​South Bruce retired women teachers welcome holiday season with colleagues and caring

What better way to usher in the holiday season than with a festive meal shared with old friends and former colleagues?

More than two dozen members and guests of the South Bruce Retired Women Teachers of Ontario/Organization des enseignantes retraitées de l’Ontario (RWTO/OERO) gathered at the Kincardine United Church, Wednesday, for lunch, to share good memories with each other, to share good fortune with the wider community and to learn about the important fund-raising work of the Kincardine and Community Health Care Foundation.

South Bruce branch president Jo Ann Ruetz welcomed new member Nancy Boyer with a rose and RWTO pin.

She distributed sign-up sheets for a variety of potential interest groups to afford members more opportunities to socialize casually, and updated information on provincial and area gatherings in 2026.

Carole Machan and Frances Nixon shared their biographies with highlights of their lives before, during and after, teaching. Members were urged to submit their life stories to share at future meetings.

Ruetz then introduced Francesca Dobbyn, executive director of the United Way of Bruce Grey, and presented her with a donation of $670 on behalf of the South Bruce members.

In thanking the group, Dobbyn talked about the positive impact on children and families when they receive backpacks of school supplies in September. More than 2,300 school kits were distributed in 2025.

She also spoke about OSHaRE, a non-profit community organization in Owen Sound, serving meals for those in need. In October, alone, the group served 33,000 meals.

Following a delicious meal of roast turkey with all the trimmings, provided by Karen McLelland-Seal and her cheery kitchen crew, it was time to introduce more guests.

Carol Collins and Graham Mahood of the Kincardine and Community Health Care Foundation, gave an eye-opening presentation on the organization’s fund-raising work. Several South Bruce RWTO members also belong to the Kincardine Hospital Auxiliary and the membership, in general, was aware of the great fund-raising partnership among the hospital auxiliary, the foundation and the Clothes Hamper Thrift Store.

What many members did not know is that provincial funding for hospitals does not include money for all equipment, furnishings, lab and diagnostic tools. They were surprised to see the extensive list of medical equipment funded by local community partners in the past 10 years.

The most recent big ticket item was the CT scanner which went live, March, 2023, and performed 3,345 scans in its first year.

The current fund-raising goal of $18-million over five years is divided among three major capital projects: hospital redevelopment and expansion, the CT scanner and an MRI.

The redevelopment plans include updating infrastructure, rooms and equipment, and expanding and modernizing the emergency room facilities, among others.

Collins and Mahood answered many questions from the audience and distributed brochures for future reference.

The meeting ended with draws for door prizes and a raffle.

The South Bruce RWTO/OERO Branch will meet next in the spring. Details will be posted on the rwto.org website on the branch’s page: rwto.org/branch-new/south-bruce/ under Coming Events.

The South Bruce Branch of the Retired Women Teachers of Ontario welcomes any retired women teachers, audiologists, child and youth workers/counsellors, early childhood educators, educational assistants, office support staff, psychologists, social workers and speech and language pathologists, living in southern Bruce County. Contact information can be found by visiting the previously-mentioned web page.