I was looking at a photo of about 20 people. It was one of those stock photos meant to show an intergenerational community – inclusive, all colours, all ages. I counted two old men, but no old ladies.
That’s odd, I thought. Then it struck me, how many of our older women we have lost in the past year or so. I was interviewing Irma Chapman by phone and looking at a photo of the Viactive group she used to lead in Bury. It was 2011, and three of the five women in the photo are no longer with us: Judy Statton; June Morrison, who co-led the group; Theresa MacLeod, nurse and matron at St. Paul’s Home when Irma worked there.
Thinking about the pandemic, Irma remarked, “There’s a lot that we’ve lost, a lot that won’t come back. A lot of activities, meetings. It just won’t be the same. We’ve lost a lot of people.” Then she mentioned June and Garth Harrison, who had been good friends and neighbours when she and Dennis used to live in Hardwood Flat. I thought of Muriel Watson, who slipped away from us last October.
The most recent losses feel the most poignant. Serena Wintle: I’d just spoken to her by phone and quoted her in my last column, published three days after she passed away. She was looking forward to resuming her Viactive group in Cookshire after the current Covid restrictions. She’d been leading it since 2012. In parting, she gave us a kind admonition: “I hope people are exercising at home!”
Serena was a consummate quilter. One very special object she quilted with Sandra Morrison pays tribute to the 15 Compton County Women’s Institutes, including the Bury branch – the last one existing in our area. The quilt is part of a website, 100objects.qahn.org, where an article Serena co-authored lays out the remarkable but unsung contributions of Women’s Institutes – the white line down the centre of highways, railway-crossing stop signs, pasteurized milk, mandatory stops for school buses, hot lunches in schools, and equality under law for women. The Institutes advocated many other life-changing measures for millions of people here, in Canada, and beyond.
The article ends with a short bio that says Serena was a secondary school teacher, and Jane Bishop recalls she taught at the Pope Memorial School in Bury, back in the days when it offered high school. Over the years, she was a lay reader in the Anglican church and a leader in many ongoing community initiatives – “messy church,” the Women’s Institute, the Guild, the seniors’ club in Bulwer. I know she had great love for her family and her community.
Behind the scenes, she quietly visited, phoned, and wrote letters to people. Jane noted that she had phoned two or three widowed friends just the day before she died. “She was just a really gracious, helpful, kind person.”
Serena MacLeod Wintle. Muriel Hammond Watson. Two pillers of our community, whose contributions were so stalwart, yet so discreet. Just like the Women’s Institutes! We profit from their legacies almost without noticing. They have now left us. Let us treasures the old ladies still among us!
JOURNALING AND WELLNESS
Townshippers’ Association invites you to a Zoom workshop in English about how journaling can benefit your mental well-being. Claire Suisman of Vent Over Tea will introduce writing techniques and exercises that incorporate basic wellness practices in an interactive hands-on workshop of writing and sharing. The workshop is aimed at beginners, but is open to all via Zoom on Thursday, January 20, from noon to 1 p.m. To register, contact Cisco at ca@townshippers.org.
BLACK HISTORIES IN THE TOWNSHIPS
In an online exhibition, the Eastern Townships Research Centre (ETRC) offers a collection of historical snapshots shedding light on important chapters in the Black history of our region, including slavery, the Underground Railroad, blackface minstrel performances, 1920s jazz, the Black activist movements of today, and more. Dr. Sunita Nigam will launch the exhibit with a presentation on Wednesday, February 2, at 7 p.m. via Zoom or on the ETRC Facebook page. For information, and to register for the Zoom, visit Black-histories.com.
DITCHING DIET CULTURE
A Zoom workshop on Ditching Diet Culture is this Wednesday, February 2, at 12 to 1 p.m., facilitated by Cora Loomis, registered dietitian. The workshop will be recorded, and the video of it will be available for one month after the live session to those who register, so interested persons who cannot attend should still sign up. For the link, email Michelle at ml@townshippers.org.
INTUITIVE EATING GROUP
It’s not too late to register for the Introduction to Intuitive Eating group in English, via Zoom, led by Cora Loomis, registered dietitian. The series of five support sessions are on Mondays from March 7 to April 4, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The $25 fee for the series includes an Arrimage Estrie membership. Register at: https://arrimageestrie.com/groupessoutien/intuitive-eating-group/.
“Each meeting will include group discussions and activities as well as personal reflections and exercises that will allow you to move slowly towards a way of eating that provides more freedom and way more enjoyment,” said Cora Loomis in the group description.
CHURCHES
Anglican. Bishop Bruce Myers continues to offer Home Prayers at 10:30 a.m. (new time!) on Sundays via Facebook, and at quebec.anglican.ca (Worship Videos). Info: 819-887-6802, or consult quebec.anglican.ca.
United. For updated worship services in February, please call the office at 819-889-2838; contact Rev. Tami Spires at 819-452-3685 (leave message) or spiresta@hotmail.com, or check the “United Eaton Valley Pastoral Charge” Facebook page.
Baptist. Regular in-persons services resume on Sunday, February 13: in French at 9 a.m., in English at 11 a.m., respecting Covid protocols, including masks, hand sanitizing, and a vaccine passport. For information, please contact Pastor Michel Houle at 819-239-8818.
Do you have news to share? Call 819-640-1340 or email rawrites@gmail.com by February 7 for publication February 16, or by February 21 for March 2.