Recently I have been reviewing some of the materials I have on hand about Mrs. Madge Watt and her activities with the Women's Institute. She was one of the early members of Metchosin WI, she was one who had much to offer, and took on a number of duties. One of the first roles she filled was that of the secretary of the Women's Institute Advisory Board which reported to the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture. (at that time called the Department  Agriculture)

A great deal of correspondence crossed her desk (or perhaps her kitchen table) in those early years. Think about it: no computer, no typewriter – duplication by carbon paper was possible, depending on the pen in use. I have read that she often wrote as many as 80 letters a month!

It boggles the mind to think of the hours she must have put in! Fast forward to today, and the story is much different: turn on  your computer, compose a letter that answers many of the questions or requests that are similar,  enter  your mailing list and tap a button – GONE and done! No envelopes, no stamps, no trip to the post office!

That is only one of the big changes in life between 1913 and now. The list includes electricity, running water, modern appliances that wash and dry your clothes, do the dishes and.......!   Plus there are cell phones, the internet --- the list goes on! In  my role as Historian, every once in a while I come across an item that makes me pause and think of those early members, how much slower the world turned in those times, and how much more effort needed to be expended to achieve the action desired!

There were many others who also contributed greatly in the early years of the Women's Institute:

Alice Ravenhill travelled many miles by buggy in the summer, by sleigh in the winter, spreading the word about the WI and promoting better sanitation and the maintenance of healthier surroundings for the families.

Mrs. Vangie MacLachlan who was an early secretary to the Advisory Board in 1918 and later served as Secretary to the Superintendent of Women's Institutes in BC and by 1926 became the Superintendent, a post she held until she retired in 1946.

There are numerous other inventions that make our Women's Institute work easier: telephones, cell phones, automobiles and good roads to drive them on! I'm sure you each could add items to this list.

So in this first month of the year 2023 take time to consider the difficulties others had to start and maintain this great organization of ours and how much more we can, or could, do in much less time and with considerably less effort.

Lets try to make this month of January 2023 a memorable one, and this year one of action and purpose that will be remembered by members in the future.

Yours for Home and Country, Ruth Fenner, BCWI Historian