This has been a busy and active year for all of us, especially for Council
Members who have participated in and helped with a variety of activities,
and who have provided me with invaluable support and advice, for which I
thank them.Throughout the year the Montreal Branch members have brought friends to
our social evenings and this has resulted in several new members whom we
are pleased to welcome.
One of our aims this year has been to focus on learning more about other
Commonwealth countries. We have had speakers from New Zealand, Barbados
and Uganda. Uganda has also been our main focus for fund-raising as we
have continued to support the Water Installation Priject at Kiboga
Hospital.
This year started well with two Guest Speakers. Howard Richler from "The
Gazette" spoke on "Variety, the Spice of English". This was a lively and
interesting talk which provoked many questions. Later in the autumn, John
Jones, an Australian geographer, who had recently returned from several
weeks in New Zealand, gave an excellent talk on that fascinating country,
illustrating it with slides he had taken during his visit. Our Guest
Speaker at the recent AGM was Mrs. Cissy Taliwaku, High Commissioner for
Uganda.
Christmas Dinner at the Black Watch Officers' Mess was very well attended.
Guests were invited from the Sister Societies and, as usual, it was a
cheerful and lively evening with a traditional Christmas meal. The
raffle was generously supported and we were able to make substantial
donations to The Old Brewery Mission, the Jean Cameron Foundation, and
the Kiboga Hospital Fund. Several large bags of non-perishable food were
delivered to Sun Youth.
The Commonwealth Day Service was held in St. James United Church on March
7th. The Guest Speaker was William Oscar Gooding, Deputy High
Commissioner for Barbados. He spoke on the Commonwealth theme: BUILDING
A COMMONWEALTH OF FREEDOM. The congregation and members of the society
attended a reception after the sevice to meet the speaker and enjoy the
refreshments.
The Commonwealth Essay Competition continues to be strongly supported in
Quebec. This year, nearly three hundred essays were received from
thirty-nine schools across the province. The provincial judging took
place in February and a reception was held for winners, their families and
teachers on May 3rd. One hundred and twenty people attended. All the
essays that were submitted have now been delivered to London for the
international judging in July. All the participants have received
Participation Certificates.
Our fund-raising for Kiboga Hospital in Uganda has gone well this year;
we have a donation of several hundred dollars to be sent to The
International Women's Foundation in Ottawa who are over-seeing the
project. They have assured us that all the money donated will be
delivered directly to the hospital to be used to connect a water supply to
the hospital. Recently, an observer sent by the Foundation returned from
Kiboga and reported that work is progressing well. In addition to
providing water for the hospital, the project has created jobs for local
people who are doing the work.
The hard-working Archives Committee has finally completed the important
and lengthy task of sorting and collating all the material stored for many
years in boxes. Now that the material has been organized, it is hoped
that we shall be able to publish it in time for our 75th Anniversary in
2005.
At the National Conference in Victoria last July, David Freeman was
re-elected as the National Treasurer.
Social evenings have been a good way of meeting informally for dinner at a
local restaurant. Members often invite friends and several of these have
become members. Our final dinner before the summer will be on June 16th
at THURSDAY'S.
All the Council meetings and Speakers' evenings have been held in the
Westmount Room of the Westmount Library.
Judith A. Elson
