Montana Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE) State Convention Held Sept. 25

Montana Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE) met in Great Falls on September 25 from areas around the state for their annual Sate Convention. Reports were given on their projects of calendars, with children’s ideas of farming, and free maps of Montana to be distributed around the state to travelers, hunters, and others who stop and ask directions, along with a grant to help pay expenses.

WIFE is a non-partisan organization of farm and ranch women who work on issues affecting agriculture and their production of safe food. Issues discussed were free-roaming Bison; the closure due to tough regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency of the coal-fired power plant at Billings producing electricity; the huge, devastating fires around Montana this year and the carbon they released into the air; the Border Patrol trying to protect our United States’ borders, especially the southern border through Wilderness Areas, not only from illegal aliens but now from strong drug cartels, and how our food production is being totally misrepresented by extreme environmentalists who have media attention to make us seem as though we do not care for our animals and land; among other issues.

Several resolutions were passed and will be taken to the National WIFE Convention in November.

Elections of officers for 2013 were held and those elected were: President, Linda Newman; Vice-president, Mary Ann Murray; Secretary, Cathy Schaeffer; Treasurer, Gladys Walling; Sergeant-at-arms, Nancy Skinner; and Area Directors, Pat Torgerson, Phyllis Hoskin, and Barbara Broberg.

Presentations were made to out-going President Doreen Gillespie and retiring Treasurer Constance Cain. Constance Cain was also presented with the Golden Pitchfork Award for her outstanding service during the past year.

We were privileged to have Mary Schuler and Alice Parker, former National WIFE Presidents, attend our meeting.

Most of the members present planned to attend the Women Stepping Forward for Agriculture Symposium held in Great Falls the next two days with wonderful speakers addressing interests of agriculture.

 

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