Contact II-Template.qxd - Kemptville Campus

Spring 2010
Official
publication
of the Kemptville
College Alumni
Pro Bono Agri Colae
For the Good of Agriculture
food • life • leadership
l’alimentation • la vie • le savior
3626490
Kemptville College, University of Guelph, Kemptville, Ontario, K0G 1J0 www.kemptvillec.uoguelph.ca
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INDEX
3
11
13
19
20
36
37
42
43
45
45
47
52
54
56
Our Students
College Royal
Staff Updates
Canada Day
On Campus
Fundraising Campaign
KC Foundation
Dairy Barn Update
Cover photo
courtesy of
Trevor De Vries
In Memoriams
President’s Message
We Get Letters
Alumni Notes
Alumni Reunion Registration Form
Alumni Profiles
2010 Alumni Weekend Schedule
CONTACT II
The place to find information about other
Kemptville College alumni.
Keep up-to-date on college events and
changes.
Check out our easy-to-read
magazine format.
Volume 31
Spring 2010
CONTACT II is published by the Kemptville
College Alumni and Kemptville Campus
of University of Guelph
“Over 4,000 destinations”
Advertise your business and
reap the rewards:
Editor:
Heather Stewart
Full page - $250
Half page - $150
Quarter page - $75
Business card - $25
Contact:
Treasurer Doug Dulmage
[email protected]
Contributors:
Alumni and Staff
Heather Stewart
613-258-8336, Ext. 61379
Published by the Winchester Press
•2•
OUR STUDENTS
2009 Royal Jersey Ambassador - Melissa Sager, Grad 2010
By Ryan Barrett, Publications Editor,
Jersey Canada
Melissa has been involved with 4-H
for several years and was recently the
he Jersey Canada Youth Commitrecipient of an Ontario Dairy Youth
tee was excited to name Melissa
Scholarship from the Ontario Joint
Sager of Campbellford, Ontario
Dairy Breeds. She also exhibited the
as the 2009 Royal Jersey Ambassador.
Honorable Mention Champion Calf at
Melissa is a passionate promoter of Jerthe 2009 Central Ontario Youth Rally,
seys and ably represented the breed duras well as being named the Grand
ing this year’s Royal Agricultural WinChampion Showperson.
ter Fair in Toronto. Melissa was a
Melissa has also exhibited Jerseys
tremendous helper with a multitude of
at several local Jersey shows and also
tasks and Jersey Canada received a
served as a volunteer for the Hastings
number of glowing compliments on the
County Holstein Twilight meeting held
job she did!
at Avonlea GenetMelissa currently completed her
ics in Brighton.
final year of an Agriculture program at
Our thanks to
the University of Guelph’s Kemptville
Melissa for helpCampus. Growing up with Jerseys on
ing us to promote
her family’s dairy farm, she has also
the breed at the
shown Jerseys for several years in 4-H.
Royal this year
Melissa Sager and Jersey
Melissa notes that Jerseys make great
and best wishes in
4-H project animals due to their docility and size, but is her continuing studies.
also quick to tell others about the many other benefits of
Melissa is the second Royal Jersey
the breed, particularly the breed’s high milk solids con- Ambassador from Kemptville Coltent. Melissa adds that she looks forward to a future in the lege, after Rhonda Kinnear, Grad
Rhonda Kinnear
dairy industry and with the Jersey breed.
2002.
T
Congratulations to Jane Pearl, first-year FN&RM student!
By Liz Forbes
ane is winner of the Ottawa Canadian Association of Foodservice
Professionals (CAFP) Branch bursary of $500. Applicants are selected
on their commitment to the food service industry. They must write an essay
that outlines that commitment.
She also is winner of the ARAMARK Gold Plate Award which pays
for the student’s registration and transportation to the CAFP national conference at Saint John, New Brunswick and
$400. This award will be presented at
the conference.
The winner from the Kemptville
Campus student branch also competes
with 17 college/universities across
Canada for the National Gold Plate
Award which is the “Gold Plate”,
$1,000 and national exposure through a
press release sent to all major “foods”
publications. This usually guarantees
J
Jane Pearl
•3•
them a job when the recipient graduates.
Jane is also the in-coming president
of the Kemptville Campus CAFP student branch which has also earned her
the Leadership award presented by
ARAMARK to all branch presidents.
The national conference will be held
in June and the Kemptville campus
CAFP student branch has raised
enough money to send Chantal Forsyth
and Michelle Storey to join Jane. The
students will have opportunities to meet
food service professionals from all
across Canada, including Chef Michael
Smith. Numerous student development
opportunities exist that will benefit the
students, both in their education and in
the work world.
A number of the FNRM students
applied for CAFP National bursaries
which will be awarded at the conference. Here’s hoping KC will have some
more winners!
OUR STUDENTS
OAC Student Awards
Student Scholarships
Samantha Tapper
Hannah Gaines
OAC Alumni
Bursaries:
Neacolette Pope
Rebecca Balsdon
Chantal Forsyth
Jacob Droogh
Cody Pringle
Jacob Droogh
Congratulations
to Samantha
Tapper and
Cody Pringle for
receiving the
Bachelor of
Bio-Resource
Mgt. (BBRM)
OAC ’49
Entrance
Scholarship
Award.
K
emptville students do it again! Congratulations to the following award recipients
for winning the OAC awards listed
below.
Growmark Inc. & FS Co-operatives - Jacob
Droogh
OAC’43 Gord Bennett Bursary - Chris Hunt
Robert Louis and Helen Shaw Bursary Chantal Forsyth
Ontario Agri-Business Association Bursaries
- Neacolette Pope and Rebecca Balsdon
Ontario Grape Growers - Chris Hunt
Ontario Cattlemen Bursary - Jacob Droogh
‘Hats off’
to our senior
Agriculture
Diploma
Graduate
students,
Hannah Gaines
and Jacob
Droogh for
being selected
by U of G as
Switzer Award
candidates.
Christopher Hunt
Neacolette Pope
Rebecca Baldson
Chantal Forsyth
OAC Scholarships:
Associate Diploma 15th Anniversary
winner is Hannah Gaines
OAC’59A and Ralph Campbell Memorial Leadership winner is Jacob Droogh
Hannah and Jacob were invited to
Guelph to attend the awards reception and
dinner on November 26th with Dr. Paul
Sharpe, Awards Chair.
KC Foundation Entrance Scholarships
CF has awarded its scholarships for the 2009/2010
academic year. The recipients of $500 each term are as follows: Meaghan McKay, BBRM;
Michelle Verbinnen, Ag-Equine
Option; Steven Russell, Heavy
Equipment Coop; Chelsey Fawcett, FN & RM and Eric Donnan,
Agriculture.
See Paul Adam and Carl Fraser Memorial
Scholarships in KCF section
K
Meaghan
McKay
Michelle
Verbinnen
•4•
Steven
Russell
Chelsey
Fawcett
Eric
Donnan
OUR STUDENTS
Alumni Awards
Alumni Association
Gift Awards
by Doug Dulmage
acob Droogh, Steve Vander Wielen
and Cameron Wilson of the 2010 Agriculture Diploma Program are the
recipients of the 2009 Alumni Awards.
They were selected by the Alumni
Awards Committee whose members are
campus staff Spring Williams, Paul Sharpe
and Liz Forbes and Alumni Board members Tony Desnoo, Stephanie Hill-Nicholls
and Ron Burgess.
The next batch of Alumni Awards will
be presented in the fall. All qualifying
applicants must have a family member who
is an Alumnus. Part of their submission is
to explain what the Alumni means and why
it is important to them.
J
Jacob Droogh receiving award from
President Tony Desnoo.
JACOB DROOGH
acob is from North Gower in
Ottawa-Carleton. He is the son of
John (1984 Graduate) and Dianne
Droogh. The Droogh’s operate a 110
cow free stall dairy farm.
Jacob was a member of the Student
Council and was involved with the College Royal over his two years at
Kemptville. Jacob was the 2010 Royal
President. He was also a member of the
“Aggie” club and the Varsity hockey
team. Jacob participated in intramural
sports such as floor hockey.
Off campus Jacob is involved in his
community through 4-H and as a Youth
Leader with his Church.
Following graduation Jacob will be
J
his award is given to one
student in Agriculture,
Agriculture-Equine Option,
Horticulture and Agriculture and
Heavy Equipment Technician
who, in the opinion of their classDavid Oeggerli receiving award
mates, made the greatest contribufrom President Tony Desnoo.
tion to the education,
social and athletic
activities of the class
and the Campus in
junior year.
The winners are
David Oeggerli in
Agriculture, Neacolette Pope in Agriculture-Equine Option
and Justin Code in
Agriculture
and
Heavy Equipment
Neacolette Pope
Justin Code
Technician Program.
T
furthering his education in agriculture by entering the Bachelor of
Applied Science degree program at
Olds College in Olds, Alberta this
fall. He will major in Agri-Business.
Jacob plans to eventually
return home to the family
dairy farm and hopes to look
at some value added diversification for the dairy farm enterprise.
Great Uncle, David Wilson, graduate in
1951-Ag, as well as an Aunt, Lorna Wilson Fyfe graduate from the Food and
Fashion program of the early 1980s.
Please see “Cameron Wilson” on page 8
CAMERON WILSON
ameron is from a farm in
Northumberland County
near Campbellcroft.
Upon graduation Cameron
will become the third generation
of his family to graduate from
Kemptville.
He is the son of James H.
(1978 Ag. Graduate) and Catherine A. Wilson. Cameron’s
Grandparents are both graduates
of KAS, Gordon T. (1954 Ag,
1955 Advanced) and Catherine
G. Wilson (Walford)(Home
Ec.1955). Cameron also had a
C
•5•
Cameron Wilson receiving award from President
Tony Desnoo.
Canada Day 2010
CHANGING LIVES
IMPROVING LIFE
on Kemptville Campus
Be our guest for another fun-filled, music-packed Canada Day!
Clowns, Children’s Activities and Crafts, Guitar Hero Contest, Jack FM Live
on-site, Musical Entertainment, Old Time Games, Prizes, Artisans Corner,
Face Painting, Teddy Bears Picnic, Farmers’ Market, Wagon Rides,
50/50 Draw, BBQ, Beer Tent and so much more!
Volunteer Families needed...
Become a valuable contributor to our community by donating 1 hour or
more on Canada Day. Together we can make this happen!!
To register for your preferred family time slot contact the Canada Day Committee
at 613-258-8336 x 61234
www.kemptvillecampus.ca
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• Meeting Rooms from $30
• Catering to the Venue of Your Choice
• Full Menu Available or Create Your Own
• Professional Bar Services & Much More!
Conference &
Catering Services
613-258-8336 ext. 61234
•6•
CHANGING LIVES
IMPROVING LIFE
CHANGING LIVES
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Wedding &
Social Event
Specialists
Unique Venue... Affordable Prices!
Historic Charm
On & Off-site Catering
Complete Bar Services
Linen and China Included
Professional Black Tie Service
Overnight Accommodations
Picturesque Scenery
Conference & Catering Services
613-258-8336 Ext. 61234 or [email protected]
www.kemptvillecampus.ca
•7•
OUR STUDENTS
Cameron Wilson, continued from page 5
The Wilsons, former dairy farmers
now operate a multi-generational
mixed farm with the marketing of certified organic grains to a Peterborough
bakery, as well as raising local beef,
free range layers and meat birds.
While attending Kemptville Campus, Cameron participated in various
club activities such as the “Aggie” club
and the College Royal.
Off campus Cameron was involved
in various community projects by volunteering with his local home-town
Lions Club.
Following graduation Cameron will
return to Campbellcroft and help his
family run their operation and expand
the organic nature of the business.
STEVE VANDER WIELEN
Steve is from a dairy farm in the
Maxville area. He is the son of Frank
(1983 Graduate) and Chantal
Vander Wielen.
Steve was a member of the
“Aggie” club and was involved in
the College Royal and participated in various intramural sports
such as volleyball and soccer.
Off campus Steve is involved
in his community by being a 4-H
volunteer and volunteering at the
Maxville Fair. Following the
aftermath of hurricane Katrina
Steve volunteered twice with
relief efforts in the State of Mississippi. Steve also plays soccer in
the Glengarry Soccer League
Steve’s plans include working
in the agri-business sector and to
eventually return home to the
family farm. His goals include the
management of a successful dairy
enterprise while incorporating
some diversification options into
the family farm in the future.
Steven Vander Wielen receiving award from
President Tony Desnoo.
Canadian Farm Business Management Council public speaking competitors
hree of our Ag.- Equine Option students competed in the CFBMC Public
Speaking Contest open to agricultural
campuses.
Congratulations to Phyllis McCallum,
Rebecca Ovans and Meagan Battersby for their
five-minute presentations for Excellence
Awards for Agriculture Students.
Meagan spoke about How Do Consumer
Trends Affect Farm Responsibilities and
Styles? Rebecca delivered a talk on Organic
Farming Today, while The Beef Industry and
Consumer Demand was the focus for Phyllis.
T
Phyllis McCallum
Rebecca Ovans
Meagan Battersby
2010 Alumni
Year Reps
Way to go – way to raise!
tudent Travis Greydanus is happy to
report that students have raised
$2,000 for Haiti Relief.
The change drive was a big success raising $335.59, while the Luau Pub raised
$286.77.
A special thanks to the Food Club who
donated $300!!!
Student Council provided the rest by
donating $1077.64.
Thanks to everyone for their donations.
S
ongratulations
to the new
2010 Alumni
Year Reps, graduates
Ali Carpenter from
the Ag-Equine Option
Diploma Program and
Jacob Droogh of the
Agriculture Diploma
Program
C
Year Rep
Ali Carpenter
•8•
Year Rep
Jacob Droogh
OUR STUDENTS
Kemptville Campus
Graduation Day
Friday, May 28, 2010
taff & Faculty of Kemptville
Campus congratulate all graduates of the Class of 2010.
The 2010 Valedictorian is Hannah Gaines with co-Valedictorian
Kelsey Miller.
Did you know?
By Jim Rader
ur students received
$57,000 free accounting
software from Farm Credit Canada (FCC). As we support
their programs, FCC also offered
free software to Profs who want
to try the $400 accounting and/or
the $500 planning program.
About 75 Aggie/Equine/Hort
students received a $400 software
program for accounting, worth
$35,000 with tax. BBRM students received both accounting
and planning programs for their
projects, worth over $1000 each
or $22,000 in total with tax. In
this week’s class, students will
load them on their laptops for
their existing and future use, so
we should have well trained students and the most computer literate students at Guelph.
Facts: over 20,000 farmers are
active users of this program;
AgExpert is the best program in 2
specific areas: namely, to calculate GST and soon HST and to
calculate Agricultural Stability.
The planning version is great
for high value crops, as it keeps
track of pesticides, rotations,
yields, etc for many crops for
years, so is also very valuable for
Horticulture.
O
S
Kelsey Miller
Hannah Gaines
First cohort of BBRM students prepares for 2010
graduation: Kemptville in 2011
new chapter in the history of OAC and the University of Guelph is set to
begin, as the first cohort of students in Canada’s only Bachelor of BioResource Management program prepares to complete the final requirements
for graduation in spring 2010.
“On behalf of OAC, I’m tremendously pleased to offer my congratulations to this
select group of educational pioneers,” said Dean Rob Gordon. “As the first graduating class of a new program with a unique, two-campus delivery approach, these students have already made a significant impact on the broader University of Guelph
community, and will serve as ambassadors for the program for many years to come.”
The four-year honors degree program, which features two years of study at one
of U of G’s regional campuses, followed by two years of study at the Guelph campus, is designed to prepare students for leadership roles in a growing number of biological resource-based industries. It features a unique blend of science and applied
management studies that will give graduates the skills and knowledge required to
address the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Students who will complete the program in 2010 began their studies in the program’s Environmental Management major at the Ridgetown campus in fall 2006. In
2011, the second group of graduates will be joined by their peers in the Equine Management major, who began their studies at the Kemptville campus in fall 2007.
A
Keep your kids Cyber Safe!
Computer Day Camp
at the University of Guelph
Kemptville Campus
For children aged 9-12, Only $199 per camper,
per week, including lunch and 2 snacks daily.
July 19-23 or July 26-30, 2010
8:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m.
For more info, or to book a camp spot, please contact Leah at
613-258-8336, ext. 61303, or [email protected].
•9•
OUR STUDENTS
College Royal 2010; March 5 & 6
s the staff advisors for the 83rd Kemptville
College Royal, we would like to express our
thanks to all the staff members that put time
and effort into the College Royal. Although it is a student organized event, it requires the help and direction
from many staff members.
There has been a core group of students that have
been working really hard since September to organize
the Royal with President Jacob Droogh. This has been
a great learning experience for all of them and it compliments their education. As staff advisors, we are
very proud of the achievements of our students and
their professional approach to organizing the Royal.
We were really impressed with all the displays and
demonstrations from each of the programs. Having
2010 King is Ian Carlow - a 2009 Agriculture Diploma Graduthese on the Applicant Discovery Day is a great pro- Our
ate, now specializing in our Diesel Equipment Mechanic Program.
motion for our campus. Thanks to Jenna Brenno for Our 2010 College Royal Queen is Hannah Gaines - a 2010 Agriculall her organization of the applicant discovery day.
ture Diploma Program student. They are pictured with Alumni PresThanks to Corlena Patterson, Albert Koekkoek and ident Tony Desnoo and award presenters Isabel and Don Kinnear.
all the barn staff for their help with the livestock
It was great to see so many staff out supporting the
shows and horse shows. Thanks to all the equine staff for
Royal on the Saturday and attending the banquet. It means
the arrangements that were made in scheduling of the AM
a lot to the students to see the staff taking an interest and
Barr Arena over the week.
Thanks to Anne Kotlarchuk and conferencing for all supporting their events.
Once again, thanks to all staff and students who contheir help during the week. The dinner that Chartwells
tributed to the success of the College Royal.
served at the banquet was splendid.
Thanks to Larry Fisher and his crew for making sure
Sincerely,
that all facility requirements were met.
The Kemptville Alumni Association and the Theo Hunter
Kemptville College Foundation were both big supporters Trevor DeVries
Tim Rennie
of the Royal. Our thanks go out to both organizations.
A
More praise
wanted to take a moment to congratulate the College Royal
Committee and students on a job well done. It was a pleasure
working with such a well organized and professional group.
Props to you all!
I would also like to congratulate all of those organizing and participating in the various livestock shows... job well done. The College Royal Horse Show was one that made us all proud!!
Congratulations to you all,
Corlena Patterson B.Sc(Agr), Lead Hand / Lecturer
I
hank you to everyone who helped to make the horse show a
success!! Barn staff, Coaches, BBRM Event Management students, Ring Crew, Announcers, Spectators, Competitors, the
rest of the College Royal Committee, and anyone who helped out at
all!
Cheers,
Amanda MacFarlane
T
College Royal Advisors
• 10 •
COLLEGE ROYAL
2010 College Royal Committee: Job well done!
President Jacob Droogh
Secretary Amanda Jackson
Treasurer Jessie Hubbs
Advertisement: Nicole Ropars
Sponsorship: Hannah Gaines
Livestock Show: Melissa Sager, Jessie Hubbs
Horse Show: Amanda MacFarlane
Hockey Tournament: Alumni Association
Farmers’ Olympics: Aggie Club
Kids Activities: Amanda Jackson
Calf Sale: Grant Armstrong
Power & Equipment Games: Doug
Skinner, Bryan Caers
King & Queen Contest: Amanda
Jackson
Student Milking: Jessie Hubbs, Nicole
Ropars
Banquet Organizers: Kalina Rutledge,
Carleigh Simpson
Photography: Kalina Rutledge
Staff Advisors: Tim Rennie, Theo
Hunter, Trevor Devries
• 11 •
College Royal 2010 Crest
designed by Roy Hofhuis.
OUR STUDENTS
What is a Student Managed Enterprise?
by Jim Fisher
he Agriculture Diploma this past year saw the beginning of what we have coined the ‘Student Managed
Enterprise’. This is a new course (or series of courses)
where students think of a business idea and do it.
This past year students saw the opportunity to purchase
some veal calves and grow them out to about 500 pounds
for direct to consumer marketing. Seventeen Holstein
calves were purchased in November at about 125 pounds.
The 14 students that started with the program were to me,
the innovators in the class. They have enough vision to see
the big picture and work to create something. They planned
the idea, created committees for labour, marketing, physical
structures, evaluation, budgeting and finance. Great leadership development!
Seventeen calves were grown out and sold direct to campus staff and to friends and family. More akin to ‘baby beef’
the challenging part of the whole process was marketing. No
surprise there and a good lesson to students. In my business
classes, I often stress the importance of marketing.
I can attest to the quality of the product, since I bought a
half. The Missus and I host Sunday dinners at the farm for
anywhere between 10 and 20, depending on how busy the clan
is. The veal is a hit. The ground is lean, and the roasts and cutlets are tender, mild and tasty. Not much left on that platter….
Good value for the dollar too. Students priced the veal out
at $2.50 per pound hanging weight. Cut and wrapped that
would come to about $3.00 per pound bone-out for about 120
pounds. We sent the finished calves to Rideau Meats in
Smith Falls for processing. The following week a student and
I went to pick it up in my half ton and the nice plant owner
T
looked at me and laughed; ‘what are you putting it in?” Not
having seen the pile waiting for us in the freezer, we proceeded to fill coolers and boxes with frozen meat and put them
into my truck; 1,700 pounds of it. I had to return the next day
for the other half.
The class has been discussing at length what type of business enterprise will do well next year. The options have
focused on a replacement heifer enterprise, but the more veal
I eat the more I think repeat customers might just make the
veal enterprise easier to market year after year. And by the
way, they made $1,900 which is earmarked for donation to
our new dairy barn. I think it looks good on them. If you
think the same you can email Dr. Tim Rennie who facilitates
the course and put your order in for next year, at
[email protected].
OPAC 2010 at the U of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus was a great success!!!
By Brian Hill,
Recreation Coordinator, University
of Guelph, Kemptville Campus
Here are the Kemptville winning
medal teams from the 2010 OPAC
Winter Games at Ridgetown...
very four years we take the
LONG bus ride down to
Ridgetown Campus. With the
long ride, three nights in a hotel and
two crazy days of competition, everyone is always tired and sore by the
end. But, as always, everyone had a
great time and represented our campus
with flying colors!!!
Thank you to everyone who was
involved with OPAC and I hope
everyone had a great time, met some
new friends and made some lasting
memories!!!
Ice Hockey: Silver
Broomball: Silver
Soccer: Men’s - Gold,
Women’s - Silver,
Mixed - Gold
Badminton: Women’s Doubles Silver
Bowling: Men’s - Silver,
Women’s - Gold,
Mixed - Silver
Floor Hockey: Silver
Basketball: Silver
Volleyball: Men’s - Gold,
E
• 12 •
Women’s - Silver,
Mixed - Gold
CONGRATULATIONS TO
EVERYONE WHO COMPETED
IN THIS YEAR’S GAMES!!!
And a big THANK YOU to ALL
coaches and staff who volunteered
their time all year with their teams and
all weekend at the games. Thank you
Krista Kennelly, Helen MacGregor,
Bill Green and Bill Graham...OPAC
couldn’t get done without you!!!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
GO KEMPTVILLE!!!
STAFF UPDATES
Kemptville Campus Director search update from the Dean
i everyone... I wanttations an opportunity to
ed to take this
view them afterwards.
Kemptville campus is an academic,
opportunity to upWe also made an research and service unit within the Ontario
date all of you on the selecnouncements
welcoming
Agricultural College (OAC) of the University
tion for the new Director of
feedback on each of the
of Guelph. It has about 235 undergraduate
the Kemptville Campus.
candidates from both the
degree and diploma students, and provides
As you’re aware, over
internal and external com18,000+ student training days annually for
the past few months we
munities.
certificate and other short program training.
have initiated the search
It is our intention to have
The search is now [almost complete] for a
process. A Selection Comthis process completed,
Director who will provide vision and direction
mittee is in place which
over the next few weeks.
for all activities at Kemptville’s main campus
includes student, faculty,
I do appreciate your
and its affiliated research station locations.
CARG, staff and adminispatience as we go forward
tration representatives. (The
in recruiting for this
committee has now identiextremely important posified) three potential candidates who were brought to tion. Until the new Director officially starts, Dr. Bergeron
campus for formal interviews. These formal interviews has graciously agreed to continue as Interim Director for
included a public presentation to the campus community the campus.
by each candidate. We also attempted to provide all
employee groups and others an opportunity to meet and
Thanks,
dialogue with each of the candidates.
Robert J. Gordon,
It was also our plan to tape these public presentations
Dean, Ontario Agricultural College
to allow for individuals not able to make the live presenGuelph – Alfred – Kemptville – Ridgetown
H
Power & Equipment
Coordinator
Fall 2009: Welcome two new BBRM
degree instructors of Biology 1030
haun Nolan accepted the
administrative appointment
as Coordinator of the Power
and Equipment programs (diesel
and welding) at Kemptville Campus in November 2009. The offer
came from Interim Director,
Shaun Nolan
Renée Bergeron, following the
recommendation from an administrative appointments
committee. We welcome Shaun in this position of
approximately four years.
I want to express my thanks to all the people who
have worked as acting coordinators or assistant coordinators in recent years, in order to keep the diesel and welding programs running and growing: Mike Ryan, Paul
Beckinsale, Andy Sleeth, Shaun Nolan and Tim Chajkowski. We need all of these people and all other staff
who assist in these programs to work together for continuing improvement in diesel and welding education.
Congratulations, Shaun.
Paul Sharpe, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Academic,
University of Guelph Kemptville Campus
r. Steve Wendt has recognize and count birds by
graduate degrees in their songs alone.
Biology and Mathematics, both of them related to
r. Shahram Dordari is a
mathematics of bird populaveterinarian who worked
tions. He spent his federal
as a Professor in a Vetgovernment career with the erinary College and Head of a
Canadian Wildlife Service Research Institute in Iran. His
(part of Environment Canada) specialties in teaching include
and was Chief of
reproduction, physthe Migratory Birds
iology and genetics.
He has also worked
Conservation Divias a veterinary sursion
when
he
geon and a hatchery
retired last year. He
has also worked in
manager. One of
computer systems
his special interests
development.
professionally and
Steve is also an avid
for pleasure, is the
naturalist for pleasCaspian breed of
ure. He participates
horse, which he is
in the national bird
interested in prosurvey each year,
moting and prolifSteve Wendt
having the skill to
erating.
S
D
• 13 •
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STAFF UPDATES
Welcome to new instructors in our Agriculture program this fall:
r. Allison Taylor is teaching
Livestock Systems. She has a
Masters in small ruminant animal nutrition and management and a
Ph.D. in animal behaviour and welfare.
Allison has worked as a researcher, editor, consultant and farmer. She has an
interest in sheep and goats and lives on
a dairy farm.
D
it’s hard to believe it was that long.
Please feel free to keep in touch,
invite me to functions and make sure I
hear all the gossip! I can be reached at
[email protected] or most of you know
where I live. Don’t be strangers...
Thank you once again from the bottom
of my heart. There will always be a part
of it there at the Campus.
Diane
ulie Andrews is
teaching Soil Prinon Holmes left his position
ciples and works
here at Kemptville Campus
on a scientific writing
for a new position with Algoproject for our cost
nquin College in the New Year:
recovery section. She
their win – our loss.
has a B.Sc. degree in
“Well, as most of you probaBiology and Physical
bly know by now, today (January
Geography, including
5, 2010) is my last day at
several courses in Soil
Kemptville Campus.
Science.
She has
I just wanted to say thank you
worked as a teaching
all for making the last 6+ years on
assistant and research
this Campus great ones.
Julie Andrews
assistant at Carleton
I have a lot of memories and a
lot of friends here and I will miss both
University. When not working at
Kemptville Campus, Julie teaches dearly.
Biology and Sociology at St. Lawrence
It is with a heavy heart that I leave,
College in Cornwall. In her spare time
but you can be assured that you will see
Julie instructs and organizes a dog me around campus once in awhile.
sport called Fly Ball.
Thank you all and I wish you all the
best in the upcoming year.
n October 30, 2009, we said
Sincerely;
farewell to Diane Wheatley of
Jon Holmes”
Conferencing and Catering
eah Harvey is filling Diane’s
Services. Diane’s diligence, dedication
position to the end of July, 2010
and design expertise will be sadly
in Conferencing, effective
missed by all – let alone her smile and
unending service at pubs and conven- November 2.
tions.
s a familiar face from
A message from Diane:
temporary Residence
I just wanted to thank
Supervisor position,
everyone for the fantastic
Laura Tobin has re-joined
send off on Friday. I was
the campus staff in Administouched by the number of
tration Reception.
guests at lunch and the sheer
generosity of everyone who
eri Devine moved in
contributed to my leaving
and out of BDC in
gifts!
2009:
Amazing - what a way to
“I’ve met some of you,
go! You sure make a girl
but certainly not all of you.
second guess her choices! I
Diane Wheatley
My time here at Kemptville
can not believe I have left
my Kemptville Campus family after Campus has been absolutely delightful
almost 10 years. I loved working there so it’s hard to leave. I’m taking on a
and made friends that will last a new challenge with the Municipality of
lifetime. The time went by so quickly North Grenville as their Business
J
O
J
Retention and Expansion Coordinator.
Working with Pat Remillard in
Business Development has been wonderful and I’m blessed to have had the
opportunity to work with her and such
a great group of people here in Admin.
Thanks to all who were so supportive during my learning curve and making my time here so much fun and so
interesting. I wish you all great success
and happiness in your future activities.
Kindest Regards and appreciation,
Teri Devine”
emptville Campus is fortunate
to have someone on staff who
has willingly taken on the task
of administering student awards. This
duty was recently performed by Teri
Devine.
Spring Williams is our new awards
administrator and as such, she will
chair an awards committee of staff
who review applications for student
awards. Spring works most of the
time in 101 Administration and parttime in Bell Hall.
K
L
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• 14 •
Jim Anderson
im Anderson, 1998 KC Horticulture graduate, is now managing the
A. J. Logsdail Greenhouses parttime while still fulfilling many duties of
his Catering and Conferencing responsibilities.
J
STAFF UPDATES
KC Coop placement a learning experience for Waterloo student
e were pleased to welcome
Melissa Shiu from Markham, Ontario as a KC Coop
placement in Jim Fisher’s office from
January end to April 30th. Melissa
came from her student role at the University of Waterloo, studying Speech
Communication and Human Resource
Specialization.
Her main purpose was to promote
the new Agri-Food Leadership Diploma Program to industries and new
students. She traveled with Recruitment Officer Jenna Brenno to farm
shows, such as the Ottawa Valley
Farm Show and the International
Farm Show, speaking with different
company representatives and sharing
information. Also, recruitment and
marketing by telephone were part of
her days - focusing on the Agri-Food
Leadership and the Agriculture program. In addition, Melissa would
contact via email to interested stu-
W
Melissa Shiu
dents. “I was hired to talk,” she states
simply, and so she did.
After learning a bit about Melissa,
we can see why she is so successful
when speaking. Her courses of study
Recent arrivals
include self-presentation and leadership in public speaking, interpersonal
communication, with other courses
in interviewing and crisis communication.
After three more years of study,
Melissa hopes to travel in her work,
preferably within a Human Resources
Management role. Communication is
her fondest ability as she learns to
know people on a personal level.
In her own life, Melissa greatly
values friendships and enjoys writing
poetry and reading. She holds an
interest in the visual arts as well as the
art of writing. “I like to socialize and
hear people’s stories,” she exclaims.
“I learn a lot from what others tell
me.” To add to her viewpoint, Melissa
shares, “When I was younger, I never
thought I would take on leadership
roles but, now that I’m older, I know I
don’t want to be a follower.” Such
wisdom from a person not yet 20!
Dual duties
C
im and Veera Rennie
are pleased that
Amara Josefine Rennie arrived on April 9th,
Vivienne
2010. Mom and baby are
doing great and Dad has promised to send more
photos as soon as he is less sleep deprived.
T
Amara
Rennie
anessa (KC Recruitment)
and Mike White gave
birth to a little baby boy,
Isaac Thomas Jeffrey 6 lbs, 1 oz
and a little baby girl, Margaret
Emma Rose 4 lbs 11 ozs on Friday November 20th, 2009.
Babies, Mom and Dad are all
doing well.
ike Greenberg,
our newest addition to the Conference and Catering
Services Department will
be fulfilling Jim Anderson’s role 50% of the time
as Conference Facilitator.
Mike Greenberg
This will free Jim to fulfill his new role as Greenhouse Technician,
assisting Horticulture Staff and students.
M
ongratulations to our resident DVM and Animal Science professor, Dr. Jane Kielly, as she
and Greg became new parents of Vivienne Iris
Anne, born June, 2009!
Animal Behaviour Seminar
ngela Greter, M. SC. student for Trevor
DeVries prepared to defend her thesis on
February 24 in Guelph.
In addition, we were all invited to a seminar
on February 11 at Kemptville Campus on her
thesis research: Feeding methods affect the
learning of feeding behaviour in dairy heifers.
The presentation was 20-30 minutes in length
with questions and comments welcomed at its
conclusion.
A
V
Isaac and Margaret White
• 15 •
STAFF UPDATES
Hugh Pearson, Horticulture Program Coordinator retires
ugh joined us in 1991
with a U of G Masters in
Plant Breeding and
Genetics in addition to his almost
10 years of experience at the
Royal Botanical Gardens in
Hamilton. On staff there, he was
a researcher and an outreach
instructor for night school/ continuing education programs for
off-site communities and groups.
These skills brought Hugh to
KCAT when the need arose for a
Horticulture Specialist in the
Plant Service Department with
Bill Curnoe. In those days, others
included Jeff Morton, Bill Langenberg, John Madill, Garry
Hoekstra and Don MacDonald,
along with many technicians and
Hugh Pearson chatting with Renée Bergeron.
Ag. Workers.
Hugh began with teaching and accommodate the increase of the student numbers in this program. This
research in the Associate Diploma in
Horticulture Program. Depending on then moved Hughs focus from
the course, he also instructed Agri- research to program management,
culture and Food Nutrition students juggling many time schedules with
staff and delivery space.
in combined classes.
Since this new program, the focus
In 2003, Kemptville became a
training delivery agency for the Hor- of Horticulture at Kemptville Campus
ticultural Technician Apprenticeship has changed from general studies Program, which provides training for including fruit and vegetable producthose already involved in the indus- tion - to a more direct landscape oritry, rather than those just entering. entation. The current Coop Diploma
Apprenticeship (CODA) program for
The number of industry contract
instructors grew significantly to horticultural technicians combines the
H
Congratulations in order
ongratulations to our colleague, Dr. Tim Rennie, on his
recent appointment as Faculty member in the School of
Environmental Sciences.
Tim, we are all very proud and wish you continued success
in your career at the University of Guelph, Kemptville Campus.
C
— (Interim Director) Renée Bergeron
r. Michael Goss was recently nominated Professor
Emeritus. This title is conferred to retired faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching,
research and service to the University. On behalf of Kemptville
Campus, I am sure that you will join me in extending the heartiest of congratulations to Dr. Goss for his achievements.
D
— Renée Bergeron
apprenticeship and diploma
aspects into a two-year diploma.
As a direct result of the
increased industry involvement at
Kemptville, we now are eastern
Ontarios evaluation site for the
Canadian Horticultural Technician, an industry accreditation
program, since 2007.
“The most rewarding aspect
of my career here is the teaching
and interactions with interested
students, plus meeting and working with many staff over the
years,” Hugh states. “The new
programming is certainly a highlight as well.”
By accessing early retirement
options, Hugh is looking forward
to home-based interests, including
plant breeding - hybridizing, evaluating and selecting new ornamental
plant varieties. He also anticipates a
greater supporting role in his wife’s
business, Down the Garden Path,
retailing perennials, planters, hanging baskets and more on County
Road 18 near Bishops Mills. She is
also a vendor at the North Gower
Farmers Market from the end of May
to Thanksgiving.
We wish Hugh well as he continues with new discoveries on the horizon and new opportunities to share
information.
OAC appointments
aul Klosler, an OAC alumnus with
a wealth of experience in communications, marketing and agribusiness, began his new role as Senior
Development Manager for the college
late in November 2009. Klosler holds an
MSc in Agricultural Economics from
the U of G, as well as a BA in Business
Paul Klosler
courtesy of U of G
from Brock. He worked with CIBC’s
Facebook
Agriculture Division as well as John
Deere Credit before joining BASF’s Crop Protection Division in 2002, where he served as national communications
manager and customer development manager. Contact Paul
at 519-824-4120, x 53768 or [email protected].
P
• 16 •
STAFF UPDATES
From OAC Dean’s
Office:
position an outstanding history of leadership in teaching,
research and service for the
Department and the respect
of faculty, staff and students.
I’m extremely excited to
have the opportunity to be
working more closely with
David in this new capacity.
t is my great pleasure to
officially announce the
appointment of Dr. Rene
Van Acker as the new Associate Dean of External RelaAt this time, I would also
tions with the Ontario Agrilike to extend my most sincultural College at the Unicere thanks to Dr. Peter Pauls
versity of Guelph (former
and Dr. Peter Purslow for
chair of the Department of
their tremendous contribuPlant Agriculture).
tions in the roles of Acting
Dr. Van Acker’s appointAssociate Deans for the colment will be for a five year
lege since 2007.
term effective September 1,
Over the coming months,
2009. Rene’s tremendous
we will initiate a formal interProfs B. Hale, Dean R. Gordon, J. Schmidt and R. Van Acker.
leadership skills, passion and
nal search for a new Chair of
enthusiasm will help to support the cultural College at the University of Plant Agriculture which we anticipate
many new opportunities that exist for Guelph. Dr. Hale will assume the role will be completed by July, 2010.
the Ontario Agricultural College over of Associate Dean (Research & InnoAs well, many thanks to the memvation), Dr. Schmidt, the role of Asso- bers of the Selection Committee for the
the coming years.
Rene will also continue to enhance ciate Dean (Academic) effective Sep- Associate Dean positions for their sigour longstanding relationship with our tember 15, 2009. Both appointments nificant efforts and commitment in the
exceptional alumni as well as our many are for five-year terms.
selection process over the past several
government and industry partners.
weeks. Your support has been most
would also like to acknowledge the
appreciated.
appointment of Dr. David Wolyn as
t is my great pleasure to announce
With thanks,
Acting Chair of the Department of
the appointments of Dr. Beverley
Robert J. Gordon,
Hale and Dr. Jonathan Schmidt as Plant Agriculture effective September
Dean,
Associate Deans in the Ontario Agri- 1, 2009. David brings to this important
Ontario Agricultural College
I
I
I
Hall of Fame inductee
r. Terry Daynard (OAC ’65), former OAC faculty
member and associate dean (research & innovation)
has been named as an inductee into the Ontario
Agricultural Hall of Fame. Daynard was recognized for his
visionary leadership, including his ability to create coalitions and partnerships to influence policy, innovation,
growth and development for Ontario’s agriculture industry.
The induction ceremony will be held in June 2010.
D
Lakeland College Awards Night
griculture sciences instructor Blair Dow was honoured by staff and students at the Vermilion Campus awards night ceremony held March 17th 2010.
Blair received the Staff Appreciation Award from the
Lakeland College
students
association.
Blair (left) is
pictured
with
Kirk Kiesman on
behalf of the students association. Blair also
received the Faculty Award for
teaching excellence in animal
science.
A
orag Stewart brings extensive event, volunteer
management, and fund-raising experience to her
new role as OAC’s Alumni Advancement Manager, effective January 25, 2010. Stewart has worked on
development initiatives for an array of nonprofit organizations, including the Canadian Hearing Society, the
CNIB, the Credit Valley Hospital Foundation and Easter
Seals Ontario.
In her spare time, she volunteers for Sunshine Dreams
for Kids, the Canadian Hearing Society, Safe School Network and the United Way. Morag can be reached at 519824-4120 x 54601 or [email protected].
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• 17 •
STAFF UPDATES
Theo Hunter — You will be missed, but we wish you all the best!
to study and complete her M. Sc.
heo began her employment
Degree at U of G and MacDonald
here at (then) KCAT campus
in 1981 with the Continuing College with course work in
Education Department. Under John Dairy Science at the Food
Gardiner, she was hired to replace Research Institute in Ottawa.
Now, her courses
Marion Beach to coordiincluded Food Chemnate and teach the Dairy
istry, Food MicrobioloShort Courses for Canada
gy, Applied Math, SenMan Power. Some of these
sory Evaluation plus
courses included Cheese
Sanitation & Safety.
Makers, Butter Makers
When Linda Reasplus Fluid Milk for laborbeck retired, Theo
ers and managers, when
worked with Colette
students could upgrade
Tracy as head of the
their skills for six weeks in
Foods Diploma Prothe winter and two weeks
gram, and continued to
in the fall for an OMAF
Theo Hunter
teach - all of this before
Certification.
One week courses were also we joined U of G in 1997! At
delivered by Theo for Milk and this time, Sheila Rose became
Cream Graders, Milk and Cream Acting Coordinator, then Eliza(Plant Milk) Testers plus in home beth Forbes was Coordinator of
Food Nutrition Management,
cheese-making.
Other times of the year, she which then became the Food,
Nutrition and Risk Manworked with Doug Green, Ed Berube
and Hubert Earl delivering Organic agement Diploma ProGardening Conferences and Work gram.
Since then, Theo
Horse Workshops with guest instrucadded more courses to her
tors.
At this time, Theo was a 1977 repertoire, such as Financial Control, Food Hazard
graduate from the University of
Guelph with a B. Sc. in Agriculture, Analysis, Applied Microbiology for Ag-Equine
specializing in Dairy Science.
students and Human
A few years later, the Food and
Resource Management
Fashion Department, under the leadership of Linda Reasbeck, recruited for all diploma students.
In 2005, Theo became
Theo to deliver Microbiology Labs
together with Pat Johnson. From Coordinator of the Food,
there, her work evolved to include Nutrition and Risk Manteaching other courses in the Food agement Program - a
position she has held
Service section. When John Garsince then.
diner retired, she worked with Basil
During her career, one
Wren as head of Continuing Education, before completely moving over of her biggest achievements was to achieve a
to the Foods Diploma Program.
Theo says many great memories five-year accreditation from the
Canadian Society of Nutrition Manexist working with the other group
members of Ellen Mooney, Sue Wat- agers for the Kemptville Campus
Food Diploma.
son, Shirley Foster, Katalin Bognar,
Theo’s students, especially her
Liz Forbes, Sheila Rose, Joie
last term of students, highlighted
Christie, Patti Goodman, Diane
their support of their teacher/menCronk and many more support staff,
tor/leader with a reception of apprebut especially with the students.
In 1987 Theo took two fall terms ciation for Theo with staff held at
T
• 18 •
Theo Hunter shows off
her Retirement Jacket.
Salamander’s Restaurant in Kemptville on
April 9, 2010. Individually, each was able to
share personal appreciation and anecdotes,
while collectively they
presented Theo with a
red U of G zip sweater
specialized with the
term ‘whatever’ embedded across the back
- a reference to her
flexibility and support
during their school
days. This approach to her work may
well have originated from her Maritime, Nova Scotia blood. On April
22, KC staff, retired staff and
instructors bade a fond farewell with
a presentation of gifts and words
From past to future, best wishes
are sent with you, Theo, along life’s
pathway!
CANADA DAY 2009
• 19 •
ON CAMPUS
Leave for change:
Assignment Africa
Osadie,
Kefilwe
and Bre
at the
Botswana
Christian
AIDS
Intervention
Program
(BOCAIP).
By Bre Wick, Accounting
spent three weeks this past July in
Africa. I was part of the Leave for
Change (L4C) program, run by the
World University Service of Canada
(WUSC) and supported by the University of Guelph, and many other companies. Through WUSC’s worldwide network of partner organizations they
arrange for employees, like me, to use
their vacation to volunteer in a developing country. And employers, like the U
of G, support the program financially,
along with the government.
The idea behind L4C is education.
Their mandate is based on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
they expect all of the volunteers to keep
these in mind as they are working. The
MDGs are eight international goals that
Canada and other United Nations member states have agreed to achieve by the
year 2015. The MDGs are:
• Eradicating extreme poverty and
hunger
• Providing primary education to all
children
• Promoting gender equality and
empowerment
• Reducing child mortality and
improving maternal health
• Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria,
and other diseases
• Ensuring environmental sustainability and creating a global partnership
for development
Those goals sound important and
lofty, don’t they!? They are. However...
my L4C assignment was to teach people
about accounting – to help a non-profit
organization, the Botswana Christian
AIDS Intervention Program (BOCAIP),
re-write their accounting policies and
procedures. It didn’t exactly sound like
combating HIV/AIDS even though,
officially, that was my “sector.”
When I arrived in Botswana, the
finance officer was not in the office –
she was off at a training course for the
remainder of the week. And, the person that was there to meet me, Desiree,
thought that I was there to do another
job completely. I knew from previous
I
experience in Africa and from the L4C
pre-departure training that flexibility
was key. So I chatted with the BOCAIP
staff and discovered that they writing a
lot of funding proposals and the budget
part of those proposals was the bane of
their existence. I soon realized that they
weren’t using Excel, the spreadsheet
software, to its fullest capacity and thus
spent that first week training anyone
interested on how Excel could simplify
their lives.
The following week, the finance
officer, Osadie, came back to work and
once again I soon realized that my
“assignment” and her expectations
were not at all the same. She didn’t
need me to help her re-write anything –
her system was top notch and
BOCAIP’s policies were better than
many companies in Canada. What she
did need though was skilled help!
BOCAIP has 11 centres all over the
country where they do voluntary AIDS
counseling and testing, orphan day
care, preschool, and support groups.
There are over 120 employees. Anyone
who has worked in an office will know
that there’s lots of paperwork to go with
120 employees and 11 locations. For
example, here at Kemptville Campus,
there are about 200 employees and
three locations. We have a person dedicated to human resources and payroll,
two people for payables, one person for
deposits, one person (me) for receivables and countless clerks on the main
campus – and we can’t keep up!
At BOCAIP, Osadie IS the accounting department. And on top of the
aforementioned work, there is the
added difficulty of dealing with donors
• 20 •
who want reports and reconciliations.
Big donors don’t want their money
mixed with other donor’s money, so
Osadie has seven bank accounts to juggle. L4C wanted me to spend time educating her, but I learned way more from
her than she did from me. I spent the
majority of my time just helping her
catch up – doing reconciliations and
other stuff that I’d do every day at work
here. At the end of my time at
BOCAIP, I wasn’t sure how much I had
really done to combat HIV/AIDS. I
knew that I’d helped Osadie make a
dent in her to do list. I knew I’d learned
a lot about how dedicated the BOCAIP
employees were – coming to work even
when funds were low and they weren’t
being paid. But I really didn’t feel like
I’d accomplished much....
Shortly after my return, I happened
to read about how Rudy Giuliani, during his term as mayor of New York
City, started his crime-reduction plan
by fixing broken windows.
Giuliani said, “...a seemingly minor
matter like broken windows in abandoned buildings leads directly to a more
serious deterioration of neighbourhoods. Someone who wouldn’t normally throw a rock at an intact building is
less reluctant to break a second window
in a building that already has one broken. And someone emboldened by all
the second broken windows may do
even worse damage if he senses that no
one is around to prevent lawlessness.”
You wouldn’t think that a silly little
thing like fixing broken windows
would be part of a plan that cut in half
the number of murders in the city over
Giuliani’s eight year term – but it was.
ON CAMPUS
Discovery Day
by Jenna Brenno, Recruitment
Coordinator, University of Guelph Kemptville Campus
pplicant Discovery Day on
March 5 hosted over 150 people. Focus was placed on our
residences, library, livestock facilities
and, of course, the following Program
Workshops: Agriculture Dairy Barn;
BBRM & Equine; Food, Nutrition and
Risk Management; Welding; Diesel/Ag
& Heavy Equipment.
“I want to send out a large Thank
You to everyone who helped make this
day great for all the applicants and
their families. A special thank you
goes to the morning volunteers and
speakers, tour guides, tour stop hosts,
program coordinators, instructors, and
to Chartwells for the delicious and filling lunch!
A
New Almaco Research
Combine at Kemptville
Almaco Combine with and trainer and Agronomy Research technical staff.
and the Ottawa Valley Seed Growers
Association. The purpose is to help
cutting-edge research in crop manage-
ment with its modern updates and onboard computer that one person can
operate the entire machine.
ast fall Kemptville Campus
gratefully received a new, hightech combine, valued at
$341,000 and made by Almaco. This
initiative was funded by Kemptville
Campus with valuable financial support from organizations and boards
such as the Ontario Soybean Growers
L
Speakers
Kelly
Fawcett
and
Sylvain
Racine
flanked
by two
students.
Wendell Joyce
Speaker Linda Vogel and student.
Gib Patterson
Speakers share expertise
s an ongoing practice, Jim Rader, who teaches accounting
and finance here at Kemptville Campus, invites guest speakers – experts in their fields – to share sound knowledge with
our students. Such topics as personal financing, tax savings, succession planning, insurances, loans and computer accounting are delivered.
Just a few of this year’s guest list include Sylvain Racine and
Kelly Fawcett from the TD Bank, Gib Patterson for business management of three golf courses and a farm, Wendell Joyce of the
Canadian Farm Business Mgt. Council and Linda Vogel of Apple
Hill for specific computer financial software.
A
• 21 •
ON CAMPUS
Welding takes on new look: Majority of recent Kemptville grads are women
By Andy Sleeth, Senior
Lecturer, University of
Guelph, Kemptville Campus
I
t can be a hot, grimy job and
really hard on the fingernails.
There’s a high demand for
trained welders and gender barriers in this industrial domain
— as everywhere else -- are
becoming obsolete. Still, at the
Kemptville Campus of the University of Guelph, which has
offered a variety of welding
programs for the past 30 years
and where instructors thought
they’d seen it all, composition
of a recent pre-apprenticeship
graduating class was a surprise
— and not an unpleasant one.
The scenario was a first for
campus welder training — of
16 students completing the course, 14
were women, many of whom have
since landed jobs or on-the-job placements.
Women make “very precisioned”
welders, said campus spokeswoman
Pat Remillard, noting it’s not overly
remarkable that the trade would
increasingly appeal to them.
“There’s been a real push to encourage women into skilled trades to help
address the worker shortage,” Remillard said. “In so doing, it has been necessary to counter common misconceptions associated with welding.”
She called the trade “critical
enabling technology” fundamental to
manufacturing, including aerospace,
automotive, petrochemical and pressure vessels, pipelines, power generation, mining, forestry and agriculture.
Not exactly sexy, but “nothing further from reality for those who believe
welding and joining are no longer
important in today’s world.”
ks
r
a
m
High elph
to Gu
Welding Project.
Over the years, the scope and number of welding training formats on campus have expanded significantly in
direct response to growing industry
demands. For the past 10 years, the
Industrial Welding and Fabrication
Certificate Program has introduced an
average of 30 new welders to the industry every year.
In response to the skilled trades
manpower shortage, the province in
partnership with Kemptville Campus
offered a 40-week pre-apprenticeship
program.
Costs were completely funded,
including tuition, supplies and equipment; there was even a shuttle bus providing daily transportation to and from
Ottawa. The program accepted students
with little or no experience in the trades.
While there was a heavy emphasis on
hands-on training, the program opened
with the basics of mechanical reasoning
before moving into advanced welding
theory. Students learned all of the major
photo by Judith Courteau
welding processes starting with oxyacetylene and moving to shielded metal
arc, gas tungsten, and metal inert gas.
They were also taught electrical and
machine shop theory and practice,
blueprint reading and additional courses in math, computers and resume
preparation.
Now working at Davis Engineering
in Ottawa, Pamela DeVries got her first
taste of welding on the home farm.
Before completing the course, she
worked as a hotel security guard; she
hopes to make the trade her career for
some time to come.
“I see it as kind of an art form ... but
I don’t mind doing the dirty work
either.”
Remillard said the campus hopes to
offer the pre-apprenticeship program
again next year.
On a broader basis, in order to meet
pent-up demand for welding training,
the campus has applied for $700,000 in
government expansion funding.
The Annual University Report Card gives high marks to Guelph.
A+ for most satisfied students (only school to receive this mark)
A+ for campus atmosphere
A for campus technology & overall quality of education
“It’s gratifying that our students year after year reward us with top marks . . . simply put, students
come first at Guelph, and this continues to distinguish us,” says President Alastair Summerlee.
• 22 •
ON CAMPUS
Equine Programs –
my how we grow!
► interested in spending a semester abroad?
► want to visit England?
► interested in equine or sports management?
iscover Hartpury College, premiere centre for equestrian and sports studies with
Malcolm Wharton, principal, and Gilly
Turner, marketing manager, who visited
Kemptville Campus on November 17, 2009.
D
Balance in Motion
By Cody Pringle, first year
BBRM student
tudents were cordially
invited to attend the Balance in Motion Symposium held at the A.M. Barr
Arena on October 23 – 25,
2009.
What was it all about: lectures and hands-on sessions
with Sue Leffler, certified
Balimo and Centred Riding
Clinician “educating riders in
finding their balance both on
and off the horse.”
Also, guest lectures from
Dr. Cathy Rae, Equine Product
Manager for Pfizer Inc. talk- LEAD Program Group. From left, Mgr. Cost Recovery Programs Pat Remillard, Interim Director
ing about putting the ‘whoa’ Renée Bergeron, BBRM Coordinator Katrina Merkies, Leader Chris Irwin, Equine Diploma Cooron worms; Brian McNeil talk- dinator Elaine Cash, Equine Instructor Kerstin Blaeske, Equine student Victoria Hammond.
ing about footing for optimal
performance; Dr. Suzanne Millman from Iowa State University lecturing about balancing the relationship between humans
and horses and Dr. Peter Physick-Sheard from the University
of Guelph lecturing about optimal equine health - “educating
EAD - Leadership through Equine Assisted Discovriders in finding their balance both on and off the horse.”
ery is the first university accredited Equine-Assisted
Therapy Program in Canada. The objective of this
Hallowe’en Madness Horse Show on October 31 was a
new five-day program is to deliver a hands-on learning
huge success organized and managed by the BBRM first year experience to develop skills for personal success and leadstudents.
ership, including focusing on interaction with the horse for
Everything Equine Day on November 21 was operated personal discovery.
A curriculum designed by staff member Katrina Merkies
by the Ottawa Valley Primary Schooling Show Circuit.
with Kerstin Blaeske was enhanced by the guidance of
renowned horse behaviorist, Chris Irwin, plus other staff and
Laura Weller says Hello Everybody! The K-Town
Showdown Horse Show of November 28, 2009 hosted ‘tons professionals. Chris was here delivering a LEAD Program
of people’!!! In addition to the competitions were raffle Clinic on November 9, 2009 to show the visual connection of
communication between horse and human.
prizes and many other goodies!!!!
S
LEAD - a first for Canada
L
• 23 •
ON CAMPUS
Some of the benefits of interactive experiences with horses
are as follows:
• understanding horse and
human body language
• interspecies communication
• making positive changes and
self improvements
• awareness of power of
thoughts and emotions
• gaining more confidence
• emotional balance
• having fun
• learning life skills
• self awareness
Contact Katrina Merkies,
613-258-8336 x61316.
Equine Rescue
Certification Course
by Corlena Patterson
C
Clinic presenter Chris Irwin.
Program Promotion with a Night at the Races
Elizabeth K. Forbes, BSc. CFE, CHE, Senior College Lecturer,
Food Industry Consultant
he Event Management students and I would like to thank you each of
you that took the time to join us at the Rideau Carleton Raceway on
March 14, 2010.
This is a huge promotion opportunity for our campus as well as a great fund
raiser for the BBRM program and learning experience for the Event Management students. The week prior to that night, we were able to set-up our campus promotional information in the lobby between the slots and the dining
room. The night of the races, the race program contained all the information
about each program on campus (the ones that were sent to me) as well. The
races were named after those programs and featured on the race announcement
board. The ‘ads’ were also highlighted by the announcer. Since Sunday is
Family night all age groups were represented at the races.
Again thanks to all 89 of you that attended. If you had a great time spread
the word for next year.
We hope to make it even bigger and better.
T
Exporting horses & genetics to global customers
one-day Equine Export Seminar
was delivered by Susan Stewart
with Barbara Daley representing
Equine Canada at KC on March 28,
2010 to inform on various levels: challenges and opportunities in new and traditional target markets; equine import
and export history & Canada’s relationship with target markets; what the
Semex Alliance can do for Canadian
horse breeders; procedures & case studies for shipping horses & genetics to
other countries; government of Canada’s role in offering financing, insurance and risk management; Agriculture
A
aledon Equine Hospital was
pleased to present an Equine
Rescue Certification Course on
May 4, 2010 at Kemptville Campus
presented by Jennifer Woods, a certified Large Animal Rescue Instructor.
This eight-hour certification course
is designed for first level emergency
personnel responders and has been of
particular interest to firefighters, law
enforcement, veterinarians, animal control and rescue personnel, as well as to
ranch and horse owners.
This course teaches participants how
to safely work with injured and panicked horses in emergency situations –
it combines technical skills with an
understanding of horse characteristics
and behavior. The techniques also present innovative adaptations to cope with
dramatic and remote terrain.
& Agri-Food Canada’s Canada Brand &
value proposition and, finally, Equine
Canada Industry Division as a marketing partner for trade shows & missions.
Wild Mustangs: Four students will
be accompanying two staff members on
a wild horse trip in June to observe the
mustangs in their natural environment
in the deserts of Utah.
College Royal Horse Show was
held March 4 – 6, 2010.
Annual Equine Career Night was
held here at KC on March 17, 2010.
• 24 •
Student Exchanges: Currently, one
BBRM student is attending the Royal
Agricultural College in England and
two BBRM students are accepted for
exchange in the coming year: one at
Lake Erie College in Ohio and the
other at Royal Agricultural College in
England.
REQUEST:
GRADUATES
1951 to 1966
We, the Barr family, are
nominating A.M. Barr, Principal of K.A.S., to be inducted
into the Ontario Agricultural
Hall of Fame at Milton.
If you have memories or
photos of A.M. Barr, please
connect with Peggy Barr at
613-283-5034 prior to September 1, 2010.
Address:
22 B-9, R.R. #1
Lombardy, ON, K0G 1L0
ON CAMPUS
Polo is here to stay
By Christine O’Reilly
with Bre Wick
who attended, and strongly benefited the senior women’s team,
he Kemptville Koyotes
who traveled to play Vassar ColPolo Club is the University
lege and the University of Masof Guelph - Kemptville
sachusetts the next weekend.
Campus’ polo club, formed in
October 30th / November 1st
September 2008 and is the first
weekend, the senior women’s
Canadian intercollegiate polo
polo team took a road trip to the
team in history. The club, which
States to play Vassar College,
is entirely dependent on fundthe University of Massachuraising, consists of 15-20 memsetts, and Skidmore College.
Equine KC Polo Team
bers from a range of programs at
Friday night, Kemptville
Kemptville Campus. Their purpose is to:
faced off with Vassar. The girls played a strong game on
• meet fellow university horse and polo enthusiasts,
offense and defense, winning 11 - 5. This is monumental, as
• promote interest in horses and polo within the University of it is the first Canadian win in intercollegiate polo history!
Guelph and the community,
Saturday afternoon, the girls played UMass. Exhausted
• make liaisons with other Universities and Colleges to pro- from the long drive and hard game the day before, Kemptville
mote the sport of polo at the post-secondary level, com- wasn’t quite in the right head-space, and lost 5 - 2. Sunday
pete within the United States Polo Association’s intercol- saw the Koyotes at Skidmore. They played a strong defensive
legiate division,
game, but it took a chukker (period) or two to get the offense
• plan events, including lessons, clinics, seminars, and parties, into gear. The final score was 6 - 5 for Skidmore.
• gain education and experience with horses and within the
Overall, the team played fairly well and had a lot of fun.
sport of polo, and
Members of the team were Elyse Germain, Christine O’Reil• improve riding and polo skills by offering lesson programs. ly, Jen Shumilak, and Julia Vigeon. Thanks for everyone’s
The team competes in the United States Polo Associa- support while we were on the road!
tion’s intercollegiate league. Some of their activity this year
The Kemptville Koyotes Polo Club had a Christmas
is outlined below by club member Christine
mini-tournament in conjunction with the
O’Reilly.
Augusta Polo Club on December 5, 2009.
On October 24 and 25 the team participatEveryone was welcome to come out and
ed in a clinic by Scott Weir at the Augusta
support the players as an excellent opportuPolo Club. Scott is a representative for Polo
nity to learn a little bit about the sport of
Canada, and holds a two-goal handicap outpolo and to see what these students have
doors, and a five-goal arena polo handicap
accomplished so far.
(polo players are ranked from -2 to 10 goals;
On February 27 and 28, the Kemptville
10 is the best in the world).
Koyotes Polo Club sent our men’s team to
Scott focused on arena polo strategy. He
play their qualifying games for Regionals. On
introduced the team to some individual
Saturday afternoon, they faced off with Yale
maneuvers to help maintain possession of the
University, while on Sunday the Koyotes
ball. Scott also demonstrated set plays for the
played Skidmore College. The team consists
team to use off of penalty shots.
of Jared Rommens, André Trépanier, Glenn
This clinic was a great help to all those
McCaig and Nick Keary. Good job, boys!
T
• 25 •
ON CAMPUS
On March 11, the Kemptville Koyotes travelled to
Cornell University for the
Northeastern Division Intercollegiate Regional Tournament. The women’s team
competed late that evening
against Skidmore College.
The girls had an excellent
game, but were outshot 20 - 9.
The following day, the
men’s team took on Cornell.
The boys rode at their best,
and put a few goals on the
board. But the Cornell squad
had years more experience
on their side, and won the match. Congratulations to those who competed:
Women’s Team:
#1 Julia Vigeon (Ag. Equine)
#2 Christine O’Reilly (BBRM)
#3 Jen Shumilak (Ag. Equine)
#4 Elyse Germain (BBRM)
Men’s Team:
#1 Jared Rommens (BBRM)
#2 Glenn McCaig (Aggie)
#3 André Trépanier (BBRM)
#4 Nick Keary (Ind. Welding)
Thanks to all our junior players who
came to cheer us on and help with the
horses, lines, and goal judging.
The following weekend, the junior
girls played some exhibition games
against Skidmore College and the University of Massachusetts.
The Junior Team:
Melanie Beech (BBRM)
Laura Lefresne (Ag. Equine)
Janet McDermott (BBRM)
Jolene Perdue (BBRM)
The weekend of March 13 & 14,
2010, both our men’s and women’s
teams competed in the Northeastern
Division Regional Tournament at Cornell University. Both teams worked
hard all year to qualify.
The junior girls played
two exhibition games on
March 27 and 28. On Saturday, they played a fantastic
game against UMass. The
last chukker was very exciting, but just as the Koyotes
were about to score, the
buzzer sounded, making the
final score 2 - 1 for UMass.
The next day the girls
played Skidmore. It was
another good match, but
Skidmore finished ahead 8 5. All in all, it was an incredible debut for our junior
girls. Good job girls!
On April 10th, the Kemptville Koyotes Polo Club held an end-of-the-season indoor polo tournament at the
Augusta Polo Club. This fast-paced
sport is often described as “hockey on
horseback” and is thrilling to watch.
Additionally, three of the second
year students have found full time
employment with the Toronto Polo
Club. Elyse Germain is working for the
Siftons who started polo in Canada
over 50 years ago, Jen Shumilak is
managing the Toronto Polo Club’s polo
school and Julia Vigeon is the assistant
manager of the Toronto Polo Club.
Join Kemptville in Kentucky for the World Equestrian Games
by Helen MacGregor
his year marks our first ever partnership with Equine Canada for
the World Equestrian Games
(WEG) being held for the first time outside of Europe in Lexington, Kentucky,
from Sept. 25 - Oct. 10, 2010. WEG is
more important than the Olympics as it
is the only competition that hosts world
championships for eight of the FEI
equestrian disciplines (Olympics only
has five events) – jumping, eventing,
dressage, reining, driving, endurance,
vaulting and para-equestrian.
KC partnership with Equine Canada
allowed many of our equine courses
over the past year to include material
pertaining to the Games and its impact
on the equine industry. Presentations,
projects and guest speakers focused on
such topics as transportation requirements for horses coming to the Games,
quarantine requirements, physical,
T
social and cultural legacies of the
Games, and event planning.
KC will show a strong presence at
the games with over 50 students and
staff travelling to Kentucky from Sep.t
26 - Oct. 5, 2010. This trip will be part
of a credit course for some diploma and
degree students, who will be assisting at
the Equine Canada promotional booth.
The trip will encompass five days at
WEG to see the dressage freestyle final,
the reining final, eventing cross country, and stadium jumping. An evening
with Canadian team riders is also
planned. Other special side trips include
a visit to Lake Erie College in Ohio, and
the University of Kentucky to allow
students to experience other institutions
offering equine programs; a tour of
Churchill Downs racetrack and museum in Louisville, KY; outings to an Icelandic breeding farm, a western reining
farm and a thoroughbred farm; tours of
• 26 •
the Rood and Riddle Veterinary hospital
and the USEF headquarters.
The cost of the trip has been offset
by fundraising done this past year by
the equine events the BBRM students
have hosted (Balance in Motion Symposium, Everything Equine Day, Halloween Horse Show, K-Town Horse
Show, Rideau Carleton Night at the
Races, Kemptvillian Medieval Festival), selling raffle tickets for awesome
prizes, selling stadium chairs, selling
program jackets. We have also received
a $3,000 grant from the OAC Teaching
Trust Fund, a $300 donation from
Rideau Carleton Raceway, and a $300
donation from the Ottawa Valley Harness Horse Association to assist in
reducing student expenses for this trip.
This trip will be a wonderful learning opportunity for our students, and for
many, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to see live, world class competition.
ON CAMPUS
2009 Canada Day parade entry
by Renée Bergeron
y sincere thanks to those of you who participated in the Canada Day Celebrations on Campus
in 2009, either by volunteering or simply
showing up to enjoy the day with us. This event was
very well organized. A special thanks to Anne, Diane
and the other members of the organizing committee.
I personally enjoyed throwing eggs and spitting tiny
melon seeds with the kids - a nice change from the
office.
Again, thank you and have a great day (especially
this year!)
M
Canada Day 2009 winning float.
Above and Beyond Award
The CAFP President’s Above and Beyond Award is given
to members in good standing who have shown outstanding
or exceptional initiatives in Student Development and
Mentoring. Receiving the awards at the Calgary 2009
Canadian Association of Foodservice Professionals
(CAFP) Conference are, from left: Carmine Morelli CFE,
Vancouver Community College; Elizabeth Forbes CFE,
Kemptville Campus, University of Guelph, Peter Lamb
CFE, CAFP President, presenting the awards; Cathy
Ralston CFE, University of Guelph; Natalie Carrier CFE,
Université de Moncton; Dr. Alicia Garcia CFE, Brescia
University College, University of Western Ontario.
Eggcellent
spring at KC
Campus Open House
by Jim Fisher, Agriculture Coordinator
riday, November 6th was the date of our Campus Open House when potential students toured
our Campus in hope of acquiring a glimpse at
the Kemptville Campus experience. These students
and their families were full of questions.
“I wish to thank the efforts of Jon and Jenna for
organizing the CIP and Open House here on campus
this past Friday. Also to those who helped out with
students and presentations. Paul and Trevor I know
were in the dairy barn and spoke with lots of visitors,
Tim was visiting with students in his office and to
Deb Simpson whom I know always promotes the
college and sees lots of students from all programs
on this day.
My information meter indicates that the day was
quite a success and visitors found the experience of
value. I wish to extend my thanks and appreciations
to who were out there actively promoting the (Ag)
diplomas and all who ‘stepped up to the plate and
pitched in’: job well done!”
F
ared Rommens,
and the Conferencing Department
would like to introduce
you to the newest additions to our team!
On February 23, 18
baby chicks had safely
hatched from their
eggs earlier in the
week, and were happily tweeting away in the
Administration Building lab class.
J
Eggcellent chick
hatching with
Jared Rommens.
• 27 •
ON CAMPUS
Medieval Festival, a splendid success!
by Dr. Katrina Merkies, BBRM
Equine Program Coordinator
and Natasha Nadon, BBRM Student, University of Guelph,
Kemptville Campus
e Olde Kemptvillian
Medieval Festival was
held at the AM Barr
Arena on March 20th, in celebration of King Rowan’s Birthday.
Cheered on by the crowd, gallant
knights showed their fearlessness
in full sword combat and their
agility and accuracy on horseback. Archers demonstrated their
skill and precision in target practice. Burgundian dancing with
live music provided by the
Maplewood Ceilidh Band encouraged audience participation
and revelry. The festival was a
step back in time where everyone
had the opportunity to learn
about games and events held in
the medieval age.
During the Festival peasants
and nobles alike had the chance
to ask the knights questions,
stagger under the weight of their
armour and admire their noble
steeds. Children could decorate their
own silver goblets, shields, swords
and crowns between the shows and
demonstrations, and had the opportunity to dress up for pictures with a
knight. Special presentations to the
King included a mythical white unicorn and a highly prized Caspian
stallion from the far plateaus of Persia. People could browse the
medieval vendors and barter
for medieval garb, armour,
soap, brass rubbings, fudge
and jewellery.
While this educational
event appealed to all ages the
festival was targeted specifically to students in Grade 4 as
part of their Medieval Times
study theme. Classrooms in
North Grenville and Ottawa
were visited by Queen Arabella, her ladies-in-waiting
and the court jester (played
Y
ship from the Municipality of North
Grenville, Schleich Figurines Canada, Chivalric Productions, Blades of
Glory, Maplewood Ceilidh Band,
Kemptville Youth Music Theatre
Company, Kemptville Florist, Mr.
Mozzarella, Giant Tiger, and B&H
Grocery Store.
The festival was organized,
planned and staged by students in the
University of Guelph Bachelor of
Bio-Resource Management (BBRM)
program in Equine Management. As
part of their event management
course, these students worked since
last fall to produce this successful
by BBRM students) in the weeks event under the guidance of course
leading up to the festival to entertain instructors Dr. Katrina Merkies, Liz
and educate schoolchildren about Forbes and Helen MacGregor. Stumedieval life and the upcoming fes- dents gain valuable experience in
tival staged as a surprise birthday event management, organization,
party for the Queen’s husband. A marketing, promotions and commucolouring contest was provided by nity involvement. Additionally, all
Schleich Figurines Canada, with a profits from the events hosted this
fabulous castle to be won.
year go to reducing the cost for the
The Medieval Festival was made student trip to the World Equestrian
possible with the gracious sponsor- Games being held in Lexington,
Kentucky, in September
2010. Over 50 students and
staff will be attending this
world class event being held
for the first time outside of
Europe.
The BBRM students
encourage everyone to attend
next year’s celebration of Ye
Olde Kemptvillian Medieval
Festival to enjoy another
flash to the past with gallant
Knights, noble horses, musicians, dancing and medieval
photos courtesy of Kalina Rutledge vendors
• 28 •
ON CAMPUS
Annual Kathy Botham
Bowl for Easter Seal Kids
by Brian Hill, Recreation Coordinator, University of Guelph, Kemptville Campus
would like to send a big thank you to the
Staff and Student teams we had representing Kemptville Campus on Sunday’s
Annual Kathy Botham Bowl for Easter Seal
Kids. This was our third year with the Easter
Seal kids and as always, we had a great time
and raised a lot of money for a fantastic
cause! THANKS GANG!!!
I
Staff team.
STUDENT TEAM:
Grant Armstrong
Bruce Betzner
Travis Greydonus
Nicole Haddlesey
Kelsey Miller
Christine O’Reilly
STAFF TEAM:
Bill “Pink Balls” Graham
Larry “Gutter-Ball” Fisher
Jim “Twinkle-Toes” Anderson
Brian “The Thrill” Hill
Krista “Ally Shark” Kennelly
Neil “shhh, I’m Pat” Kennelly
The Staff team won the overall high
score trophies, Congratulations!!!
Student team.
Horticulture focus of Northern Research at New Liskeard Ag Station
he “Spud Unit” at our NLARS
(New Liskeard Agricultural Research Station), is under the direction of Becky Hughes. It has programs
producing the first generation of seed
potatoes, and raspberry and strawberry
plants for the Ontario seed potato and
berry propagation programs - in conjunction with industry producer groups.
Three technicians working hard in
these programs are Sandra Seed, Linda
Giesen and Carol Duke. Full time lab
technician Candy Keith also does field
research. A current project on garlic is
ongoing in developing a “clean-seed”
garlic program for Ontario.
T
The research program at NLARS
also includes greenhouse seed potato
production systems plus field production research with strawberries and
raspberries. A new type of strawberry
is being grown in a project in conjunction with the Simcoe Research Station
and Ridgetown Campus. These are
day-neutral strawberries which flower
and fruit continuously throughout the
growing season. Last year, fruit developed continuously for five and a half
months, with a goal of fresh Ontario
strawberries six months a year.
With researchers in Quebec, Ontario
and Manitoba, Becky and her crew are
• 29 •
now moving into High Tunnel Research
for day-neutral strawberries and fallbearing raspberries. These field-scale
structures modify the growing environment, extend the growing season and
expand the variety of crops that can be
grown in an area.
NLARS also focuses on agronomy
and beef research under John Rowsell.
Projects on biomass production, plant
nutrition, and weed management strategies are also included - all of which we
will report about in another year.
Click ‘Research’ on our main website, www.kemptvillec.uoguelph.ca, for
further details.
ON CAMPUS
Mango drying in Malawi
At left:
The
prototype
Mango
Dryer at
the
University
of
Malawii.
by Don Mercer, Associate Professor,
Department of Food Science,
Kemptville Campus, U of Guelph
wo years ago in late July 2008,
while working on an assignment
in Malawi, I had the pleasure of
travelling through the southern part of
the country with Jacob Mapemba,
Country Director for the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). We
were visiting several food processing
and dairy cooperatives in an attempt to
identify the challenges faced by the
agri-food sector.
After breakfast one morning, I casually asked Jacob about a majestic-looking tree on the far side of the parking lot
at our hotel. It was a mango tree - one
of the many that grew naturally
throughout his country. He explained
how there was a flood of mangoes each
year when the fruit ripened, but due to
the plentiful supply, there was little or
no commercial value to them.
Roadside vendors were lucky if they
could get even a few Kwachas for them
(100 Kwachas equal about 60 cents in
Canadian funds). Within a short period
of time, the mangoes would spoil and
the situation would repeat itself the following year. I had dried mangoes back
in the lab in Kemptville and wondered
why no one was doing that in Malawi.
As a follow-up, Jacob asked me to
give a presentation about the potential
for mango processing at a two-day
workshop we were delivering on valueaddition and capacity building in the
Malawi agri-food sector. There was a
surprisingly high level of interest from
those in attendance which planted the
idea to do some additional mango drying back in Canada.
For several months during the Fall
of 2008, there were frequent trips to the
local grocery store to buy mangoes for
studies on the effects of temperature,
time, and air flow velocities on their
drying. An initial report to WUSC in
Malawi received a somewhat lukewarm
reception due to its rather dull technical
content, but that was only a minor
deterrent. By this time, the unofficial
project had become far too interesting
to just abandon.
T
Inset:
Dryer in
Kemptville.
The main objective soon became
designing and building a simple dryer
based on the information gathered from
laboratory experiments. This is where
the actual “fun” began. In the Spring of
2009, the “Malawi Dryer” as it was
affectionately dubbed began to take
form in our garage. Made from halfinch thick plywood, it was far from
glamorous. The five-foot long wooden
box looked nothing like a device for a
series of experiments. Several coats of
white paint helped spruce-up its appearance tremendously. After being outfitted with two heater fans to supply warm
air through a pair of sheet metal air
ducts, and a bathroom exhaust fan to
draw the heated air through the actual
drying chamber, the “Malawi Dryer”
was ready for its trip to the Kemptville
Campus. This was done unceremoniously in the back of our van early one
Sunday morning when the presence of
prying eyes would be at its lowest.
Shortly after taking the dryer to the
lab, word was received that Jacob and
several others from WUSC in Africa
would be coming to Canada in early
October. They knew about the dryer
and wanted to visit Kemptville to see it
firsthand. When they saw the “Malawi
Dryer”, wheels start turning and ideas
beginning to take form. Several dozen
tests done after their visit confirmed
• 30 •
that the design would work and the
principles were sound - but the dryer
was too small to be used on any commercial scale.
In mid-January 2010, an e-mail
arrived with an invitation to come to
Malawi and work on a short-term
assignment to build a larger dryer
which could be checked out with locally grown mangoes. Things began to
move quickly, and on February 10, I
was flying to Malawi.
One of the first things a visitor from
Canada probably notices about Malawi
in February would have to be the temperature and humidity — 28°C, with
over 70% humidity, and rain several
times each day is a definite contrast
even to the mild temperatures we had
this past winter. Despite the warmth of
the air, its high moisture content made
it unsuitable for drying anything without being heated first.
Working with a team of two technicians and a carpenter at Bunda College
was a most pleasant experience. Within
a few days, we had a large plywood box
assembled that was eight feet long, by
about three feet high, and just under
three feet from front to back - a big
brother for the “Malawi Dryer” back
home. There were racks with fine-mesh
chicken wire stretched across them to
support the sliced mangoes, plus internal
features to ensure the proper flow of air.
However, one of the most important
items was missing. Nowhere in the capital city of Lilongwe could we find
heater fans to warm the incoming air.
When you really think about it, who
would need a heater fan when the temperatures were hovering in the mid to
high 20s on the Celsius scale.
ON CAMPUS
Eventually, we found two plug-in
room heaters similar to baseboard
heaters in Canada. A couple of extractor fans used to remove air from household rooms were also purchased to
assist with air circulation. The combination of these two key components
lifted our spirits, setting the stage for a
series of preliminary tests just a few
days before my scheduled departure.
Upon my arrival, Jacob had cautioned that this was the tail-end of the
mango season in Malawi. The afternoon
before our inaugural test run, we drove
into Lilongwe to visit the local market.
After a bit of bargaining, we were able to
secure twenty-five large mangoes (rich
in fibre, but low in sugar) and two dozen
small mangoes (sweet, but low in fibre)
for the sum of one thousand Kwachas.
Doing some quick conversions into
Canadian dollars convinced me that we
got a good deal, even though the technicians accompanying me were a bit upset
about the high price we had to pay.
Overall, 49 mangoes weighing more
than 25 pounds cost us about $6. not too
bad in the general scheme of things.
Two days of testing proved the prototype mango dryer worked well, in
spite of the jury-rigged heating arrangement. Everyone who tasted the dried
mangoes was quite impressed with
their flavour and chewy texture, which
added to the joy of the assignment.
Shortly after my return home, two
large heater fans were obtained. Initial
tests showed they worked well in providing the desired air temperatures.
Plans are to produce several additional
dryers for the mango harvest next year.
With any luck, these field tests will be
successful and an opportunity to produce a value-added product in Malawi
can be exploited.
Support is gratefully acknowledged
from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the World
University Service of Canada (WUSC),
Uniterra, and Bunda College (University of Malawi).
Dairy Herdsperson Apprenticeship popularity continues to grow
by Thomas Ferguson, Dairy Herdsperson Apprenticeship Coordinator
t is with great pride that Kemptville
Campus announces the largest class
to complete the Dairy Herdsperson
program since its inception, with 10 students completing their second year and
another 11 students completing their
first year. This was a very diversified
group of herdspeople with farm sizes
ranging from 30 to 400 cows, coming
from farms that featured robots, tiestalls
and many different parlour systems.
Another big change occurred this
year as Thomas Ferguson became the
co-ordinator. A recent graduate of the
University of Guelph, Thomas has been
working as a dairy herdsperson on his
parents’ farm near Jasper since graduation and began working for Kemptville
Campus on a part time basis last summer. Working on a farm allows Thomas
to stay current on the issues that are
affecting the dairy industry and helps
with selecting lecturers.
However, the farm that he works on
is no ordinary dairy farm. It is one of the
longest certified organic dairy farms in
Eastern Ontario and has been shipping
certified organic milk since 1998. Two
years ago the Fergusons built a new
facility with a double-seven herringbone parlour and a composting bedding
pack barn for the milking cows. This
freed up some time for Thomas which
he decided to use to work as co-ordinator for the Dairy Herdsperson Apprenticeship Program. In fact he received
I
Dairy Herdsperson Apprenticeship Graduation Class with Coordinators.
his job offer on July 10th, the same day
his daughter Ruby Marie was born.
The Dairy Herdsperson program
allows students to attend the college for
one four-day block each month of the
school year for theoretical training
while working as a dairy herdsperson
and gaining practical experience the
rest of the month. While the students
are in school the emphasis is on learning the background behind why dairy
farmers do the things that they do. In
order to accomplish this, the program
brings in on-campus experts, industry
experts, local farmers and OMAFRA
representatives to help present the data.
The program is also made up of a field
trip component to see how different
farmers are incorporating theoretical
ideas into their herds. This program is
• 31 •
run in two years, the previous year covered: herd health, raising animals, and
equipment maintenance. Next year the
focus will move toward safety, milking
systems and techniques, and feeding
systems and ration formulation.
We would like to thank the many different speakers who came in to talk to
the class and give demonstrations. Some
of the highlights from this past year
included a hoof trimming demonstrations given by Dr. Henry Ceelan, and a
breeding management course given by
Dave Massey and a meeting with the
classifier at Guyview Farms. We would
also like to thank the many people who
opened up their barns for our visits. We
were able to tour 18 different herds this
past year and see a lot of different management techniques and barn designs.
ON CAMPUS
New at Kemptville this fall: Associate Diploma in Agri-Food Leadership
by Jim Fisher, Ag. Coordinator
ooking for growth in our
diploma programming, staff
at the Campus have, with
the help of an industry advisory
group, put together a two year
diploma to cover the agri-food
industries from the farm supply
sector, processing, wholesaling,
distribution, food safety and marketing to retail.
This is a general diploma that
focuses on people skills, management skills and technical skills.
Using our resources in the Agriculture and Foods Diploma programs we have designed a general
program in food as it moves along
the supply chain. Most of all, we
are concentrating on the people
skills part of the program.
Garnering University Senate
approval last June, the program is
slated to begin this fall 2010. Our
target enrolment for this fall is at
least fifteen students. Student
enrolment for new programs is
always challenging as students have no
‘word of mouth’ promotion and no history from which to make decisions. We
have to market this program from the
bottom up.
However having said that, choosing
L
Jared Rommens
Jared Rommens and student.
the AFL program as a career makes a lot
of sense. The food industry is growing
and it is not going away. It is highly
technical with many opportunities for
advancement. And it is huge; fourteen
percent of the labor force in Ontario.
That might make it the
largest industry in Ontario
and if not, then it is second
to the auto industry.
The agri-food industry
Advisory Group told us
that ‘leadership’ is the
number one employment
skill they are looking for.
Leadership is also highly
transferable from one field
of employment to another.
Simply learning how to
deal with others in a positive and productive manner is so valuable in
today’s workplace yet it is
often hard to find.
The market opportunity
for the AFL diploma is
also huge. Students can
come from farm or non-
• 32 •
farm background. There are equal
opportunities for the ladies and the
men, ethnic groups, city folk or country
folk, young and not so young.
The curriculum includes courses
that deal with technical aspects of processing, wholesaling, energy, food safety and some agriculture type courses.
Management courses in innovation,
business management and supply chain
theory are offered. And then leadership
courses are offered in each semester,
and these are the hallmark of this program. There is a leadership thread
within all courses and students will be
encouraged to develop and display their
leadership whenever and wherever possible throughout their diploma.
I invite the alumni community to ask
questions and to carry the good word to
those who might be interested in learning more about this Agri-Food Leadership Diploma. There is a good description of the program on the college website. Alternatively, send me an email at
[email protected] and
I will be most pleased to answer any
questions.
ON CAMPUS
Education for Employment:
KC partners with Kihonda
(RVTSC) in Tanzania
arlier this year, the University of
Guelph Kemptville Campus was
awarded funding for a two-year project
in Tanzania, and is partnering in a second
similar project. These are part of the “Education For Employment” (Africa) three-year
program, funded by the Canadian Partnership
Branch (CPB) of the Canadian International
Education for Employment meeting in Dar.
Development Agency (CIDA) under its Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability Direc- Institutions (VETA) in Tanzania, and it is hoped that they
will provide a model in competency-based training in
torate. The CPB supports CIDA’s mandate and objectives
by partnering with Canadian civil society and private sec- agriculture, and that core programming developed though
tor organizations to promote capacity building in develop- this initiative can and will be replicated throughout all
VETAs across the country.
ing countries
Pat Remillard of the Kemptville
The goal of the “Education for
Campus Business Development Centre
Employment” (EFE) is to contribute to
is the project administrator. Other
poverty reduction by supporting private
team members are Patti Goodman and
sector development focusing on the
Dr. Don Mercer. Lakeland College
needs of businesses in the targeted sec(Alberta) and Carlton Trail College
tors for the stability, creation and main(Saskatchewan) are also partnering
tenance of sustainable jobs, and on
with Kemptville.
social integration by contributing to an
The objectives set out in an initial
expansion of continuing education for
proposal were further refined following
the labour force.
an “Inception Visit” to Tanzania in JanThe program is designed to have
uary by Pat Remillard and Patti GoodCanadian institutions working with
man. These include creation of compespecific partners in Tanzania.
tency-based education and training
Kemptville Campus will be working
courses designed to address the needs
with the Kihonda Regional Vocational
of the rapidly changing Tanzanian agriTraining and Service Centre (RVTSC)
food sector. A key step in this process
to meet a number of key objectives.
is to conduct a needs assessment
Kihonda’s mandate is to provide vocathroughout the Morogoro Region
tional education and training aimed at
which the Kihonda RVTSC serves.
preparing youths and adults for formal
By improving entrepreneurial
employment or self-employment, parEducation for Employment
knowledge and skills, Kihonda graduticularly in the area of trades.
entrepreneur on bike.
ates will be more suitably equipped to
The vision is to establish an agricultural department that will offer competency based educa- face the challenges of establishing and supervising their
own businesses, or to be more employable members of the
tion training (CBET) in crop production and horticulture.
The purpose of the project is to build the capacity of the labour market.
In the second project, Kemptville Campus is working
KRVTSC instructors in developing and delivering competency-based education training in agribusiness with a pri- with Lakeland College (project lead) and Olds College
(Alberta) in a similar undertaking with the Ministry of
mary focus on small business and entrepreneurialism.
Kihonda is one of 12 Vocational Education and Training Agriculture Training Institute in Uyole, Tanzania.
E
w w w. k e m p t v i l l e c . u o g u e l p h . ca
• 33 •
ON CAMPUS
Campus Authors
“In the Hood”
“Living on Le$$”
Author Heather Westendorp
Author Heather Stewart
his handy pocketbook
is focused on the reality of the trials and
tribulations facing parents
today. It is not a ‘how to’
book, but rather an expression of sympathy and empathy for all parents to forgive
themselves when some days
seem bleak.
Heather strives to present this ‘trip on the wild
side’ with humour and much hind-sight observation.
These are lessons learned and information to be shared
from parenting two sons through various stages to “Adult
Children: What’s a Parent to do?”
Also included is a poetry section on Motherhood, Sisterhood and Brotherhood, in which Heather refers to her own
image of her mother’s guidance and skills.
A well-known retired staff member and friend, Audrey
McClenaghan, offered this wee note of expression: “The
clever front cover and, 67 pages of easy reading later, the
beautiful back cover held together a masterpiece of wit,
wisdom and observation.”
Heather is a Senior Lecturer in Communications, Student Counselor and Editor of Contact II.
Copies can be found at Home and Beyond in the
Kemptville Mall and from the On-Line Bookstore at
www.publishamerica.net in the self-help section, page 10.
T
ollowing the creation of her first book, entitled
How to live on $16,000 a Year, Heather soon compiled her research in
1991 for Canada: Who
Cares?? with many pleas
as to why we should care,
then a personal self discovery publication called
Genetic Testing: Our
Responsibility for the
Future in 1994. This book
focuses on the many
occurrences of, and the
reasons to eliminate,
genetic discriminatory
practices in our health
field and within the life
insurance business.
In 2009, she published
her latest effort called Living on Le$$ which is available
from www.lulu.com.
In her own words, “By simplifying life in order to
reduce stress and debt, we can survive in the new economy . . . the more we make, the more we spend – most
people spend 125% of their income.”
Heather has been dubbed a “Poverty Warrior” by the
Montreal Gazette and her family was featured in Canadian Living magazine. She is now a grandmother and a
college student in our Food, Nutrition and Risk Management diploma program.
F
“The Complete Trail Food Cookbook”
Authors Jennifer MacKenzie, Jay
Nutt, and Don Mercer
ollowing the success of The
Dehydrator Bible in 2009, Jennifer MacKenzie, Jay Nutt, and
Don Mercer have added The Complete
Trail Food Cookbook. The 256-page
book was released in March 2010 by
Robert Rose Publishing of Toronto.
Copies are now found at www.amazon.net and at any Chapters book store.
This book is aimed primarily at
campers, canoeists, and backpackers
who are looking for great tasting, nutritious meals which offer both convenience and variety. Since weight is a
serious consideration for most outdoor
enthusiasts, the recipes incorporate
F
dried foods that can be easily
prepared using a home dehydrator.
The Complete Trail Food
Cookbook features over 60
brand-new recipes plus favourite recipes from The Dehydrator Bible. They include
campfire hash browns,
scrambled huevos rancheros,
chipotle beef chili, peppercorn ground beef jerky, cranberry and
cashew chews, and fudgy skillet brownies, as well as pear cherry ginger crumble. Each recipe is organized in two sections: one for the home preparation
stages, and the second for final preparation and serving.
• 34 •
As with their previous cookbook, Jennifer and Jay developed the recipes
while Don identified
the best drying conditions for the wide variety of ingredients used
in these recipes.
Jennifer is a professional home economist
specializing in recipe
development and testing. Jay is a chef and
the proprietor of the
“Nuttshell Next Door Café” in Lakefield, Ontario. Don is a Professional
Engineer and Associate Professor in the
Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph. He is located at the
Kemptville Campus.
ON CAMPUS
Campus Authors: “Simply Good Food”
rom book Forward - The Food, Nutrition and
Risk Management class of 2011 represents an
extremely eclectic demographic mix. At the time
of publication the age range is from 19 to 57 with the
average age being around 30. Educational backgrounds span from high school equivalency to a Law
degree and employment backgrounds go from Journeyman cooks with 20+ years experience to no food
industry related experience at all. We have grandparents and single parents, commuters, dorm residents,
long-time locals and several who have graced
Kemptville by moving to town for this program.
The diversity has been a great addition to the actual course material sparking many discussions and
debates stemming from the wide range of life styles,
tastes and interests. Through this we have come
F
together, bound by a common
love of, simply, good food.
We, the Kemptville Campus student branch of the
Canadian Association of
Foodservice Professionals
are future advisors, educators and food executives. As
such, we wish to share with
you some of our favorite
recipes and stories. It is our
hope that each of you will
find something of lasting
value in the pages of this
book. Copies are found at
the KC Bookstore or through any staff member.
Kemptville Campus launches its Technology Transfer eNetwork
echnology has the power to
change the way we do things. It
can make processes easier, quicker, cheaper, and better. However, innovations in technology need to be disseminated effectively in order for them
to be applied appropriately.
The Tech. Transfer eNetwork was
developed with this purpose in mind; to
make the results of agriculture, food,
the environment and rural communities
- research, widely known to those who
would most benefit from using it.
Accordingly, Kemptville Campus
applied for and received funding from
“Inukshuk Wireless” for the development of a web-based technology transfer network. The goal of the online initiative is to accelerate the pace of
research uptake, increase the frequency
of its integration into agricultural practice and commercialization, and ultimately stimulate rural economic development through innovation.
This project seeks to address the
critical gap in technology transfer in the
Agri-food Industry by providing online
mechanisms for information and technology dissemination among and
between researchers and farmers and
producers. Clearly, there is a myriad of
resources for research information
available already available; so what
makes the eNetwork so different? Well,
technology transfer isn’t just about
T
making the research available; it is
about making the research more accessible, more understandable, and in a
variety of useable formats.
There are six available formats currently available on the tech transfer
website, with their own specific function, and all are in layman’s terms:
1) The Interpretive Summary; in a
one page article; discover the question
the researcher was trying to answer, the
experiment, the results and the conclusion in an easy to read format. The
Interpretive Summary is ideal for those
wanting the basics of the current
research, or for those looking to avoid
the daunting task of scanning full text
scientific publications.
2) The Info Sheet; the Interpretive
Summary as an informational piece.
The Info Sheet may be downloaded to
hand out at conferences/ seminars/
poster presentations / or at distributor
locations.
3) The Slide Show; more information than the Interpretive Summary,
the slide show in a power point presentation style with special multimedia effects. In addition to the information contained in the Interpretive
Summary, it presents the methods and
discussion of the research. The slide
show would be ideal in public information meetings, and for educational
purposes.
• 35 •
4) The Fact Sheet; the slide show in
a printable document, presenting
detailed information in easy to read language. It presents the entire scope of
the article in a well outlined format.
5) The Audio; the interpretive summary as a news broadcast. A convenient bundle of information presented in
a well spoken, easy to understand format. This format can be downloaded
and portable.
6) The Video; any video clip of the
researcher and their work may be presented and uploaded to the site. It may
be about the researcher personally, their
broad scope of work, or a detailed current project.
Who may join the network?
1) Any researcher interested in sharing their knowledge. 2) Farmers and
producers interested in the newest technologies. 3) Educators wanting to bring
new technology information into their
learning environment. 4) College and
university students looking to increase
their knowledge and understanding of a
particular subject. 5) Anyone interested
in finding out the latest research in agriculture, food, the environment and rural
communities.
For more information visit the website or contact: Pat Remillard, Manager
of Cost Recovery Programs, Kemptville Campus, University of Guelph,
[email protected].
Open Letter to the Kemptville Campus Alumni and friends
We are building a state-of-the art Dairy Education
and Demonstration facility!
One short year ago, Contact II featured much discussion regarding our campus priority – a state-of-the- art Dairy
Education and Demonstration facility that involves the conversion of our former bull test station and the acquisition of
an Automated Milking System (AMS). What a difference a year makes, because by the time this issue of Contact II
makes its way to you, we are pleased to report that the next phase of the barn conversion will be underway. As such, the
purpose of this communication is to reiterate the project premise, and provide you with an up-to-date status report.
Many of our research, teaching and technology transfer facilities currently require significant upgrades if we are to
continue meeting the needs of the various sectors of the agriculture industry. Although the Campus currently receives
funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the Ministry of Training Colleges
and Universities (MTCU) to support its operations, we must seek alternative funding for the development of new programs and for the development of major infrastructure projects.
Our current priority is the Dairy Education and Demonstration Facility, with an estimated total cost of $1million.
The Agriculture Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO) committed $200,000 for the initial phase of the conversion that
was completed in 2009. Once the Campus met its commitment to raise a minimum of $300,000 for the purchase of
the automated milking system; any additional funds would be earmarked for add-ons to enhance the student learning
experience. This would then trigger a $440,000 request to ARIO for the next conversion phase, as well as confirmation
from DFO and the U of G of the additional quota needed for herd expansion.
In 2009, we established a Fundraising Committee consisting of representatives from the Kemptville College Foundation, the Kemptville College Alumni Association, and staff from University of Guelph Kemptville Campus with an advisory
role from the University of Guelph Ontario Agricultural College. The Committee developed a Fundraising Plan and has surpassed its goal. We will soon be buying an AMS! We continue to accept pledges for the enhancement for the student
learning experience.
We have now officially received confirmation of the final conversion funding and quota expansion. The Dairy Education
and Demonstration Facility will bring Kemptville Campus to the leading edge of dairy technology, and better position us
to continue to deliver industry-driven quality education. This would not have been possible without the help from the
many volunteers from the Kemptville College Foundation, the Kemptville Campus Alumni Association, staff from University of Guelph Kemptville Campus, and the University of Guelph Ontario Agricultural College. This was a true team effort!
Sincerely, the Campus Fundraising Committee
Dr. Renée Bergeron
Pat Remillard
Dr. Trevor De Vries
Dr. Paul Shape
Nick Bray
Albert Koekoek
Cheryl DeVries
• 36 •
KEMPTVILLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION
Message from the Kemptville College Foundation President
am honored that my peers considered
me worthy and elected me to the role
of President of the Kemptville College Foundation. During the past two
years I have appreciated working with
the former President, Colin Carson, and
former Vice-President Bill Curnoe. They
were very dedicated in their work for the
Foundation and I will do my very best to carry on in that
manner.
My wife, Elaine, and I farm near Perth in Lanark County.
Although we retired from the dairy business a few years ago,
we continue to farm, specializing in hay productions and
sales and custom cattle pasturing. We have two married sons
and two grandsons.
I am a member of the graduation classes of 1965 Agriculture and 1966 Advanced mechanics. Over the years I have
tried to maintain my association with the College through my
membership and chairing of several agricultural organiza-
I
tions including my time in the executive
of the Alumni. I enjoyed my years as a
student at this institution and I always felt
strongly about supporting it.
These past two years that I’ve been a
Foundation Director, I have been very
absorbed in the fundraising activities for
the Dairy Barn Project. A special committee that I served on was set up by the University of
Guelph, Kemptville Campus, for this purpose and consisted of committee members from the University, the Campus, the Alumni and the Foundation. At times we were a
little frustrated, but mostly it has been a great experience
and, in the end, we as partners were very successful in our
task.
I would like to thank all those contributing to this worthwhile project. I’m greatly looking forward to the day when
the cows move into their new barn.
David Morrow
Past President’s report: Colin Carson’s year in review
ince the last AGM, the Foundation has been active in
fundraising for the Dairy Barn and in promotion of its
charitable objectives.
In March 2009, we hosted the Pancake Breakfast, unveiled
the tractor raffle and participated in the Royal. The Royal
Committee donated a portion of the proceeds from the Calf
Sale to the Foundation for the Dairy Barn and the Aggie Club
also donated a portion of their revenues. We attended the
Farm Show and our lil’ Allis was a hit. Thanks to Tom Van
Dusen for the prime location.
S
Your Foundation is:
he Foundation is a registered non-profit charitable
corporation founded in 2000. The Kemptville College Foundation is dedicated to increasing the profile, enhancing the financial stability and ensuring the
longevity of this Campus as a leading centre for education and training.
The Board of Directors for the Foundation are:
President: David Morrow
Vice-President: John Newman
Treasurer: Wendy Brooks
Secretaries: Maureen Leeson, Patricia Remillard
Directors: Wendy Brooks, Norman Blodgett, Terry
Butler, Ian Carley, Roy Carver, John Fraser, Donald
Good, Kathy Hardy, Graham Hudson, Paul Jansen, Mac
Johnson, John Joynt, Ellen Mooney, Gib Patterson and
Tom Van Dusen.
T
We attended the Canada Day even on Campus with lil’
Allis in tow. We had something to celebrate as the OVSGA
had confirmed their pledge of $100,000 to the Foundation in
support of its efforts to raise funds for the Dairy Barn.
We issued our Newsletter in August with another appeal
for funds for the barn. Thanks to Elizabeth Holmes for preparation of the camera-ready copy and to Gib Patterson for his
continued financial support.
Harvest Fest was successful. Ian Carley and team did an
excellent job with organization, set-up, decorations and
clean-up. The tractor raffle draw was held and the winner,
Robin Wright of Napanee, donated the tractor back to the
Foundation in memory of Rick Brooks. The tractor has since
been auctioned and was purchased by Alf Semenuk of Pioneer Nurseries in Kemptville.
In December we presented a cheque for $20,000 to the
Campus as a first step in our commitment to support the
Dairy Barn.
In March 2010, we attended the Royal and hosted the Pancake Breakfast once again. Ian Carley and team did a great
job with the breakfast, serving 307 people and clearing
$1,900. This funding was used to purchase a 60 foot galvanized round pen with 6 foot sides, delivered and donated to
the Equine Programs
In this Dairy Project the Foundation has more than tripled
the goal by raising over $150,000. Thank you to all who have
supported the Foundation in the effort to raise funds. Special
thanks to Dave Morrow, Bill Curnoe and Don Cameron for
their door-to-door efforts. As this 10th Annual General Meeting is the last of this Board, it is appropriate to acknowledge
those Board members who actively participated in the Foundation’s fundraising.
• 37 •
KEMPTVILLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION
Pancake Breakfast
uring the Kemptville Campus
Royal, the Kemptville College
Foundation serves a breakfast with
pancake, sausage and bacon with Maple
Syrup at the Agroforestry Centre on Saturday morning from 7:30 am to 1 p.m.
With support from territorial sales representatives from Syngenta Crop Protection, Dupont Canada Inc., BASF Canada
and Chartwells, we served 307 breakfasts
and enjoyed a profit of $1,936.
All funds generated by the Kemptville
College Foundation go to provide Scholarships for students attending University
of Guelph, Kemptville Campus and help
fund items requested by the Kemptville
Campus.
D
Donor Recognition
he Kemptville College Foundations’
recognition program is designed to
acknowledge continuing community
support and dedication expressed through
generous donations (financial and other).
The Foundation’s “Grow the Future” plan
includes five recognition levels:
Bronze: Gifts under $100
Silver: Gifts of $100 - $499
Gold: Gifts of $500 - $999
Platinum: Gifts of $1,000 - $4,999
Diamond: Gifts of $5,000 or more
Individuals, associations and corporations
wishing to pledge a donation to the Foundation will be recognized in various ways – via
the newsletter, website, etc. Tax receipts are
issued for contributions of more than $10.
T
Harvest Fest: Major fundraiser of Foundation raised over $9,000 last year
his event is a substantial fund
raiser for the Kemptville College
over the past few years. The
W.B. George Centre is transformed into
a festival evening featuring fall colors
with pumpkins, cornstalks, straw, cedar
T
rail fence, witches etc. artistically
arranged with plants and flowers. The
evening starts with a social hour followed by a Buffet Dinner, usually a hip
of beef. A live Auction, silent Auction
and Dance to a live Band rounds out the
• 38 •
rest of the evening. Thanks to many
Donors of Auction items and to the people attending: we raised almost $10,000
at Harvest Fest 2009. Now is the time to
mark on your calendar, October 23,
2010 for Harvest Fest this year.
KEMPTVILLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION
Foundation raises
$150,000 for Dairy
Research Centre
eld March 23, the 10th
annual meeting of the
Kemptville
College
Foundation was a bittersweet
event marking the end of an era.
On one hand, Foundation
President Colin Carson handed
over a cheque for $130,000 to
the Kemptville Campus of the
University of Guelph Dairy
Research Project, bringing the
total raised by KCF to
$150,000. Gratefully accepting
the donation was Ontario Agricultural College Dean Dr. Rob
Gordon and Acting Campus
Director Dr. Renée Bergeron.
On the other hand, Carson
announced it would be his last
meeting as part of the Kemptville
College Foundation Board of Directors. A member of the Foundation
from the beginning, Carson served
several terms as a very active presi-
H
Dr. Renée Bergeron, Colin Carson and Dr. Rob Gordon.
dent during which time he gained the
respect of the membership and appreciation of students whom he supported in many projects, including the
College Royal.
Graham Hudson presenting to Colin.
• 39 •
“I’ve willingly put in thousands
of volunteer hours and we’ve raised
$550,000 towards campus programs
and student scholarships since
2003,” the departing president said.
Confirmed at the meeting, the new
Board of Directors appointed a 2010
Executive.
Carson’s “dedication to the betterment of the campus” was suitably
acknowledged by Directors Dave
Morrow and Graham Hudson who
presented him with a plaque unofficially making him an “honorary graduate” of the campus.
Also thanking Carson were three
students from the Royal organizing
committee who announced they
would donate $3,000 through the
Foundation to the Dairy Research
Centre – part of the proceeds from the
annual calf sale.
Comprising agricultural and community leaders from across the
region, KCF was formed to provide
scholarships to worthy students and
to initiate support for college programs.
KEMPTVILLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION
Dave Morrow takes over at helm of 2010 KC Foundation Executive
etired Perth dairy farmer Dave Morrow has been Bill Curnoe who also decided to withdraw from the Board.
elected President of the Kemptville College FoundaAgreeing to continue as treasurer and secretary respection for 2010.
tively are Wendy Brooks of Kemptville, a retired office
Active in recent months raising funds for the new dairy administrator and bookkeeper, and Maureen Leeson, also of
research centre being
Kemptville, a retired
established at Kemptassistant to the campus
ville Campus of the
director.
University of Guelph,
Continuing as comMorrow replaces immemittee chairs are Tom
diate Past President
Van Dusen in commuColin Carson who
nications and Ian Cardeparted the Foundaley in special events;
tion Board after several
formerly
held
by
years as its president.
Curnoe, chair of the
Also elected at a
corporate committee
recent meeting of the
will be left vacant for
Board, North Gower’s
the time being.
John Newman will join
In other business, it
Morrow as vice-presiwas confirmed that
dent. A beef farmer and
close to $2,500 was
past director with both
raised from the annual
the Ontario and CanadiKCF pancake breakfast
an Cattlemen Associa- Secretary Maureen Leeson, President David Morrow, Vice-President John which was held on camNewman and Treasurer Wendy Brooks.
tions, Newman replaces
pus in March.
R
Leeds Federation of Agriculture
donates $5,000 to Foundation
he Leeds Federation of Agriculture made a
significant donation to the Kemptville College Foundation of $5,000 towards the
dairy barn project. The new State of the Art Dairy
Education and Research Facility involved the renovation of a former bull test station in addition to
the acquisition of a robotic milking system. The
project cost is estimated at $750,000.
The Leeds Federation of Agriculture (LFA) is
very proud to be able to donate this amount of
money towards this project. The LFA strongly
believes in supporting Kemptville College as it
positions itself as the dairy research centre in
Ontario. As government funding continues to
decline in agriculture, it is important that we
support our local agriculture college to continue
to educate and encourage students to return to
the farm.
Many Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA)
members in Leeds County are former graduates of
Kemptville College; as well, many current students are attending from Leeds County. Eastern
Ontario is home to many of the best top producing
dairy herds in Ontario – many thanks to the education students have received from the college.
T
Vice-President John Newman and President David Morrow receive a cheque
from Don Bracken, President of the Leeds Federation of
Agriculture and Eleanor Renaud, Secretary-Treasurer of the Leeds
Federation of Agriculture.
photo courtesy of Ruth Vogel, OFA representative
• 40 •
KEMPTVILLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION
Carl Fraser
Memorial
Scholarship
Paul Adam
Memorial
Scholarship
his annual scholarship
of $500 has been established by an endowment of funds raised by the
family and friends in memory
of Paul Adam. This year’s
recipient of the award was
Stephanie Taylor
Stephanie Taylor, who, of all
the applicants, ranked highest in the eligibility criteria of
academics and agriculture related school and community
activities.
T
onations from the Fraser
family have enabled the
Foundation to establish an
endowment to fund this annual
scholarship of $1,000. This year’s
recipient was Jessie Hubbs, when
student entering her third semester
Jessie Hubbs
in Agriculture with a concentration in Dairy (now a graduate). The selection is based on academic performance as well as participation in related extracurricular activities such as College Royal.
D
In Memoriam
emptville
College
Foundation, as a registered charitable organization, can accept donations
made in memory of a departed
relative or friend. The donations will be used to support
the objectives of the Foundation. Tax receipts will be
issued for all donations over
$10.
K
Newsletter
CF has developed and
published a newsletter
for members. It is distributed in July/August and
contains articles on our projects and programs. If you are
interested in supporting the
Foundation and joining its
growing number of members,
please contact our office. A
lifetime membership is $10.
K
Acknowledgement
he Kemptville College
Foundation acknowledges the support of the
Alumni Association and is
grateful for its donation of this
space in CONTACT ll.
T
A KCF priority, a state-of-the-art Dairy Education and Demonstration
facility, with an estimated total cost of $1 million. The KC Foundation has
already raised over $150,000 through various initiatives for this project.
Current Facility:
• 30 cow herd (full capacity)
• Tie-stall barn
• Manual (transportable) milker
• Bulk Tank (at capacity)
• Manual clean-up
• Manual data recording
• 1926 architecture
• Spatial danger/difficulties
• 41 •
Proposed Facility:
• 60 cow herd
• Free-stall housing
• Robotic Milking System
• Larger bulk tank
• Automatic manure scraper
• Real-time live-feed data display
• Contemporary architecture/design
• Space to expand/develop
DAIRY BARN UPDATE
Kemptville Alumni pitch in, new dairy barn essential to future of KC
Dairy Farmers Nick
Thurler of South
Mountain (left), Ed
Schouten of Richmond
and Robert Byvelds of
Williamsburg were the
principal fundraisers in
the Kemptville College
Alumni Association’s
successful campaign to
contribute at least
$100,000 towards the
purchase of a robotic
milking system for the
new education and
research facility.
by Mac Johnston, Board
Member and Alumni Dairy
Barn Fundraising Coordinator
he Kemptville College
Alumni Association has
long been a devoted supporter of Kemptville Campus,
but currently has a particularly
powerful motivation — the
belief that a new dairy barn is
essential for the institution’s
continued success as an agricultural college serving eastern
and central Ontario.
The current dairy barn, built
in 1926, is not relevant to
dairy-farming operations today and no longer meets current
animal-care standards. Its days are clearly numbered. Two
previous efforts to get a new barn had come to naught.
This time there was support from the University of Guelph
and capital funding from the Agricultural Research Institute
of Ontario, but it was contingent on the ability of the campus
and its supporters to raise enough money to purchase an automated milking system for a new dairy education and demonstration facility that would put cows in the classroom through
closed-circuit television.
This need prompted the creation of the Kemptville Campus
Dairy Barn Fundraising Campaign with three partners: the
campus, the alumni association and Kemptville College Foundation. The parties lacked experience of this type, so the campaign was slow to develop and there were bumps along the
way that required adjustments. Changes in market conditions
and the value of the Canadian dollar led to a reduction in the
campaign goal to a minimum of $300,000 from $360,000.
With Kemptville College Foundation fundraising efforts
well underway, earlier this year, OAC Dean Rob Gordon
launched a challenge to all Kemptville Alumni and designated $20,000 from OAC priority funds to be used as a matching incentive to encourage pledges of support for the Dairy
Barn Project from Kemptville Alumni.
The Alumni committed to raise $100,000 by the end of
March 2010. Our three key campaigners were dairy farmers
Ed Schouten of Richmond, Nick Thurler of South Mountain
and Robert Byvelds of Williamsburg. The campus staff coordinated by Director Renée Bergeron and Pat Remillard, manager of cost recovery programs, worked in close collaboration with the alumni team to answer questions, provide printed materials and resolve issues.
Needing a large amount of money in a short time, the
alumni campaign organizers focused on identifying those
who might give $1,000 or more. This would put them in the
donor-recognition category titled Member and earn them a
place on a plaque at the new facility. The approach developed
by Ed Schouten was to make a personal visit to each prospect
to inform him or her of the critical need, explain how he or
she could help and leave background material. This was fol-
T
lowed by a return visit, hopefully to pick up a cheque.
Once the alumni team got going, the campaign took off
early in 2010. Other alumni canvassers included Mark Donnan of Stirling, Barton MacLean of Napanee, Dick Straathof
of Arnprior, Jessica Schouten of White Lake, Jim Wert of
Newington and Norm Blodgett of Peterborough.
The response was tremendous. Grads and the community
rose to the challenge and came to the aid of their college. The
alumni campaign has far exceeded its $100,000 minimum
goal. The current total is $153,800 and growing!
The majority of the money came in donations of $1,000,
and most of that came from dairy farmers. It is a tangible
demonstration of the college’s importance to grads and the
region’s agricultural community.
In a most welcome development, the business community
also demonstrated that the college, its grads and the farming
community are important by making some notable donations.
Weagant Farm Supplies, with outlets in Winchester and
Brockville, generously contributed $12,000. Three banks
were also in the forefront. The Bank of Nova Scotia donated
$12,000 for lighted signage for the new facility, while the
Bank of Montreal and the Royal Bank came through with
$10,000 each for this important community project.
The alumni association, which itself donated $10,500 to
the campaign, is grateful to all contributors for their generous
support, and to the canvassers who made this campaign a success. It is by far the alumni association’s largest financial contribution in support of the college.
It has been an interesting campaign that, thankfully, will
ensure the retention of a dairy herd and thus make an important contribution to the future of Kemptville Campus and the
dairy industry.
The experience might also provide guidance on how the
campus could approach the fundraising that will be necessary
for the facility renewal, expansion and introduction of other
programs in the future. This will become increasingly important as the campus, in common with other educational institutions, adjusts to an era where internal funding for these purposes will be limited, creating a much greater reliance on
external fundraising and funding sources.
• 42 •
IN MEMORIAM
Evelyn (Jeffrey) Scott, a 1936
graduate on May 5, 2009 at the age of
95 – a talented seamstress in Athens,
Ontario. In 1935 she was approached
by the Women’s Institute to lead the
first 4-H homemaking club in Athens.
As a result, she earned the highest
mark for her project at the Central
Canada Exhibition in 1935, when she
was awarded the G.T. Fulford Scholarship to attend KAS: an education that
further enhanced her sewing skills.
Upon marrying Laurence Mills
Scott on 1940, they were stationed
with the Royal Canadian Air Force in
Rivers, Manitoba during WWII then
returned to Brockville where she was a
dedicated member of St. John’s United
Church for more than 60 years.
Survived by daughter Brenda Caroline Foss (Larry) and four grandchildren: Jeffrey Slack (Min-Ju), Carl
Slack (Nicole), Stephen Foss (Teresa)
and Kevin Foss (Manon) with many
great-grandchildren.
Predeceased by husband Laurence
in 1982 and daughter Leona May in
1995, as well as her parents and her sister, Charlotte Joynt & husband Robert.
Kenneth James E. Farrell, year ’39
on April 10, 2010 peacefully at the age
of 90. Beloved husband of the late
Gertrude (Nicholls), sadly missed by
children Robert (Suzanne Hamel), Janet
Sutherland (James) and Mary Farrell;
grandchildren Curtis (Allyson) and
Quinn (Mary Louise) Farrell and Taylor
and Laura Sutherland: great-grandchildren Katherine and Jackson Farrell.
Ken was born and raised on a farm
on the Chesterville Finch Road and
Gertrude Nichols was Dean of Women
when Ken came every weekend to see
her.
Lawrence M. Blair Year ’42 at the
age of 89 years. Lawrence farmed for
many years in the Westport area before
moving to Kingston. Funeral was held
September 5, 2009 in Westport,
Ontario.
Dorothy (Tummon) Brown in May
2009, year 1942 graduate of KAS in
Home Economics,. She was married to
veterinarian Dr. George Brown of
Selby until his passing in 1996.
Dorothy moved to Belleville to be near
her sister, Eleanor (Tummon) Quick, a
1942 graduate also, who died in 2000.
Dorothy had no children and Eleanor is
survived by two children.
Howard Ferguson Class ’46, a
retired DuPont Canada Inc. employee,
died June 15 at Brockville General
Hospital’s Charles Street site. He was
born August 10, 1919, to Albert R.
Bert Ferguson and the former Mary
McNeil at Garretton. He went to Garretton Public School and, after graduating from Prescott High School in
1944, studied at Kemptville Agricultural College from which he graduated
in 1946.
Following graduation, he worked
out of the University of Guelph, doing
extension work for nine years. Then he
went to work for DuPont Canada Inc.’s
Maitland Site, where he was a lab technician for over 28 years. He retired in
1982.
Mr. Ferguson attended St. Andrews
Knox Presbyterian Church, Spencerville, where he served as an elder and
sang in the choir. He is survived by a
niece, Judith Van Duren and her husband Charles, and by dear friends Gail
and Lynn Allaby.
Both The Order of the Eastern Star
Violet Chapter No. 206, Prescott, and
the Nation Masonic Lodge No. 556
held memorial services before the
funeral on June 19 at St. Andrewss
Knox Presbyterian Church, Spencerville. Burial followed at St. Andrews
Cemetery, Garretton.
Robert George Frederick Hill, a
1947 graduate of Kemptville Agricultural School and the class of 1950 of
OAC, passed away December 26,
2008. A celebration of Fred’s life was
held August 21, 2009 at the Delta
Hotel in Ottawa. As Fred knew many
people and lived many places, similar
celebrations were held in Calgary,
Alta., Toronto, and a graveside service
in Richmond, Ont.
Predeceased by his first wife, Eileen
Ada Hill, he is survived by his wife
Doreen Glancy Hill, his son, Robin
Hill (Julianna), and daughter, Janet
Hill, and Doreen’s two sons: Larry
(Sandra) Glancy and Wayne Glancy.
He graduated from Kemptville
Agricultural College, and then in 1950
• 43 •
graduated from Guelph Agricultural
College (now Guelph University). He
then went to work with the Ontario
Department of Agriculture. Two years
later, Fred pursued a Masters Degree in
Economics at the University of Illinois
at Champagne/Urbana.
Fred then came back to Canada,
where he lived mostly in the Toronto
area and, with a 10-year hiatus working with other departments, worked
with the Ontario Department of Agriculture.
George Francis Jackson of the
class of 1960 passed away in hospital
Friday, March 12, 2010 in his 69th
year. Loving husband of 46 years to
Mary (McNeely).
Dear father of Sandy Carscadden of
Morewood and Rick (Pauline) of
Franklin, Vermont. Special grandpa to
Brandon and Brett Carscadden and
Brodie, Ryan and Kinsey Jackson.
Brother of Norma (late Andre Dagenais), Margery (Delmer Patterson) and
Meryl (Cherie). Brother-in-law to Pat
(Clem O’Rourke), Ken McNeely
(Marlene), Charlie McNeely (Mary),
and Diane Leclere. Son of the late
Percy and Enid Jackson.
George Jackson was the 1960 year
rep, and was probably the only year
representative who has actually contacted all of his classmates for the
weekend.
Christopher Lionel Hawthorn of
Jamaica, in August 2009. Graduated in
Agriculture 1962 and Advanced
Mechanics in 1963.
David Sidney Cowan, class of ’67,
died on June 17th, 2009 at Soldiers
Memorial Hospital in Orillia. David
Cowan of Beaverton in his 65th year
was the beloved husband of Judy
(Mackey) Cowan and son of Ed and
June Cowan. Loving father of Angela
(Rodger Janke) and Jennifer (Bradley
Gregson) and dearly remembered by
“Grampa’s little man” Benjamin.
Brother of Barbara McNichol and Beverly Cowan.
Brian Way of the class of 1969
passed away after a brief illness in hospital, Shawville, Quebec on Saturday
March 27, 2010 in his 60th year.
KC ALUMNI
Message from the Alumni President
s president of University of Guelph,
Kemptville Campus Alumni board, I
am pleased to have this opportunity
to introduce myself. I am a 1991 KCAT
graduate of agriculture and am currently living and working in the Kemptville area.
I would like to thank all the board members who have volunteered, and continue to
volunteer, their time for your association. In
addition I would like to thank all the Alumni who participate in our events as well as
those who promoted and contributed to our
A
recent fundraising efforts in support of University of Guelph, Kemptville Campus.
I encourage Alumni to visit our website
at kcalumni.ca for general information,
important dates and upcoming events. If
you have any inquiries, or to update your
personal contact information, email contact
information is available on our website
kcrecord@ kemptvillec.uoguelph.ca.
I look forward to seeing all of you at
future alumni events,
Tony Desnoo
We Get Letters
From Basil Wren,
retired staff
Dear Heather:
I just received Contact II today and
could not let the day pass without passing on my congratulations and thanks
for such a wonderful publication. I
have always been intending to write
but always kept putting it off.
The previous ones were exceptional
but this one beats them all by a long
shot. I honestly don’t know how you
did it and do it, as I know you have little support for your teaching program
and are not working full time.
The College, the Alumni Assoc. and,
indeed, the University of
Guelph owe you an incredible vote of
thanks for all you are doing for them.
I still look back on my years at the
college with nostalgia and a bit of loneliness. I spent wonderful years there
and, as I told someone recently, I have
more friends than any person could
expect in one lifetime and many of them
were staff, graduates and students I met
through the college. I have said
that I don’t think there is a county
or township in Ontario I could
travel through where I wouldn’t
visit people I have met mostly
through the college. What a treasure to carry into my senior years.
Heather, you are a marvel and
it is a wonderful privilege to
know you. Give my regards to
Ron. I would like to hear of your
sons careers some time.
Thanks again,
Basil
arm Ballads by Will
Carlton, published 1887
From
by Rose Publishing Co.,
Toronto. The words of this
Stephen J. Beckley ’42
classic publication illustrate a
Once again let me congratulevel of communication that
late you on the splendid job you
we are losing. Some ballad
did in editing Contact II Spring
titles include “Over the Hill
2009. Very few people would
to the Poor House” and
have any idea of the amount of
“Gone with a Handsomer
work involved in bringing a magMan”. If interested, please
azine like this to publication! It
contact hstewart@kemptvilwas nice to have had the chance
lec.uoguelph.ca.
to talk to you the other day and I
appreciate your help.
Gift from Bill Kilfoyle
to Paul Sharpe and
Kemptville Campus
on April 2009
F
• 45 •
WE GET LETTERS
From Karlyn Hiebert, Jr. Ag-Equine Option 2009
Hi!
It has most definitely been an interesting year! I intended to send an email sooner, but, I never actually got
around to it with everything happening.
I was hired in October by a fine jewelry company called Olga’s Jewelry,
and it has been amazing! The most
stress-free job I could ever ask for. I
have an amazing boss who has provided me a lot of opportunities to grow and
learn more about the business. But,
besides the job experience, I’ve also
discovered a lot about myself. My confidence has definitely grown, and I
have seen a huge change in my attitudes, perspectives and interactions. I
carry myself a lot higher now then I
used to.
Along with my new job, a few
opportunities have opened up for me in
the horse world. In January, I began
searching for a new horse to start riding
and training again. While searching, I
discovered many horses with many
problems, but, instead of ticking off the
owners by pointing out the issues, it
really impressed a lot of people. So far,
my name has been passed around locally for massage, even though I’ve only
ever worked on one person’s horse. I’ve
made it known that I don’t have any certification, but horse people here in Manitoba are really looking for people who
can help their horses and discover what
has been going wrong. So, because of
the encouragement and support of many
of the horse people here, I’ve decided to
take a course this fall for Equine Massage Therapy and get my certification.
It is something I can really get into, and
it will be a great way to raise money to
go back to school for Psych!
I also have a second job as Miss
Manitoba Globe 2010’s Manager. Prior
to Shelby Duncalfe being Miss Manitoba, she was my best friend and co-worker at Circle Square Ranch. It was a really great honor when she asked me to
help her by being her manager. We’ve
already done so much together in
regards to this pageant and my boss at
week about doing
the jewelry store, Olga, has
more tests on my
been nothing but supportadrenal glands. It has
ive. So far, we have worked
seemed that the less
at the Royal Manitoba Winstress I’ve been
ter Fair, volunteering and
under the more good
working, as well as getting
days I have. I haven’t
her crazy publicity in all of
been able to really
the events going on all
get back into riding
week! There are also a lot
again, but I’m okay
more events on our list and
with that. I just need
a lot more running around
to get my strength
to do. It has taken a lot of
back up. I have had a
time and effort, but is so
lot of issues with
worth it!
Karlyn Hiebert
balance and staying
I’ve seen a huge difference in her throughout all of this, but on the horse lately, so, I haven’t puralso in myself. It has given me a pur- sued it as much as I used to. This last
week has probably been the worst week
pose beyond just everyday life and
revealed a lot of hidden talents I never I’ve had in awhile, but there has also
been an unusual amount of stress which
realized I had before. I’ve become a lot
bolder because of it. I’ve talked to a lot involves a soldier returning home from
of important people and been behind Afghanistan any day now. It was a really convoluted issue back in November
the scenes of some amazing events and
meetings. The horse community has when he left that was only suppressed
really embraced our efforts, as well. until now. Overall though, this week
Shelby, being a horse girl herself, won was definitely better then any of my
good days back in Kemptville while I
a lot of respect at the Winter Fair by
was sick.
being so involved with that event along
So, I’ve really come a long way this
with volunteering at a children’s camp
teaching riding lessons. Horse Canada last year, in regards to maturity and life
experience. There is so much that has
did an interview with her and a lot of
horse related businesses are interested happened, both professionally and on a
personal level. There are lot more
in sponsoring her for the Miss Canada
pageant this August in Toronto. (Which things I would love to tell you about but
I will be going to with her) All-in-all, it I think this e-mail has gone on long
enough. I don’t want to write a book:
has been quite the ride so far.
well, I do, but not necessarily on my
In regards to my health, there has
been a great improvement. I do still job experiences.
I had wished to go out for a visit
have days where getting out of bed and
walking to the bathroom seems impos- sometime this year, but a tight financial
situation didn’t really allow for it. I
sible, but I also have more days where I
have found myself missing certain
feel perfectly fine. From what I’ve
aspects of KCAT and wishing to re-do
heard so far from my homeopathic doctor, it is believed that my adrenal glands a lot of my year last year. Was this year
a good year? Were there many changes
aren’t functioning as well as they
or improvements? Did many of the
should be. So, under stress, my body
pretty much shuts down. Combined people in my Ag-Equine class graduate
with hypoglycemia, I just don’t have this year?
Thank you so much for emailing
some very good days and there isn’t
much they can do other then monitor me!
Sincerely,
my diet and activities. I’m going to be
Karlyn
speaking with my family doctor this
w w w. k e m p t v i l l e c . u o g u e l p h . c a
• 46 •
ALUMNI NOTES
At left:
Don Kinnear
(left), Jenna
James, Tavish
MacPherson
and Isabel Kinnear.
Alumni
4-H Regional
Calf Show
ach year at the
4-H Regional
Show in Metcalfe, the St. Lawrence Valley and the
Leeds-Grenville Jersey Clubs present
Memorial Awards to
the Grand and Reserve Champion Jersey heifers. These
awards are in memory of Rhonda Kinnear
Photo courtesy of Wendy Molenaar
who owned Rhondale
Wendy and Bert have three children:
Jerseys and was also a 2002 Kemptville
Jordan, an Algonquin College grad as
Food Service Grad.
This year’s Regional Show photog- an Automotive Apprentice Mechanic,
rapher is a Kemptville grad. Wendy Lydia, a Sir Sanford Fleming College
(Hodges) Molenaar is a 1981 Agricul- grad as a Law Clerk and Paralegal and
ture Grad. Wendy and her husband Bert Rhea is at St. Lawrence College in
and their children own and operate Kingston taking Fitness and Health
Berwen Holsteins near Cumberland, Promotion. Wendy has been a Leader
Ontario. They milk 35 cows with a herd for the Russell 4-H Calf Club for the
average of 11,500 kg and work approx- past eight years and has been involved
imately 800 acres. Their herd consists in 4-H for over 11 years. When Wendy
of 70% Red and White Holsteins, 5% has spare time, she enjoys her hobby,
Black and White Holsteins and 25% photography. We wish Wendy continued success.
Red Carrier Holsteins.
E
Below:
Wendy
(Hodges)
Molenaar and
her husband
Bert and their
children own
and operate
Berwen
Holsteins near
Cumberland.
Year ’60
45th Reunion
Final tribute
George Francis Jackson (Year ’60)
passed away on March 12, 2010.
At the time, he was creating a
yearbook commemorating Year ’60
for its 50th reunion.
George had been collecting pictures and stories for the yearbook.
Unfortunately George passed away
before completing the project.
A heartfelt thank-you to Mary
Jackson and family for finishing the
work George began. We are very
lucky to have such a treasured yearbook for our 50th reunion.
Back Row, from left: Izett
McBride, Ron Moir, Merlin
Redmond, Velo Post, Grant
Pyke. Second Row, from
left: George Van
Veldhuisen, David Reid,
Victor Hall. Third Row, from
left: Judy Brophy
(Bradshaw), Joan Stoddart
(Cavanagh), Helen Darling
(Routley), Ruby Hammond
(Scheel)
Front Row, from left: Christine Scott (Taylor), George
Jackson, Donna Whetung
(Farrow).
— Submitted by Helen Darling
(Routley) (Mouse) Year ’60
• 47 •
ALUMNI NOTES
Kemptville
grads enjoy
get-together
Kemptville College
grads in attendance
were (left to right) John
Hill ’86, Paul and Grace
Mussell ’81, Don Good
’66, Bruce Mooney ’69,
Ellen Mooney ’67, John
Fraser ’69. Fallowfield
United Church social
committee held a dinner
to honor and thank the
congregation for all the
support given to the
committee over the past
year to their fundraising
events. Paul Mussell,
1981 grad and
comedian provided the
entertainment.
Alumni apparel
fits perfectly
on Burgess ’68 is
fitting Joe McGahey ’94 with his
new Alumni vest. Joe was
playing hockey in the
Alumni Hockey tournament that took place at the
College Royal and Ron
was working at the Alumni
booth. Vests are available
at the Campus Bookstore
and from the Alumni.
R
Frasers ‘fixed for feathers’
rothers Richard, David and John Fraser
added about 28,000 chickens to their
Stittsville farming operations. Their new
65 X 500 ft. broiler barn, which can house
about 40,000 chickens, is added to the farm’s
350 Holstein dairy and cash crop operations.
John’s son Kent, Richard’s son Robert and
David’s son Jonathan all add to the continued
growth. Robert is a U of G Grad 2000, while
Jonathan and Kent graduated from Kemptville
Campus in 2003 and 2005.
B
• 48 •
ALUMNI NOTES
Happy Year 1969 Grad Group.
Ellen
Mooney,
Judy
Churcher,
Gordon
French
and Mac
Johnston.
Year ’69 gathers at Richmond
for pre-Alumni weekend festivities
n the Friday evening prior to the 2009 Kemptville Campus
Reunion Weekend, John Fraser, the 1969 Agriculture Year
Rep, and his wife Barbara very generously hosted a BBQ
at their home in Richmond. There was lots to eat and drink. It was
great to visit with everyone. I hadn’t seen my roommate, Pauline
Gardhouse (Martin), in 30 years.
Dairy farmer Graham Link provided entertainment — an
impersonation of Don Harron’s “Charlie Farquharson” character
from the old television program Hee Haw. He used Don Bell as his
straight man. Graham has
been playing Charlie for 30 or
more years.
Since graduation, Year ’69
has had an annual summer
reunion at a campground on
Highway 41 near Cloyne.
They have an auction, pie
bake-off, and a women’s flotilla, plus lots and lots of good
times. They have sold hats and
shopping bags to make money
for the year fund. They have
also donated $2,000 as part of
a $2,500 pledge to the
Kemptville Campus dairy barn
fundraising campaign.
There are now three generGraham Link as “Charlie
ations
attending Year ’69
Farquharson” entertaining us at
events.
Year ’69 BBQ.
O
• 49 •
Graham
Link
and
Dave
Gardhouse.
Colleen
Strack,
Jean
Vrooman,
Bob
Vrooman
and Don
Forbes in
yard of
the
Fraser
home.
ALUMNI NOTES
Hospitality abounds at the 2010 Ottawa Valley Farm Show
The Kemptville College Alumni Association
hosted a hospitality room at the OVFS
on Wednesday, March 17, 2010
from 2-4 pm.
These are some photos from the event.
Tasha Sloan, ’91 of Cardinal, Ontario with her sons
Christopher (foreground), 6 years old and Shawn, 10.
Ke m p t v i l l e A l u m n i W e e ke n d A u g u s t 2 7 - 2 9 , 2 0 1 0
H o n o r i n g G r a d u a t i o n Ye a r s :
1940
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
2000
1970
2005
• 50 •
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
ALUMNI NOTES
75
years
young
Exchange wedding vows
On July 25, 2009, Genevieve Dumont, a 2005
Agricultural grad, married Bradley McIntyre,
a 2005 Horticultural grad.
We wish them a wonderful life together.
J
ohn Curtis (left) and Basil Wren (above) finally hit 75... no,
not their golf score. They recently celebrated their birthdays
and are both enjoying retirement life and doing some travelling. Congratulations to you both!
2009
Alumni
Weekend
• 51 •
Kemptville Campus Alumni Weekend Registration Form
Online Registration available at: www.kcalumni.ca
Grad Year & Program
Name including maiden
Your partner’s name
Mailing Address
Telephone Number
E-mail Address
Indicate any special meal requirement i.e. diabetic dessert
Method of Payment: Make cheque payable to Kemptville College Alumni Association
Late Fee: Add $5.00 per person registering after August 15, 2010
Two People
Package A
$160.00
• Accommodation Friday & Saturday night
• Saturday Breakfast
• Saturday Lunch
• Saturday Banquet, Auction & Dance
• Sunday Breakfast
Package B
• Saturday Lunch
•
•
$285.00
$12.00
$24.00
Package C
$95.00
• Saturday Banquet, Auction & Dance
• Accommodation Saturday night
• Sunday Breakfast
$170.00
Package D
$40.00
• Saturday Banquet & Auction Dance 5:00 PM
$80.00
Package E
• Dance & Auction 7:30 PM
$20.00
Golf
$10.00
9 holes
$40.00
$80.00
Friday, August 27 at 12 noon at Equinelle Golf Course
Please note: Prices shown include HST
Total Owing
Registration Deadline August 15, 2010
Amount Due
CLIP OUT & MAIL
One Person
CLIP OUT & MAIL
August 27 - 29, 2010
Mail completed form to Kim Link, 12261 Link Rd, Winchester ON K0C 2K0 (613)774-5543
• 52 •
ALUMNI NOTES
Alumni Weekend well attended in 2009
O
ur honour years
were ’39, ’44, ’49,
’54, ’59, ’64, ’69,
’74, ’79, ’84, ’89, ’94,
’99, ’04, ’09.
Despite rainy weather
we had 282 grads and
spouses attend the banquet. We must thank
Cathy Baldwin, Kim Link
and the year reps for
organizing this great
weekend.
Stan Peeters and Roberta Riel (Hitchens), ’69.
Above:
Pauline (Martin) and Dave
Guardhouse ’69 from
Westport, Ont.
At left:
Year ’69ers, Donna
Koeniger (Armstrong),
Susan Johnstone, and
Isabel Kinnear (Blair).
Below left:
Baby Bilyea, the youngest
attendee at the Alumni
Dinner.
Mr. and Mrs. Mervyn Tripp, 1939.
At left:
On the left Orval and
Anita Sparling from
Joyceville, Ont., and on
the right Carol and Ford
Patterson from Edwards,
Ont., enjoy lunch in the
cafeteria. Orval is a
woodcarver. He donated
a carving of a wolf for
the silent auction. It was
bought by Harold
Crawford.
Keep in touch
by e-mail
[email protected]
• 53 •
ALUMNI PROFILES
Astrid Muschalla promoting biodiversity along the St. Lawrence Seaway
strid Muschalla (1983) is a community activist and educator
promoting biodiversity through
creating or conserving indigenous
plants in the home landscape and public areas.
Astrid’s work as project co-founder
and designer of “Prescott Blossoms, A
Community Initiative” was created to
conserve ecological integrity and
enhance the biodiversity of a highly visible barren public space on a three-kilometre stretch along the St. Lawrence
River in Eastern Ontario. She used her
weekly newspaper column to educate
the public on the attributes of native
plants. For this work over three years
she was nominated for outstanding contributions to urban stewardship in
Ontario from Evergreen and for the
Urban Habitat Stewardship Award from
Wildlife Habitat Canada.
Astrid is a graduate of the Horticulturist Program from the University of
Guelph in 2001, and a graduate of the
Food Service Supervisors program,
Kemptvillle College 1983. She teaches
A
Astrid Muschalla of Prescott Blossoms,
speaking at Canada Blooms on
Designing with Native Plants.
a variety of courses through Ontario
Learn for Algonquin College, including
horticulture.
As a volunteer with the High Park
Stewardship program and as a Master
Gardener, Astrid continues to be an
advocate for using indigenous plants in
the garden landscape – indeed she
designs home gardens and public areas
as low maintenance in a naturalized
style. Her own property boasts a healthy
urban green space – you won’t find any
turf grass but dotted throughout, there
will be heirloom vegetables and herbs
interplanted with native perennials,
shrubs, trees and ornamentals for low
maintenance gardening.
Her credentials include several years
as design judge for Communities in
Bloom and is a Horticultural member of
Landscape Ontario. With over 10 years
as a public speaking instructor, her gardening and design talks are both educational and entertaining. She recently
was invited to speak at Canada Blooms
on Designing with Native Plants. She
has given talks at the Canadian Garden
and Floral Expo, various horticultural
societies, and major corporations.
You can find out more about what
Astrid is up to at her website,
www.oasishealthylivinginstitute.org.
The Welches enjoy life in beautiful Madawaska Valley retirement paradise
by Sheila Brady, The Ottawa Citizen
TTAWA — Colin Welch (1968 KC grad) has a titanium knee and the design smarts to include a dumbwaiter to haul groceries and hefty packages up to the main
living level of his retirement home overlooking Black Donald Lake in the Madawaska Valley. Welch, 63, and his wife,
Lynda, 55, use the mini-elevator several times a day because
it’s convenient and saves his arthritic joints.
The busily retired public servant — he’s now a registered
home inspector, energy auditor and partner with AmeriSpec
Inspection Services — took a thoughtful eye to the building
plans, long before any workmen arrived on the lot that sits
high above the lake.
“We wanted a house where we could age in place,” says
the big man, who is deadly serious when he jokes that the
only way he is going to leave his beloved lake is with a mortician. His wife’s ears perk up at the sound of his laughter,
nodding in agreement, when her partner of 32 years is asked
about the future and the eventuality of added health care. “I
married her. She’s a nurse and she’s younger.”
Then it’s Lynda Welch who turns philosophical about living more than two kilometres from a paved road, 15 minutes
from Calabogie and 45 minutes from Arnprior and its grocery
stores and shops.
O
“You can’t live always wondering what is going to happen
in the future. You have to live the day.”
Both nod, happy to be in the country, away from the city.
“The house wraps around you and makes you feel real
good,” says Lynda, who traded her full-time career as a nursing home administrator in Ottawa to become a selfemployed, long-term care nurse consultant. The irony is she
has a multi-month contract and drives to Ottawa every day.
Features to assist aging in place were a top priority for the
Welches, which explains why the stair treads are wider and
the rise is lower than the average staircase. They are amazingly easy to negotiate.
The rooms and hallways in the 2,400-square-foot home,
which is just about finished, are all accessible by wheelchair.
It’s been an 18-month construction project t0 more than
double the size of the original cottage, but the planning goes
back 35 years to 1975 when he bought the property for
$7,500 and the following year spent another $7,500 on a 900square-foot Viceroy cottage.
The plan was always to retire at Black Donald Lake, partly because the couple made close friends with neighbours
while spending summers and raising their children, daughter
Laura, now 31 and teaching English in Korea, and son Paul,
now 29 and an actor living in Edmonton.
• 54 •
ALUMNI PROFILES
enough food and energy to
keep us going.”
The Welches were keen
to use environmentally
friendly materials, including a cork floor in the
kitchen and natural ventilation, which includes windows that bring in cool
breezes from the lake and
interior fans and windows
between the living area
and master bedroom that
keeps the air circulating.
“We have central air,
Colin and Lynda Welch.
but never use it,” says
Photograph by Bruno Schlumberger, The Ottawa Citizen
Welch, who spends some
For a time they lived in a sprawling, of his happiest hours sitting on the covformal bungalow in the west end, ered porch, barbecuing a steak for dinbefore moving to a fixer-upper in Dun- ner or sipping iced tea while reading on
robin. The sale of the bungalow and the a summer afternoon. “The only time
Dunrobin house helped finance con- we worry about bugs is for a week in
struction of their retirement home.
May,” says this master planner, who
“It’s expensive to operate two prop- admits regret at giving up on their garerties,” says Lynda Welch. “Two sets of den because it is now too shady. They
taxes, two sets of everything.”
enjoy watching birds at the feeders and
The couple knew what they wanted, don’t want to estimate how much
but needed help seeing the big picture. money they spend on bird feed. “We
They hired architect John Edwards to keep them filled all year,” she says.
extend the design sideways and then
Contouring nature turned out to be a
Dyanne Donahue, owner of Persim- major expense for the Welches. They
mon Interiors, to offer advice on interi- had to construct a massive stone retainor finishes and furnishings.
ing wall to stabilize soil needed to level
Colin Welch is no slouch when it the steep lot and then 28 Techno Metal
comes to building, having renovated Posts to support the large side addition.
homes and taken courses on plumbing “The stone retaining wall cost
and electrical wiring. He’s also an $100,000,” she says. “Construction and
expert on energy efficiencies, explain- all of the new furnishings and appliing how he re-insulated the original ances cost about $400,000.”
cottage, insisted on energy- efficient
The Welches don’t regret a penny,
windows from North Star and solar although they would like a bigger
panels to pre-heat the water supply office. An original bedroom was made
going into the water heater.
over into a shared office, with two
All of the efficiencies mean he filled work stations and lots of cabinetry.
up the oil tank three years ago and hasn’t “We didn’t think it was worth it to
needed a refill, heating the house with a make the home even bigger, so we
pellet stove and one or two bags of pel- manage.”
lets a day. “We use a bag or two when it’s
He travels across the Ottawa Valley,
really, really cold. And it hasn’t been that doing energy audits and home inspeccold.” There is also a backup generator tions and she drives to Ottawa. If the
which came in handy when the ice storm weather is bad, and deadlines are tight,
of 1998 knocked out power to the origi- she spends the night with friends.
nal cottage. The Welches have only been
Yet these two country advocates are
snowbound once since moving full time now able to take more time away from
to Black Donald Lake and that was two work, to travel or to enjoy the view
years ago when Ottawa and the Valley over Black Donald Lake.
got a record snow dump in the spring.
“More and more people are retiring
“We were only closed off for a day or and building. We must be doing someso,” he says. “We have more than thing right,” says Colin Welch.
• 55 •
Author Elsie (Trichuk) Bosnell,
Class ’67.
Love of animals
feeds author’s mind
by Ellen Mooney, Class ’67
lsie Bosnell has recently
written and illustrated a
book titled Gorsey The
Horsey and the Magic Toes.
In an exerpt for her book, Elsie
writes: Writing was not my forte
but, in desperation for something
to do because of an illness, imagination came easily to me, and so
that’s how the story of Gorsey the
Horsey was born.
I was born to a Ukrainian family in Niagara Falls, Canada. Farming was our only means of survival there in Niagara-on-the
Lake. Many of the stories came
from that upbringing and that love
of farm animals.
All my illustrations are selftaught with great perseverance.
I now live on Salt Spring Island
in British Columbia with four cats
and deer running through our
backyard.
What a life! Who could ask for
anything more?
Elsie’s book is geared for children ages three to eight years old.
Copies can be ordered on-line at
www.gorseythehorsey.com.
E
2010 Kemptville
Alumni Weekend
August 27 to 29
Friday, August 27
12:00 noon
5:00 to 7:00 pm
Golf - 9 holes
Registration
Set Up Displays
Equinelle Golf Course
Bell Hall Lobby
Bell Hall
Saturday, August 28
7:30 to 9:00 am
Breakfast
9:30 am to 1:00 pm Registration
3:00 to 4:00 pm
Registration
12:00 to 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:00 pm
Wagon Ride
2:00 to 3:00 pm
3:00 pm
Annual General Meeting
Wagon Ride
5:00
5:00
5:00
5:30
Pick Up Banquet Tickets
Meet and Greet
Silent Auction
Photo Services Individuals and Groups
Please book a time
Dinner
Live Auction
Dance
pm
pm
to 6:00 pm
pm
6:00 pm
7:30 pm
8:15 to Midnight
Cafeteria
(advance booking)
Bell Hall Lobby
Bell Hall Lobby
Cafeteria
(advance booking)
Pick up in front of
Cafeteria
Bell Hall Lobby
Pick up in front of
Bell Hall
W.B. George Centre
W.B. George Centre
W.B. George Centre
W.B. George Centre
W.B. George Centre
W.B. George Centre
W.B. George Centre
Sunday, August 29
7:30 to 9:00 am
Breakfast
10:00 am
Room Check Out
Cafeteria
(advance booking)
Return Keys & Meal Card
• 56 •