‍General Meeting February 25

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‍Please note that the date for the February general meeting has been changed to February 25 to accommodate our guest speakers.

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‍The theme of our February meeting, in keeping with our overall Canadian theme for the whole year, is Nipissing First Nation History.  It will again be only on Zoom. Our speakers are Dr. Katrina Srigley and Glenna Beaucage.

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‍Dr. Srigley (right) is an associate professor in the Department of History at Nipissing University. Her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)-funded research developed in partnership with Nipissing First Nation picks up the themes of storytelling and engaged practice.

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‍Glenna Beaucage (left) feels blessed to have spent her lifetime living on the north shore of Lake Nipissing as have all the generations of her family before her. She comes from a family of fishers and tourist guides.  She worked with Dr Srigley on her research project, the purpose of which is to write and share the history of Nbisiing Nishnaabeg from their perspective in a variety of ways.

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‍The speakers will begin their presentation at 7:00 p.m. after a half hour of social time for members.  As usual the business meeting will follow their presentation.

‍ Bulletin Board for CFUW Members

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‍Bulletin Board 2025-26

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‍Please check out our bulletin board for club news by using the orange link below the title.  New in September is a link to the CFUW Fall Advocacy Newsletter.

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‍Also of course please share your news.  This could include the work your committee is doing, plans for fundraisers, information about CFUW National and/or Ontario Council meetings, announcements about webinars advertised in Club Action Newsletters, or anything else that used to be in our newsletters or that you think our members should know. If you have news to share, email Caroline Haist (carlilh43@gmail.com).

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‍Members, did you know that each month you can access a list proving information about interest group activities? Check out the details here.

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‍The Gift of Reading 

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‍Nat Brunette and Kristen Ferguson, who are in charge of CFUW North Bay’s Gift of Reading, need members to help raise money to purchase a large number of books for March 2026.

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‍During the first week in March, to celebrate International Women's Day, CFUW North Bay, along with other CFUW clubs, have participated since 2000 in The Gift of Reading. Doris Toswell started the event for our club in 2000 and organized it until 2017, when Nat Brunette and Kristen Ferguson took over. 

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‍Volunteers from the club choose a different kindergarten class in the district each year, visit the class, and distribute one book for every pupil to take home. They then stay to read and discuss the books with the children. These books are all purchased and donated by individual CFUW North Bay members, and schools in both the public and separate school systems are the beneficiaries. The photo above shows kindergarten children from Silver Birches Public School holding their books in March 2025.

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‍This year Nat and Kristen will be going to St. Theresa Catholic Elementary School in Callander in March 2026. This school has three classes of junior and senior kindergarten children, so a large number of books are needed. Last year, many members simply transferred or donated money to the cause rather than trying to find suitable books themselves, and this allowed Nat and Kristen to buy appropriate books as they saw them on sale. They hope members continue to donate generously this year as well. They are encouraged to contact Nat or Kristen to find out how they can donate.

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‍ More on Archives Committee (Caroline Haist)

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‍Sheila Taylor and Joan Barner were able to identify the CFUW North Bay members dressed as “quints” but not the occasion.  They are Pat Doney, Sheila Taylor, Leila Carnegie, Jeanette Wilmot, and Doris Toswell.  Jeanette Willmot, however, emailed me the following: The group picture was taken in Oshawa at Ontario Council. We were singing the song below to invite members to come to North Bay the next year:

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‍It's a  long way up to North Bay

‍It's a long way to go

‍But it's a great time up in North Bay.

‍For the Council we all know.

‍So good-bye to Oshawa

‍Farewell - Au revoir

‍It's a long, long way up to North BAY

‍But we'll see you in '94.

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‍The photo on the right was taken at that Oshawa Ontario Council.  Three of the ladies are still members.  Do you know who they are?

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‍Several members attending the January general meeting identified those in The Nugget photo: Sheila Taylor, Mary Randle, and Heather Chambers. They were photographed in 1977 preparing books for the CFUW North Bay annual book sale. From 1966 to the early eighties book sales raised over $400 annually for scholarships.

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‍The archives committee has been hard at work organizing and sorting existing material now in my basement. You can check out our plan and our progress through this link:  Archives.

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‍But we need your help. Do you know what happened to photo albums dating from 1991 (our 50th anniversary) to the early 2000s? As you are decluttering as many of us are doing these days, please see if you have anything (roster, program, annual report, poster, photos) that you would be willing to donate to our archives.  Email Caroline Haist at carlilh43@gmail.com if you can help and/or identify the ladies in the photo.