|
| |
Canadian Women’s Club of Chicago Newsletter
November 2008
President’s
Message
This month marks a first in CWC history – many of you will be reading this
newsletter, and the accompanying invitation, on your computers. Lucie has put a
lot of effort into figuring out the logistics and finding out who would like to
be part of our first email newsletter distribution. I hope everyone is pleased
with the results. Please give your feedback to Jan, Lucie, or me.
We had another great luncheon last month, highlighted by a very enlightening
presentation about Quebec from Marc Boucher of the Quebec Delegation. I learned
a lot I should have known about the history and culture of our francophone
province. Thank you to Margaret Warren for making the arrangements. Once again,
Anne, Mirella, and Robin outdid themselves in providing a great lunch, served
from a buffet table overlooking a spectacular view from Bev Paonessa’s party
room along the lakeshore. Thanks to all of them.
Once again, Janet Walker, with help from Sheila Chin, has done a great job
processing memberships, and everyone should now have the 2008-2009 Directory she
published. I know from personal experience how much work this is, so I hope
you'll join me in expressing your gratitude to them for our very valuable
"little red book".
Canadian football fans are starting to look forward to the Grey Cup game on
November 23, 2008. The game will be played in Montreal, but there’s someplace
much closer to watch it – at Timothy O’Toole’s Pub in Chicago, surrounded by
fellow Canadians. The game begins at 5pm CST, so get there early to get a prime
viewing spot. This event is sponsored by the Canadian Club of Chicago. Canadian
beer (and other beverages) will be available for purchase, and there will be
appetizers and door prizes. This is a great event to bring your husband to!
(I’ll be looking to my Saskatchewan Roughriders to make a repeat appearance, and
take home the Cup again!)
If
you’re looking for Christmas gift ideas with a Canadian twist, I have a
suggestion. HASBRO has recently released a new edition of Monopoly – “MONOPOLY
Here & Now: The World Edition”. Montreal plays a starring role as the most
expensive property on the Board! It, and the other 21 cities, was chosen in a
poll of 5.6 million Monopoly fans.
- Michelle Gillis, President
Newsletter
Deadline
The deadline for submitting articles to be included in the December newsletter
is November19, 2008. All articles should be submitted to Jan Dengis. Please put
CWC on the subject line. Any questions, please call Jan.
MEMBER NEWS
Birthday wishes for November go to:
Rita Burrows, November 1st / Shay Burgess, November 4th / Cristina J, November
20th / Elsa Bruining and Catherine Robertson, November 22nd.
(Withheld) has been in touch by email with former CWC member Kathy Giedt whose
son, Tyler, had surgery two weeks ago and continues to be hospitalized. Kathy
requests our prayers for his recovery.
Membership
Report
You should now all have your 2008-09 Handbook & Directory. We now have 69
members. Let me know if you have not received your directory or if you need to
make any corrections to your personal information.
- Janet Walker, 2008-09 Membership Chair
MARK YOUR
CALENDAR
Canadian Event Calendar
 |
Tuesday, November 4, 8:00 pm, Celine Dion at the United Center
|
|
|
Friday, November 7, 6:00 pm, Louise Arbour: Doris Conant Lecture on Women and
Culture, recent UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Thorne Auditorium,
375 E. Chicago Ave.
|
|
|
Saturday, November 8, 10:00 am, Christmas Tree decorating at the Museum of
Science and Industry
|
|
|
Saturday, November 8, 8:00 pm, Rik Emmett, formerly of the rock band Triumph, at
the Hemmens Cultural Center, 150 Dexter Court, Elgin
|
|
|
Sunday, November 9, 7:00 pm, East Village Opera Company concert at the McAninch
Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
|
|
|
Sunday, November 9, 6:00 pm, Calgary Flames vs. Chicago Blackhawks at the United
Center
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 11, Remembrance Day in Canada, Veterans’ Day in the U.S.
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 11, 7:00 pm, Mon Oncle Antoine, a film at Alliance Francaise
of Chicago, 54 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago
|
|
|
Thursday November 13, 7:30 pm, Jesse Cook, concert guitarist at the Morse
Theatre, 1328 Morse Avenue, Chicago
|
|
|
Sunday, November 16, 10:30 am, In the Land of the Headhunters, a 1914 silent
film at The Field Museum, 1200 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
|
|
|
Sunday, November 23, 4pm to 9pm, Watch the Grey Cup @ O’Tooles, 622 North
Fairbanks Court, Chicago
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 25, 7:00 pm, Manitoba Moose vs. Chicago Wolves at the Allstate
Arena
|
|
|
Thursday, December 4, 7:30 pm, Leahy Family Christmas at the Menker Theatre,
Palos Hills
|
To find out more about these events search the websites
www.canadianclubofchicago.org or www.cwcchicago.com.
CANADIAN
NEWS
Election
On October 14th, Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party was re-elected. Although it
did not win a majority, the Party did secure a stronger minority.
As Canadian ex-pats and all, we all marvel at how Canadian elections are held so
quickly and efficiently. The election was called on September 7, the election
was October 14, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed a new federal Cabinet on
October 30 and Parliament will resume sitting November 8.
Health
A Canadian woman, Dr. Dana Hanson, has been elected president of the World
Medical Association for 2009-2010. Dr. Hanson is a dermatologist in Fredericton,
New Brunswick, and served as president of the Canadian Medical Association in
2002. She has become the first Canadian woman and the second Canadian person in
40 years, to be elected president of the WMA.
The Poppies of Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day (or something comparable) is celebrated all over the world to
commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in
times of war. (In the United States, of course, it’s called Veterans’ Day). The
date November 11 was chosen to recall the end of World War I in 1918. The
Canadian national ceremony is held in Ottawa at the National War Memorial.
Wreaths are laid at the base, including one by the Silver Cross Mother, the most
recent recipient of the Memorial Cross, on behalf of all mothers who lost
children in any of Canada's armed conflicts. Similar ceremonies are held all
across the country.
An important symbol of Remembrance Day is the red poppy, thanks to a famous
Canadian poem, “In Flanders Fields”. Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel
John McCrae wrote it on May 3, 1915, after he witnessed the death of his friend,
Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, the day before. He scrawled it on a scrap of paper on
the back of his Colonel, during a lull in the bombings. Poppies bloomed across
some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, and their red colour
symbolizes the bloodshed of trench warfare. Sadly, McCrae died of pneumonia in
France on 28 January 1918. He was 45 years old.
Many Canadians wear a poppy during the weeks prior to November 11. Shortly after
the end of WWI, a Frenchwoman introduced the widely used artificial poppies
given out today. From 1922 to 1996, poppies in Canada were made by disabled
veterans, but since then the Royal Canadian Legion has been responsible for the
poppies and hired a private contractor to produce them. They consist of two
pieces with a pin to attach them to clothing. The head portion of the pin is
bent at an angle in a simple but unusual design. The center is now black felt,
but for many years it was both black and green (two small concentric circles
made of felt - the outer was green and the inner was black). Some people wear
white poppies, symbolizing a wish for peaceful alternatives to military action.
Most Canadians know the words of “In Flanders Fields” by heart – it’s one of the
best-known and best-loved poems in Canada. A portion of the poem is printed on
the new Canadian $10 notes, along with images of poppies, doves, the National
War Memorial, a soldier, a veteran and two children.
In
Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We
are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
-John McCrae
CLUB NEWS
Christmas Tree
The Canadian Christmas tree decorating at the Museum of Science and Industry for
“The Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light Exhibit” is on Saturday,
November 8, at 10:00 am. For more information, please contact Christmas
tree chair, Elsa Bruining, or (name withheld).
Book Club Report - Sisters in the
Wilderness
On October 8, during a dark autumn morning, ten members gathered around a cup of
coffee and sweets in (withheld)’s house for the first Book Club meeting of
the season. (withheld)’s proverbial hospitality brought sunny colours to the lively
conversation about Charlotte Gray’s book, Sisters in the Wilderness, the
Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill.
Some members, especially those who lived in Ontario, knew about the author and
had heard about the pioneer sisters, Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Trail,
before reading the book. Others, including me, were not aware of the celebrity
of the author and her two heroines. In all cases, we very much enjoyed this book
that reads like an exciting novel and we learned a lot. First, about the English
genteel society that the two sisters and their husbands left in 1832. Then, we
were amazed by the extreme conditions of the voyages between Europe and America
at that time of extensive immigration. For instance, the small ship that brought
the Moodies took five weeks to reach the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, where it
was then stuck in dense fog for three more long weeks.
But, most of all, the author’s description of the precarious life in the colony
that awaited the unprepared newcomers is very acute. In the backwoods of the
Peterborough region, extreme poverty and starvation were the daily fate of the
two growing families, each year or so bringing a new mouth to feed in each of
their log cabins. Miraculously, Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill found
the courage and time to write about their lives and to find publishers.
Unfortunately, copyright did not mean much in the 1850s and the publishers made
more money than the isolated authors. Needless to say, we strongly recommend
this book if you want to know more about the lives of pioneer women and how our
Canadian country took shape.
This very enjoyable discussion came to a conclusion when (withheld) served a
delicious lunch completed by Jan’s famous fresh fruit cobbler
- Lucie Dumas
Book Club – Coming Up
We read a variety of books and are delighted to have new members. Discussions
usually last one hour and often continue through lunch. We share impressions of
the book and subject matter and occasionally drift into other topics. We combine
education with enjoyment.
Our
next meeting is at Sheila Chin's home in February, the date to be announced
later. We choose, HEART MATTERS, a memoir, by Adrienne Clarkson for our winter
selection.
- (withheld)
Play Reading
On October 21st, Jan, Sheila, Jackie and (withheld) enjoyed an evening, at the Biograph Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, listening to a staged reading of a
work in progress, Mrs. Dexter and her Daily, by Canadian playwright,
Joanna McClelland Glass.
Deanna Dunagan read “Mrs. Dexter” (she is leaving shortly for London and The
National, with AUGUST, OSAGE COUNTY) and Peggy Roeder read "The Daily", the
maid, also named Peggy.
The play is set in Rosedale, an upscale neighbourhood of Toronto. As one would
expect there are many, many Canadian references, including the iconic product
placement and repeated drinking of Canadian Club.
Joanna says that there will be two or three productions guaranteed in Canada and
is hoping that the play will be produced in Chicago, possibly by Victory
Gardens.
Joanna’s play Palmer Park was part of the Stratford Festival season this past
summer.
|
........
