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CENTRAL LOT 16 WOMENS INSTITUTE Historic Hi-lifes, 1913-1976

The Women’s Institute, first organized on the island in 1913, came to Lot 16 in 1917, organized by a Miss Sterns and held the first meeting on August 28th ofthat yearin the community hall, with Central and Southwest combined. The first President was Mrs. William Cotton, vice president Mrs. James G. MacLean and secretary-treasurer Miss Lulu MacLean (later Mrs. Cecil Forbes). Thirty members were on the roll call at this first meeting.

Our 40th Anniversary was celebrated on August 8, 1957, with a banquet for members and former members and their husbands in the community hall, with Central and Southwest again combining for the event. Among the eighty guests on this occasion were the first president, Mrs. W.L. Cotton and the first secretary—treasurer, Mrs. Ceil Forbes. President that year for our group was Mrs. Jack Yeo.

Founders Day was celebrated at a special meeting in our hall held on April 2nd, 1973,.with Southwest and Belmont Institutes participating. On this occasion we were fortunate in having Mrs. Cecil Forbes with us, and she read the original minutes from the first meeting in 1917. A sketch on the founder of the W.|. Movement, Mrs. Adelaide Hunter Hoodless, was given by Mrs. Harold Yeo. Mrs. Hoodless passed away at 52 years of age, leaving an imposting list of accomplishments to inspire women all over the land. The W.l. Movement was born from her great grief at the loss of her child and the knowledge that so many children were lost because homemakers were ignorant in the field of disease prevention and sanitary standards in most homes were far short of what they could and should be. An imposing outline of Institute work on the lsland and in our own District was given by Mrs. Jack Yea, showing what 5,000 women working together-the largest organization of women on P.E.|., can accomplish.

The only charter member living in Central, Miss Etta Hutchinson, was honored at a special meeting held on May 2nd, 1973 at the Linkletter Motel. At this time she was presented with a Membership Pin by Mrs. A.K.

MacGregor.

At our September, 1975 meeting we presented four of our members with their Life Membership Pins - Mrs. Kenneth MacLean, President of the Provincial Board, 1975-1977; Mrs. A.K. MacGregor, Mrs. Roland Best and

Mrs. Robert Betton.

The institute has been very active all through the years, supporting hall and school as well as many worthy charitable causes, and serving an important role in the District by bringing so many of the women together in a social manner. This becomes even more important now in days of television, women working outside their homes and so many social functions held outside the District, than it was in the first days of the In— stitute when it was one of the very few evenings in the month the women

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