History of CFUW-South Delta discovered in an Afternoon at the Delta Archives by A.S.
The first meeting of interested women was held on May 2nd, 1966 at the home of Mrs. J.H. From that, a club of 10 founding members was formed. (The least number needed to form a club). The charter was received Oct.1/66 at the National Conference in Kelowna. The first meeting of the University Women’s Club of Delta was held on the 4th Tuesday of Oct/66. In the early days, the meetings were held in member’s homes.
It is interesting, all correspondence and newspaper items refer to the women by their husband’s first name. e.g. Mrs John H. is the founding President. Mrs Barrie H. is the founding Vice-Pres. Then in about 1973 the women are called by their own names, e.g. Mrs. Susie H. In the 1980’s, I noticed just the woman’s name, e.g. Susie H.
The officers of the club are the same now as on formation except I don’t think that we have a Federation Representative any more.
I think $5.00 were the dues in 1966. That does not seem possible and may have been a mistake on the form.
In 1997 I note the name change to CFUW South Delta for the club. 1986 53 members Dues $25.00 $10.00 to National 1987 56 members Dues $25.00 $15.00 to National 1991 51 members Dues $35.00 $20.00 to National 1992 54 members Dues $35.00 $37.00 to National 1993 56 members Dues $37.00 $22.00 to National
CFUW has given bursaries in the community since the late 1970’s. In 1986 there were 2 bursaries to young women graduating from SDSS and DSS and going on to post secondary. One to each school @ $300.00
I remember the first bursaries were $50.00 each but not for long. However, there is no official record of that.
The first bursaries were financed by a lecture series. Six lectures for $7.50, given in conjunction with Douglas College. The first series in 1972 was on The Republic of China. In 1973 the topic was Discovering One’s Self. The series were held in the Public Library in Tsawwassen, now called the Longhouse for local artists. In 1973, the series was held in the library of the Tsawwassen Junior Secondary School, demolished for houses a number of years ago. Lecture series were a lot of work in the days before e-mails. They raised very little money, but a few people in the community seemed to enjoy them as well as support the idea. In the mid 1970’s we began organizing book sales to raise money. They were very successful. The first one raised $473.00. I am not sure when we held the last one. I would guess around 2000. I believe that one raised about $7000.00. They also were a lot of work, however more of the community joined the project.
When book sales became too onerous for the membership, we turned to art sales and a concert to raise money. They also take much organizing and work for a few people, but not the heavy lifting of books.
Back to the archives: In 1967 Mrs. Robert Orange (Margaret) was elected Nat’l Pres. Her motto “participate or perish”!
In 1969, the theme of the National conference was Seeking International Co-operation. The IFUW was mentioned more in clippings.
Also in 1969 the Provincial Conference was hosted by White Rock and South Delta did the hospitality for it. The themes could be out of a meeting today: Low Income Groups; Community Problems; Mature Student Aid; Responsibility of the Media in the Field of Human Rights.
In 1972, the regional conference topic was Education, Every Woman’s Business.
Interest groups are a bit part of any club. There is mention of some of the groups. Gourmet is newest group, Bridge, Travel, Theatre, (not sure if still existing) Opera at the Met, viewed at a local cinema.
CFUW South Delta used to go on outings for the May meeting. However interests and so forth have made that more difficult.
Also in the archives in the scrapbook is an outline of how the meetings should be run. It is titled “ Parliamentary Procedures. (Orderly Conduct of Meetings.)