IODE LAURENTIAN
  • Welcome
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Overview
    • Our Funding Recipients
    • Our Sponsors
    • Road Trip & e-Scavenger Hunt
    • Previous House & Garden Tours >
      • 2019 58th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2018 57th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2017 56th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2016 55th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2015 54th Annual House & Garden Tour
    • Gananoque Lunch & Theatre Day Trips
    • Great IODE Garage & Bake Sale
    • Linden House Theatre Benefit Night
    • Every Member Counts
  • Testimonials
  • Members
    • President’s Message
    • Calendar of Events
    • 2021-22 Executive & Officers
    • By-Laws
    • Policies
  • Join
  • Contact Us

Welcome to IODE Laurentian

Serving Ottawa since 1906

Latest News

JANUARY 2020 We’re famous!!!
Holy Cow! IODE Laurentian has a feature article in Ottawa Life magazine!!! Read all about our proud history: https://www.ottawalife.com/article/continuing-a-legacy-113-years-at-iode-laurentian-chapter?c=85&fbclid=IwAR1qqmBPEEf4-JnTL4_QgGuHXpdQb7DoN5AD9YesZvvx856KDraSE8jpt4o
DECEMBER 2019 Christmas Party
A lovely party — it’s always fun to catch up with former members and to take time to salute the volunteers who come out to help with our Garage Sale and House & Garden Tour. We couldn’t do it without you!
NOVEMBER 2019 Another sad loss
Another sold-out performance at our IODE Laurentian / Linden House Theatre Benefit Night! The performance of the Savannah Sipping Society was greatly enjoyed — along with our members’ fabulous reception. Thanks to Sharen Findlay and team for organizing!

We were so sad about the passing of Cindy Sezlik, a Chapter member and Linden House supporter this month. She will be missed. #cindylived.
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OCTOBER 2019: Helping Youville Centre and Their Young Moms
We were very excited to fulfil our promise to donate funds raised from our 58th House and Garden Tour to Youville Centre to help them purchase new cribs for the babies that are in their care while the babies’ young mothers continue their education. The $7,000 cheque was not the only thing that Bev MacKillop and Alison Holmes took back to Youville Centre as Bev won the cake raffle too!
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SEPTEMBER 17 2019
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We were so sad to lose our long-time member, the wonderful Ruth Weir, on September 17.

Ruth had a wonderful sense of humour and a wry wit and her unique way of seeing the world will be greatly missed. She had a very special place in her heart for her daughter's dog Crosby, who brought her tremendous joy. She loved watching sports, especially football and hockey. She also loved gardening and created beautiful flower arrangements that showcased her artistic side. She enjoyed telling stories and watching movies and sharing her experiences with those who loved her.

Ruth had a lifelong interest in helping others and building community. Ruth was our Membership Officer from 1978 to 1980 and from 2007 to 2008, our Echos Secretary from 1982 to 1989 and Communications Secretary from 1991 to 2001. Ruth was due to receive her Ontario Volunteer Award on October 17th, we are pleased to hear that her daughter, Debbie, will receive it on her behalf. Before joining IODE Laurentian in 1976, Ruth was a member of IODE Flying Officer Austin Wright (Chatham ON) in 1959.
SEPTEMBER 2019: HUGE Garage Sale + A New Member
We were very excited to welcome another new member, Catherine Strevens-Bourque who immediately made 40 new best friends by offering to make sandwiches for our cafe at the Great New Edinburgh Garage and Bake Sale.

Speaking of which, the Sale brought in a record $5000 this year! Congratulations to Elanor Brodie, Jeannette Maule, Anne Collett and all our members and friends whose tireless efforts made this milestone possible.

Left to right: Cheryl Dudley, Catherine Strevens-Bourque, Janet Stratton
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JUNE 2019: A Special Evening Supper Meeting
Another House & Garden Tour done — with a big thanks to the homeowners, ad purchasers, retailers, volunteers, and members who made it happen! We took time this month to hold an evening supper meeting for members who can’t make to daytime weekday gatherings. And we welcomed two guests: Mira Olah & Danielle Takacs.
MAY 2019: Countdown to the House & Garden Tour
Yikes — how does this all manage to come together every year?!
APRIL 2019: And the beat goes on...
Nominations were put forward for our focus recipient for 2020. So many worthy potential recipients.
MARCH 2019: A Visit to the Youville Centre and Another New Member
We held our March meeting at the Youville Centre, the focus recipient of this year’s House & Garden Tour and we were treated to a tour of their wonderful facilities.

We were also very pleased to welcome Marian McLennan as a new member!

Photo (l-r): Marian McLennan, Janet Stratton, Nancy Hooper
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FEBRUARY 2019: Our Annual General Meeting
It was a day of celebrations. The very deserving Muriel Thorne and Nancy Hooper each were honoured with IODE Laurentian Life Membership Pins. Jeannette Maule was feted with her 30-yr IODE Laurentian Membership Certificate and Lee Smith received her 25-yr Anniversary Pin.

And then Valerie Blais presented the chapter’s annual report. We raised a whopping $30,000, contributed a further $30,000 of in kind donations and added 10,000 hours to the volunteer economy.

Not bad, eh? Great work everyone!
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Above: Nancy Hooper with Janet Stratton

Right: Jeannette Maule and Muriel Thorne
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JANUARY 2019: Happy New Year!
It’s annual report writing time. Sigh.
DECEMBER 2018: Another Amazing Year — Congratulations, Everyone!
For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again was a great night at Linden House. And thanks to Sheila Collins for organizing our Christmas Party.
NOVEMBER 2018: One Event to Go and Another New Member!
We were so proud to welcome Binda Amorim as a new member at our November meeting, as we also get ready for our last event of the year: our fabulous reception and benefit night in partnership with the Linden House Theatre Company. Those amazing cheese biscuits. Caviar sprinkled deviled eggs. We’re drooling already.
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Left to Right: Valerie Blais, Binda Amorim, Janet Stratton
OCTOBER 2018: Youville Centre

We were very interested to hear from representatives of the Youville Centre who came to our meeting to talk about the amazing work they do with young pregnant women in the Ottawa region.

We are very proud that this organization will be a focus recipient of the funds raised from our 2019 House & Garden Tour.
SEPTEMBER 2018: Two New Members!
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Morna Paterson with Laura Young

We were delighted to welcome two new members to our fold at our September General Meeting. Say hi to Laura Young and Deb Shortt.

We have almost a sold-out bus for this year’s Gananoque Day Trip and preparations are well underway for the Great New Edinburgh Garage and Bake Sale.
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Deb Shortt with Susan Lillico
Another wonderful moment happened during our meeting when we were able to present a cheque to a very delighted Savanna Shiavo of Ottawa’s Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa — in an amount $2000 more than she expected — thanks to our successful House & Garden Tour.

Pictured: Savanna Shiavo (YSB), Janet Stratton (President, IODE Laurentian) and Janet Kiff-Macaluso (Services Officer, IODE Laurentian)
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SUMMER 2018: A Sad, Sad Loss
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We were so sad to lose Lenore Hoar on July 26, a twenty-year member of our chapter and early childhood educator who was passionate about the importance of literacy to disadvantaged children.

Lenore was critical to choosing and sourcing reading materials for our adopted classroms in Cat Lake and for the Banff Avenue Summer Program.

We will all miss her energy and commitment.
JUNE 2018: We Tied Nationally (and Provincially) for First Place for the Most New Members in 2017!!!
Congratulations, everyone! We held our final meeting before our summer break at Banff Avenue Community House. Thanks to Sylvie Manser, BACH’s Executive Director, for hosting us: it was great to see the wonderful work you do up close. And thanks to Sheila Collins for organizing our summer luncheon at the Mandarin.

Now on to the Great New Edinburgh Garage Sale.
MAY 2018: Yet Another Successful House & Garden Tour — We Made $15,000!
We did it — our 57th House & Garden Tour was a great success. Fabulous homes. Wonderful homeowners. Flawless logistics. Scrumptious baking. All those preserves!

A big thank you to the amazing home owners, all the members who pitched in, all the volunteers who staffed the houses, and, especially, to everyone who bought tickets and ads. We more than met our target to buy mattresses for homeless youth served by Ottawa’s Youth Services Bureau.
APRIL 2018: Let the Baking Begin!
The House & Garden Tour tickets are printed and look fabulous! We’re getting great coverage in the community newspapers and The Ottawa Citizen is doing a feature article. The Team Captains have been briefed and received their bags.

Now, we just need to get baking for the sale during the Tour. Fire up those ovens!
MARCH 2018: Counting Down to the House and Garden Tour
It’s crunch time! We’re scrambling to get all our ads wrapped up in time to print the House and Garden Tour Program. House write-ups are almost finished, house captains are assigned, and volunteers are being lined up.

We’re in great shape!
FEBRUARY 2018: Our Annual General Meeting
Our Recording Secretary, Valerie Blais, was proud to report on our outcomes in 2017. We:

  • granted $11,455 to local organizations
  • donated $30,015 of new and used items
  • volunteered 6,842 hours
Congratulations to all our members!

President Janet Stratton recognized the following achievements:
  • Jo Brodie - Primary Life Member
  • Susan Sibbit - 30th Anniversary Certificate
  • Pennie Younger - 25th Anniversary Pin
  • Valerie Blais - 20th Anniversary Certificate
  • Elizabeth Dale-Harris - 20th Anniversary Certificate
  • Elanor Brodie - 20th Anniversary Certificate
  • Janet Kiff-Macaluso - 10th Anniversary Pin
  • Cindy Sezlik - 10th Anniversary Pin
  • Sarie Mai - 10th Anniversary Pin
  • Janet Uren - 10th Anniversary Pin
  • Kathy Woods - 10th Anniversary Pin
DECEMBER 2018: Annual Christmas Party
Along with the wine and nibbles and laughs and giggles, we were very proud to award a 50th Anniversary Pin to Eve Hampson.

We were equally excited to welcome Katie Burke as a new member. Katie is fifth generation IODE. Her great-great grandmother, Flora Trick, was a member of IODE Moose Jaw and IODE Toronto; her great-grandmother, Marjorie Smart, was Regent of IODE Canada; her grandmother, Charlene Sibbit, and mother, Susan Sibbit, are valued members of IODE Laurentian.

Congratulations, Eve! Welcome, Katie!
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Eve Hampson (with daughter and fellow member Bea Hampson)
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Katie Burke, with mom, Susan Sibbit, and grandmother, Charlene Sibbit
NOVEMBER 2017: Another Successful Linden House Benefit Night
We had a great night at our final fundraiser of the year. Enchanted April was a charming play and (thanks to Jeannette Maule), we had a sold out audience!!
OCTOBER 2017: Two more new members!!
We just keep growing! President Janet Stratton was pleased to swear in two more new members:
  • Sharen Findlay
  • Dorothy Stanyar
Welcome Sharen and Dorothy!

Pictured L-R: Sharen Findlay, Janet Stratton, Marion Craig, Dorothy Stanyar, Marilyn Patrick, Valerie Blais
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SEPTEMBER 2017: Great New Edinburgh Garage & Bake Sale - nailed it!
As far as the eye could see, so so so much stuff! Thanks to everyone who donated and to our host of hardworking volunteers!


Pictured L-R: Bea Hampson, Janet Stratton, Cheryl Dudley, Elanor Brodie
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  • Welcome
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Overview
    • Our Funding Recipients
    • Our Sponsors
    • Road Trip & e-Scavenger Hunt
    • Previous House & Garden Tours >
      • 2019 58th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2018 57th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2017 56th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2016 55th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2015 54th Annual House & Garden Tour
    • Gananoque Lunch & Theatre Day Trips
    • Great IODE Garage & Bake Sale
    • Linden House Theatre Benefit Night
    • Every Member Counts
  • Testimonials
  • Members
    • President’s Message
    • Calendar of Events
    • 2021-22 Executive & Officers
    • By-Laws
    • Policies
  • Join
  • Contact Us