Peter Walsh

To many students of Lakeland, or who may have attended it, certain memories or people stick out in one’s mind, for people one of those people would have to be Peter Walsh.  Whether it’s his classic stories, one liner’s, or his seemingly endless knowledge, he is a man that every student who has had him will never forget .

Looking at crops with a past student

To understand Peter one must understand where the man of mysterious background began, and how he ended up at Lakeland College. As Peter would say “about 100 years ago” he had graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in agriculture. This is somewhat funny as he had no agriculture background to speak of and, yet he went into this field of work. Looking for some practical experience, he traveled to New Zealand for eight months working on a dairy farm, meeting kids from across western Canada (which influenced him later in life) and all over. When his time was up he arrived back in Vancover, with the little money he had, he sent his belongings back east and put his thumb out.

On his way back home, when Peter hit Alberta that the fun began you might say, or the troubles. At that time if you were from the east, you weren’t very appreciated out west, so he headed for the small towns. On his way he had found an old graduate friend in Calgary that hooked him up, and got him moving across Alberta all the way up to Vegerville, where he found work milking cows for a time. Word got around that he was looking for work, so a man by the name of Walter Scott in Marwayne contacted Peter and he began their shortly after he was done his work in Vegerville. While working for Walter, Peter was involved in the Green Certificate program, which meant he would attend a local college, that would be Lakeland.

Being from out east he didn’t disclose his past and was the man of mystery, and it kept him from out of trouble. As his classes progressed and his marks were in fact quiet good, teachers became suspicious of him cheating, but actually found that he already had a degree in Agriculture. When he first began his classes, the first one he sat in on was tillage, and to his amazement, it was his friend from Guelph University teaching it. They got to talking and convinced Peter into applying and end up getting a part time job teaching. He got married that fall and his life started to take shape around the small town of Vermilion. Every day he would get up 6am, go to school and teach to noon, then go back to Walter Scotts and work till late night, and start all over again. Once his part time position was up he was approached for a two year teaching contract that he agreed to, which lead to a full time position in 1986.

Peter being Peter

Since his time at Lakeland College, he has been responsible for many things that the college and students still treasures. One of these things was Little Royal (which at that time was known as mini royal), and making a big deal of the school. Old alumni had approached him saying it was good to see them doing it again, confused he asked, “again”? Turns out it happened way back when, but had stopped over time, and Peter was one of the people to bring it back, and many thank him for this. Another thing that Peter is responsible for bringing to school was the Judging team. He had noticed a letter that had Guelph University and numerous other representatives on it talking about judging. Peter with help put a team together and went to the national judging competition in 1986 and has been with it ever since. From 1987 till 2005 he was involved in the staff hockey team known as the “Mac Attacks”, which were known for their wild and sometimes juvenile behaviour when playing against the students or any for that matter. Then there is Peter’s rowing team that he had got underway in 1996, with the help of some teachers that had connections to the Edmonton rowing team. Ever since then you could find him down at the water, working those students to be there best, like he pushes them at everything he is involved in.

Peter Walsh and an Alumni student.

His time here has been long and well spent bring lots to our parents, our selves, brothers and sisters lives. You can see when looking at him sitting amongst a group of students that he is happy to be there, even when he may not have time, he’s genuine in his response and not there just cause he has to. These and many other qualities make him well respected by students, and all those around him. The devotion that he has lead him to be head of many successful clubs, and students that he is proud of, such as when the women’s Rowing team last year won provincials, when the judging team won nationals,  or watching us walk across the stage to receive our diplomas. Peter Walsh has done a lot of good for everyone he has taught, and made them a better person in some way or another.