Open House and Field Day at the Lethbridge Research Centre

Over 500 visitors were greeted by enthusiastic volunteers at the Welcome table where they received information to help them enjoy a day filled with a variety of activities showcasing agricultural research. More than 20 displays were featured as well as guided tours of greenhouses, field plots and livestock facilities. Highlights of activities included:

• Live insect display that featured praying mantids, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and nature's recyclers, the dung beetles
  
  
• Centennial of the long-term research plots featuring a timeline display of agriculture development in western Canada along with historic field notebooks dating to the early 1900s
  
  
• Highlights from more than a century of agricultural research, as told through pictures, to celebrate the 125^th anniversary of the first research farms in Canada
  
  
• Demonstrations at the Lethbridge Irrigation Development Centre
  
  
• "Spud" display that showcased modern potato breeding techniques, new potato varieties and how they are tested for diseases
  
  
• Getting livestock's view from the "inside out" with a tour of a transport trailer

Many families made a day of visiting the Research Centre, taking tours, enjoying lunch and celebratory cake, as well as participating in games at some of the displays. One of the main attractions was the live insect display in the front foyer. Throughout the day a crowd of children could be seen huddled around the staff showcasing the specimens.

Visitors of note were Senator Joyce Fairbairn, the grand-niece of Mr. William H. Fairfield (first Superintendent of the Lethbridge Experimental Farm, 1906-1945), and Dr. Tom Atkinson, former Assistant Director (now in his 90s).