BC Trails Day was celebrated in Salmon Arm with a horn-powered, percussion filled afternoon of song and dance.
More than 700 people gathered at the Rob Nash Memorial Shelter at the South Canoe trailhead on Saturday afternoon, June 7, to take part in the Shuswap Trail Alliance's (STA) second annual BC Trails Day Spring Celebration. The family friendly event offered food, drink, face painting and play, a live auction and music, with opening band The Shades followed by Five Alarm Funk.
The STA made $4,000 from the event (after expenses), money that will go towards maintaining the south canoe network, said executive director Jen Bellhouse.
"IÎÚÑ»´«Ã½™m really pleased with the event and how it turned out," said Bellhouse. "It was so nice to see different members from the community, and IÎÚÑ»´«Ã½™m super grateful for the support from the City of Salmon ArmÎÚÑ»´«Ã½¦ and I'm so proud of our volunteers. I think we did a really good job and I couldnÎÚÑ»´«Ã½™t be happier.
Despite bouts of rain on the day of last year's Spring Celebration, the STA wound up seeing a near-capacity (500) crowd show up. Capacity for this year's celebration was 750, which was met, with a good number of tickets sold on June 7.
Bellhouse's team is already talking about next year's event, which she said she feels fairly confident will happen, shaped in part by things learned from this year's event.
"We have our little list of things to consider for next year, and lessons weÎÚÑ»´«Ã½™ve learned, but I think like with everything in life, you figure out what needs to change and you work on making things better."
