During the last few months, since the last edition of the Home & Country, the Coldstream WI has been quite busy.

In October, we had put on a Harvest Supper that included all the usual fixings of a homemade Turkey Dinner – dressing, potatoes, vegetables, turkey and gravy, and of course, homemade pie for dessert. As always, this was a great success and we had many happy and full customers.

On Halloween, October 31st, some of our members dressed up and handed out reflective sashes to the children that were out Trick or Treating. These were purchased with grant money from a grant from the Western Valley Wellness Network.

So many of our neighbours, friends and families have supported us faithfully for years! As a thank you, the Coldstream Women’s Institute hosted a “pre-Christmas breather”: a Ladies’ Tea for our guests to visit, eat goodies and just relax before the rush and pressures of the holiday season. 40 ladies, including 4 lovely young ladies, attended the hall on November 16. We were partially funded by the Western Valley Wellness Network and we used their grant to make bottles of jam, which were presented as parting gifts.

One of our members loaned some of her collection of hats, so everyone was decked out, just in case Queen Elizabeth dropped in! It was so much fun, we plan to make this an annual event.

Did you know that the most prized possession of anyone who is homeless is a pair of clean dry socks?

The Coldstream WI held a sock drive on November 25, where people could drop off socks, hats or mittens and have a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate and cookie as a thank you. More than 60 pairs of socks, as well as mittens, gloves and hats were donated.

These were donated to the Valley Food Bank and the others to Harvest Home, both located in Woodstock, NB, for people in need.

December 14th we hosted a Children’s Christmas Party for children in the local area. During this event, there were craft stations, a game area and an area with pictures for colouring. As well as the various activities we also offered refreshments for all in attendance. The children were given a gift flashlight, colouring pictures and snack bags of chips when the left. The flashlights were purchased with funding from the Western Valley Wellness Network.

On February 17, Family Day, we hosted a Family Fun Day at our hall. There were various crafts set up for everyone to do, games and colouring. As well as the activities we had juice and chips for snacking. The children all received parting gifts for attending that included a pencil case, pencil sharpener, coloured pencils and notepaper to draw on. The funding
for the gift packages was provided by a grant that we had received from the Western Valley Wellness Network.

March 14th is International Pie Day, as in the mathematical equation 3.142.

To celebrate this day, the Coldstream WI will be hosting a Pie Social. Posters are going to be posted in Hartland and surrounding areas to invite people from the communities to drop in and have a piece of homemade pie and tea/coffee while visiting with neighbours and friends.

On April 4th we will be hosting our annual Eggstravaganza, with a visit from the Easter Bunny. Notices are going to be posted around the area for everyone to attend and parents will be able to take pictures of their children with the Easter Bunny. As well as this, there will be various activities – crafts/colouring/cookie decorating for the kids to take part.

April 25th we will be preparing our annual Spring Supper. This will consist of all the fixings of a traditional homemade turkey dinner and the cost will be by donation for those that choose to eat in and a nominal fee will be charged for patrons that would like to have their meal packaged to take out.

Submitted by Wendy MacDougal and Rhonda Clark, Coldstream WI.