Another big weekend of events will take place at Olds College from October 18 to 20 as the institution hosts a homecoming weekend for former students to coincide with the college's centennial.
Laurinda Parkinson, a graduate of the fashion and design technology program in 1969 is returning for the weekend. She has been involved with the alumni association since 2003 and said she enjoys keeping up to date with what's going on at the college.
“I was the president of the alumni association for about three years and I'm still on the board of the alumni association. I just enjoy so much being able to come back and see and hear about all of the improvements that are taking place (at) the college, where they're going with their courses that they're offering, how they're changing with the times. This is one of the ways I get to be on site and see what's happening and realize that the college really is making a difference,” she said.
Parkinson said she also enjoys seeing a few familiar faces whenever she returns.
The objective of the alumni association is to keep former students updated on what's happening at the college. It hosts an annual summer reunion in July that attracts about 250 former students.
“We find that the age group for the summer reunion is usually in the older group. We try to honour the 50-year class every year,” she said.
Former students can attend events scheduled throughout the weekend, including a faculty/alumni social event on Oct. 19 from 2 to 5 p.m., followed by a centennial dinner at 5:30 p.m. and a dance at about 8:30 p.m. Self-guided tours of the campus are also available on Oct. 19.
The Broncos will also kick off their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference basketball seasons with matches against the St. Mary's University Lightning on Oct. 18, an inter-collegiate rodeo on October 19 and 20 and both the men's and women's soccer teams concluding their home seasons on Oct. 19 against the Lakeland College Rustlers.
“We've been planning for probably a year-and-a-half,” said Gloria Ulry, a faculty representative on the organizing committee, composed of both faculty and alumni.
