Visiting academics charmed by Fredericton"s beauty

06/06/2011

FREDERICTON - Now four days in, organizers at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences say the eight-day event has gone off without a hitch so far.

Touch wood, conference co-chair Greg Kealey joked Tuesday. It couldn"t be going better, but we"re only half way there.

We"ve heard nothing but almost total praise and almost amazement on the part of the delegates, about how beautiful the campus and Fredericton is, how enthusiastic our staff and volunteers are, and how helpful they"ve been.

The event, which is bringing an estimated 6,000 people to the city, is being jointly hosted by St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick.

To make things easier on the many thousands of visitors are more than 400 volunteers and 100 paid staff, who are helping out with everything from transportation to tech questions to directions.

It"s been outstanding, and I"m impressed, said University of Alberta assistant professor Dwayne Donald, who arrived in the city Friday and is staying in campus residences. One thing I noticed - I get up pretty early in the morning and walk down to breakfast - there are congress workers everywhere, very early, directing people and what not.

Donald, who attended last year"s conference in Montreal, said Fredericton offers a different context than the previous host city.

This is a small town. I love it. I was walking down by the river last night, and I could live here, he said. It"s a beautiful place.

The evening social events, namely a lobster boil and after party at the Fredericton Convention centre, have been a success.

Sunday night I enjoyed the lobster boil and Monday night I enjoyed the James Joyce pub, Linda Radford, an education professor at the University of Ottawa said. It was packed, every seat in the house, and the food was delicious.

So far, for the most part, Congress has been blessed with great weather, and that"s boosted the spirits of out of town delegates, many of whom have never been to Fredericton.

I think this is probably one of the most beautiful campuses I"ve been to in Canada, said Nicholas Ng-A-Fook, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa.

He said Congress staff have been very accommodating as well.

When I landed there was a person waiting for me, and within five minutes I was in a shuttle, he said. First class service so far.

Darren McLeod, a manager at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, said staff there have noted a large influx in traffic since Congress opened on Saturday.

They"ve been hosting two or three tours a day since then, when on a normal day there would usually be just one, and on Sunday, for Lord Beaverbrook day, they counted nearly 400 visitors.

The people who haven"t been here before were blown away by the place, said McLeod. I spoke to a gentleman from Toronto and he felt our collection was as strong as anything he"s seen at the Art Gallery of Ontario or the National (Gallery of Canada) in Ottawa.

(source: www.telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com)