The Bulkley Valley Cross Country Ski Club is welcoming a new face to its executive ranks.
Daryl Wilson has stepped up as the club’s new president for the upcoming season.
“I like volunteering. I’ve been with the Smithers Fire Department for 23 years and I’ve lived here all my life. My grandma came in 1927 so community is a big thing to me,” said Wilson, who was a director last year.
Though this is his first year as president, Wilson has been involved with the club for many years.
His two daughters joined the jack rabbits program when they were young and his youngest daughter is a senior on the biathlon team.
“Being a parent up there watching, you may as well help,” said Wilson. “I started doing the waxing for the ski team and the biathlon team. Now I have a new job and I have time to go back on the executive.”
This year, Wilson hopes to bring some fresh ideas and a new outlook to the table; he would also like to get more parents to come out and help with the club, which is largely volunteer-based.
“In the past, we’ve had people who wanted to volunteer, but didn’t want to make the big decisions,” he said. “The board will be a decision-making body and will delegate the vision and see if certain people can implement it to get our membership involved that way.”
The club will continue to offer its annual races, along with a new Northern Tech Cup race in January.
The club was founded in the 1980s and is located eight kilometres outside of town at the Wetzin’kwa Community Forest. It has roughly 45 kilometres of trail, a day-use lodge and wax hut.
Membership is roughly $600-650 and registration has already begun. The season will tentatively begin on Nov. 15.
