Clear Skies, Terry

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a friend of mine.  I've known Terry McDonough for many years.  We met while volunteering at Calgary's Aerospace Museum (now, the Hangar Flight Museum). 

While talking we discovered that we were also both long time volunteers at the Calgary Stampede!  Last year Terry proudly accepted a Calgary Stampede Honourary Life Membership!  Our connection to aviation and the Stampede proved most beneficial!

Terry was a life-long aviator!  Flying with him was a real treat!  He was out to promote aviation any way he could!  With Terry's enthusiasm and drive, we were able to take a museum plane, the Cessna Ag Wagon aerial applicator plane, to both the Stampede July show and to Aggie Days!  Through Terry's efforts, we were able to put to rest many misconceptions and outright falsehoods about aerial application in agriculture!

Terry was a hard worker and a practical joker!  I fell victim to a couple of his jokes over the years.  His schemes were never hurtful and always generated bushels of giggles and laughs!  Terry's city of Calgary will miss him.  And so will many of the rest of us!  Clear skies, Terry! 

Back from Aggie Days 2016!

I'm back after an exciting week at Aggie Days 2016 at Stampede Park.  We had about 7500 students, teachers, and parent helpers visit us during last week's Education Component, and somewhere around 30,000 Calgarians came in to see us at our weekend Family Fun Days!  What a fantastic turnout!

This year Aggie Days moved into its new venue, the Agrium Western Events Centre, south of the old Agriculture Building.  What a beautiful facility!  The move produced some stress as little glitches became apparent, but overall I thought it was an awesome Aggie Days!

We milked cows, sheared sheep, milled grain, herded ducks, gave wagon rides, hatched chicks, made honey, made canola oil, planted potatoes, milked goats, and a host of other agricultural related activities - all designed to show where Albertans get their food.

What a week!  By Sunday afternoon I was exhausted, but happy!

I have (mostly) recovered now as we start to plan Aggie Days 2017!

One negative about Aggie Days is that it prevented me from visiting Doug and Heather Verbeek over at the Beiseker U.F.A. location last Wednesday, to congratulate them on their 30th anniversary as U.F.A. Agents!  That is a great milestone to have achieved.  I sincerely hope you two will be around for many years to come!  Good on ya guys!

'Ya Hoo!' for the 2015 Calgary Stampede!

"Ya Hoo!" is the call (actually the paddle signs) of Harry the Horse!  Calgary is famous for its Stampede, and the 2015 edition of that event started on Friday and is now in full swing! 

I watched the Stampede Parade on TV.  I got a chuckle over the CBC narrators who were brought in from Eastern Canada to describe the parade.  I hope they get to spend more time here, to get a real feeling of who Western Canadians are.

I'm less involved with the Stampede this year.  I usually volunteer down at Stampede Park almost every day of the ten day festival.  This year, projects here at home in Beiseker are limiting my time in the city.  I plan to volunteer a couple of days this coming week but that's about it!  

This is the second year of the agricultural exhibitors using the new Agrium Western Events Centre at Stampede Park.  I hope you get a chance to check it out.  I'm anxious to see it in operation this year too because Aggie Days is moving in there for its 2016 show!  I'm excited about the move.

I enjoy the Stampede Rodeo and the "Chucks," and I hope to take in at least one running of those events. Otherwise I will be watching the excellent coverage on CBC.  Overall, it's shaping up to be a great Stampede.  I hope you get a chance to take part in the annual festival!

Aggie Days 2015 was Awesome!

We shut down Aggie Days on Sunday afternoon, and turned the BMO Centre from a barn back into an exhibit hall.


photo via Aggie Days on Twitter

Overall, Aggie Days 2015 was pretty awesome. During our educational component, which ran from Wednesday through Friday, 7500 students visited! That's down from its usual 10,000 students, because two school divisions we draw from were on Spring Break.

During family fun days on the weekend, we had about 16,000 visitors, each day! I'm still tired out but pleased that we were able to show so many people how important Alberta's agriculture is to this province. Aggie Days is a free event down at Stampede Park, although guests still have to pay for parking.

Most of us who operate Aggie Days are volunteers. Our payment comes from watching the faces of youngsters who were seeing a cow milked for the first time or a sheep sheared, or one of the other multitude of agricultural related activities there.

We'll start planning for Aggie Days 2016 in a couple of weeks. I hope you'll all come to see as next year! Until then, remember; If you eat, you're involved in agriculture!

Aggie Days 2015 Starts, with a Huge Crowd!

Spring is here, and so is the Calgary Stampede Aggie Days! 

We started Aggie Days 2015 with a super day, today.  Over 3000 students along with their teachers, parent supervisors and assistants toured around the BMO Centre at Stampede Park - that's now turned into a barn! 

They saw chickens, horses, ducks, cows, goats, sheep, and a host of other barnyard critters.  They watched cows being milked, sheep being sheered, and a number of other agricultural demonstrations.  We all had a great day!

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the second of a three day educational component.  This weekend signals the two day Aggie Days Family Fun Days. 

Come on down and see which Albertans produce the food you eat.  See you there.

As an Aggie Days volunteer, my duties carry on long after I've returned to Beiseker.  I write up the next days newsletter, which is distributed each morning at Aggie Days.  I didn't finish up until almost 9:00 p.m. - which prevented me from attending the First Annual Volunteer Appreciation Night at the Community Centre. 

I dropped in for a couple of minutes to thank Rec Coordinator Michelle Boyer for organizing the event.  I heard Deputy Mayor, Al Henuset, stepped in to bring greetings from village council and thank the volunteers for their dedication and valuable work they do in making Beiseker one of the best villages in Alberta!   

Well done everyone!  I'm looking forward to next year's appreciation and hoping it doesn't conflict with Aggie Days again.

It's Stampede Time Again!

We're well into Calgary's annual western shin-dig, with the start of the Calgary Stampede.  I was down at Stampede Park last week, helping with set-up but I haven't been back since the "Big Show" started.

My Stampede committee puts on Aggie Days each spring but many committee members help out with Agrium Ag-tivity in the City at the Stampede.  I will likely be down there during this week to help out.

This year, the Agriculture display area includes the new Agrium Western Events Centre!  The building officially opened about a month ago.  The agricultural displays are spread out this year between this new building and the old original barn.  Everything is there to see!  All the producer groups have displays set up there to show Stampede visitors just exactly where their food comes from, and the care and attention producers take to make sure our food is as safe and nutritious as it can be.

Let's hope for continued good weather, not too hot.  Check out the Ag Displays in their new digs when you visit the Stampede this year. I might see you there!

And -- any respect I had for animal rights groups was lost when I read of an incident the other evening when two members of an out-of-province animal rights group chained themselves to the race track rail fence at Stampede Park.  This prevented the start of the chuckwagon races for 30 minutes, while officials sawed off the protesters' restraints and bundled them off to the slammer.

I understand that they have the right to protest, but delaying the evening event was, in my opinion, very silly. 

Before they protest, I wish groups like this would do their research properly.  They might find out what measures have been taken in recent years to make the wagon races safer for horses.  They could talk to the veterinarians in charge of animal health and safety.  They should talk to the chuckwagon owners and drivers to see how their animals are treated off the track. They might talk to the folks at Spruce Meadows or Cavalia to see how their horses are treated.  They need to get their facts straight. 

We need folks out there to remind us to humanely look after all the critters in our charge.  But in my opinion, this action the other evening accomplished nothing but disdain for those groups.

Aggie Days 2014

I have returned.  For this past week or more, I have been a part of the Calgary Stampede's Aggie Days!

I have served on the Stampede Agriculture Education Committee, which organizes Aggie Days, for almost twenty years - and I look forward to the event every spring!  Our purpose at Aggie Days is to show urban elementary students where their food comes from, and how important Alberta's agriculture is to us all.

This year we ran from Wednesday, April 9th until yesterday, April 13th.  During the week, we run our Educational Component.  This year, we welcomed over 11,000 elementary students, about 500 teachers and a couple of thousand parents, helpers and supervisors.

This past weekend was Family Fun Days.  More than 30,000 visitors came to see our Aggie Days "Barn", set up in the BMO (Round-Up) centre at Stampede Park.

During Aggie Days we milk cows, shear sheep, mill wheat, raise chicks, herd ducks, milk goats, thresh grain, make canola oil, raise beef cattle, look after horses, make ropes, visit with llamas, learn about bee-keeping, see alpacas,  watch stock dogs working, learn about raising pigs, hear and read agriculture related stories, learn a bit about our native heritage, learn about rodeo and chuckwagon racing, and a host of other things!

For each day of the event, I spend about ten hours a day at Aggie Days then I come home and prepare next day's newsletter: The Ag Rag, so it leaves me little time for anything else!  I'm tired but happy we had a very successful Aggie Days 2014.  In a couple of weeks we'll start planning for Aggie Days 2015!

Springbank's 2013 Fall Fair

Yesterday (September 7) I had the privilege of attending the 2013 Springbank Fall Fair at the Springbank Park For All Seasons.  Each year I bring in part of the grain display from Aggie Days to show the folks at the fair just where their flour comes from!

The weather was dastardly which kept the number of attendees low, but those who came had fun.  We were treated to entertainment by some young modern dancers, line dancers and a super hot band!  There was a fall produce, craft and baking competition and many other activities going on all day, as the weather permitted.

It was a great fun day in the community of Springbank!

Aggie Days 2013 a Banner Year!

Some of you were probably wondering where I was this last week. Every year, I volunteer my time to help out at Aggie Days at the BMO Centre in Stampede Park, in Calgary.

This year we had over 10,000 schoolkids, their teachers, supervisors, and parents come down for our educational program then last weekend more than 35,000 visited us for family fun days! I and about 200 other volunteers, mostly from rural Alberta, take time out to teach city kids a little more about Alberta's agriculture.  We try to show them exactly where their food comes from!

Aggie days 2013 was a banner year!  We milked cows, sheared sheep, thrashed and milled grain, harnessed horses, milk goats, and gave wagon rides. We taught them about draft horses, cutting horses, miniature horses, horse anatomy, horse shoes, and saddles.

It was a fun filled week but come Sunday, I was pooped!  I've recovered now!

The Really Big Show!

This Friday starts one of the biggest parties in Alberta for 2012; the Calgary Stampede!  As I've mentioned before, I have been involved in the Stampede for many years now.  My main interest is Aggie Days, held each spring.  Aggie Days is primarily a teaching event.  We try to teach urban Calgary elementary students where their food comes from in these parts.

I help out at the "big show" too.  I usually volunteer a few days at the Agrium Ag-tivity in the City area between the Agriculture Building and the Grandstand. 

The area can be best described as an agricultural "edu-tainment" area.  We strive to entertain visitors while showing them a little bit about where Albertans get their food.  Almost all Ag-Tivity people are volunteers from smaller communities around Calgary.  We have fun milking cows, shearing sheep, herding ducks, making rope, saddling horses, milling grain, and a host of other agriculture related activities.

If you're at Stampede Park, why not drop around and say "Hi".

Airplanes, balloons, and Aggie Days

Coffee & Muffins: This coming Saturday is the third Saturday of April so you know what that means!  It's coffee and muffin time at the Beiseker Airport!  We serve coffee and muffins starting at 10:00 a.m.  But this time we have something extra special happening at the Beiseker Airport! 

Balloon Launch:  The latest in a series of high altitude unmanned balloon flights will be launched from Beiseker Airport at 9:00 a.m. Saturday!  These balloons are filled with helium and carry scientific packages and video equipment aloft. 

They can achieve altitudes of 100 000+ feet, more than twice as high as an airliner flies!  After their mission is complete, the balloon deflates and the package parachutes to the ground somewhere far east of here!  The launch is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. this coming Saturday morning!

Aggie Days:  It appears that the media folks are mesmerized by all this election fruhaha and have totally ignored Aggie Days 2012!  A seriously pinched nerve in my hip has prevented me from attending Aggie Days, but I'm getting frequent reports that all is going very well indeed.  Wednesday, yesterday, and today are part of our Educational Component.  At the end of today, Aggie Days will have seen about 10 000 students come through the BMO Center at Stampede Park.  They've had a chance to see cows milked, sheep sheared, eggs layed, chicks hatched, grain threshed then milled into flour, plus a hundred other things happening on Alberta's farms and ranches.

Tomorrow is when the fun begins!  Saturday and Sunday are Family Fun Days at Aggie Days.  All those things that happen during the week happen again on the weekend but in a way we like to call "Edu-tainment"!  You'll learn something about Alberta's agriculture and have fun too.

It's fun, it's family friendly, and it's free.  It's at the BMO Centre - Stampede Park, Calgary, starting at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow and going to 5:00 p.m. On Sunday, it's the same start time but we close at 4:00 p.m.  I hope you can make it down!

Aggie Days!

Every spring the Calgary Stampede hosts an agricultural expo called Aggie Days.  This year we go on April 18 to April 22 in the BMO Centre at Stampede Park in Calgary. The primary purpose of Aggie Days is to show elementary school children in the city where their food comes from. 

I have been involved with Aggie Days for almost twenty years.  I first became involved when I was a classroom teacher.  I was amazed at how little the kids knew about the production of food here in Alberta.  Even kids in the rural schools I worked in, for the most part, had little knowledge of Alberta's agriculture! 

As more and more Albertans become urbanites, I think the importance of programs like Aggie Days grows!

I grew up in the city so my knowledge of Alberta's agriculture needed some help too!  I married into a farm family and my experiences on their farms (east of Granum, Alberta) helped tremendously! 

Over the years I have gently twisted a few arms here in and around Beiseker to help, too.  With the help of local producers we managed to create a beef presentation and a grain thrashing demonstration which are still a part of Aggie Days today.

Aggie Days attracts more than 10,000 elementary school kids with their teachers and supervisors to our Educational Component which runs Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  The weekend is Family Fun Days when over 25,000 visitors come down to the BMO Centre at Stampede Park to see exactly how Alberta's farmers and ranchers feed us.  Most of us at Aggie Days; organizers, exhibitors, and presenters are volunteers!

For the last three years, I've combined my love of aviation and my involvement in Aggie Days by bringing an aerial applicator (crop dusting) airplane from the Aero Space Museum into Aggie Days!  The spray plane spent its whole flying life over the fields of Southern Alberta.  When it was retired it was donated to the museum.  Now it helps teach young people that aerial application isn't as bad as some make it out to be. 

More on Aggie Days later,  Stay tuned.

What's Up

Hey! Want a free energy kit to monitor and control energy use in your Beiseker home? If so, head down to the Village Office and ask for a Fortis Energy Kit. There are dozens of ways you can save energy use in your home and save money, too. And it doesn't do the environment any harm either!

Reminder; if you have a dog or cat, 2011 licenses are now due!

Check out the fabulous skate program at the arena. There's a program for everyone.

Start planning for the Beiseker Lion's Skatathon. Sunday March 27

Giddy-Up Aggie Days! If you have a youngster with special needs or you know of one, consider having them participate in Giddy-Up Aggie Days at Stampede Park in April. Aggie Days is a program which brings Alberta's Agricultural Industry to the city. We turn the BMO Center into a giant barn! We milk cows, shear sheep, raise chickens, saddle horses, make flour, make butter and a host of other ag. related activities so urban Albertans can see where their food comes from. We have teamed up with the Stampede Queens' Alumni to open up Aggie Days for special needs kids and their families to come down and experience it together! We start with a free breakfast and the fun goes on from there! If you're interested and you need more information, contact the folks at Community Links in Beiseker! 403 947 2841

I am frustrated that I can't afford to shop at the grocery store in my own village!