But organizations well established and new are working hard to change that, and with a high-tech twist.

Why it matters: Manitoba women in the agriculture sector can be geographically isolated, but they don’t have to be cut off from their peers.

Technology has helped close some of the distance gap, enabling more women to meet, organize and build skill sets as they work together, said panellists at the recent Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference.

“We’ve kind of built our own machine,” said Pam Bailey, chair of Ag Women Manitoba which formed last year.

Their group emerged from a University of Manitoba mentorship program where participants said they wanted and needed to support each other as they started farming or pursued other agriculture industry-related careers.

Bailey told the conference she was recognizing her own need for a network at the same time. She is the first woman on the Manitoba Canola Growers Association board. She helped co-found Ag Women Manitoba after realizing farm life could potentially get isolating.

“I’d married into a relatively small family in a small community,” she said.

“I realized if the connections didn’t come to me I’d have to go find some.”

Ag Women Manitoba now connects women through face-to-face meetings, but also by using communications tech such as conference calls, Google Hangout, Zoom and apps such as Slak, as well. It also uses social media.

Likewise, those participating in their newly established group Manitoba Women in Agriculture and Food are also using a combination of personal meetings and video conferencing to link together, said its chair Laura Lazo, another panellist during the conference.

They especially like Zoom, a video link that allows group members to work together on documents, she noted.

Manitoba Women’s Institute may not be using these technologies to the same extent but its provincial board and organizing committees regularly use conference calls and email to communicate, said Arenda Vanderdeen, spokeswoman for that group.

The MWI, with its chapters that are accessible for local women to meet, is all about relationships as well as connections, too, she said.

The reason Manitoba Women’s Institute came into being 108 years ago was to be a network for otherwise isolated rural women, said Vanderdeen, who also flagged the annual Rural Women’s Days hosted by MWI and the action-oriented resolutions the organization annually brings forward to the provincial government.

The goals of the various groups are similar.

One of Ag Women Manitoba’s main objectives is to foster leadership capacity among women. All kinds of organizations are needing people to step up and serve in them she said.

“One of our goals as an organization is to equip women with those skills and the tools they need so they can take on those roles and those challenges,” she said.

Lazo, who’d cited in her panel talk the significant wage gap that exists between men and women, and how women do not advance in their careers as quickly as men, said later in an interview that it is clear men continue to assume more visible roles on organizations.

Reasons why fewer women come forward can be complex, but one of the factors is the impostor syndrome, Lazo said, referring to a term describing individuals who doubt their own abilities.

“We think, ‘I am not quite qualified yet, or I’m not quite what is needed,’” she said.

Studies also show men and women tend to promote their own genders when it comes to leadership opportunities, she noted.

“So if a board is made up of men, chances are they are going to nominate other men to be part of that board,” she said.

The Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference, now in its 32nd year, attracted 135 women to the Winkler conference. Its theme for 2019 was “Putting You on Your To-Do List.”

It chose that theme because demands on women’s time are intense and it can be difficult to make one’s care or self-development a priority, said Jody Jury, chair of this year’s conference.

“It’s something as women we do not do very well at all,” she said.

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Not so for rural and northern Manitobans who can live many hours — one way — away.

In the early 2000s a Brandon-area single mother found herself isolated and far from her family while battling cancer and shuttling through hotel rooms as she received treatment in the provincial capital.

She was very ill but told her oncology nurses the worst part of all was being lonely and unable to have her three-year-old son and mother with her.

It was not the first time the nurses had heard such a plea. She didn’t live to see it but her plea — and vision for a place to call home when you needed one — did become reality. A Port in the Storm, a downtown adult medical hospice for rural and northern residents, become operational in 2012.

Today it is contained in 17 suites, complete with fully equipped kitchens and private bathrooms, and housed within a larger apartment block in downtown Winnipeg at 311 Alexander Ave.

Less costly

Getting ill, whether with cancer or any other serious illness is terrible enough, but the financial burden of illness can be massive. Costs from multiple trips to and from the city and accommodation and meals away from home can become staggering, says Stacey Grocholski, A Port in the Storm executive director.

[AUDIO CLIP:Stacey Grocholski describes the mission of ‘A Port in the Storm’]

And this is on top of the stress of being away from home and family and the supports you need most at these times.

“There’s a real disparity between rural and urban,” said Grocholski. “We take it for granted here in the city that we can go back home after an appointment or treatment, but for those travelling great distances, what do you do?”

To date over 900 persons living outside Winnipeg have stayed here, some alone, others bringing families, some staying even just one night to many months, or as long as they need to be close to facilities where they’re receiving treatment for anything from cancer to renal dialysis to a high-risk pregnancy. People are referred to the facility by their medical caregivers.

The location at 311 Alexander was chosen for close proximity to both the Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital.

It didn’t take long to be recognized as an essential service. Some have since told their three-member staff that had this alternative accommodation not existed, they would have had to refuse treatment, Grocholski said.

“It really is mind blowing that in the 21st century that there aren’t supports for individuals because of financial reasons,” she said.

Port in the Storm mitigates that expense by keeping rates at a fraction of what a hotel would cost — $58 for those without insurance covering stays in an adult medical hospice, $75 for those who do have benefits coverage for it.

The facility receives no government support, and is instead supported entirely by private donations, from individuals, corporations and third-party fundraisers. Many support its Adopt-a-Suite program. All fundraising helps close the gap between user fees, and the site’s actual operating costs of $92 per night, said Grocholski.

Future plans

Having recently signed another two-year lease, they’re now looking ahead at the need for their service. What isn’t in question is the need for A Port in the Storm but how much demand will exist going forward.

“We have doctors on our advisory committees and we check in with them quite often to understand the trends,” she said. “Unfortunately, cancer is not going away and other illnesses are increasing with the aging population. We foresee that we’re going to be busy.”

This past year they had an 85 per cent occupancy rate, and keep some suites available in case there are immediate and urgent needs to meet. The largest percentage of those who stay here come from northern Manitoba, with the rest coming from outlying regions of rural Manitoba.

A Port in the Storm was the recipient of the 2018 Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of Winnipeg award in the ‘Non-profit and Social Enterprise’ category, recognizing social innovators driven to solve complex socio-economic challenges.

A presentation was made about it at two concurrent Manitoba Rural Women’s Days hosted by the Manitoba Women’s Institute this fall in Virden and Morden. Debbie Melosky, chair of the events’ planning committee said MWI wants to spread the word about this site, not only so others know about it if it’s needed, but so support through fundraising for it may expand.

“This was not something that a lot of people were even aware of so it’s been very informative,” she said.

Rural support

Some rural communities, in fact, are doing significant fundraising for it. The Harding Community Club, for example, has raised over $7,200 for the Adopt-a-Suite program. Another rural-area donor is Minnedosa and District Community Foundation which recently gave the facility $2,000.

Said Minnedosa resident Heather Emerson Proven, A Port in the Storm board member who spoke about it at the MWI events: “We all hope that we or our families will never need a place like this. But I am happy that it is there should you need it.”

To learn more, visit aportinthestorm.ca.

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For one, there are fewer services and supports available to those who juggle not just dual but triple roles of family, work and a farm to manage.

And rural life can be lonely if you’re not well connected to others.

“One of the biggest issues for women is the pervasive sense of isolation if they don’t intentionally work on healthy connections, says Elaine Froese, a renowned farm family coach, author of several books and columnist for Grainews.

“And that’s regardless of how far you live from town, or if you live in town.”

Froese will be one of the keynote speakers during two events next month that will bring together a wide range of expertise in health and wellness with a focus on support for rural women.

This is a second year for Manitoba Rural Women’s Day scheduled for two Saturdays including October 14 in Minnedosa and October 28 in Komarno.

The event is being hosted by the Women’s Institute as a day to connect rural women for learning and resource sharing with sessions focused on mental health and wellness around the theme ‘A Healthy Mind is a Treasure to Find.’

“The intention is to give women an opportunity to get together and learn and share ideas that are of common concern to most rural women,” said Deb Melosky, chair of the planning committee with MWI and resident of Woodmore, Man.

Their roster of speakers are almost all women who also live rurally and therefore understand very well what rural women face when it comes to keeping in good mental health, said Melosky.

Froese, widely known for her work helping farm families develop farm succession plans and her writing on how to establish and maintain healthy relationships, is well acquainted with issues that also impact rural people’s mental health.

Her presentation will be a message about living an intentional healthy life and realizing we choose our thoughts, emotions and set intentions for our days, she said.

Women often will continuously add to their responsibilities not realizing the toll that takes on their mental health. The result can be much stress, anxiety and a feeling of being completely overwhelmed, said Froese.

“But it can be managed if you pay attention to the decisions that you’re making.”

It’s also important to connect with the resources that are available to you in your region, she added.

Other speakers at both events will include Vicki Olatundun, executive director at the Steinbach Family Resource Centre, and Keith McPherson, a wellness coach and yoga instructor.

The two days also feature ‘fireside chat’ speakers with Minnnedosa’s lineup including Roberta Graham, a therapist and associate professor in psychiatric nursing at Brandon University, Deborah Tacan, a prevention education consultant with the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, and Nora Chant, peer support facilitator at the Brandon-based 7th Street Health Access Centre. In Komarno Cheryl Cohan, a therapist with a specialization in horticultural therapy, Carole Teatrault, owner of a healing retreat near Steinbach, and Judy Dunn, outreach manager for the Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba will be speaking.

This year’s theme was selected after input through evaluations from last year’s Manitoba Rural Women’s Day, Melosky said. Focus groups the MWI has done also reveal the dearth of services available for mental health care rurally.

“We often don’t realize what others are going through,” she said.

Last year’s inaugural Rural Women’s Day was a resounding success so MWI is now making it a yearly annual event, she added.

“We think this is a good way to get women together.”

The two days are being held October 14 in Minnedosa at the Community Conference Centre at 63 Main Street North and October 28 in Komarno’s Community Hall. Those wishing to attend are asked to register in advance.

More information about Manitoba Rural Women’s Day is found at www.mbwi.ca or contact the Manitoba Women’s Institute and leave a message at 204-726-7135.

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The Roseau River woman had heard its president telling a CBC interview about the organization.

“I said, ‘well, that’s interesting,” said Kroeker, a member of Manitoba Women’s Institute herself. She wanted to know more about this group that shared a similar name.

Her call put her through to Yasmin Ali and the two women were soon planning a get-together — with food involved, of course.

That led to more than a dozen CMWI women travelling out to this corner of southeastern Manitoba to sit down with Woodmore WI ladies for possibly the most internationally flavoured potluck ever eaten in this small village’s hall.

Over macaroni pie and kibbeh and wild rice casserole and biryani — and a mountain of dessert — they visited and shared kids’ photos and talked about where they and their families came from.

And they learned their otherwise unaffiliated groups have a lot more in common than just a name.

The women were encouraged to talk about family origins and how each arrived in Canada. They had the most wonderful conversations, said Kroeker.

“I think that was the most thrilling thing, seeing that happen.”

They also read out a creed from the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada, then heard it read out aloud again — in Arabic.

The Canadian Muslim Women’s Institute has a very different start than the now 117-year-old provincial group, but its values are entirely the same.

They formed in 2006 to support women who were newcomers to Winnipeg, often stay-at-home mothers and without any extended families of their own to turn to, explains Ali.

Their main funder is the United Way to help the group carry out its programs.

They got organized to help other Muslim women, but as time’s passed they’ve evolved into a family resource centre serving all, regardless of religious background.

“We help women of all faiths and ethnicities,” said Ali, noting those coming to the CWMI are from countries such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, Djibouti, Somalia, Chad, Ivory Coast, Eritria, Syria as well as Central America and the U.S.

Their focus is on settlement of newcomers. One of their most used services is a baby car seat loan program, she said.

Many new parents among their clients don’t even have a driver’s licence or car, let alone a baby car seat. They find themselves in a predicament when they’ve given birth in a Winnipeg hospital that won’t release a child unless it is transported home in a proper car seat.

“So CMWI loans these parents a car seat,” she said. “And the parents are very proud to bring their new Canadian home.”

Linda Hildebrandt, the postmistress at Woodmore, and a member of the local WI for over 30 years, said she was so interested to meet these women and hear about CMWI.

“I’ve always been interested in other cultures,” she said. “And the ladies at our table were just so delightful and informative. We’ve been talking about where we’ve all come from. It just brings us all together.”

That’s how Emita Mahamat felt too. She came from Chad a decade ago, and why she joined the CWMI would sound familiar to rural Manitoba women too.

“When we came to Canada we had no family,” she said. “It was just me and my husband. We knew no one here. It was very difficult.

“Then I heard about the Canadian Muslim Women’s Institute and I said, ‘that sounds like a place I can visit,’” she said. She’s now a staff member.

She was very excited about coming to Roseau River and meeting the Woodmore women, she added. The day trip reminded her of how much she misses the countryside. She grew up in a city.

“But I always remember when I was in Nigeria, my mom would take us back to Chad to visit my grandma,” she said. “It’s so different to go out in the country. You can run out there and play and don’t worry about the traffic. And people know each other. In a small place you know each other.”

Ali and Kroeker hope the potluck and introducing their two groups helps make the world a bit smaller.

“This was meaningful for us to come and meet other Canadians outside of Winnipeg and bring our clients to see the people and the life around them and other Canadians,” Ali said. “We all sat around the table and talked about where we all come from. We have the same dreams and goals that everyone has. We all have that in common.”

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This fall the Manitoba Women’s Institute is tackling some of the thorny issues around causes of family conflict, while offering help to lessen it.

Two Manitoba Rural Women’s Day events — one October 15 in Rivers and the other Oct. 29 in Dugald — will explore the theme of achieving family harmony. The day-long workshops each include speakers and facilitated conversations on topics on dealing with family conflict, understanding finances and effective communication.

They’re doing this as a form of community outreach, said MWI president Ann Mandziuk.

“It is something brand new we’re trying this year,” she said. “It came about from discussions around our board table.”

MWI’s mandate is to work to improve the lives of families, and individual MWI members are very much aware of the multiple and often unmet needs among families in small towns and rural areas, Mandziuk said. By offering these two days of seminars, they hope to provide people with new resources to share with others.

“It was to give us as members and those who don’t belong to MWI a chance to learn a little bit more,” she said.

At the workshops there will be opportunity to meet and talk with facilitators and hear presentations from professionals working in areas of therapy, coaching and finance. Facilitated discussions will include featured speakers such as Wilma Derksen, who since the abduction and murder of her daughter Candace in 1984, has had facilitated support groups and participated in panel discussions and given lectures.

The MWI aims to make “Manitoba Rural Women’s Day” an annual event, Mandziuk said adding that they’ll look at other topics and locations to host them next year.

For more information visit mbwi.ca.

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The aging population of our small towns is increasingly reliant on family or volunteers to drive them, but there are also those who don’t even have that option.

The problem has become increasingly evident since Greyhound Canada stopped servicing its rural network a few years ago, said Ann Mandziuk, who became the MWI’s new president during its annual meeting May 7.

“Most of those at our meeting are rural residents so they know there’s been a decline or absolute loss (of public transportation),” Mandziuk said. “They’re looking for ways these existing Handi-vans could transport people.”

MWI members have noted that some communities already use their local Handi-vans for intra-community transport, but not all.

Mandziuk said the resolution not only proposes seeing ridership expand so more people can use it more often, but that there be a standard policy for all communities right across Manitoba. With regulatory changes, these vans could be “a more usable service to the entire community,” the resolution said.

The 350-member MWI isn’t the first group to raise the flag about lack of public transportation for rural areas. Other groups such as the Transportation Options Network for Seniors (TONS) organization and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities have pushed for flexible bus services to meet demand in rural areas.

It’s a growing need and something must be figured out, said Brandon-based Donna Young, MWI past president. Otherwise small towns will see even more decline, as rural populations age, there are more non-drivers among them, and health services continue to centralize.

“People will have to start moving to the bigger centres,” said Young.

This and nine other resolutions were supported at the May convention.

The general theme was how to keep people living rurally, Mandziuk added, noting another resolution supported called for keeping ambulance rates consistent across the province.

Needs of an aging rural population also dominated discussions. One resolution calls for better access to, and reduced wait times for home care, as well as adequate long-term health facilities, diagnostic services, and professional geriatric medical staffing.

Delegates also supported resolutions calling for mandatory childhood vaccinations, boosting federal funding to improve education for First Nations students, and improved recycling services.

The women’s organization also says the Department of Agriculture should facilitate regular annual farm safety training sessions, and place special emphasis on preventing grain entrapments.

Lieutenant-Governor Janice Filmon gave the keynote address at the convention, focusing her talk on issues the MWI has addressed historically and referencing 1916 as the year Manitoba women gained the right to vote due to the diligence of Nellie McClung and “the Famous Five.”

New provincial Minister of Indigenous and Municipal Relations Eileen Clarke also addressed the convention.

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The awards made in honour of one of this province’s most influential feminists were given out January 28, the centennial of women in Manitoba earning the right to vote.

Call for nominations went out last fall for names of deserving women who have been leaders in contemporary society making contributions to social justice, promoting democracy and contributing to the arts.

A panel of judges selected from 66 nominees 10 deserving recipients.

Donna Young, MWI president said their organization is honoured to receive the award. It’s an important validation for their organization’s contributions to society over the years, she said.

“It’s so nice that someone has finally recognized that we’ve done so much in the rural communities for over 105 years,” she said.

The MWI marked its own centennial in 2010 in the town of the organization’s birthplace, Morris, Manitoba.

The MWI supported the suffragist movement through many types of grassroots advocacy and has long worked to improve the lives of women and families through its community-based advocacy. In 1916, it lobbied to bring about the passage of the 1916 Manitoba Dower Law to protect the property rights of a wife and it has a long track record of work to make health care and public health programs accessible for rural people. The organization has also helped establish libraries and safe houses for abused women and children, and lobbied for other improved health and safety measures such as visible coloured lines on provincial highways and side reflectors on freight trains.

It continues to put forward resolutions related to broad-based societal and agricultural issues at its annual conventions, and runs ongoing planned programs for the education of its members.

“Our women work constantly in their communities,” said Young, adding the MWI continues to work in the spirit of Nellie McClung who once stated, ‘women set the standards for the world, and it is for us, women in Canada, to set the standards high.’

The MWI’s provincial headquarters is located in Brandon while its 28 branches are spread out throughout rural Manitoba.

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At its May convention members strongly supported a resolution calling for the federal government to take action before a health crisis develops.

Newdale farmer and retired nurse, Enid Clark, spoke to the matter during the resolution debate.

She said a dialogue is needed across all federal departments related to human and animal health, involving organizations and groups in an effort to halt the use of antibiotics for reasons other than just fighting disease, she said. It needs to happen before the threat from superbugs resistant to antibiotics gets even more serious.

“We’ve become complacent,” Clark said. “Unfortunately, with the overuse of antibiotics in humans and their continued use in animal, poultry and fish feed just to stimulate growth and to keep those pathogens under control, these wily pathogens have done what pathogens always do. They develop resistance to the drugs and become stronger and more virulent.”

It was one of a half-dozen resolutions at the May 8 convention attended by about 70 women bringing proxy votes representing the total 371 membership.

The rural women’s organization, which has nearly 400 members, also reaffirmed a resolution passed five years ago that called then for immediate action to stop violence against Aboriginal women. In 2010 the WI spoke of the deplorable situations faced by many Aboriginal women including their vulnerability due to systemic poverty and discrimination.

“It’s timely to bring this resolution back and reaffirm it with all the calls for government inquiries around this issue,” said Clark. “We want to add our voice to it again.”

The MWI also supported three other resolutions, including those calling for additional recycling strategies to reduce heavier plastics used in product packaging, and another for fast tracking the changeover to digital mammography equipment, noting Manitoba is one of the last provinces to make the switch over from analog technology.

One resolution calls for affixing ‘long load’ signage on the rear of transport trucks hauling multiple trailers. Drivers access a number of factors including weather and road conditions before deciding to pass one of these vehicles, and cautions about the length of the vehicle being passed could help prevent accidents.

Brandon-based MWI president Donna Young said in an interview the provincial group looks forward to a strong year ahead.

Members were especially buoyed by reports of Women’s Institutes elsewhere in Canada being revived and attracting new members, and they’re working hard to make that happen here too. There’s been lots of interest shown in their three-year food security programming, she said.

“I think the next year will be very exciting for us,” Young said.

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This year, members of a local Women’s Institute are going an extra mile to teach others to grow their own.

The Woodmore WI held the first of three planned gardening workshops last week, and hopes to bring participants together again later in summer for food preservation and cooking classes.

Its focus on food literacy is part of an effort to help people better understand where food comes from and how to eat a healthier homegrown diet, said Woodmore WI president Debbie Melosky.

WI members know about these things, and want to share that knowledge, she said.

“Initially, last year we thought we’d help out by providing food for the food bank,” she said. “But what we’re wanting to do now is help people become more sufficient and be able to feed yourself and grow your own food.”

The projects mark a return to WI’s own roots, so to speak. Food literacy was the focus of the women’s organization from its earliest beginnings at the turn of the last century. Some of its first programs were on the topic of food preparation and food safety.

Keen to learn

And people remain keen to learn skills in grassroots settings.

The Woodmore’s WI members were astonished at the 40 people who piled into one of their member’s living rooms last week, travelling from surrounding communities such as Rosa, Calowrie, Roseau River, Arnaud and Woodmore.

“We were overwhelmed by the response,” said Janet Kroeker.

“What really delighted me was to see some young families there. If we’re reaching that group, that really makes me glad.”

It reinforces how the skills many WI members possess are those others would like to learn, she added.

“It’s an interesting time we’re in,” she said. “We’re positioned right now at a time where there is still some people in rural areas who have this knowledge and the young people are coming around to say, ‘we want to know this.’”

Woodmore’s WI secured two small grants via the Healthy Child Coalition and Healthy Together Now to host the workshops, so will have a part-time co-ordinator. Angie Appleby who has an Organic Master Gardener Certificate will help novice gardeners this summer. She gave a talk that ranged from soil health to seed selection and garden microclimates at last week’s meeting.

Conversation occasionally trailed off into side chats between experienced and novice gardeners.

Arnaud resident Adriana Mueller grew up in Central America and was eager to learn from gardeners who know the Manitoba climate. She planted green and yellow peppers in her first Manitoba garden last year.

“They turned out really good,” she enthused. “But I don’t have much experience in this. We had a big garden in Guatemala, and perfect weather for it. Now here I just have to adapt everything I knew to this weather.”

Across the room from her sat Ken Griffin of Woodmore. He’s been gardening for 30 years but came to the workshop because “you never stop learning from others,” he said.

Planned program

That’s the idea behind the wider Manitoba Women’s Institute efforts this year to try to help others learn gardening and food skills.

Kroeker, who also chairs the provincial group’s planned program committee, said this year they’re encouraging members across Manitoba to identify needs in their own communities and find ways to host gardening, cooking or food preservation activities.

The inspiration comes from attending other WI meetings where it’s clear members themselves know how to do all these things, Kroeker said.

“It made me realize what a large number of folks in the WI have this knowledge and how we’re really actually not passing it along very well,” she said. “Maybe we just take it for granted or just don’t appreciate that we know these things. But the youth of today are looking for this information and going to great lengths to understand it.”

WI can only benefit doing this kind of community outreach, added Melosky.

“This is really about getting back out with people and finding out what’s happening in our community and where do we have a place,” she said.

MWI has an ongoing partnership with the Manitoba Association of Home Economists (MAHE) for a project called Basic Skills for Living — Building Stronger Communities through Life Skill Education.

For its food literacy programming, the women’s organization is also consulting University of Manitoba’s department of human nutritional sciences and community health sciences associate professor, Joyce Slater.

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That’s because it’s stayed true to its role providing networking opportunities and resources rural and farm women need, say conference attendees.

Tracy Chappell, who farms and runs a seed company with her husband at Hamiota, had a young family at home and couldn’t get away for a few years, but was back in 2013 — and glad to be, she said.

“My mom has been coming for probably as many years as there’s been a farm women’s conference,” said Chappell. “It’s a way to connect with other farm women. You meet different women with different farming experiences, and find out the ways they handle things.”

Deloraine-area farmer Brenda Gilson recently retired from teaching, and was a first-timer to the MFWC this year. Gilson said she got so much out of it, she’s put it on her calendar for 2014.

She attended a panel session on social media marketing, and workshops on human resource management and good mental health. She learned a lot from each, Gilson said. She’s also appreciated meeting so many other women who farm in Manitoba.

“We’re all in the same profession but we’re doing a lot of different things,” she said.

Throughout the year attendees also stay in touch through the MFWC’s Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter sites. Addresses are found on the conference website at www.manitobafarmwo mensconference.ca.

Professional home economist Ann Mandziuk, who retired this year from her job as rural leadership specialist with the Department of Agriculture, chaired this year’s conference with its 2013 theme of From Farm to Fork to Facebook.

Changes continue

Organizers were pleased with the turnout of 107, and saw quite a few first-timers, said Mandziuk.

Much has changed since that first conference, she said, noting advances in communications technology, and how computer hardware would have filled a granary back in 1986.

But farm women continue to recognize the importance of connecting with others, and this conference remains an important networking event, Mandziuk said. Organizers hope the ideas and resources gained at the conference continue to help women in their farm, family and community life, she added.

“I always say I hope they’ll take home one thing that they can use,” she said.

Chappell’s mom, Fran Dickenson of Waskada, hasn’t missed many conferences since the first in 1986, and says it’s because she always goes home with something valuable.

“I’m not really savvy with the computer, but I’m learning,” said Dickenson, who is also an active member of the Manitoba Women’s Institute.

“But when I come to these gatherings, there’s always something to take back to give to others. I’ll often say, ‘I found this out at the farm women’s conference,’ or, ‘I got that idea, or that pamphlet from there.’ That’s what I keep coming for.”

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