Volunteers, “City Girl”, Energy Park, Fun in the Sun!

We welcome you to come along as Ontario Visited Tours the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum … continues … Volunteers, “City Girl”, Energy Park, Fun in the Sun!

Volunteering “City Girl” … to great career …

Judi "Scoop" McWilliams ~ Ontario Festivals Visited with
Kelly Ray ~ Communications & Marketing Officer
Canada Agriculture and Food Museum

Kelly was interested in Science and Technology. As a youth she visited at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum from 4 years old. She is a “city girl” but with her education along with her natural connection with people, Kelly was a perfect “fit” for guiding, teaching, tours and more. She is a “people person” and loves to share her knowledge. Her excitement certainly captured our hearts and interest. During our Tour, I asked about the artifacts of the Museum. They do have an “acquisition list” of items that they would like to have added to their Museum. At this point though, the items would need to be rare, one of a kind, the first of the first. The “story” would need to match with the history.

Energy Park … fun in the sun …

Ontario Festivals Visited on route to
Energy Park 
Canada Agriculture and Food Museum

As we rounded the corner outside once again we can across the Energy Park: Nature at Work outdoor exhibition.  It is an energy park which produces bio-fuels, from corn, flax, solar power, windmill, sun tracker and more. Kelly tells us this area is usually hard to even see over the tall crops that grow later in the season. You can try your hand at “harvesting” energy using a variety of interactive features. You can try to pump water faster than a windmill or capture solar power from the comfort of a chair.

This area teaches visitors how renewable energy technology is changing both the consumption and production of energy on Canadian farms. The CAFM has a program called … Get the Scoop on Poop. Not only are the crops used for “fuel” but cows’ manure can be used for more than fertilizer on a field.  The Museum offers a new biodigester interpretation station.  A biodigester is like an artificial stomach. It is fed with organic material (like manure), which is broken down by micro-organisms to produce a renewable energy called biogas.

While we walked in one of the barns, Kelly told us to look up! Here there were ceiling fans running, cooling the barns. Kelly told us they use solar panels in their barn. They have a fun daily activity where visitors can guess how much electricity they’re producing in that day and how much they have saved in carbon emissions.

Stay tuned for more “Behind the Scenes” Tour with the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum (in the meantime, check out their great website for lots of fun and information at http://cafmuseum.techno-science.ca/en/index.php.)