As usual this year, we will have an official opening, 12 noon, on the first day of the show. Other highlights are the Seed Growers Hall of Honour at the main entrance to the Civic Centre Concourse, livestock breed association information booths at the west end of the Concourse, and several seminars sponsored by exhibitors, in the upgraded meeting room off the main Exhibit Hall.
A feature on day two at 12 noon is the Seed Growers Awards Ceremony which recognizes Eastern Ontario's top seed producers. This event, including refreshments, will be held at the east end of the Concourse. Day three at 12 noon, we feature our annual Prestigious Pedigreed Seed Sale with proceeds directed to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome in advance all of our visitors to the 2010 show from across Ontario, from West Quebec and from Northern New York State. Not only is the farm show a place to shop, it's a place to visit and catch up on the winter's news. We invite you to do plenty of both.
As somebody who has spent a lifetime in the agricultural business, as a graduate of Kemptville College, as a past staff member at Eastern Breeders Inc., as a federal seed inspector for 30 years, as a former director of the Ottawa Winter Fair and the Central Canada Exhibition, it's a pleasure - for the first time - to serve as president of the Seed Growers of which I've been a part for three decades.
I am always impressed at how the Ontario agricultural industry and the community it supports continue to show an amazing resiliency, an ability to rebound. The Farm Show is one place where, annually, we witness that ability first hand.
See you at the Show!
Jim Arbuckle |
