Archives for April 2, 2018

ATV riders on Prince Edward Island will soon have better access to more trails on, and off the island.

The P.E.I. and Nova Scotia ATV Federations just entered into a reciprocal agreement to honour each other’s trail passes. That means P.E.I. ATV club members who have passes to ride on the island won’t need a new pass when they go to N.S., and vice versa.

P.E.I. and New Brunswick, as well as Ontario, already have a similar agreement in place.

The president of the P.E.I. ATV Federation, Peter Mellish, hopes this will help attract more tourists to the Island.

“It’s a huge tourism opportunity,” Mellish said. “Probably a bigger tourism opportunity for us than it is for them because there’s that many more riders in Nova Scotia…. This gives us the opportunity to promote our product to off-Islanders to come to P.E.I. to experience what we have here.”

New trails opening this summer

The newest agreement with N.S. comes as the Island federation prepares to open up almost 100 km of new trails across the province this year. That will add to the 250 km of trails that currently exist.

“Our industry on P.E.I. is underdeveloped. It has not been developed because we haven’t had the infrastructure to be able to invite people to come out of province,” Mellish said.

The new trails will span the province, with 30 km being opened toward Kensington and the Rattenbury road area, and another 30km between Stratford and the Mount Albion area.

A legal place to ride

The new trails were formed in partnership with private land owners allowing the federation to build trails on their properties.

There’s still more work to be done on some of the new trails, but they should all be open by the end of the summer, Mellish said.

He hopes the addition of the new trails will not only encourage tourists, but will also cut down on the number of people riding where they shouldn’t.

“An ATV is a legal product, and we have to find a place to be able to legally drive it. And we don’t support riding on paved roads, we don’t support riding where you shouldn’t be.”

“We need to build the trails one landowner at a time,” Mellish said, “and eventually we’re going to get to the point where we have a mass amount of trails that we can really promote a tourism product on P.E.I. That’s the goal.”

‘I just loved getting out in the ocean and I loved harvesting it,’ says Amanda Swinimer

Among the forests of kelp in the waters near Sooke, B.C., you’ll find the mermaid of the Pacific carefully harvesting lengths of seaweed to tow to shore.

She may not actually be a mermaid, but some think so, given the amount of time Amanda Swinimer spends in the water.

Swinimer runs the business Dakini Tidal Wilds and for 17 years she’s harvested seaweed by hand to supply to health food stores.

In the past few years, she’s seen more demand from local chefs.

“I enjoy people eating seaweed for their health, but it’s also now really exciting… to see the chef community embracing this wild, sustainable, Canadian local food that’s got this unique taste,” Swinimer told North By Northwest’s Sheryl MacKay.

That taste called umami is described as rich and savoury, and is the most prominent flavour in seaweed, making it a tasty and nutrient-packed ingredient for chefs to cook with.

Seaweed is known to have high levels of minerals and vitamins like folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc and is also rich in protein and fibre.

“Most of the coastal cultures at least have some tradition of eating seaweed so it seems it’s having a bit of a rebirth now,” Swinimer said.

Chef Manpreet Sethi with Aura restaurant at the Inn at Laurel Point in downtown Victoria has gotten creative with the sheets of wakame seaweed Swinimer harvests, using it in his “SeaCuterie” plate.

Sheringham Distillery in Shirley, B.C. on Vancouver Island is even using Dakini winged kelp in its Seaside gin.

“I look forward to people getting innovative and using the seaweed in different ways,” Swinimer said.

To collect the seaweed, she suits up in a wetsuit with gloves, boots, hood and snorkel gear then swims about 150 metres offshore to snip pieces of bull kelp off the fronds that float at the surface.

“The advantage, aside from the fact that I get to snorkel in a kelp forest all summer long, is that I can see every piece… so I can get a really good quality by being able to see what I’m doing,” she said.

She tows her full bag of seaweed back to shore, loads it into a wheelbarrow and brings that back to her home where she hangs each piece on cedar racks to dry with the aid of a dehumidifier and fan.

It’s a labour of love that keeps Swinimer in the water, which is where she’s happiest.

“I didn’t get into it because seaweeds where this amazing healing source, I just loved getting out in the ocean and I loved harvesting it.”

Jody Buckley is expecting 1,000 meals to be served this year

This year Saskatoon’s Friendship Inn is planning to serve 1,000 meals to those in the community that otherwise could not afford an Easter lunch.

Jody Buckley, the volunteer and event coordinator at the Friendship Inn, says the meal offers people who are on their own camaraderie, and security for families. Unfortunately, Buckley says she has seen more people in need of the organization’s services.

“It’s tough. It’s tough seeing families and individuals come in and know that they’re not having these meals at home and that they turned to us as a second family that they can come to and have a meal with us,” she said.

In Saskatoon the United Way announced that it was dealing with a $1-million shortfall in its operating budget. Buckley says like many other groups offering assistance the Friendship Inn is seeing increased demand for it’s services.

“We’ve seen a steady increase over the years. the economy is really tough on us so we see those families that used to be able to have a meal at home now have to turn to the Friendship Inn to make sure that they do have the holiday meal that they’re looking for,” said

Buckley says the people that come to the Inn for a meal are so thankful for the gesture.

“It’s great knowing that you can help as many people as you can and know that we’re making a difference in the community,” she said.

But what makes her happiest is when people no longer need their help. Buckley says from time to time she will speak with volunteers who once went for meals to the Friendship Inn.

“It’s absolutely rewarding to hear those stories and the hear the successes within the community.”

Lunch will be served from 11:45 a.m. CST to about 1:15 p.m. but times will depend on how many people attend.

About nine years ago, Sudbury’s Helene Landry was invited to attend Relay For Life, an annual event organized by the Canadian Cancer Society.

“[It] was very moving and very inspirational,” she said.

“That was pretty well the door that opened to my association with the Canadian Cancer Society.”

Cancer is a topic that is personal for Landry. She lost her sister-in-law to it and then her mother in 2014.

“[It] was probably the most difficult thing to go through,” she said.

“It’s difficult to lose a parent, period. But to see a parent suffer, it just does a little something to you.”

Throughout the years, Landry has volunteered with the society, including the annual fundraiser of Daffodil Month held in April.

Currently, the society is looking for volunteers to sell daffodil pins and canvass neighbourhoods for donations. It says the donations help local cancer patients and their families through research and support services.

Landry says after losing family members to cancer, she feels dedicated as a volunteer.

“I don’t want cancer to win,” she said. “I want to do my part in anyway I can.”