Trails are about connecting people to each other and the land, say local advocates. Trails should engage all five senses, and be more about the experience around us than the trail itself.
The upcoming Feb. 3 Shuswap Trails Auction and Dance is set to celebrate just that, says Shuswap Trail Alliance co-ordinator Phil McIntyre-Paul.
The Fifth Annual Shuswap Trails celebration will feature a taste of the region’s local foods and flavours. Trail appetizers and finger foods will be created by Blue Canoe owners Al and Sandy Boucher, who grow much of the produce they use in their culinary creations in their own garden, and source the rest from local growers. The focus is on fresh, local and flavourful.
“We’re creating trails and greenways to get people outside and connected with the place we live, so let’s create community events that do the same thing,” says McIntyre-Paul.
This year’s celebration also features the veggie trays of fresh organic produce from Mara’s Wildflight Farms, prepared by volunteers from another local culinary hot spot, the Shuswap Pie Shop.
This will be paired with hops from Salmon Arm microbrewery, The Barley Station, and locally crafted wines from Larch Hills Winery.
Add the music with the dancing energy of Sicamous’ own, Scarecrow, egged on by local DJ Patrick Ryley, and the stage is set for a festival of local flavours.
“It’s a perfect reflection of exactly what makes calling the Shuswap home such a privilege and worth looking after with every ounce of our will,” says McIntyre-Paul. “Great people, incredible local flavours, and knee-buckling beauty all around us. Natural trails help us connect with it all.”
The Feb. 3 Shuswap Trails Auction and Dance establishes the annual funding needed to support community greenway trail projects in 2012.
Tickets are on sale at Skookum Cycle and Ski, Lakeside Insurance, Ridetech, Trailheads, and Salmon Arm Financial in Salmon Arm and AJ’s and the Worx in Sicamous.