By Barb Smith
This year our club has a new name and a new piece of equipment.
The Barriere Outdoor Club is now the official name of our club which was organized with that name by Mary MacLennan in 2001. At that time we were under the umbrella of the North Thompson Recreation Society. As we now have our Constitution and Bylaws on line as all registered societies are required to do, it was time to revert back to our name to reflect our mandate and activities.
As we voluntarily manage the Barriere Forks Park for the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) we were most grateful to the Lower North Thompson Community Forest Society for their grant which enabled us to purchase a roller compactor for grooming the ski trails.
You can see by the smile on Steve Rainer’s face in the accompanying photo that he is so happy that the time taken to pack the trails is cut in half, plus the trails can be made much wider.
January 10 was the first of the grade 8 ski lessons, and Mary MacLennan can be seen in the second accompanying photo giving some tips to the class before venturing out with Tammy and Debbie, the other instructors.
The grade 8’s will also head out on our snowshoe trails later in the month, going to different stations to identify trees, antlers, cones and more, and then followed up by a hot dog roast at our fire pit.
Grade 3 students will also come up to have fun on skis and snowshoes.
Everyone is welcome to use our trails, with our one request in the WINTER being “NO DOGS PLEASE”.
Membership in the club is $10 per year, and we meet every third Monday of the month at the North Thompson Volunteer Centre in the Barriere Ridge building (Municipal Hall).
Every Tuesday we have a ski and tea time for skiing or snowshoeing and bring our lunch to enjoy in the warming hut.
We have a donation box at the top parking lot sign and we greatly appreciate donations to help cover the grooming, road plowing and insurance expenses. We also have a few sets of skis and snowshoes to rent.
For more information please call Mary MacLennan at 250-672-5802, or Franz Friesinger at 250-672-1968, or Carman or Barb Smith at 250-672-9403.
See you on the trails!