Patrick Connor Writes - "I'm Proud to be a Board Member with Kim Goodman on this initiative."
As many of us now say, “It’s been a minute” since we last connected and so it has. As a
Canadian it would be strange of me not to inject something about the weather – so
however you experienced winter in Ontario this season, I’m hoping you found a way to
enjoy it outdoors on a trail! Spring is near and we all can feel the sun’s warmth again. It
is beginning to feel like a new day in more ways than a seasonal change. I’ll give you a
simple example.
Since the summer of 2000, the Ontario Trails Council (OTC) and the
Trans Canada Trail (TCT) decided it was in their best interest to each take a different
“fork in the trail”. The trail each agency followed diverged but were never out of sight
and often not out of step with each other’s forward direction. Time passed, trail leaders
moved on, history faded and those two forks in the trail, found their way back to a
single, more established pathway.
If you heard it from someone else, this should help make it clear: the Ontario Trails
Council is once again working with the Trans Canada Trail on trail related challenges to
find solutions and improve trail operations and the user experience here in Ontario. We
need each other – we always have. Starting this week, the OTC is engaging with local
trail champions in Durham Region, near Uxbridge – Trails Capital of Canada to knit
together a solution that will stabilize the management of the Beaver River Wetland Trail
– a 22km TCT section, in collaboration and with the support of the Trans Canada Trail.
As an OTC member, trail manager and/or trail enthusiast you may have questions about
what changed? What took you so long? How do we tap into this kind of OTC/TCT
assistance? What I can tell you here is that this renewed arrangement was long in the
making, fostered by many over many years and I’d be happy to share more about how it
came to be in several ways. First, I’d like to thank Patrick Connor (OTC Executive
Director) and Kim Goodman (OTC Board Member) for their resilience, openness and
aim to support this renewed relationship with the Trans Canada Trail team.
Now as for the options to connect and learn more see below:
Option 1: reach out and email me
president@ontariotrails.ca. If my inbox is
overwhelmed by your questions, that’ll be a happy problem because we’ll get to meet
each other.
Option 2: reach out to Patrick Connor (Executive Director) and ask about membership
renewal, assistance and support – he’d love to get in touch.
execdir@ontariotrails.caOption 3: Consider attending the Canadian Trail Summit in Winnipeg June 16-19
https://canadiantrailsummit.ca/ being hosted by Trans Canada Trail. This is a great
chance to catch up, connect, talk trail challenges and solutions. Also, The Forks in
Winnipeg is an iconic destination in Canada, especially in June – not to be missed.
Can’t make the Summit but would still like to support it? We have an OTC GoFundMe
account set up below, the aim is to use the funds raised to offset the costs of 10 Ontario
attendees to the conference. We’d love the support, but even better is to have 10 reps
from Ontario attend and bring back the learning here.
Safe, accessible and enjoyable trails to all of you,
Dan
Join Ontario Trails Council
We thank all those that join and support our work, individuals play a significant role locally and work with us to make change provincially! Thank-you.RENEWAL - Township of Cavan-Monaghan - Thank - you!
The Township of Cavan Monaghan has a number of parks and playgrounds throughout the Township.
All parks, parkland and trails, with the exception of Whitfield Landing shall be considered non-operational from Thanksgiving Monday of each year, until the Friday prior to Victoria Day of each subsequent year. Whitfield Landing will be considered non-operational from the Monday following the 3rd weekend in November, each year to the Friday prior to Victoria Day each subsequent year.
During these periods, the Township of Cavan Monaghan will perform no maintenance and only complete minimal inspections. Parks, parkland and trails will have signs erected indicating open season and clearly stating that there is no maintenance when closed. This measure must be taken to protect the safety of persons using park facilities and equipment during a time when environmental conditions may promote or increase the potential for personal injury.
Payment Methods:
or call 613-484-1140 to Pay by Credit Card. Thank-you!
Ontario Trails Council is revitalizing our partnership with the Trans Canada Trail. Recent talks have gone exceedingly well between the OTC Board and leadership of the TCT. We thank the TCT for the opportunity to support our presence at the national event.
Unfortunately due to a lack of resources we missed the World Trail Conference 2 years ago. We wish to have a presence in Winnipeg in support of those OTC members that Support the Trans Canada Trail in their communities.
With your help we can help shape a better future for trails in Canada. Please donate to get us there. Thank you.
