Celebrating a century

Given its age, Bill Quinney was astonished at just how good Olds College looked on Feb. 22, 100 years— to the day— after a bill was introduced in the Alberta legislature that established the school.

"It's hard to believe that 100 years ago, this campus, vibrant with student clubs, top-tier competitive athletic leagues and a multitude of world-class learning facilities, once consisted of a two-storey wood building and a demonstration farm," he said. "It's hard to believe that 100 years ago, roughly three-dozen young men arrived by train eagerly awaiting courses in agriculture and farm mechanics. And later that year were joined by 39 young women who came for the home economics program that focused on cooking and sewing."

Quinney, the chair of the college's centennial governance team, shared these thoughts before a crowd of roughly 250 people at the college's Alumni Centre as part of a kickoff for the institution's year-long centennial celebrations.

He reminded those in attendance, including college administrators, staff, students and alumni, politicians such as Alberta's Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk and members of the community, that along with commemorating where the school has come from over the next year, the centennial is also about laying the groundwork for the college's future.

"We may be 100 years old, but this is more than a centennial celebration," he said. "Olds College is committed to ensuring that its 100-year legacy is carried forward into the next century."

To mark the prestigious milestone in the college's history, school administrators and Canada Post representatives unveiled a commemorative envelope showcasing the college's beginnings, when MLA Duncan Marshall introduced Bill 60, the Agricultural Schools Act, on Feb 22, 1913, as well as what the school stands for today in the areas of agricultural and entrepreneurial innovation.

Kerry Moynihan, the college's centennial general manager, said after the envelope concept came up two years ago, he submitted an official request to the Canada Post stamp advisory committee in Ottawa.

In October of 2012, he said, Canada Post informed him that, out of 500 applications, the request for a commemorative envelope from Olds College was one of seven being granted.

The envelope was designed by Cheryl Arnold, a production coordinator and graphic artist in the college's student recruitment department, and depicts scenes from the school's early days, as well as the present.

The gathering was also treated to a video of the school's official centennial celebration song, conceived by Laurie Chicoine, a senior development officer at the college, and written and performed by alumnus Denver Daines. (VIEW BELOW)

The idea for the song, entitled 100 Years Today, came to Chicoine last January as she reflected on her family's multi-generational connection to the college and wondered if others had "similar stories to tell."

"That night, I had a dream. I was standing on this stage, telling the audience what Olds College meant to me," she said, adding the stage faded to a campfire. "We were joined by a man in a cowboy hat, guitar in hand, who proceeded to play us a song, a song about our experiences here at Olds College."

When she woke, Chicoine grabbed a pen to capture the song from her dream and the next day she asked Daines to write the song.

A few hours after she made the request, Daines sent Chicoine a text with the song's lyrics.

"And he nailed it," she said. "It captured the emotions I first experienced in my dream and of the memories created and the friends you meet here at Olds College."

Chicoine said the college's administration loved the song and Daines was given the go-ahead to record.

The video for the tune depicts a grandfather who attended the school showing the college's campus to his granddaughter, followed by Daines and his band performing amidst college settings.

Beyond these commemorative tributes, the launch was also about giving glimpses of what's ahead for Olds College.

The school will open a new Calgary-based campus in April, vehicle donations have already been made for the J.C. Anderson Charity Auto Auction in June, the Pomeroy Inn and Suites, a venture in which the college is a partner, will open in July— with every room already sold out ahead of the 60th World Plowing Championship— and the college's new teaching brewery will become operational in August.

Jason Dewling, the school's vice-president of academics and research, also gave a detailed overview of the college's new Connect Your Passion project, which includes a video game-based entrepreneurship course to be played on iPad tablets.

"Every student will do this course prior to graduation from Olds College, giving them a distinct advantage in the workforce," he said, adding the game is built around a lemonade stand business.

Students can grow their business through hiring and advertising and can't advance through the game unless they spend time completing the embedded curriculum.

With all these elements of commemoration and preparing for the college's next century unveiled at the launch, Dr. Tom Thompson, the college's president, encouraged those in attendance to push the school's centennial celebrations beyond the campus's borders.

"This is just the beginning. And month after month after month as we roll through the year, we will have this opportunity to celebrate and to bring forth that spirit of stewardship that all those that came before us have set forward as an example for us to follow. Without that stewardship, you wouldn't have this year of celebration," he said. "So as we go forward ladies and gentlemen with that spirit of stewardship and that pride in our province, that pride in our history and that pride in our college, we all have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to take that pride today with us when we leave and to talk about."

Lukaszuk, who is also the provincial minister of enterprise and advanced education, wrapped up the launch with a gift of $100,000, presented by MLA Ron Casey, for the school from the government and ponderings about what Marshall was thinking when he introduced Bill 60 a century ago.

"I imagine that he was conveying to his colleagues then in the brand new legislature building which was only one year old that agriculture is going to be the future of this province and that we need to educate our young men and women in the field of agriculture," he said. "He then knew that Olds College was going to be a very important component to develop this agricultural sector and we now, 100 years later, know the same. We know that Olds College will continue to be vital in developing agriculture into the future."

For more information on the college's centennial celebrations, visit www.100.oldscollege.ca.