The monthly meeting of the Bloomindale Women’s Institute was held on Thursday, May 12th at 2 p.m. in the Bloomingdale United Church.
The meeting opened with the Ode and the Mary Stewart Collect.
The program pamphlet for the next year was handed out, with some corrections made to email addresses. The ladies welcomed Ann Snyder who will be joining our branch.
The Federated Women’s Institute of Ontario sent out a Membership & Marketing Survey in February and they received 491 replies. This survey will help them to make better decisions as they evolve to grow the membership. More than 93% of the responses came from current members who plan to renew their membership. Responses came from long time members, newer members, and everyone in between:
- Advertisement -
24% have been WI members less than 10 years and 29% have been WI members more than 40 years. This is probably not a surprise – only 3% of respondents are under 50. 31% of the respondents are aged 50 to 69 and 66% are 70 or older. People who said they don’t plan to renew often made that decision because their local branch closed or is too small to be viable. Distance to travel is also an issue.
A new survey was just received asking about preference for meetings and learning opportunities. This information will help Women’s Institute’s in Ontario schedule in person events and virtual meetings. They are also measuring interest in a new membership benefit – the Telephone Friend Chat.
Members were reminded of the District Annual Meeting to take place at the Bloomingdale United Church on Tuesday, May 24th at 1:30 p.m.
Judy Reist brought her mother Irene Weber’s scrapbooks and many other items and pictures, etc. The ladies all enjoyed going through these items and reminiscing.
Next meeting Thursday, June 9th at 12:30 p.m. for a picnic lunch with a location to be determined later.
