Erland Lee Awards of Appreciation
Erland Lee was known as a forward-thinking farmer who believed that education could solve many of the problems faced by rural families. As a means of providing farm wives with an opportunity to better themselves, he invited Adelaide Hoodless to speak to the women attending a Farmers’ Institutes meeting at Stony Creek. Her inspirational talk led local women to form the first Women’s Institutes club. Lee and his wife, Janet, drew up its constitution.
It is said that Erland Lee lent women his voice, position, power, influence and contacts in an era when women’s public voice was silent and access to formal education was limited.
In recognition of the assistance men have given to the Women’s Institutes, the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada (FWIC) provides a yearly award in each of Canada’s ten provinces to a man who best exemplifies the qualities of Erland Lee.
Alberta Women’s Institutes Award Recipients
Norrie Cunningham 2007
Melville (Mel) Younker - 2006
Grant Bird – 2005
Roy. L. Brown – 2003
Harold Pearson – 2002
Joseph C. Rowe – 2001
Harold J. Fox – 2000
John McDonald – 1999
Don Towers – 1993
George McMillan – 1991