The Globe and Mail - 19.10.2019

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2019 SPONSORCONTENT• TCT3

DavidCottingham knewthe fit

was rightwhen hewasinvitedto

jointhe TransCanadaTrail (TCT)

FoundationBoardin 20 11.

“Forme,there’sno greater

luxury thanexperiencingthe out-

doors. Whenaskedto help make

TheGreatTrailareality,IknewI

could bringall myenthusiasmto

thisvolunteerrole,” saysMr.Cot-

tingham.“WhenIjoined, ourfocus

wason completingthe nationwide

connection ofthe Trail byCanada’s

15 0thbirthdayin 2017 .”

Eightyearslater,heremainsa

Imaginethe opportunityifyou’re

anaspiringartist–sketchingan

animal, plantorlandscapevistaon

TheGreatTrail ofCanada,underthe

guidance ofrenownedCanadian

wildlifeartistRobert Bateman.

Thatpossibilitymaterialized for

agroupofbuddingartists who

triedtheirhandatnaturesketching

in Riverdale ParkWestin Toronto,

while Mr.Batemansharedtipson

sketchingtechniqueandwildlife

observation. Theworkshopwas

partof NatureSketch on TheGreat

Trail,anationalseriesofsketching

workshopshosted in 20 19 byTCT

andtheBatemanFoundation.

The eventencouraged people,

especiallychildrenandyouth,to

useartistic expressiontomore

deeplyexperiencetheirlocalsec-

tion ofthe Trailandtolearnabout

the importanceofprotectingthese

ecosystems.

Morethan300 Canadianspartici-

pated intheworkshopsinseven

communities– Victoria,North

Vancouver,Tuktoyaktuk,Calgary,

Onabeautifulsun-filled dayon

September22, 20 19,adiverse

groupofsupportersjoined Trans

CanadaTrail inrecognizing its

long-standing partnershipwith

Afterthe lossof herson earlierthis

year,Deb Marshall hadasimple

wish:tokeepherson’spassion for

TheGreatTrail ofCanadaalive.

MichaelJeffreyMarshall,an

avid hikerfromB.C.,wasjust 41

yearsoldwhen he passedaway

suddenlyinJune. Thetragedy

cameas a shockto Mike’sloved

ones,but theycametogetherto

continuehislegacybymaking

atribute giftin hisnametoTCT.

Insteadofflowers,Debasked

Canadiansacrossthe countryhave

embraced TheGreatTrail ofCanada

foritspowerto connectthem more

deeplywiththeirnaturalenviron-

ment,aswellasCanada’shistory

and culturaldiversity.

The connectionsfostered on

the Trail, however,arenotpurely

defined bythe placesitpasses

through;manybuild connections

withotherpeopleastheyuseand

enjoythe Trail. To demonstratethe

valueofsharing Trail experiences

withothers–andto encourage

people ofallagesand fromall back-

groundstodiscoverand enjoythis

Canadian legacy–TransCanada

Trail hasbeguntohostunique

eventscalled“Instameets”in differ-

entcommunities.

TheInstameetsareorganized

throughsocial media,andtheresult

isawalkingtourinwhich people

canexplorethe Trail intheirlocal

areas,take photosandsharethem

onInstagramwiththe hashtag

#BetterTogetherTGT. To date, TCT

Saskatoon, TorontoandHalifax.

Artists and naturalistsledthework-

shopsin each location.

“Ifyoudon’t reallylookat things,

youpass throughtheworldand

miss somuch,”saysMr.Bateman,

TCTnationalChampion.“Getting

peopletosketch on TheGreatTrail

theCanadian Military Engineers

(CME)atTheGreatTrail’s recently

renovated pavilion inDartmouth,

NovaScotia.

CatherineAnne Martin,amember

mourners tocontributetoa

collectivetribute gifttoTCT.

The decisiontosupport the Trail

was a “no-brainer”forDeb.

“Mikewouldn’thavewanted

thatmoneytogoanywhereelse.

Hewould havewanted ittogoto

the Trail,”shesays.

Mike’sloveofthe outdoors was

encouraged byhisgrandfather,

whowouldtake him on hiking

and fishingtripsfromayoung

age.Hisgrandfatheralsointro-

ofthe MillbrookFirstNation,

openedthe celebrationandwas

followed byspeakersthatincluded

HisHonourTheHonourableArthur

J.Leblanc, ONS QC, Lieutenant

Governorof NovaScotia;City

CouncillorSamAustin;Brigadier-

GeneralSteveIrwin,Canadian

MilitaryEngineersBranchColonel

Commandant;and TheHonourable

TonyInce, MinisterofAfricanNova

ScotianAffairsand Ministerofthe

Public ServiceCommission.

TCTisgratefultotheCMEfor

its support and commitmentin

building dozensof bridgesalong

TheGreatTrail, contributingtoa

lasting legacyforallCanadiansthat

can be enjoyed forgenerations

to come.

duced himtoTransCanadaTrail by

sponsoringametreofthe Trail in

hisname in November 1997.

“AnychancethatMike got,he

wouldwanttogocamping orhik-

ing,”saysDeb,addingthatMike

laterearnedthetitle ofBestMale

Athleteathisschool intwelfth

grade.

It wasn’tjustMike’s athleticabil-

ity thatdrewhimtonature.Deb

recallshealsofeltanaffinity with

theanimalsand plantshe encoun-

tered on hisadventures.

As anadult, Mike completedsev-

eraloutdooradventuresinB.C.,

and hikedthe Trail from Vancouver

alltheway toCranbrook. Sadly,he

neverhadthe chancetoreach his

goal of hiking every section of The

GreatTrail inthe province before

hispassing.

Inadditiontotheircontribu-

tions,agroup of Mike’sfriends

areplanningto hiketherestofthe

Trail inB.C.togetherin hishonour.

“I’mverygratefultothe family

and friendswho have donated

tothe Trail in Mike’sname,”says

Deb.“I’msure Mikewould have

beensoproudtoseethis.”

helped peopletosee naturein

theirownbackyard.”

“I’mthrilledthat thisNature

Sketch eventisencouraging people

ofallagesto embracetheircreativ-

ityinCanada’sgreatoutdoors,”

saysValerie Pringle,Chairofthe

TCTFoundationBoard.

hashostedsuccessfuleventsin

Winnipeg, LangfordandHalifax,

and hasplanstodothesame in

otherpartsofthe countryin 2020.

“It was suchatreat tospendan

afternoonwith peoplewhotruly

loveourcity and ourprovince,”

saidDaynaRobbie (@daynarobbie),

whoattendedthe Winnipeg

Instameet.“Weall cametogether

withthesame goal–tolearnmore

aboutWinnipeg’s urbantrail, how

wecanshareitwithothers,and

howwecanaccessdifferentparts

of TheGreatTrailacross Canada.

PerhapswhatIappreciated most

washowthe meetupfeltlike

communityovercompetition.

“The hashtagweusedwas

#BetterTogetherTGT,andIfeelthe

afternoon completelyembodied

that,”sheadds.“Ifyouhaven’t

heardofTheGreatTrail before, get

excited!It’sanotherwaywecan

sharesomethingasCanadians,and

Ihopetoseeyououtthereexplor-

ing on it!”

TCTFoundationBoard member,

nowhelpingtoraisefundsto

supportessential improvement

projects alongthe Trail.Davidand

hiswife Kathyalsosupport the Trail

bymaking financial gifts andacting

asinformalambassadors,spreading

thewordtofamilyand friends.

TheCottinghamshaveexplored

sectionsofthe Trail from New-

foundlandtoBritishColumbia.

“StanleyParkisone of myfavourite

placestoexploreonthe Trail,”says

David.“We’vealsowalkedthe Trail

alongtheBowRiverinCalgary

withKathy’sfamily.Sharing Trail

activitieswithothersisincredibly

rewardingand bringspeopleand

communitiestogether.”

Davidsayshe feelsparticularly

luckythathe canaccess the Trail“in

myownbackyard. Wherewelive

in Toronto,Iwalkthe Trailalmost

dailywithmywonderfuland loyal

friend, ourdog Skye.”

“The Trail issuchagreat wayfor

newcomers toCanadatoexperi-

encethe breadthofCanada’s

fortunate geography,”saysKathy

Cottingham.“Havingaccess tothis

wonderful piece of nature,whether

on footoronabike, inthewater,in

ruralorurbanareas, deepenstheir

connectiontotheirnewhome.

“It’sinspiringtosee people, in-

cluding friends,who havecovered

sectionsofthe Trail foracauseor

in honourof others,”sheadds.

“That’s another way the Trail brings

Canadianstogether.”

SUPPORTERSDAVID AND

KATHYCOTTINGHAM

NATURESKETCHON THE GREATTRAIL

Morethan 300Canadiansembrace creativityinthe great outdoors

CELEBRATINGTHE CANADIAN

MILITARYENGINEERS

ATRIBUTETOAPASSIONATEHIKER

#BETTERTOGETHERTGT

Enhancing The GreatTrailexperience bysharingit

withothers

ACROSS-CANADA DREAMWECANALL SHARE

BringingCanadians togetheronThe GreatTrailofCanada

Amessagefrom Neil Yeates,
Chair oftheTCTBoard

Over27yearsago,Canadianscame
togethertoworkonaseemingly
impossible dream–tocreate
theworld’slongestnetworkof
recreationalmulti-usetrailsacross
theworld’ssecond-largestcountry.
In 2017 ,weachievedthatdreamin

time forCanada’s 15 0thanniversary.

Now,wecontinuetomakethis

nationaltreasurebetterand better.

TheGreatTrail ofCanadaen-

shrineseverythingthatbringsus

togetherasCanadians–ourrich

trail-building heritage, ourstunning

geography,ourwelcoming commu-

nitiesand ourloveofthe outdoors.

The manywaysinwhichthe Trail

connectsall ofushave led meto

thisconclusion: TheGreatTrail of

Canadaisgreat,butit’seven better

when it’ssharedwithothers.

Asanon-profitorganization

fuelled bythe generosityof donors,

wehaveseen howpowerfulteam-

workcan be. Overthe pastyear,we

have joined forceswithpartners,

volunteersandall levelsof govern-

menttosupportnumerousprojects

to enhanceand improvethe Trail.

Wearealsofocused on encourag-

ing moreCanadianstodiscover,use

andsupportthe Trail. Thisyear,we

were pleasedtoorganizeguided

hikesinseveralCanadiancitiesthat

included localTrail partners,support-

ersand governmentrepresentatives.

Theseeventsnotonlyillustratethe

impactof giving,theyalsointroduce

oursupporterstothe beautifulTrail

sectionsintheirbackyard.

Of course, oursuccesseshave

beenstronglyinfluenced bythe

inspiringvision ofDeborahApps,

ourPresident&CEO.Deborahhas

beenapassionateadvocateforthe

Trail formorethan15years,but

will be leaving TCTin 2020 .Her

determination ledustothe connec-

tion of TheGreatTrail in 2017 – an

incredible feat.

Although myfellowboard

membersandIwill besadtosee

Deborahgo,weareveryexcitedas

weprepareforthe pathahead. We

will continuetohostournew

#BetterTogetherTGTevents,which

inviteyoung peopleand newCana-

dianstoexperiencetheirlocalsec-

tion ofthe Trailwhile meaningfully

connectingtonatureandthe people

aroundthem. Wealsoremain

committedtosupporting essential

Trail projectswhilestrengthening

ourrelationshipswithIndigenous

communities.However,we need

yoursupporttoensureourmission

to enhancethe Trail continuesaswe

moveforward.

We haveachievedsomuch

together,andIlook forwardtowhat

the futurebrings!

Chairofthe TCT Board, NeilYeates,on

the CowichanValleyTrailonVancouver

Island.CHRISISTACE

Oneofthe guided hikesorganized byTCT: WestBragg CreekTrail,nearCalgary,

summer 2019.LAUREENHARPER

David andKathyCottinghamfeellucky

tohave access toThe GreatTrail“intheir

ownbackyard.”JACJACOBSON

From left:CoryTrepanier,RobertBateman,Valerie Pringle,

RiverdaleParkWestTrail,Toronto.ALANLI

Adaytohonour the contributions ofCanadianMilitaryEngineers.PAULDARROW

MichaelJeffreyMarshall waspassionateabout many outdooractivitiesandonce

hiked The GreatTrailfromVancouvertoCranbrook.SUPPLIED

AsuccessfulInstameet:Earlierthisyear,agroupcelebratedtheir

exploration ofthe TrailinWinnipeg.DAYNAROBBIE