Editor, The Times:
On Saturday, Sept. 10, The Land Conservancy (TLC) will join me in hosting a special event in Upper Clearwater. We're calling our event "Wells Gray Day: Knowing Parks".
In essence Wells Gray Day is both a celebration of 100 years of B.C. Parks and, related to this, a fundraising effort in support of a permanent wildlife corridor connecting the two southern lobes of Wells Gray.
Wells Gray Day will be divided between the Wells Gray Education and Research Centre (for lunch) and the newly refurbished Upper Clearwater Community Hall (for dinner), but mostly it will be held here at my home, Edgewood Blue, where participants will be invited to pond watch, paddle, walk the nature trails, and generally look around this beautiful property that I'm preparing to donate to TLC.
There's more about Wells Gray Day at www.conservancy.bc.ca
We have a great line-up of speakers, including B.C. Minister of Environment the Honorable Terry Lake, renowned ethnobotanist Nancy Turner, volcanologist Cathie Hickson, author Dick Cannings, biologist Ralph Ritcey, wildlife expert Frank Ritcey, UBC ecology professor Fred Bunnell, and TRU dean of science Tom Dickinson. CBC personality Mark Forsythe has kindly agreed to act as our MC.
In order to make Wells Gray Day a success, we'll need help from the greater Clearwater community, and are now looking for volunteers to take part in several ways:
(1) Accommodations for our speakers coming from outside the area (10 people, including family members). Two nights: the 9th and the 10th.
(2) Musicians to play/sing at breaks between the speakers.
(3) Local "ambassadors" to show people around Edgewood.
(4) Food preparation for breaks and lunch, and for a partly catered, partly potluck dinner at the Upper Clearwater Community Hall.
(5) Donations for silent auction. Hazel Wadlegger has kindly agreed to gather donations: hazelwadlegger@hotmail.com.
(6) Displays of general interest (e.g. Clara Ritcey and Ellen Ferguson will do a display on local place names and the people behind them).
(7) Canoes (two), life jackets and paddlers willing to take participants out on the pond.
(8) Traffic control people to help with parking and pass out agendas.
With this in mind, I hope you'll consider joining me for a garden tour of Edgewood on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 1:30 p.m. The main purpose of this event will be to recruit volunteers; but everybody's welcome. Barry Booth from The Land Conservancy will be here; and after the garden tour he and I will give a fuller account of Wells Gray Day and sign up volunteers. The tour should be finished by 4 p.m.
If you'd like to help with Wells Gray Day and can make it out for the garden tour, please let me know via email by Wednesday, Aug 10. Once I know who's coming, I'll send out further details.
See you on Aug. 13.
Trevor Goward
Upper Clearwater, B.C.
P.S. All volunteers will get a free lunch and dinner, and will also be invited to join us for Nancy Turner's keynote talk.