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Welcome to the AIMS Web Site |
The Amherst Island Men's Society (AIMS) was organized on Saturday, June 2, 2001, to enable men living here work together to make their unique island community an even better place in which to live, and to get to know each other better in the process.
More than 100 island men from a broad spectrum of the population were invited to the first breakfast meeting in St. Paul's Presbyterian Church Hall and 39 of them showed up. They agreed on a few basic principles, and joined the new group. At that first meeting they decided the group should be called Amherst Island Men, or AIM.
It wasn't until the next monthly meeting on July 7 that the name was changed to the Amherst Island Men's Society, or AIMS, to avoid any chance of confusion with the militant American Indian Movement. And later that summer it was decided that the monthly breakfast meetings would be held the second Saturday of every month.
A letter had been sent to prospective members before the first meeting noting: "There seems to be a general feeling that the club should be open to all adult island males, not just those who are retired or semi-retired. It is understood that men who are still earning a living may not have as much time to devote to the organization as those of us who are no longer working, but most seem to agree that their participation is desirable anyway. "One of the main reasons for having such a club, quite apart from doing public-spirited things for Amherst Island, is to fill a social void. The island has many formal and informal women's groups, but there are few, if any, active organizations for men. "It is with this in mind that breakfast meetings have been suggested, perhaps on a monthly basis, at which we would discuss various service projects for the island, and perhaps now and then hear interesting speakers."
And so it turned out. Our first monthly speakers were all members, asked to tell the group what had brought them to Amherst Island, or if they were born here, what had caused them to stay. We learned a lot about each other that way -- our strengths, our foibles, and whether or not we could laugh at ourselves.
We also learned that some of us were good cooks and some of us were not, and concluded very early that we'd be willing to pay more for breakfasts cooked by island women and girls from groups anxious to make money for whatever worthwhile projects they cared to support.
And we launched a variety of our own projects, most of them designed in some way or other to assist the elderly and school children, and people down on their luck. But improving the appearance and enriching the cultural life of our island community has also been a priority. We do no limit ourselves to AIMS projects alone, but are always ready to offer financial support to projects initiated by organizations like the Women's Institute, the recreation committee, and the school.
Early on AIMS formed a transportation committee to help those who couldn't drive themselves to get to doctor's appointments on the mainland, pick up prescriptions or do other errands. A manual labour committee was also established to help with yard work and home repairs for people who couldn't manage these things for themselves. To relieve stressed caregivers for those ill or elderly, a home care committee was set up to sit with the elderly or physically challenged, and, if needed, to supply cooked meals. There is no charge for any of these services, but donations are welcomed for AIMS charitable work from those able to give.
When it was suggested that the island needed a museum, to preserve island artifacts, fast vanishing into the pick-up trucks of enterprising antique dealers, the idea was taken up enthusiastically by the membership and an intensive organizing and fund-raising campaign was launched to secure and refurbish the historic old Nielsen Store as a site.
The drive for a museum became AIMS' major preoccupation until Loyalist Township, which owned the Nielsen Store, agreed to let us use it for the museum project. The pursuit of cultural grants from the federal government and the provincial Trillium Foundation became so far advanced that setting up the Nielsen Store and Cultural Centre as a separate organization became necessary.
The Museum has been opened, to widespread acclaim, but it is still a work in progress, and although AIMS is not responsible as an organization, many of its members continue to serve on the Museum board and its committees, and help with fund-raising. The museum building also houses the Weasel and Easel, a gallery for local painters, photographers, potters, weavers, jewelry makers and work workers.
From the beginning, AIMS members have helped clean-up roadsides and ditches each springs. The membership has also taken an active interest in the removal of aging trees from the roadsides for reasons of safety and to facilitate snow clearance. AIMS has now embarked on a roadside tree replacement project, offering trees to private landowners for planting just outside township road allowances. Also for aesthetic reasons, AIMS has supplied brackets and pots of flowers for hanging on hydro poles throughout the village of Stella. Members have also made themselves responsible for keeping the flowers fed and watered through the heat of summer.
One of the most valuable contributions AIMS has made to the life of the Community is the regular Saturday morning summer market on the Main Street of the village, where AIMS members sell various recyclable items from a "flea market" wagon, and members of the community sell baking, preserves and other food products, garden produce in season, home crafts, and even fleeces and wool blankets. The Women's Institute has helped make the market a successful weekly event and a gathering place for islanders by selling fresh coffee and muffins from 9 a.m. to noon every week the market is operating. As many come to the market to meet and talk with their neighbours as those who come with a purchase in mind.
Not the least of AIMS accomplishments has been to bring many of the men of the island community together. There is nothing like working shoulder to shoulder on useful projects to get to know fellow islanders and knit the community ever closer together. In just five years, AIMS has managed to make some changes that most would agree are for the better.
From 2003-2004
From 2004-2005
From 2005-2006
From 2006-2007