100 attend grand opening of Kemptville College alumni building

LOMBARDY — About 100 Kemptville College alumni were on hand Aug. 24 for the grand opening of a one-room bungalow-sized building showcasing the almost 100 years of college history.

The new Kemptville College alumni historical building, located at the Lombardy fairgrounds, just west of Smiths Falls, is about half the size of a regulation volleyball court and is home to college trophies, diplomas, class photos, textbooks, old notes, research papers and yearbooks, including one from 1929 (back in the day when a yearbook was called a flipper).

The college, which opened in 1917, closed its doors in 2015. North Grenville township was given the campus and buildings by the province in early 2018. It also acquired much of the college memorabilia that was being stored there and refused to give it back to the alumni. The alumni association has since received all of its class photos and the hope is other memorabilia will be returned shortly.

The alumni association started raising money in 2017 for the 24-ft.-by 40-ft. building that cost $60,000 to build, with money coming in from alumni, financial institutions and businesses. Donations are still being accepted. The Lombardy Fair owns the land.

The building is not open to the public, but people can visit by reservation. Contact information is available at https://kcalumni.ca.

The weekend included an annual college reunion. The earliest graduate to attend the ceremony was Earl McFadden of Perth, who graduated in 1947. The 92-year-old Perth resident said there were 108 agriculture students at Kemptville College that year, the largest class ever. McFadden spent most of his days after graduation running the family farm. None of his six kids wanted to take over and McFadden sold the last of his last land three years ago.