Spring Newsletter 2018 President’s Message I think the role each Canadian plays is not so much “Look at me” but rather “Look at our country.” Dr. “Look at our country”. If you take that room rental fee. Other solutions would literally you can imagine beautiful vistas be to raise membership fees and/or of rocky shores, majestic mountains, charges for meals, to help cover the Contents sweeping prairies, forests and lakes and costs. A radical solution (to some waterfalls—snapshots waiting to be people’s thinking) would be to relocate President’s Message 1 captured—from sea to sea to sea. our meetings - all or just the luncheons. Figuratively you would see a changing There are other facilities in the city we Reports for 2018 AGM 2 landscape: some changes for the good could take advantage of: the ‘hitch’ is Programme 3 while for others the jury is still out. that the ones with free parking are on With elections looming it is time for us to the Mountain. Or maybe we should Photos 3 make decisions on what we want: what reduce the number of meetings per year (reduce the workload for the board and In Memoriam 3 we have and know, an extreme change based on the desire for change, or some the cost all at the same time). The Board Famous Hamiltonian 2018 4 happy medium. Gary Direnfeld stated would like your input before moving ahead with next year’s programming. Medical Breakthroughs 4 ‘this is not your parents’ conservative party’. I would go further to say these Please watch for a feedback sheet in your are not your parents’ politics. A little less e-mail inbox and at the April meeting. hype and ‘breaking news’ might be a Breaking News: the WCCH is now on good idea before we head to the polls Twitter! The nice, good-news, positive this year. message Twitter, not that other one! You “Look at our Club”. Did you realize that can follow us @wccofhamilton. the WCCH started the same year as the Of course you can contact us by e-mail Titanic set off on her maiden voyage? So ([email protected]) or contact far we have fared better with our heads me by phone at 905.385.8259. still above water—but just barely. Costs continue to climb and our revenue from membership fees isn’t keeping pace. Lee Gowers There are some ‘easy’ solutions: attract President new members, increase the number of meals ordered at luncheons to avoid the

www.wcchamilton.ca Spring Newsletter Page 2

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE WOMEN’S CANADIAN CLUB OF HAMILTON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017, 2 P.M. THE SCOTTISH RITE CLUB

The 105th Annual General Meeting of the Women’s Canadian Club of Hamilton was called to order by the President, Lee Gowers. In the absence of the secretary the minutes were recorded by the President. It was determined that there was a quorum. Moved by Fred Roberts, seconded by Christina Begley to approve the minutes of the 104th Annual General Meeting as printed in the Spring 2017 newsletter. Carried. Moved by Mary Lorimer, seconded by Lillian Orban to accept the Financial Statement for the year ending 31 May 2016, as printed in the Fall 2016 newsletter. Carried. Mary Lorimer then advised of the current financial situation of the Club and speculated that at the current rate of loss the Club may only have 5 more years of existence. Suggestions were made about promotion and increasing membership. Moved by Carolyn McArthur, seconded by Christina Begley to approve the reports of the Standing Committees as printed in the Spring 2017 newsletter. Carried. Lee Gowers read the names of the Slate of Officers for 2017-2018 and asked those who had been nominated to stand. Nominations from the floor were requested for vacant positions. None were received and so these positions remain vacant until such time as they can be filled. Moved by Pat Saunders, seconded by June Lockwood to accept the Slate of Officers for the term 2017-2018. Carried. Lee thanked those members of the Board who were retiring: Carolyn McArthur, Basharat Tayyab and June Lockwood. Moved by Joanne Nicholson-Ray, seconded by Pamela Bragoli to ratify the Acts and Procedures taken on behalf of the Organization. Carried. There being no further business, the 105th Annual General Meeting of the Women’s Canadian Club of Hamilton was declared closed. Ruth Pearson, Secretary

REPORTS FOR THE 2018 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

CITIZENSHIP COURT FINANCIAL REPORT This past year we had the pleasure of welcoming new citizens at As our Financial year-end is May 31st, audited statements will 8 ceremonies, serving them light refreshments and offering our not be available until the Fall Newsletter. Expenses do continue congratulations. Thank you to Dina Sankey, Colleen Johnson, to exceed income, largely due to costs at the Scottish Rite. The Alison Buffet, Pat Saunders, Joan Nuxoll and Lee Gowers. best thing you can do to help? Bring more new members! Christina Begley Mary Lorimer MEDIA RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MEDIA MEMBERSHIP REPORT Our Facebook page has 113 likes, while our new Twitter As of March 14, 2018 we have 43 paid-up members: 42 Full- account is followed by 3 people. Meetings and articles that year and 1 Half-year, a reduction of 4 from the previous year. might be of interest to members are posted. The website is Our membership list also includes 9 non-fee-paying members: being maintained by the Executive. Notices of meetings are 7 Past Presidents and 2 Honourary Members. Continuing our placed in local newspapers and often snap’d arrives to take policy from February 2017, guests at non-luncheon meetings photos which are then shared on our Facebook page. are asked to pay a $10 fee, which can be applied to a Louise Noel-Ambrose membership application later in the same year. Mary Lorimer ENCOUNTERS WITH Once again, the Women’s Canadian Club of Hamilton is pleased to provide financial support to sponsor 2 students from Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School to attend Encounters With Canada. The students, Gianna Blacklock and Habib Ahmed will be attending the programme, “Science and Ecology” from April 22-28 and along with their teacher, Mark Daschko will join us at our May luncheon to give brief reports about their experiences. Mark Daschko has thanked our club for its generosity and continued support. Recently, he wrote, “It has made a huge, positive impact on the students you have helped to send to Encounters over the years.” Ruth Pearson VICE PRESIDENT Speakers for 7 monthly meetings, which included 4 luncheons, were arranged with the Scottish Rite. The eighth meeting was atour of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. The highlight of our year was the May 2017 luncheon meeting at which Dr. Alba DiCenso, recipient of the , presided and we, as Canadian Citizens, were given the opportunity to show our commitment to Canada by taking the Oath of Citizenship. Two students, sponsored by the WCCH to attend Encounters with Canada also spoke on their experiences there. The Gordon Price Elementary School Choir joined us for the Oath and sang for the event. Susan Ricketts Spring Newsletter Page 3

WCCH PROGRAMME - SPRING 2018

April 11, 2018 @ 2 pm— Reconciliation from nation to nation with Indigenous people. Jolene John, Aboriginal Community Liaison and Lisa King, Indigenous Education Consultant with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board will co-present on the initiatives the HWDSB is undertaking to meet the needs of its Indigenous students, to weave Indigenous perspectives into curriculum for all students and support the achievements of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students. Our AGM will be held at 2 pm, followed by our speakers. Tea, coffee and goodies will be served.

May 9, 2018 @ Noon—The Hon. Jean Augustine PC, CM, a teacher, social activist and the first Black female MP and Cabinet minister will be our guest speaker to address the issue of Empowering Young Women. This is a luncheon meeting: lunch will be served at 12, followed by our speaker at 1 p.m. Order forms for this luncheon are available on the website. Please submit orders by May 2. Admission to meetings is free for WCCH members. Non-members are asked to pay $10, which can be put toward a membership purchased during 2018.

Scottish Country Dancers livened up our Christmas Luncheon. Susan Ricketts and Pat Saunders were award recipients at Heritage Day 2018

Lincoln Alexander’s granddaughter Erika and friend Michael Highgate paid him tribute.

Gene Wright, Honourary President of the Women’s Canadian Club of Hamilton, passed away on January 27, 2018 at the age of 93. Born in Saskatchewan, she was raised in Montreal and Oakville. Gene graduated from the Hamilton General Hospital School of Nursing in 1946 and met her husband while working at the General. Gene served as president of the WCCH from 1980-1982. Freda Crisp remembers Gene as “a charming lady in every way. She was an amazing shepherdess to me when I took the position of treasurer for the WCCH. Her guidance was always done with encouragement and gentleness. She also gave to me a wonderful understanding of the history of good works and comradery that has for more than one Honourary President Gene Wright hundred years existed in the Women’s Canadian Club of Hamilton. I remember her with great at the 100th Anniversary Gala. fondness and will always be grateful to her.” Spring Newsletter Page 4

Famous Hamiltonian 2018: Dr.

Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw has been voted the 2018 Famous Hamiltonian of the Year. She will be honoured on George Hamilton Day, the first Monday in August. Dr. Bagshaw was born in 1881 in Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario. She entered Women’s Medical College in 1901. She was also registered as an occasional student at the as the College did not have the power to grant degrees. After a year of preceptorship, as so few internships were available to women, she came to Hamilton to substitute for another female physician who was on vacation. She liked the city and so stayed and began her 70 year career as a family physician with a focus on obstetrics. She had staff privileges at the General and St. Joe’s. She worked for 10 years without pay in a dermatology clinic at the General. Dr. Bagshaw had a busy practice: for 3 consecutive years in the 1920s she signed more birth certificates than any other Hamilton doctor. In 1932 Dr. Bagshaw became involved with Canada’s first and illegal birth control clinic. She worked there on Friday afternoons for 34 years, serving as the clinic’s medical director for over 30 years. Following the Depression she said, "There was no welfare and no unemployment payments, and these people were just about half-starved because there was no work, and for them to go on having children was a detriment to the country. They couldn't afford children if they couldn't afford to eat. So the families came to the clinic and we gave them information." The clinic became legal in 1969 and was then supported by government grants. She and her adopted son, John, practiced in separate offices in the same building from 1954. In 1976, now 95 years young, Dr. Bagshaw retired, closing her practice that still had 50 patients. She was the oldest practicing physician in Canada. Dr. Bagshaw died in 1982 at the age of 100. Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada, is a Life Member of the Ontario Medical Association, was Hamilton’s Citizen of the Year in 1970, and received the Governor General Persons Award in 1979. She founded the Canadian Federation of Medical Women, and had several awards established in her name. Her devotion to women’s health is a treasured part of our nation’s medical heritage. With notes from the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and Library and Archives Canada.

Medical Breakthroughs that make you Proud to be Canadian

Pablum: the world’s first ready-to-use vitamin and mineral-enriched baby cereal was the creation of Drs. Brown, Tisdall and Drake. Insulin: in 1920 Sir thought of developing the extract for Type 1 diabetes patients. Child-resistant medicine containers: developed by Dr. Henri J. Breault, director at a poison control centre in Windsor. Open heart surgery: Dr. Wilfred Bigelow learned how to lower the body’s core temperature to a point that made open heart surgery safe. The technique was first applied to a person in 1953. Cystic fibrosis: the genes responsible for this common genetic disease were discovered at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children by Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui. Transplantable stem cells: in 1961 Dr. and Dr. Ernest McCulloch made their discovery at the in Toronto. HAART therapy treatment as HIV prevention: highly active antiretroviral therapy, a cocktail of three drugs taken daily, was implemented in 1996 following research by a team of scientists led by Dr. out of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS The Pacemaker: the brainchild of Dr. John Alexander Hopps, who developed the first external pacemaker in 1951.

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