Trails for Creston Valley Society appoint new president

Submitted by Trails for Creston Valley Society

After seven years of working to promote outdoor recreation in the Creston Valley, Mary Jayne Blackmore stepped down as president at the Trails for Creston Valley Society’s annual general meeting. Here is her report from the June 11 AGM:

Trails for Creston Valley Society is now celebrating five years as a registered charitable and non-profit society. I am celebrating seven years of following maps and property lines on my smartphone, imagining bridges to connect our communities with walking and biking paths, and endless meetings to try to make some sense out of it all. I’ve felt so passionate about this work, and I feel proud of the team that came together over the years and the progress made towards a more vibrant, connected community.

After we lost the access to the Point on the Goat River, I began researching to understand how in this day and age blunders like this could happen and why we don’t have more responsible political stewardship of our public spaces.

Leslie Kelner (treasurer) and Adam Mjolsness (secretary) have been dedicated to this society and vision since we all met at the first meetings at the Downtowner where Deb Nelius and I put out an invitation and had fifty people show up at a meeting on a Wednesday night. We gathered a dedicated team and re-energized the Charitable status from the previous Trails group and became a registered non-profit.

In the last five years, we’ve focused on accomplishing “low hanging fruit” projects while continuing to keep the vision alive pushing for political support for public access, connectivity, and a pedestrian and cycling friendly community. It’s impressive to see what this little group has accomplished over the years. We started with the Old Ferry Landing picnic site, built a beautiful hiking loop at Ka Papa Cedars Trail and Ralph’s Grove, repairs and tenure of the Midgeley Cabin and trail. We’ve partnered on several smaller in-town projects, maps, and signage, and brought hundreds of people together to build a legacy in the valley and purchased land to provide water access and safe parking at Riverside Park.

Tonight I am completing my term as president. I feel grateful to Donna Carlyle who has expressed interest to fill this leadership role for a term. After seven years of chasing down the vision and politics of parks and trails in the valley, I’m feeling the call to let my creativity and passion take me elsewhere.

The relationships and experiences I’ve gained through this process have forever renewed my faith in humanity. People are good, people are passionate, and people are willing to work and pay for the future and the world they want to build.

I’ve also learned valuable life lessons about the paradox of the slow messiness of the bureaucracy of working together. In our attempts to create political systems we’ve removed much of the humanity out of the community. Somehow, though, engagement in these processes seems to be as important as ever to create a more vibrant future.

Last fall a community member approached the Trails for Creston Valley Society with a vision. The land was for sale along the Goat River. After consulting with regional directors and RD staff and the Agricultural Land Commission, we all saw an opportunity to provide a solution to the un-addressed safety hazard created by the dozens of cars parked on the side of the road to access the river during our hot season. The community was exuberant about this decision and watching it unfold was legendary. The trails team beat the pavement for two months engaging the community and fundraising. We fulfilled our commitment by securing the property and creating space for safe parking and access for the community. The land is beautiful and accessible as it is. Any significant further development will require more consultation with neighbours and community partners.

To learn more and to get involved, become a member. Check out our beautiful website for updates on maps, trails, and our latest projects, www.crestonvalleytrails.ca.