Trillium Court raises $1,150 at best Heart and Stroke fund-raiser ever

The residents and staff at Trillium Court Seniors' Community, Kincardine, were feeling the love on Valentine's Day, as they raised $1,152.55 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

This was the best year ever for the "For the Love of Chocolate" event, said lifestyles co-ordinator Heike Boettcher. Along with the free chocolate buffet, the day featured a bake sale of chocolate delights, a raffle, and entertainment.

Coming up in March, Trillium Court marks International Women’s Day with a special bingo, Friday, March 3, at 2 p.m. in the Atrium. International Women's Day is observed as a way of recognizing the many women who have changed the world, including the following:

Nellie McClung – In 1927, she and four women, became known as the “Famous Five” who launched the “Person’s Case,” establishing that women are qualified to sit in the Senate. Through her efforts, Manitoba became the first province in 1916 to let women not only vote but run for office.

Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw – received a medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1905 and became one of Canada’s first woman doctors.

Susan B. Anthony – a Suffragette who ratified the 19th Amendment in the United States that gave women the right to vote in 1920.

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell – first woman to receive a medical degree from an American medical school in 1956.

Marie Curie – born in Poland, she was the first woman professor of general physics at the University of Paris in 1903; she was also the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry.

Mother Teresa – born in Macedonia, as a Catholic nun, she founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979; and Oct. 19, 2003, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and became a saint.

Rosemary Brown – born in Jamaica, she came to Canada to McGill University. She was elected to the provincial legislature in British Columbia in 1972, becoming the first black woman to become an MLA.

Nancy Greene – alpine skier, World Cup Champion and Gold Medal winner in the Winter Olympics, she was voted Canada’s female athlete of the 20th Century.

Roberta Bondar – first Canadian female astronaut to be invited by NASA on the Discovery Team in 1992.

Mary Shadd Cary – first black female newspaper editor in North America. At 60, she became the second black woman in the United States to earn a law degree. She was an advocate for universal education, black emancipation and woman’s rights. In 1994, she was designated a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada.

Therese Casgrain – in the 1940s, she became the first female leader of a political party in Canada - the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

Viola Desmond – in 1946, she refused to move to the black section of a Halifax movie theatre. She was dragged out of the theatre and jailed. Because of this event, the black community galvanized and fought for change. She helped end segregation in Nova Scotia in 1954.

Mary Two-Axe Earley – First Nation woman who lost her Native status by marrying a non-Aboriginal. She fought for two decades to have the discriminatory law reversed; and in 1985, she was successful. Her efforts benefited about 1,600 women and 46,000 first-generation descendants.

Margaret Laurence – author of the ‘Stone Angel,’ was active in promoting world peace through Project Ploughshares, and was a recipient of the Order of Canada.

Agnes MacPhail – from Dundalk Ontario, she was the first woman elected to the House of Commons in 1921. Her causes included pensions for seniors, and she initiated Ontario’s first equal-pay legislation in 1951.

Thank you, ladies!