Erickson unveiling celebrates Trails Day

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This article was published 28/05/2024 (543 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rossburn’s Ilse Ketelsen has walked part of the Trans Canada Trail in the past and will take another stroll along it this Saturday when a new tourist attraction is unveiled near Erickson in celebration of Manitoba Trails Day.

“I am part of the Rossburn Subdivision Trail Association, which takes care of our Trans Canada Trail portion from Russell to Neepawa, that also passes through Erickson,” said Ketelsen, who is the association’s secretary treasurer.

The Trans Canada Trail is about 24,130 kilometres long and goes from Cape Spear in Newfoundland to Victoria, B.C., and up to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. It is the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world.

Manitoba’s portion of that trail is about 1,200 kilometres, and as you zoom into the Rossburn area, there are 176 km of trail that follows the abandoned CN rail line formerly known as Rossburn Subdivision, said Ketelsen. “We look after 219 km — the trail itself and two limbs, which are approximately 20 km each.”

“We maintain the trail; it gets mowed in most parts,” Ketelsen said. “And twice a year we do a maintenance run. Somebody checks the trails, reports back to the board and if there are any challenges, we talk with the municipalities to see if they can help us.

“In the last 10 years, we connected trails to Riding Mountain National Park. So in Erickson, we have the Elk Link Trail and in Rossburn the Flying Eagle Link — both go to the park entrance,” she said.

Manitoba Trails Day is celebrated in conjunction with International Trails Day. It is recognized every year on the first Saturday in June to promote public awareness of and appreciation for trails and the people who build and maintain them.

That’s why Ketelsen said the timing is perfect for the trail association to unveil its new rest stop and tourist attraction, which is about a 4.5 km walk from Erickson.

“We built the site last year, so we want to show folks what we did,” said Ketelsen. “It’s called the Erickson water tower rest stop. Water towers were set up along train tracks by CN in the old times, so locomotives could get water.

“There is a foundation that was left, and we fixed it up. We built a deck on top of it and put up some interpretive stories about the history,” she said.

The official unveiling of the water tower rest stop is scheduled for Saturday morning in Erickson. The public is invited to meet at 11 a.m. in front of the 16-foot-long statue of the Viking ship at the end of Main Street and walk 4.5 km to the site.

Along the trail, people will see 18 wooden posts, said Ketelsen, each with a page from a book called “Water Walker” by Joanne Robertson.

It’s an Indigenous story about an Ojibwe grandmother (Nokomis) and her love for water.

“Nokomis decided she needed to teach people that water is very important, and we need to take care of it,” Ketelsen said.

The story was suggested by Aaron McKay, who is president of Rolling River First Nation, director of the Erickson Chamber of Commerce and student success advisor at Brandon’s Assiniboine Community College.

Even though McKay said he grew up within minutes of Erickson, Saturday’s walk to the water tower site will be a first for him, adding it’s something he’s looking forward to.

“As a local, I’ve been trying to explore more of what the area has to offer,” said McKay. “I think it’s so important for people to reconnect with their natural world, their land and the water, because a lot of our time is spent working in urban areas or just working in general.

“And we really need to pause from time to time, get back out there, and reflect on how we’re living life,” he said.

After the 4.5 km walk to the water tower site, there will be an official ribbon-cutting, including McKay, representatives of Trans Canada Trail and Trails Manitoba, and Greg Nesbitt, the Conservative MLA for Riding Mountain.

Nesbitt was elected MLA in September 2016 and re-elected in April 2019. In 2022, under the previous PC government, he was minister of natural resources and northern development. He told the Sun that he and his government had been “real advocates” for improving the trail system in Manitoba.

“Before I was even the minister, I was involved in the trail system when our government was handing grants out to trails, and I’ve seen them evolve over the years,” said Nesbitt.

“Last year, we supported two projects in Onanole, one in Rossburn, one in Asessippi, one in Minnedosa to the tune of $165,000.

“And, you know, (I’m) very proud of the work our government did, and I’m certainly hoping that this government will continue to do the good work and fund trails grants here for Manitoba,” Nesbitt said.

At the end of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Ketelsen said, there will be a community barbecue “just steps” from the rest stop — “less than 300 metres.”

“People are invited to join us even if they don’t take part in the walk. We’re using the old Highway 10 as the barbecue site, so they can meet us at municipal road 107.5 along the old Highway 10 around 1 p.m.,” Ketelsen said.

For more information about Rossburn Subdivision Trail Association’s Manitoba Trails Day Event on Saturday, call 204- 859-2497 or visit https://rossburnsubdivisiontrail.ca/trailsdayevent/

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