The combination of growing regional trails and having a whole load of fun has become something of a tradition for communities throughout the Shuswap each winter.
Now in its eighth year, promotion for the annual Shuswap Trail Alliance fundraiser dance and silent auction kicked into gear with tickets going on sale just before Christmas.
The $30 tickets help to secure the annual base funding needed to allow the Shuswap Trail Alliance to support trail projects with partners throughout the Shuswap.
This year’s Shuswap Trail Party and Silent Auction is set to roll Friday, Feb. 7 at the SASCU Recreation Centre auditorium.
The perennial dance band favourite, Scarecrow, is booked, along with Patrick Ryley, spinning his DJ magic.
And local foods will once again be featured, this year thanks to the talents of Blue Canoe Bakery Cafe.
The call for auction sponsors is out, inviting local businesses and leaders to get their name out on the auction tables.
The event usually sells out weeks before the dance floor lights up the first Friday night of February.
Funding from both ticket sales and the silent auction, combined with private donations, go towards working with community partners. This includes funding for insurance, tools, equipment, the ShuswapTrails.com website, the trail report hotline, and volunteer events.
“We’ve seen an incredible transformation in support of trails and pathways over the last nine years,” says Phil McIntyre-Paul, executive director of the Shuswap Trail Alliance, noting that this past year saw more than 40 regional partners work together to create more than 12,000 metres of new trail at 15 locations around the Shuswap.
Maintenance alone saw over 160 kilometres of existing trails cleared, improved, and signed. And the involvement of volunteers continues to grow through the efforts of regular volunteer events, the new trail report hotline, and the continued work of stewardship organizations like the Larch Hills Nordic Society, Shuswap Outdoors, the EQ Trail Association, and the new Shuswap Bicycle Society.
Tickets are available at Lakeside Insurance and Skookum Cycle and Ski.
To contribute to the silent auction and for information on the Shuswap Trails celebration, call Winston Pain at 250-804-6451, or email wpwinston2@gmail.com.
To find out more about Shuswap trails throughout the region and the Shuswap Trail Alliance, visit www.shuswaptrails.com.