hall, Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, and several major jazz festivals. You may have heard Avery sing the National Anthem at a Toronto Blue Jays game, or perform in the Young Artists’ recital at the Sanderson Centre.
Members of CFUW Brantford will have the opportunity to congratulate our scholarship winner, Avery Kadish, when she is presented with a cheque for $2500 at the AGM on May 22.
CFUW Media Advsory May 3CFUW Brantford AGM
