by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — Three bears, each with their own blanket and a book, will be used to comfort children during a tragedy when the Cobden Station of the Whitewater Fire Department responds to an emergency call.
The book, Quincy and His Quilt, A Northern Adventure, was published in 2005 as part of the Quilts, Quills and Bears show hosted by the provincial Women’s Institute organization. Explaining the name of the show, Christine Reaburn of the Zion Line Beachburg Women’s Institute said the quilts were made, the quills was the book and the bears were to be donated to the police.
“Everybody who came to the show brought a bear and it went into a police cruiser,” she said. “Over 3,000 bears were donated. We needed more than one police cruiser.”
Recently, it was discovered there were still books left from the event and every district of the Women’s Institute received books, Ms. Reaburn said.
There are five branches of the Women’s Institute in North Renfrew, so each was provided with one, said Ms. Reaburn.
A suggestion from the provincial organization was the books be donated to a children’s hospital, police or fire department, she said.
“We decided on fire,” she said.
The groups had to each make a bear and blanket to go with the book.
Last Friday, members from each of the three local Women’s Institutes – Foresters Falls; Zion Line Beachburg, and Queens Line – met with Whitewater Region Fire Chief Wayne Heubner and presented him with the three sets.
“We decided to donate on the 119th anniversary of the Women’s Institute,” Ms. Reaburn said, adding, “The Women’s Institute started on February 19, 1897.”
Ms. Reaburn said the other two Women’s Institutes in North Renfrew are in Laurentian Valley and will make a similar presentation to that fire department.
