Yvonne Knight honoured with 60-year Women's Institute pin
BY BEV CRADDOCK
The Majestic Women’s Institute (WI) met on May 10 at 9 a.m. in front of Brussels Library to head out on the mystery tour.
The first stop was at RR3, Brussels to visit Pam’s Country Quilting where we were welcomed by Pam McLellan, owner and operator. We walked into a quilter’s dream - a room full of beautiful quilts hung on the walls with a great selection of fabrics, patterns and notions.
She is a professional long-arm quilter and her machine has a lot of experience creating beautiful quilts. The machine is quite simple; it is hand-controlled, allowing Pam to be more artistic in her quilting with no computer to control the patterns. Pam has had so much practice she can create beautiful designs free-hand or, if the customer wishes to have a special pattern, she can draw it out and follow the pattern. With all her experience, she can quilt a simple queen-size quilt in about five hours, with very detailed ones taking up to 20 hours.
She demonstrated quilting following a pattern and also free hand stippling - she makes it look easy.
Then we headed out on our second stop, which was College Corners Creations, just past Molesworth heading to Listowel on County Road 86. It is a hidden gem. Here, we were welcomed by Donna Snyder. Her store was so bright and full of flower arrangements made with artificial flowers. She creates custom arrangements for all occasions as well as wreaths and tombstone saddles.
She will make arrangements or refresh old ones and also teaches classes so you can make your own. Classes can be arranged for between three and eight guests.
She demonstrated arrangements on a tray that included flowers, vases, beads and add-ons like lanterns, teapots, flowerpots, etc. She is very good at using the same basics and adding or subtracting for different occasions.
We then learned how to make a ribbon bow that looked professional. She carries supplies to make her own designs or sells pre-made items. Take a minute the next time you are in the area.
We then headed off to Listowel to have lunch, stopping at Roadhouse 23. Doreen Marks opened the meeting with a reading after some business was completed.
Doreen Marks was honoured to present Marie McCutcheon with her first-year pin and Yvonne Knight with her 60-year Women’s Institute pin.
Yvonne joined the Women’s Institute in 1963. At that time, she joined the Cranbrook WI. Later, the Cranbrook WI disbanded, and she joined the Majestic Women’s Institute. Yvonne has been part of the WI most of her life, as her mother brought her to WI meeting as a child.
Yvonne is a great example of a person who gives to her community. She has held every position within the WI more than once in her 60 years of service. She is also a strong member of her church, supports local 4-H clubs and she is a member of the Brussels Agricultural Society. If the community needs her, she is there to support all projects and fundraising efforts in any way she can.
Yvonne is a hard act to follow, but we all will try on behalf of the community. Hats off to Yvonne for all she has done.
Then we were off again to Pootcorners Alpacas in Palmerston. At the farm, there are approximately 50 adult alpacas and they are expecting a dozen babies very soon. They raise the alpacas for clothing fibres, as well as meat consumption. They do their own sheering and grading of fibres. They have a store on the farm where you can buy meat, fibre and premade items, like socks, hats, shawls, blankets and hides. They are so soft.
Some of the alpacas had been sheered, while others were waiting to be sheered as their coats are quite thick. They are very calm. There you can also participate in an alpaca walk, which is a great stress reliever. The Poots also take the anomials to schools for education and stress relief during exams. Special thanks to Marie McCutcheon for arranging our mystery tour.