Come celebrate BC Rivers Day in Trail!
By Carla Knipe
Trail residents will be coming together Sept. 29 for a festival-like event to clean up the Columbia. BC Rivers Day is celebrated province-wide, and the City of Champions is sponsoring a Shoreline Cleanup to help local people get involved with being good stewards of their waterways.
City Councillor Eleanor Gattafoni Robinson, a longtime resident of Trail and one of the organizers, said she wanted this event to have a community festival feel, with lunch provided for participants, prize draws, and EZ Rock radio on location, in order to highlight the close connection that the people of Trail have with the Columbia River. She said she is also passionate about the event’s more serious goal, to raise awareness that the river system in the Kootenays deserves to be treated with care and respect.
It is a message she says is not necessarily being heard by residents.
“In all the years I’ve been involved with the cleanup, I’m amazed at the amount of garbage people throw into the river. People just think they can throw anything into the water and it will disappear forever, but that’s not the case. Garbage has a way of sticking around,” Gattafoni Robinson said.
When asked to name some of the memorable items uncovered during clean-ups in past years, she said, “An old parking meter, once. That was probably the most unusual. But we’ve found appliances, many old car parts…I’m not really all that surprised anymore at what we find.”
The good news is that shoreline areas previously cleaned have remained relatively free of debris, but there is always work to be done. The recent Lemon Creek fuel spill highlighted the fact that even though there are so many rivers, lakes and streams in the region, people cannot be complacent in assuming local waterways will remain healthy.
Gattafoni Robinson said she hopes the event attract as many people as possible, especially younger children who will grow up to be the next guardians of the river.
If you’d like to participate on Sept. 29, meet at Jubilee Park at 9 a.m. For more information, please contact ajolly@trail.ca or phone 250-364-0834.
Gattafoni Robinson concluded by saying the City of Trail also wishes to thank its partners: BC Hydro, Columbia Basin Trust, Columbia Power, EZ Rock, Kiwanis, Teck and the Trail Times.
“This event would not be possible without their support.”
Selkirk College in Castlegar will also be hosting a shoreline clean up on the college grounds on Sept. 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. Participants will meet at the main entrance to the college, and are asked to bring work gloves and comfortable footwear. Contact Allison Lutz for more information at alutz@selkirk.ca
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