It was -40 C with the wind chill on the morning Chuck Groeneveld picked
up four orphaned calves for Aggie Days at Calgary’s Stampede Park.
“They were pretty grateful to be brought inside,” Groeneveld said
during the beef display at the annual children’s agricultural fair held
March 20-24.
Even with the frightful weather, attendance records were broken nearly
every day as close to 3,000 Calgary and area school children swamped
the Roundup Centre each day.
The event, which is in its 16th year, offers a wide array of
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interactive activities for Grades 4-6 during school hours and for the
public on the weekend.
Events co-ordinator Sharon Yeast said organizers were worried about
attendance this year because a teachers’ labour dispute forced the
cancellation of many extracurricular activities.
“A lot of field trips were cancelled, but this was one they decided to
keep,” Yeast said.
“We’re really pleased about that.”
Children moving from booth to booth taste homemade barley pancakes,
peer into a sow stall and pet the piglets as they nurse, and hold
day-old-chicks. They can compare grades of eggs and eat freshly grown
mushrooms. They can run their hands through grain and talk to experts
about water quality and conservation.
The program is meant to challenge children and teach them that milk is
more than a boxed product and that bread comes from grain.
The displays are also based on reality.
At the beef stalls, Groeneveld tells children what happens to the
gangly calves.
They are not allowed to wander in the pen or treat the calves as pets,
and a three metre high display of Big Mac boxes makes the connection
between calves and burgers.
“You’ve got to tell them the truth,” he said.
