Mrs. A. Watt Trust Fund

It will soon be 40 years since Canada hosted the Associated Country Women of the World Conference in Vancouver. It scarcely feels that long ago, but the years have passed swiftly!

I was a member of the Canadian Conference Committee from the time it was first mentioned in Hamburg, Germany, after the close of the 1980 ACWW Conference held there. We had a long busy road to travel from Hamburg to the close of the 1983 Conference in Vancouver and it was a hectic road with many twists and turns and surprises!

Members from all areas of Canada served on the Committee and their fellow members supported our plans. When the Conference was over, the bills all paid and a final profit was determined, the committee members were astounded at the results. We thought hard and long about what should be done with that profit, as we hoped to help Canadian members who wished to become more involved with the International arm of the Women's Institute.

Finally we reached a decision: and from a meeting in Edmonton came the final word in the form of 'THE MRS. ALFRED WATT MEMORIAL TRUST FUND. Each of the 14 Canadian societies of ACWW would become recipients of an equal portion of the profit of the Vancouver Conference.

The purpose of the Trust Fund would be:

–         to send a representative from each Canadian Society to an ACWW Council Meeting once every three years

–         to provide assistance to Canada's Area Vice President

–         to assist in sending a representative from each Canadian Society to a regional ACWW mini conference

Those were the criteria at the time – I believe they have been altered somewhat over the years.

So, Mrs. Watt, I trust you have watched this fund and its use over the years, and I trust you have approved of how the Canadian members have utilized these funds to their best advantage. It was a great adventure - serving on the Committee, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of it. Yes, there were worrisome times, and I was often awake at 3 AM, but I slept exceedingly well in the summer of 1983!

And once again, may I extend a heart-felt vote of appreciation to the membership throughout Canada who supported our plans at the time - and then went the extra mile to provide the funds that make up the Mrs. Alfred Watt Memorial Trust Fund.

Happy travels to our members who have been able to utilize, or will be able to secure funding from this Trust Fund – I hope you have as many good memories of your service to the Women's Institute and/or Associated Country Women of the World as I have of the time in June 1983 in Vancouver!

Yours For Home and Country, Ruth Fenner, Provincial Historian, British Columbia Women's Institute