The environment was the central theme for the November meeting of the Town and Country Women, as they met Nov. 14 at the home of Kathryn Groshong, with seven members attending.
The thought for the day was, “Make sure that what you are doing today is getting you closer to a better future tomorrow.”
The club ode was sung to open the meeting, accompanied by Kathryn Groshong on piano.
President Margaret Lukey opened the meeting with thoughts about Remembrance Day. John McRae was the author of the poem, “In Flanders Fields”, but after writing it, he discarded it, thinking it wasn’t worth publication. How fortunate that someone discovered it and the poem was taken to the London Press, and has become meaningful to people around the world.
She quoted from a poem by Norman Sanders in the senior paper, “My Remembrance Work”, “Makes me wonder, what would the world be like, if all the money spent on war went to help the unfortunately poor.”
Secretary Kathryn Groshong, read the minutes for the October meeting, and treasurer Edith Jacobs gave her monthly report of finances.
The roll call required each member to name products that they purchase and recycle, with a variety of answers.
The answers included eyeglasses, with old ones taken to the local optometrist to reuse them; pantyhose, used in the garden to tie up plants; plastic milk jugs, used for crafts, including making purses; large brown paper bags, which is recyclable, and used to be in use by grocery stores in all sizes; newspapers, which have many household uses and is recyclable; plastic bags, which have many everyday uses; used men’s socks, which can be used as liners for leather mitts; and money from recycled goods can be given to the children’s hospital.
Planning their yearly Christmas party took place, set for Friday, Dec. 9.
The program for the afternoon was on the environment, and was researched and given by the environment convenor, Margaret Lukey, who said, “When we think about saving our environment, we tend to reduce the environment to recycling or composting, but we have come to realize that it is much more profound than that.”
She presented some newsworthy articles on the environment that she collected over the past year.
The first one was in regards to the oil spill at North Battleford, quoting from a story in Pipeline. “It took four days for the spill to reach North Battleford. They knew the surface water plant had to be shut down before it got there.
The spill was caused by a pipeline failure on the south shore of the river roughly 300 metres from shore. It was near where the pipeline crosses the North Saskatchewan River. At least half of the spilled oil was contained on land and recovered at the site before it reached the water, according to Husky spokesperson, Mel Duvall. ‘We were able to, using the boats and dogs, find those spots and do the cleanup as we went along.’ The company used dogs walking along the shoreline to identify areas where oil collected.”
Advisories related to livestock watering and recreational use are now lifted. Duvall said, “Husky has done over 6,000 water samples and 1,000 sediment samples. All the results have been shared with the province and affected cities. We’re on target to have everything completed by freeze-up.”
The second story was about birds being killed by large wind turbines. Quoting a story by Brian Zinchuk, she said a wind farm proposed near Chaplin, Sask., was denied approval to proceed. The province announced that a five-kilometre buffer zone had been established around designated environmentally sensitive avoidance areas, such as national and provincial parks, ecological reserves, important bird areas and key Saskatchewan rivers.
Her third item related the importance of grasslands to the environment, as they provide fodder for livestock, and habitat for grassland species. Margaret attended a book review, “The Best Laid Plans” by Terry Fallis, and she concluded that none of the PFRA pastures have been sold to individuals yet, and if they are sold, they must remain as grasslands.
She then touched on curbside recycling coming to Weyburn, hopefully by January or February, 2017.
Lastly, she presented an item on the monarch butterfly. Their yearly migration takes place in late August. It takes three or four generations of butterflies to complete the migration. The last generation lives for up to nine months, starts in northern Saskatchewan and migrates south for up to 5,000 kilometres, over-wintering in Mexico or California. It’s the longest and largest insect migration in North America.
A potluck lunch was served by the hostess, Kathryn Groshong.
