Support Parkhill trail on Giving Tuesday
Friends of North Middlesex Trails releases video to launch fundraising for Parkhill accessible trail project
New video features Parkhill and area residents and trail committee Chair and North Middlesex Mayor; Interviewees in video share importance of accessible trails, nature, recreation
A new video, featuring eight people from Parkhill and area, shares the importance of accessible trails and outdoor recreation in nature.
The five-minute video has been prepared to begin a 2024-2025 fundraising campaign to raise funds to add a six-kilometre accessible trail loop in Parkhill.
The video includes appearances by Tracey Puchala, Chair of Friends of North Middlesex Trails (FNMT); Brian Ropp, Mayor of the Municipality of North Middlesex; Bob Radtke, an Ailsa Craig resident and a Past Chair of Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation (ABCF); Doug Warnock, Parkhill Library Branch Supervisor and Outreach Services with Middlesex County Library; and a number of Parkhill residents including: Pam Peeters; Roger and Gillian Clarke; and Linda Andrews.
The trail committee Chair says the video shows the importance of outdoor recreation, in nature, to human health. It also underlines the importance of creating an accessible loop to the trail system in Parkhill.
“This is a really important project for our entire community,” she said, in the video. “We hope that people from all over come to enjoy this trail once it’s completed,” the FNMT Chair said. Trails like this one need to be developed, she said, so people can be active outdoors in nature. “It does help with their physical well-being as well as their mental well-being.”
The video explains the proposed Parkhill trail project.
The first phase of the project would be a six-kilometre-long accessible trail loop starting at Main Street in Parkhill and going into the old railway trail and then Parkhill Conservation Area. The trail surface will be a packed-down chip-and-dust trail which could be used by people with walkers, strollers, or wheelchairs. The proposed project would include an accessible parking lot and a shorter trail loop and a longer trail loop. One of many advantages to the proposed trail improvements is allowing people without access to a car to go on the trail.
With your support of the Parkhill trail project, by Friends of North Middlesex Trails, you can help to support an accessible trail loop in Parkhill. This will help people to ‘Discover, explore and connect’ with outdoor recreation and nature appreciation.
To learn more about the Parkhill trail project, by Friends of North Middlesex Trails, or to donate, please visit the FNMT web page. You may also donate by phoning Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation at 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610.
The new video can be viewed on YouTube and it is to be shared on social media by Ausable Bayfield Conservation and by the Municipality of North Middlesex.
The trail committee encourages you to donate now or to donate for Giving Tuesday on December 3, 2024.
The Municipality of North Middlesex and Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation are donating up to $5,000 each to match your donations to the Parkhill trail project.
Giving Tuesday is described as “ ... the world’s largest generosity movement.”
People can donate, to the Parkhill trail project, through the Canada Helps GivingTuesday web page of Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation. On this web page, there is a private message box where you can type, into the text field box, and let the Conservation Foundation know you wish to donate to the Parkhill trail project.