From horses and horsepower to a handcrafted canoe and a hemp display,
Morrisville State College will have a strong presence throughout Great New York State Fair
MORRISVILLE, NY—Morrisville State College will have a strong presence again this year at the Great New York State Fair, featuring a handcrafted scale-model canoe, a student-built hot rod, horses and renewable energy and hemp displays. The fair runs Aug. 23-Sept. 4.
Fairgoers can learn about renewable energy, horses, and horsepower inside the MSC building (Bartlett Barn), located near Gate 4 by the Coca-Cola Coliseum and the Iroquois Indian Village. Horses from various equine programs will be housed in the building throughout the duration of the fair.
Along with horses and a renewable energy display, the college will showcase its Mustang car. Students in the college’s automotive programs transformed the 1988 Mustang into a 550 horsepower dragster that accelerates to 130 mph in 10 seconds. New this year in the MSC building is a handcrafted canoe, a scale model of those being constructed in a new Introduction to Boat Building course offered at the college.
Visitors to the MSC building can also obtain an array of information about the college, including athletics and activities, and will have an opportunity to speak to faculty and staff about the college’s program offerings. Morrisville State alumni are encouraged to stop by and access materials to find fellow classmates, enjoy history about the college and catch up on the college’s growth and progress. MSC Alumni Day at the fair is Wednesday, Aug. 30.
Learn more about the revival of the hemp industry at MSC’s display in the SUNY section of the Horticulture Building. Morrisville State is leading research in the experimentation of growing hemp as a commercial crop. Through this effort, which is New York’s first industrial hemp farming operation in more than 80 years, Morrisville students and faculty are conducting applied research on industrial hemp.
The college will also have informational materials in the World of Horses tent, which features a center ring where fairgoers can see horses up close and talk with their owners and handlers.
Nelson Farms, run by the auxiliary corporation of the college, will once again head the TasteNY Marketplace, a retail store offering food products grown and produced in New York State, at a new location in the Horticulture Building. Products sourced from vendors all over New York State, in addition to items made by MSC students, will be available including salsas, jams, barbecue sauces, granola, fudge, maple, honey, coffee, spices, candy, and popcorn.
Dairy Club students will volunteer for overnight stays in the Dairy Cow Live Birthing Center throughout the fair’s duration. The Dairy Barn will feature an exhibit by the college’s Department of Agricultural Science, Dairy Management, and Agricultural Business. Morrisville-owned dairy cattle, including a Brown Swiss heifer, will also show.
MSC students will also be competing throughout the fair.
See Morrisville State College’s Woods Sports Team compete against timber sports teams from SUNY-ESF and Paul Smith’s College during Forestry Day, Saturday, Sept. 2, in the New York Experience Area. Teams will compete in a variety of timber sports events, including cross cut and bow saw, ax throw, underhand chop, log rolling and speed climbing. There will also be felling demonstrations with the college’s Derrick auger-pole setting truck.
Also on Saturday, Sept. 2, see how students at MSC are developing their skills in the ring as they competitively show lambs in the Beef Cattle Barn with Corey Hayes, assistant professor of agricultural business.
Equine faculty and students will hone their skills as they compete with the Morrisville College Foundation’s award-winning Belgian hitch Aug 30-Sept. 3 in the Toyota Coliseum near the dairy barn. Admission to the horse show is free. Morrisville is the only college in North America to compete with a six-horse hitch, which will also be part of the Fair parade on opening day Wednesday, Aug. 23.
Morrisville State College’s curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2017 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2017 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.
