WELCOME TO OUR October Newsletter | - President's Message
- Opening Meeting
- Our October Speaker
- Advocacy
- Interest Groups
- Scholarship Committee
- CFUW National
- Ontario Council
- GWI News
- Extra Extra
- Contact Information
| | President's Message
October in Stratford is one of the loveliest times, and this year summer just doesn’t want to end. The community is still in bloom and the Festival will continue operating into December! We are so blessed to live here. Thank you to all for a wonderful September meeting. It’s such a pleasure to see everyone again, and welcome our new members. Special shout-outs to our Interest group leaders for their time and unfailing enthusiasm leading over 20 Interest groups, and a thank you to the Executive committee for supplying the social break nibbles. CFUW Stratford has supported scholarships for young women since 1956. Our fabulous Scholarship presentation underscored the importance of our continuing programs and our ongoing fundraising. To donate to our Scholarship fund, please etransfer to our Scholarship Treasurer, Heather Tremble, at scholarshipfundcfuwstratford@gmail.com, or pay by cheque at the October meeting. We will welcome back Mary Hofstetter as our October speaker. Mary is an extraordinarily accomplished leader and Order of Canada recipient, who last addressed us in 2016 (which seems a lifetime ago!). Her talk this month aligns to our program, “Women Leaders – Agents of Change”, and will focus on the current issues facing not-for-profits and higher education leadership in the post COVID world. I hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous weather while it lasts, Cambria Ravenhill President | Our September Meet and Greet Wow! What a great September meeting! There was a terrific turnout of both regular and new members and guests. We were shown a preview of our speakers for the year as announced in our September newsletter. October's speaker is highlighted below. | Our Scholarship Chair, Charlotte Gillett openned our Scholarship presentations with a screen introduction to our high school recipients. Both high schools in Stratford received 6 awards. | We were so proud to see the triptych of all the high school students and delighted to hear some of their thank-you notes which also included a thank-you video. | A new award was given this year: Earth Advocate. This award was introduced by well-known environment educator Christine Ritsma and was presented to Lucy of SDSS, one of her former students. | It was wonderful to have the chance to meet this year's Mature Student, Madison Biggelar! Madison hopes to go on into Nursing. She attended with her Conestoga mentor and teacher, Robin Ritz. | | Our October Meeting - Tuesday, Oct. 28, 7pm | Mary E. Hofstetter C.M. The Evolution of Leadership in the Not-for-Profit Realm. | Traditional pathways to leadership and the requisite skills and experience to lead successfully have shifted dramatically over the past few years. Expectations of NFP institutions and those aspiring to lead them have been upended, often by external forces. Where do we find the leaders of tomorrow and what do they need to lead and succeed? Mary will speak to her own recent experiences and then engage us in an interactive discussion. | | A Member of the Order of Canada, Mary's career highlights include service as Vice-President, Academic, Mohawk College; President & CEO, Sheridan College; General Manager, Stratford Festival; President & CEO, the Banff Centre. She currently consults part time in the arts and culture and not-for profit sector, with a focus on Board governance and best practices. | Advocacy General Advocacy Group In addition to our two active Advocacy Groups, there is sufficient interest in the club to once again support a General Advocacy Group. This group is intended to deal with single issue situations to which the club would like to respond. If you are interested in participating, please email our Advocacy chair: Sue Bailey Issues that have been brought forward so far are water protection, inclusivity, and homelessness. We are fortunate that CFUW national and provincial have numerous advocacy resources to help us. Water protection - The issue of water bottling in Wellington County has once again come to the fore. The company now trying to bottle and sell our water is no longer Nestlé, it is Ice River. The Ford government has relaxed the rules that protected our land and water. Our first action within the General Advocacy Group will likely be a letter from CFUW Stratford to our MPP.
Violence Against Women Following last year's successful poster and referral campaign which directed women at risk to Straford's Optimism Place, this year's project will be directed at increasing the awareness of men regarding this issue and enlisting their support. Full update next month.
Climate Action | - No Plastics! We were pleased to have this committee's beautiful and comprehensive environment exhibit featuring its shopping cart full of items and products which are great choices for our environment.
- Reduce Idling! To further last year's campaign to reduce idling of cars in front of school zones, two of our members will be meeting with Stratford Mayor, Martin Ritzma to discus "No Idling" signs to be placed in front of the city's schools.
| | Sign-ups 2025-26 Joining an Interest Group is one of the best ways to get the most out of CFUW! We were thrilled to have so many new members sign up at our Meet'n'Greet.
There are still opportunities in many of our groups, please see our website for information on our 2025-26 Interest Groups. Do you have an idea for a different Interest Group for this year? Contact Wendy McNaughton at interestgroups@cfuwstratford.ca
| Indigenous Rights Learning Group | Join us at the Little Prince Theatre, an intimate 12 seat movie theatre,
62 Wellington Street, Stratford Guests are welcome. If interested please contact Pat Reavy, Co-Chair of IRLG at: patreavy43@gmail.com or 519-273-0176 | Tuesday October 7th, 4:00 p.m. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance Story of the 1990 Oka Crisis,
Winner of 12+ International awards | Tuesday, November 11th, 4:00 p.m.
The Inconvenient Indian Adaptation of Thomas King's historical and contemporary narratives of Indigenous Canadians Winner of the 2020 TIFF Best Canadian Film Award | | Guests are welcome. If interested please contact Pat Reavy, Co-Chair of IRLG at: patreavy43@gmail.com or 519-273-0176 | WOMEN LEADING CHANGE MARK YOUR CALENDARS We are pleased to announce that there will be three virtual Speaker Series in our 2025-26 calendar! - Saturday, October 25th, 2025 – Declaring Intimate Partner Violence an Epidemic in Ontario
- Saturday, November 29th, 2025 – the Role of Patriarchy: Historical Perspectives and Current Issues
- Saturday, February 21st, 2026- Critical Thinking and Artificial Intelligence
On October 25th, via ZOOM, we will explore the legislative process involving declaring Intimate Partner Violence an epidemic in Ontario. The event is free but registration is required. Register for the October 25th Speakers Series here.
| The GWI 35th Triennial General Assembly and Conference was held from 11–13 September 2025 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia. Graduate Women International (GWI) is our international body and is our liason with women all over the world. All CFUW nominees for positions on the GWI Board and Committees were successful and will serve during the 2026-28 Triennial. Congratulations to: Pat Patton, President GWI Lynne Kent, VP Fundraising Joy Hurst, VP Legal and Governance Gail Neff, Member Education Committee Pat Reavy, Member Membership Committee Beryl Matthewson, Convenor Resolutions Committee Brenda Robertson, Member Hegg Hoffet Committee | Gidinawendamin/Ska'nikú•lát 22nd Annual Pow Wow
Pat Reavy represented CFUW Stratford at the 22 nd Annual Pow Wow hosted, under sunny skies, by the Office of Indigenous Relations, University of Waterloo on September 27th. Consistent with Indigenous respect for Elders, those over 50 entered for free.
Currently, there are 400 Indigenous students enrolled at the University.
The Grand Entry included Flag and Staff bearers, followed by Veterans, Elders and participating dancers by category. Grass Dancers (Northern Plains) smoothed the surface for the dancers that followed. These
included the Chicken Dance (Blackfoot), Fancy Shawl Dance (Northern Plains), Hoop Dance (Pueblo) representing the circle of life, Intertribal where all attendees were invited to join the dancers in the spirit of friendship, Jingle Dress (Anishinaabe) a healing dance replicating the sound of rain. Smoke Dance (Haudenosaunee), Tiny Tots, Women’s Shuffle (Seneca) and the War Dance (Haudenosaunee).
And of course, there was Indigenous food and numerous craft vendors. An event-packed day!
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