This past weekend was a blast! We just got back from Canal Flats and the third annual Rally in the Valley put on by the Kootenay Rockies ATV Club out of Cranbrook and the Columbia Valley ATV Club based in Canal Flats. Over 170 people were registered for the event and it was obvious that everyone enjoyed themselves.
Guided rides started on the Thursday and were followed up with other guided rides on Friday and on Sunday. Saturday was their Poker Ride, a very interesting 77 kilometre run that took you up mountains, down trails and across rivers, including a very picturesque lake that ATVBC Director, Brian Johnson could not resist jumping in! The $10 registration for this event was donated to the local Search and Rescue team. The evening ended with a BBQ put on by Smokehouse 93 and live music by the band, Rivertown.
The other wonderful news, is that Canal Flats has passed a bylaw that allows you to ride your ORV into town, on designated streets, for gas, groceries, etc. The number of communities that are allowing this is growing, and lots of people took advantage of this.
My congratulations to both clubs for a job well done, and to the Black Sheep Campground for their outstanding hospitality and a fabulous campground. It was a great event, and we will certainly be looking to book early for next year’s happening!!
This past week also saw the official launch of Tread Lightly Canada at the TransCanada Trails Summit held in Winnipeg. Tread Lightly Canada (TLC) is a newly established national charitable foundation dedicated to advancing responsible outdoor recreation and long-term trail sustainability across Canada. Tread Lightly Canada is the Canadian adaptation of a proven international stewardship model, designed to align responsible recreation with environmental protection through education rather than enforcement. The website will go live shortly and TLC already has a Facebook page.
Lastly for this month, With Kristin Parsons leaving ATVBC at the end of this month, I want to take a moment to especially thank Kristin for the four years that she has dedicated to ATVBC as our Executive Director. The accomplishments that she has helped ATVBC achieve are truly amazing and would not have been possible without her direction, energy and enthusiasm. Kristin, we wish you all the best for the future and hope that we will see you out on the trails somewhere, sometime. You will be missed!!
Respectfully submitted,
Chris DSilva
