Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
April 27, 1999
Aggie reunion attracts cream of the crop
Five Ontario ministers of agriculture, five deputy ministers, three University of Guelph presidents and four deans of the Ontario Agricultural College will meet at the University of Guelph campus on Friday, April 30, for a reunion picnic with hundreds of OAC and OMAFRA employees. They'll be celebrating the 125-year relationship between the provincial ministry and the agricultural college at Guelph.
University of Guelph President Mordechai Rozanski and Board of Governors' chair Doug Dodds, chair and CEO of Schneider Corporation, will declare University of Guelph Founders Day in recognition of the May 1, 1874, opening of the Ontario School of Agriculture and Experimental Farm. Noble Villeneuve, minister of Agriculture and Food, and Frank Ingratta, deputy minister will also speak during the event.
The program will include a town crier's reading of the formal declaration and a historical re-enactment of the college's establishment and relationship with OMAFRA (complete with period costumes).
To conclude the day's events, an OAC book launch will introduce The College on the Hill: A New History of the Ontario Agricultural College, 1974 to 1999 written by Guelph history professor Terry Crowley and retired English professor Alexander Ross. A book signing will follow.
Media are invited to a reception and photo session at ll:30 a.m., followed by lunch at noon. The program begins at 1 p.m.
For more information, contact Communications and Public Affairs at the University of Guelph, 519-824-4120, Ext. 6982.
