Explore new trails or visit old ones, give the community or a neighbour a hand this year, take a photo on the Skywalk and share it with others at #TrailCanada150 – and let the city know about those adventures in your Canada 150 passport.
Ready to launch on July 1 at the Beaver Creek Canada Day event as well as online and at various city venues, is “Trail Celebrates Canada 150 Passport.”
The booklet, similar to a passport, lists 150 mostly free pursuits that will give participants a taste of living in the City of Trail from July 1 through to Dec. 31.
“The intent is to encourage locals and visitors to use the passport to highlight or partake in Trail’s unique activities,” the city’s Andrea Jolly told the Trail Times. “To explore Trail and experience new things maybe you didn’t know existed here or maybe there are things you always wanted to do but never really had the incentive,” she added.
“There are a few activities that may cost a little, like a toonie swim. But for the most part, we are trying to highlight things that are free for anyone from anywhere to do, if they have the information.”
Specific to Canada’s sesquicentennial year, ideas were compiled from a small committee including Jolly, Trail Parks and Recreation, and input from the community.
The list had to reflect the government’s Canada 150 grant guidelines: to build a vibrant and healthy community with the broadest possible engagement of all Canadians; inspire a deeper understanding about the people, places and events that shape community and country; and encourage participation in our community initiatives, activities and events to mark Canada’s 150th.
“We’ve listed these 150 things, but of course, we haven’t captured absolutely everything,” said Jolly, “And by no means do we want to exclude any activity or outdoor adventure, so we encourage you to add to this list, using spaces on the last page – share and encourage others to join you.”
The passport is broken down into categories such as physical activity and sports, Trail history, culture and community, Trail in Bloom and nature.
“We can share all the work Trail in Bloom has done and incrEDIBLE trail as well,” said Jolly. “There’s many things to explore in town, and then we have these unique features that are special to each Trail neighbourhood.”
However, it’s the “give back” category the committee was especially passionate about including.
“For example, volunteer at a community event, shovel someone’s driveway or sidewalk this winter, or contribute to one of Trail’s food banks, ” Jolly said. “It’s just a small section, but it creates that community feel, because one of the great things about Trail is we have such a strong united community with great volunteers and people who help each other out – so we thought this was really important to highlight.”
Lastly, the city is asking passport users to take a selfie, or photo of friends and family partaking in the various activities then share it to Twitter or Facebook under #TrailCanada150.
“Then anyone following those social media platforms can see what everyone else is doing with their passports,” Jolly clarifed. “This will be specific to Trail.”
There will be a prize for users that have all 150 activities checked off – the city will announce those details at a later date.
This initiative is made possible by the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th, a collaboration between the LeRoi Community Foundation, the Government of Canada, and extraordinary leaders from coast to coast to coast.
