A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended and supported our International Women’s Day Breakfast on Saturday March 8^th. It was fabulous – the room was full, the mood was joyful, our speakers were wonderful and inspiring. This was a true community event that would not have been successful without the full support of this club – you showed up and brought your friends!

I want to personally thank all of our many volunteers – the event ran seamlessly because of you. You spent every Monday afternoon in planning sessions, trudged through snow and cold to put up posters, and greeted guests on the day with efficiency and huge smiles. Bravo! In particular, I’d also like to acknowledge Wendy McNaughton, our co-chair, who put in hours of work over several months and deserves a round of applause for a job well done.

Again, to all, thank you!

March is Resolutions month for CFUW clubs. It’s an important opportunity to review the resolutions put forward by National clubs that will eventually make it into our Policy book. This is a cornerstone of CFUW’s Advocacy work.

This year we will be discussing four of the seven resolution proposals in-person at our meeting – please use the links in the article below to review proposals #1, #4, #5 and #7 and then choose a first and second choice group you would like to join for a discussion. This is an opportunity to shape important policies for the future, so let’s dig in and have fun on March 25^th!

Cambria

Speaker Program 2024 - 2025

Our Next General Meeting is a special one!
Tuesday March 25, 2025
at Stratford Secondary School

CFUW National Resolutions Night

This will be a terific way to get to know other CFUW Stratford members better! We will be able to sit in smaller groups and discuss four of our national policies on their merits. The proposing clubs will have spent much of 2024 on these issues and it will be interesting to see what impact recent events may have on their focus and recommendations. As many of you are aware, CFUW Stratford has made resolution proposals in the past and our insights and comments are appreciated.

While there are 7 resolutions in total, here are the the four resolutions we'll be discussing at the meeting. The links to the appropriate background and rationale are underlined.  Please see which resolutions you might like to discuss, applaud, amend or reject in a small group at the meeting.

2024-2025 Proposed Resolutions

Resolution #1: Addressing Period Poverty and Menstrual Inequity in Canada, CFUW Milton & District and CFUW Perth & District (French)

Resolution #4: The Violence Link: Advocating for Awareness and Animal Safekeeping for Individuals Fleeing Domestic Violence, CFUW Prince George (French)

Resolution #5: Equitable Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels, Advocacy Committee (French)

Resolution #7: Housing as a Human Right and Social Good, Advocacy Committee (French)

Advocacy

Violence Against Women Committee

At our February meeting, Lisa Wilde, Executive Director of the Emily Murphy Centre, discussed the organization’s second stage rent geared to income housing and support programs which assist women and children who have experienced violence.

Advocacy Special Guest!

On March 17th at 3:00 pm at 378 Nelson St., Gwen Lamont, author of "The View From Coffin Ridge - A Childhood Exhumed" will speak to the Committee to Prevent Violence Against Women. If you would like to join us to hear this celebrated author, please contact Leora at  lrissin@sympatico.ca

In ongoing actions: This group is working on updating and replacing their existing Optimism Place posters and is considering a further poster campaign to encourage men to recognize potentially abusive situations and to become more involved in the campaign to end violence against women.

Climate Change Action Committee 

The Sustainable Shopping Cart was introduced at our February meeting to great appreciation!  Indicating great committment and hours of research on the part of this advocacy group, they have created an essential guide to:

• reduce carbon emissions that are polluting our atmosphere
• reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides
• preserve responsible agriculture 
• preserve the environment, biodiversity, and the health of our planet
• shop Canadian (especially local and Ontario)

🌟Please find our terrific Guide here:  
                                                 Sustainable Shopping Guide 🌟

Interest Groups

CFUW Stratford’s Indigenous Rights Learning Group

Monday, April 14th, 7:00 - 8:30 pm

Stratford District Secondary School - Drama Room
Park in the lot closest to the water tower on Short St
Enter the school via the closest door (past the portables on the left)
Hope to see you there!

Don't be shy - Check out our website for great interest groups! Email Patsy Berton for any further information or to sign up.

Interest Groups

SPECIAL EVENTS

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY BREAKFAST

On Saturday March 8, 2025 CFUW hosted a big, fabulous breakfast event at the Arden Park Hotel. There were 241 in attendance – mostly women with a few good men including MPP Matt Rae, MP John Nater and Mayor Martin Ritsma. The response from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive.

After an introduction by CFUW president Cambria Ravenhill, Patsy Day (Turtle Clan of the Oneida Nation) brought greetings and a story from her history that very aptly illustrated our theme of “Breaking Barriers”. Then there was lots of conversation as we lined up for breakfast and sat down to enjoy it.

Cambria introduced keynote speaker, Halyna Padalko who spoke about women, her friends in Ukraine who are living through extremely difficult times and being creative and strong as they face challenges.

In the panel discussion after Halyna’s talk, the focus was on what actions we can take to combat misinformation and disinformation, while upholding our own values. Deanna Horton very ably directed the discussion which included Mary Hofstetter and Pamela Jeffery as well as Halyna.

We achieved our goal in raising funds for CFUW’s scholarship fund as well as increasing our club’s profile in Stratford and area. More detailed information will be presented at the next general club meeting on March 25.

This “big fabulous” event was made possible by a team of wonderful people working well together!

Wendy McNaughton
Chair, Special Events

Graduate Women International 

Extra! Extra!

Music & Mirth

Held on the evening of March 8, this fund-raising event for the Emily Murphy Centre also achieved its goals. Many more people in the Stratford area are now aware of the good work of EMC and over $5,000 was raised for that work through ticket sales alone.

The guitar/vocal duo GoodLotus (Eric Lundgren and Evangelia Kambites) entertained us for about half an hour and then we had time to look at the very carefully curated silent auction. Following that – improv comedy veterans: Rebecca Northan and Kevin Kruchkywich had us shrieking with laughter.  Ask CFUW members who attended about llamas shopping for “Made in Canada” products, or what it feels like to have a comic one act play created in front of you based on the lines you contributed. It was a one-of-a-kind experience!

Wendy and Leora

Leora Rissin, Claire Bickley, Board Member of the Emily Murphy Centre, and Wendy McNaughton 

Coldest Night of the Year

CFUW Stratford continued a tradition of many years of walking in the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser to support and serve people and families experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness in our community. This year a mighty team of 12, under captain Kate Walsh, raised an amazing $6,550 to benefit Shelterlink Youth Services and the Stratford Connection Centre. Toques Off, Ladies!

About 40 members of the local Muslim community will be preparing and serving the food customarily enjoyed during Ramadan. They hope to have up to 20 people from outside their own community join them at each of the dinners, where there will also be live Turkish music.

March 22: 7:15 p.m. with dinner service at 7:30 pm

This is not a fundraiser, but rather expressed in the spirit of faith, family and community. It’s a community meal and a chance to build community relations and understanding, and to experience first-hand the cultural richness around us. You would be their guest.

Ramadan is held once a year and involves a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. It takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which this year begins Friday Feb. 28th and ends Saturday March 29th.  Only two meals a day are eaten during Ramadan: Suhoor, which is served before sunrise and Iftar, served after sunset.

During each of the evening feasts, they will also respond to a call to prayer and will leave the dinner hall briefly and then return.

On their behalf, it is my hope that you are able to attend one of the dinners. And should you do so, you may want to wish them “Ramadan Mubarek!”

 RSVP to my assistant Mark McCauley, preferably by the Thursday before the dinner you choose. 

mmccauley@quinlanroad.com

Sincerely, 

Loreena