April 15, 2008
By Jennifer Hendricks

First- and second-year students from Algonquin College’s Horticulture Program and ten students from Kemptville College celebrated Landscape Ontario Student Day on Tues., Mar. 18. The students assembled in the horticulture building at Algonquin College to learn more about Landscape Ontario’s Ottawa Student Chapter, which was founded at Algonquin College last spring.

Haig Seferian of Seferian Design Group spoke to the students about his experience of starting out on his own, and learning about the benefits of being a member of LO. Haig showcased some of his own designs during the presentation, and featured a 20-minute clip from Green Force, his HGTV program.

Samantha Parent, current president of the Ottawa Student Chapter, and Welwyn Wong of Welwyn Wong Landscape Design also spoke to the students about the benefits of being a member of a student chapter. By the end of the day, 26 new members joined the chapter, including four students from the University of Guelph’s Kemptville campus.

The final presentation of the day was by Steven Sunderland of Corush, Sunderland and Wright Landscape Architects. Steven is the designer of Ottawa’s Cancer Recovery Park. He spoke to the students about the significance of the park, currently under construction at the intersections of Riverside Drive and Industrial Avenue. He displayed a model of the park. Steven was able to recruit student volunteers to help with the park construction that continues this spring.

Lunch was provided by the Ottawa Chapter and, at the end of the event, many commented that it was an excellent day for the horticulture students, faculty and staff of both the University of Guelph at Kemptville and Algonquin College.

Caption: Horticulture students enjoyed a real-life preview of opportunities in their field.