​Purple Grove news

Another week of beautiful, sunny, hot weather and watching soybeans and wheat being planted. People are harvesting more out of their gardens too!

Congratulations to the Tiverton Agricultural Society for a wonderful fall fair on the weekend!

Also, congratulations to the organizers of Port Elgin for Pumpkinfest!

The local pumpkin patches are open and busy with activities for the kids and a great assortment of pumpkins, apples and other garden plants and produce. This week is Agriculture Week and Bruce County has lots of locally-grown and quality food and products! Thank you to everyone involved in the agriculture industry!

Belated wishes to Wayne and Janet Nixon who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, Sept. 10!  Wedding anniversary wishes also to Becca and Thomas Farrell, Bren and Harvey de Leeuw, Bruce and Deb Aitken, and Ken and Agnes Logtenberg.

Birthday wishes to many friends and family, too, especially Mac MacInnes who is 75 now, Nathan Beer, Bruce Aitken and Brian Johnson!

Mary Anne Kukoly spent the weekend with her cousin, Shirley Gilders, in Clinton.

Jim Farrell, Jamie Alexander and Dave Wray went on a road trip to Springfield, Illinois, last week and attended the World Clydesdale Show. There were more than 600 Clydesdale horses at this show from all over United States, Scotland and Canada.

The World Dairy Expo was also in Madison, Wisconsin, during the last week of September, and some folks from here were in attendance and exhibiting all breeds of dairy cattle. Isn't it great there are opportunities to exhibit all these beautiful animals and value their unique traits? Thank you to the committees that host these events and congratulations to all the exhibitors!

We extend our sympathy to the families of Geraldine Schlosser of Walkerton and to Larry Farrell of Kincardine.

PURPLE GROVE WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

The Oct. 1 meeting was held in the Penetangore Room at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine. Chairperson of the evening was Marilyn Reid, and hostess and convener was Bren de Leeuw.

Eleven members and two guests answered the Roll Call with a favourite photo.

The guest speaker, Sandy Nelson of Kincardine, has won several awards for photos she has taken, and these awards have enabled her to travel to many places, including Antarctica, Alaska, Europe, Ireland, Africa and others. She gave a presentation of her photos from 2002-25, explaining how she has updated her cameras over the years, and learned new techniques to accentuate the subject matter more effectively. She has some of her work at the Victoria Park Gallery in Kincardine, and one of her most famous photos has two grizzly bears catching a salmon!

Bren thanked Sandy for her wonderful presentation and we had a brief social time with lunch and tea provided by Dianne Simpson and Christine Bridge.

October features several special days: Teacher's Day, Oct 5; Thanksgiving Day, Oct. 13; International Rural Women's Day, Oct. 15; World Food Day, Oct. 16; and of course, Halloween, Oct. 31! We received thank-you notes from the Grey-Bruce Alzheimer Society for our donation in lieu of hosting a coffee break. 

Five of our members attended the meeting at Bervie with Dr. Miranda Deller-Quinn and her mission trip to Sri Lanka. Dianne Simpson reported that the Ripley Reunion Committee is offering funds for community organizations with special projects. We also were very grateful for all the help and support of the coffee and muffins at the fair.

Three members are attending the Area Convention and Bruce County Rally, Oct. 23, in Chepstow. More information is coming about the International Plowing Match for 2026 in Walkerton and how we can help. Thank you's were extended to everyone participating in the meeting and to our guests for attending! 

The next meeting is Nov. 5 at 7 p.m., at the home of Betty Johnson. The guest speaker will be Kevin Larson of Kincardine, remembering local women's involvement in, and contribution to, the Second World War. Roll Call is a war-time memory. Everyone is welcome.

GREY-BRUCE AREA W.I. CONVENTION

The Grey-Bruce Area Women's Institute Convention was Oct. 2, at the Williamsford Community Centre, with 35 W.I. members in attendance.

President Rosanne Judge welcomed everyone and addressed the business of the day. Ellen Waye introduced guests, Bruce County District president Bren de Leeuw, Regional board director Linda Tottenham, Area voting delegate Alyssa Phillippi, and Linda Zelem of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) office. Representing FWIO president Cheryl Sullivan was past-president Michelle Phillippi.

This years' theme was the awareness of scams, and the guest speaker was Angela Yenssen of the Grey-Bruce Legal Clinic. She informed us of several scams that are in circulation at the present and how the "scammers" like to work. Seniors are the most-targeted demographic, mostly because they still have land-line phones. Angela also gave out information to review with our members and to use for reference.

The bylaws were reviewed and updated. The new executive was installed by Michelle Phillippi, with Ellen Waye becoming Grey-Bruce Area president and Donna Watke as 1st vice-president, Rosanne Judge as past-president, Linda Freiburger as secretary-treasurer, Alyssa Phillippi continues as Area voting delegate, and Fran Farrell will be going on for Western board director.

Woodland Springs branch dispersed the silent auction items to their new owners. Thank you's were extended for the day, and an invitation for the next Grey-Bruce Area Convention in Chepstow, Oct. 1, 2026. The meeting closed with God Save the King.