July 17th, 2011 Update from Karl Stevenson (Friends of Strathcona Park)
Strathcona Wilderness Festival By Friends of Strathcona Park In honour of the 100th Birthday of Strathcona Park People of All Ages, Abilities, and Interests Welcome Saturday, August 20
On August 20, the Friends of Strathcona Park are offering a wide variety of activities and presentations in Strathcona, which include, but are not limited to an overnight hike, day hikes, trail running, yoga, tai chi, static displays, art workshops, photography talks/walks, kayaking, interpretive natural history excursions, a possible bike race, talks on park geology, history, and more. For example, Clive Powsey, a noted water colour painter will do a workshop, as will Jan Neuspiel, a well known and experienced rock climber and mountain guide.
We ask people to come, bring family and friends, learn, have fun, and show your support for Strathcona, the park which began the BC provincial park system. We need numbers to show the government (there's an election coming) that we sincerely care about our parks.
The Festival will also serve as a send-off for volunteers heading off to create a major section of the Bedwell Centennial Trail, which will ultimately allow hikers to travel across the mountains of Vancouver Island from Bedwell Lake to the mouth of the Bedwell River on the west coast.
For details on the Wilderness Festival and the Bedwell Centennial Trail, go to the FOSP website: friendsofstrathcona.org July 7, 2011 Update from Karl Stevenson (Friends of Strathcona Park) Further planning has resulted in two changes which is we have decided that "Bedwell Centennial Trail" is better for general use than "Oinimitis Centennial Trail," and the main FOSP Strathcona Centennial Celebration date will still be Saturday, August 20, but the trail work party dates will be August 20-25, rather than 19-24 as originally planned. This change was made so that the trail work party could receive a send-off from the people attending the Centennial Celebration on the 20th. July 5, 2011 Update from Karl Stevenson (Friends of StrathconaPark)
Kel Kelly and Karl Stevenson recently had a very co-operative meeting with Ron Quilter and Andy Smith from parks. Kel is currently drawing up an agreement for trail work on the Bedwell, from Bedwell Lake to Ashwood Creek, and will present the agreement to parks for approval when he's done. To meet WBC guidelines there will be 3 separate work parties, (consisting of up to 15 people each) working on the trail, so we would like to have a total of 40-45 trail workers from August 19-24. We have decided to officially call the trail the "Oinimitis Centennial Trail" after the original people who lived in what is now called the Bedwell Valley. We are also planning a Strathcona Park Centennial Celebration in conjunction with the trail work party but separate from it. The centennial celebrations will mainly centre around August 20th, which is a Saturday. We'll offer hiking, picnicking, and learning opportunities in unspoiled areas in Strathcona Park for families and people of all ages and abilities. This will be a chance for people to donate one day of their lives to show their support for a non-commercial Strathcona Park in an enjoyable, educational, totally legal, non-confrontational, and positive way. In other words, we want LOTS of people, so the government receives an unmistakable message that people are willing to come out to support their park. We'll be offering day hikes, overnight hikes, and hikes of one hour or less. All hikes will have knowledgeable leaders, so there'll be opportunities to learn about Strathcona history, flora and fauna, geology, etcetera. For work party members, as well as others who are interested and capable, we'll also offer a trip across the spine of Vancouver Island to the west coast when trail work is completed around August 24th. Obviously this will take a large amount of organizing, both for the Oinimitis Centennial Trail and for the Strathcona Park Centennial Celebration, so we're reaching out for help, which means we need people, lots of people, of all talents, capabilities, and strengths. To do a good job on building the trail, we're hoping for at least 40 people who are capable of carrying their own food and shelter (we may be able to provide some help in this) for approximately 5 days. Believe it or not, the trail crews will probably have the most fun and learn the most of any of the people who turn out in August to show their support for the park. No trail work experience is necessary, and everyone gets to work at whatever speed, task, or energy level suits them. We're asking people to commit early and let us know, so we can plan. Much more detail will be provided (and periodically added to) on the FOSP website and our Facebook page. The Strathcona Centennial Celebration is intended primarily to give people a chance to learn about their park from inside, in whatever way suits them best. FOSP will organize car pooling from specified sites and times in Courtenay and Campbell River, and buses if necessary. We'll be doing our best to attract people from all over Vancouver Island as well as the Mainland, the more the better, so we're asking you to plan to attend, at least for a day, and to tell your friends, groups, whatever. The name of this game is NUMBERS, so let us know as early as possible that you're coming so that we can plan. We'll need people with varying degrees of knowledge about Strathcona Park to act as guides and facilitators for groups of many levels of abilities and interests. If people volunteering for this know something about park history, natural history, geology, geography, etc., so much the better. We'll also need people to help with organizing transportation and many other logistical necessities, both before the event and during, so if you're interested, let us know pronto, because this entire centennial event will be organized, carried out, and over and done with in approximately a month. We're asking for help and public participation, and we're asking for it quickly. The upside is that we'll need help and participation for only a short time. In most cases it'll only be for a day or so, centred around August 20th. People interested in helping with organizational and other details (advertising, transportation, event planning, providing first aid possibilities, etc.) may be required to spend more time, but it'll still be for a relatively short period, depending on the time constraints of the volunteer and the nature of the task. So again, if you're interested in helping with organizing, planning, or guiding or facilitating, let us know as soon as possible so that we can begin to include you. That's it for now, more will come soon as plans develop, but basically we need help and we need numbers, both to organize and to participate in the FOSP Strathcona Centennial Celebrations. We intend to provide at least one day of fun and learning about Strathcona Park from inside for everyone who's interested. For the majority of people, we'll only be asking for one day to show up, have fun, and support their park for the benefit of their children, grandchildren, and society in general. We believe that if the commercial world can get 100,000 people to turn out for a drunken riot in Vancouver, people with less commercially based interests might be willing to spend one small day showing support for something as worthwhile to us all as Strathcona Park, the first provincial park in BC. Please come, bring your friends, and let us know you're coming. We need you, and if there's ever a time to show support, this is it. This is one simple way we can encourage good, non-commercial changes in our park systems. Thank you all, Karl. Oinimitis Centennial Trail work party: August 19-24. Strathcona Park Centennial Celebration: centred mainly on Saturday, August 20. For more info on a continuing basis: friendsofstrathcona.org and our Facebook page |
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