River clean up this weekend - volunteers welcome!

By Contributor

For a number of years the Kettle Granby and Boundary Fly Anglers Club has done river clean-ups between the Darrell J. Priede Bridge and City Park as part of the Annual B.C. Rivers Day in September. This year the Granby Wilderness Society and the Grand Forks Environment Committee will be joining in their efforts.

 

The Grand Forks Environment Committee decided at their last meeting to donate $100 towards the effort with the purchase of garbage bags, gloves, and refreshments as their contribution to the work of the volunteers.

The plan is to meet this Sunday, Sept. 25 at City Park at 9:00 am. The usual trail will be covered from the Priede bridge to the park. The aim is also to walk the River Side Trail from the Yale Street Bridge up to wherever they can get to! There is also the option of cleaning between the industrial bridge area to the rivers’ fork or eastward behind Roxul.

 

“What we can cover depends on the showing!” said Jenny Coleshill, co-ordinator for Granby Wilderness Society. “Bring your gloves, buckets, and wellingtons (aka rubber boots)!”

 

BC Rivers Day is a province-wide event, held every year on the last Sunday in September. Established in 1980 and coordinated by the Outdoor Recreation Council, it has been proclaimed by communities across B.C. and attracts over 75,000 people to more than 100 events each year.

 

The success of this event in B.C. has also recently led to the establishment of a "National Rivers Day" and, as part of the UN Water for Life Decade starting in 2005, "World Rivers Day" is now celebrated on the same date each September. These events use B.C. Rivers Day as a model and concurrent river-related events will take place in more than 60 countries.