Kids cheer OK Rail Trail opening
Okanagan Rail Trail ambassador Sheila Tansey admits she had tears in her eyes.
For Grade 3 students from Oyama Traditional School, the official opening of the wildly popular recreational trail on Thursday morning was the mid-point in teacher Pippa Dean-Veerman's lessons.
The eight- and nine-year-old boys and girls, the next generation to use the 49-kilometre rail trail between Kelowna and Coldstream, learned about official openings and ribbon-cuttings in class, attended the opening at the Oyama boat launch, and will receive instructions on rail etiquette and safety from Tansey.
At Thursday's outing, Dean-Veerman described her class as “this wonderfully excited, grateful grade.”
Traditional schools (and school districts) obviously follow most rules so “we had to wait until it was officially open before we were allowed on it. So we waited. All last year’s class had to wait. Sheila is going to help us learn how to ride our bikes safely. Tomorrow (Friday), we’re starting riding and we'll ride every second Friday.”
OK, Dean-Veerman admitted that like many of us in the Okanagan, her class was officially never on the closed trail. However, she confess: “We've been walking on the trail, but we've never ridden on it.”
All her students will likely cycle the trail to a new middle school in Lake Country as soon as it is constructed and when they are older, she added. “It's going to be their sense of agencies (means), getting themselves where they want to go. This is really important to them. They are really grateful.”
“I'm also going to take them out for a little ride,” said Tansey. “The official opening was wonderful, it was amazing. It brought tears to my eyes. Cycling is very important to me.”
Even though the trail wasn't officially open until Thursday, four trail counters in Lake Country and the North Okanagan have already tallied more than 300,000 counter crossings so there could be between 75,000 and 90,000 users to date.
Keep in mind that the trail had not been opened yet, and two portions in the City of Kelowna and one in the Okanagan Indian Band have not been built or connected to the District of Lake Country and Regional District of North Okanagan.
The Sheriff (and other reporters) thought there would be a huge crowd using the trail after the series of speeches by Kelowna, Lake Country, Regional District of North Okanagan and Okanagan Indian Band politicians but the hundreds of people there apparently only came out to cheer for the official ribbon-cutting. A few dozen walked and cycled south from the Oyama boat launch toward Winfield.
The Sheriff is leading a biking loop on the Okanagan Rail Trail and Pelmewash Parkway for Central Okanagan Outdoors Club members today (Saturday).
*** While at the official opening of the Okanagan Rail Trail, the Sheriff asked Lake Country Mayor James Baker about the need for a bike path at the western end of Woodsdale Road for those doing the Okanagan Rail Trail-Pelmewash Parkway loop.
The district has received a number of requests since it is “the weak link,” he responded, and a safe path is planned.
However, there is already a path alongside the Lake Country campground fence on Woodsdale Road, he noted, so Connect residents recovering from brain injury and stroke can get to the Tim Horton’s off Highway 97. That path leads to the sidewalk on the north side of Woodsdale Road. We'll check it out today.
*** It should be noted that the fundraising campaign for the Okanagan Rail Trail received its largest single donation — $1.45 million — from the Weatherill family, which has pioneer roots in Kelowna and Vernon.
Bob, Gary and Gordon Weatherill, executors of Harry Weatherill’s estate through the Edna, Stella and Harry Weatherill Foundation, were directed to provide funds for a recreational facility for members of the public and for senior citizens in the Okanagan Valley.
Charged with this responsibly, Harry’s nephews, who had watched the progress of the community-based Okanagan Rail Trail Initiative, felt that contributing to this amazing legacy would be the perfect answer to their uncle’s request.
“The task of executing Uncle Harryís last request seemed daunting,” said Bob Weatherill. “And although the concept of a rail trail was interesting, it also seemed very unlikely that the corridor would be purchased, and that funds could be raised to build the trail.
"We were pleasantly surprised by the project progress, and we were especially impressed by the community support, from the major champions like George Galbraith to the trail ambassadors like Laurie Postill.”
Harry Weatherill was a true Okanagan pioneer, born in Kelowna in 1911, the eldest of four children. His Kelowna was a very different place from what it is now. The city had a population of only 1,700 people and Bernard Avenue was a gravel road.
As a child almost 100 years ago, Harry Weatherill watched the Canadian National Railway being constructed from Coldstream to Kelowna. He recalled that the decision by Canadian National Railway to bring a rail line into Kelowna was one of the major events of the early 1920s and now, his name is connected to the rail line once again.
Harry Weatherill's father was the manager of Dominion Canners in Kelowna and moved his family to Vernon in 1929 to take over management of Bulman’s Cannery.
After graduation, Harry was hired as a junior clerk with the Royal Bank in Kelowna and spent the rest of his career with RBC in various postings across Canada and finishing second-in-command at the head office in Vancouver.
As the senior lending officer for the Royal Bank for the province, he oversaw loans to many business clients in the Interior, particularly in the forest industry and agricultural sectors. Harry spent his retirement in Osooyos where his first wife, Edna, died in 1982. Harry passed away in 1998 and Harry’s second wife, Stella, died in 2017.
*** The Sheriff, Constant Companion Carmen and eight hiking/biking buddies spent four days this week cycling in the Similkameen Valley.We camped at the Pickard Creek Recreation Site near Hedley rather than the nearby Stemwinder Provincial Park even though its only services were outhouses.
Many of its sites are right next to the Similkameen River, but it is hard to believe this creek-sized flow was a major flood in the spring and where we had an ill-fated rafting trip several years ago.
We cycled 34 kilometres on the quiet, rural Old Hedley Road to Princeton and back on the first day. Then, we drove to Princeton and cycled west through two tunnels and to the far side of the second bridge before turning back. Larger tires are recommended for the gravel, sand and rocky trail.
*** A reminder that the Central Okanagan Naturalists' Club will hold its annual Members’ Night and monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Evangel Church, 3261 Gordon Dr. in Kelowna.
The club wants to know if its members did anything interesting during the past year or went anywhere interesting and would like to tell others about it. Members are encouraged to submit a short presentation (10-15 minutes) highlighting some of their best photographs and natural history experiences of the past year.
Members should submit their presentations (preferably in Power Point) to the program director well in advance of the meeting. Contact Ian Walker at: ian.walker@ubc.ca or 250-807-9559 to discuss submission requirements.
*** You can learn how to take wellness into your own hands and be able to make some of your own products from natural ingredients that can be obtained locally during the regional parks' Wellness Workshops.
Sessions will be held 1-3 p.m. Saturdays at the Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan (EECO) on Oct. 27, Nov. 17 and Dec. 1.
Each session is $15 and registration is required. To register, drop in to the EECO in Mission Creek Regional Park or email eeco@cord.bc.ca or phone 250-469-6140. *** Although it's a bit early to start planning your downhill ski and snowboard season, there is good news from Big White Ski Resort: the 2018-19 winter season will be extended to April 22, 2019.
No, this isn’t an early April Fools’ Day joke. In an unprecedented move, Big White has decided to extend its 2018-19 winter season by more than a week before the season even begins. Thanks to a large volume of guest inquiries, the season will extend from its original closing date of April 14 to April 22, so guests can spend Easter on the snow.
“This is exciting news for winter sport enthusiasts from the Okanagan and around the world who want to take advantage of the ideal spring conditions and sunshine on the mountain,” says communications manager Mason Buettner.
“The 2017-18 winter season closed on April 8 with an alpine snow base of 343 centimetres (3.43 metres) and a cumulative total snowfall just shy of 10 metres at 966 centimetres. The upcoming season is already shaping up to be another great snow year with snow falling in the alpine at Big White during the last day of summer operations on Sept. 3 and multiple more times throughout the month since," he noted.
Early bird season passes are still available until Oct. 14, he added, “so take advantage of the best deal in the Okanagan, which just got even better.”
*** As the focus shifts to winter operations, Big White Ski Resort is excited to welcome Michael Richards to the team as the new director of mountain sports. Richards, along with his wife and two children, are relocating to Big White from Collingwood, Ont. for the upcoming winter season.
Richards has been committed to the sports of skiing and snowboarding his entire life after growing up in Mississauga, Ont. and learning to ski at Caledon Ski Club. After two years at the University of Western Ontario, he decided it was time to take a year off and move out west to the mountains of B.C.
He joined the Whistler Mountain Ski School and ended up staying for 10 seasons, rising to the role of assistant ski school director and earning his CSIA Level 4, CSCF Level 3, Stage 2 New Zealand Certification and Level 3 examiner.
Richards spent numerous summers teaching at the Dave Murray Summer Ski Camp and at Coronet Peak on the South Island of New Zealand. He eventually returned to the University of Western Ontario and finished his Bachelor of Arts degree. He then joined Xerox Canada Ltd. holding various positions throughout his career with the company.
While working at Xerox, winter sports remained an important part of Richards’ life as he worked at Alpine Ski Club as its technical director, was on the board of directors and coached U12 racing.
“We are overjoyed that Michael has chosen to relocate his family and join us as director of snow sports at Big White,” says Peter Plimmer, president and CEO of Big White Ski Resort Ltd.
“There might be a lot of difference in the size of mountains between Collingwood, Ont. and Big White, but both areas have a strong commitment to growing our sport and we remain focused on providing the best instructors to teach at the Big White Snow Sports School. Michael is a welcomed addition to Canada’s Favourite Family Resort.”
J.P. Squire, aka the Hiking, Biking, Kayaking and Horseback Riding Sheriff, is a retired Okanagan Weekend reporter and an avid outdoors enthusiast. His column appears every Saturday. You can contact him with your outdoor news at jp.squire@telus.net.