Greenways Land Trust had a lot to celebrate over the past year.
A crowd packed the Thulin Room of the Campbell River Maritime Heritage Centre for the organization’s annual general meeting. The event included a look back over the past year, the presentation of the Greenways Land Trust Woodpecker Awards, the formal part of the meeting and a presentation about bears and bear safety by Wild Wise Campbell River.
One of the main changes over the past year was a change in leadership Former Executive Director Cynthia Bendickson left the organization in the early summer, and was replaced by Katie Lavoie, who had previously worked at the organization in various roles over the past three years. There were over 5,400 volunteer hours logged in 2022, and Greenways staff and volunteers helped plant over 1,200 trees. This year also saw the growth of the Good Food Box program, the re-starting of the Simms Creek Fish Fence, and growth of the group’s school program.
The Woodpecker Awards are given out each year to a number of people who have helped further the cause of environmentalism in Campbell River, whether through volunteering with Greenways or independently. This years awards were presented to Gordon Hunt, Paul Akerhielm, Peach Akerhielm, Robert McKenzie, Tom Hall, and Mirror reporter Marc Kitteringham.
Greenways’ revenue was just over $610,000 in 2022, which was down from their record year in 2021, but still left them in a good position for coming years, as assets in the beginning of the year were higher than the difference left over from expenses this year. Two new board members were also elected during the meeting: Linda Nagle and Tammy Myers.
The meeting was also a chance for Greenways to unveil their new logo, designed by Caribou Creative, and launched their new Instagram page.
The evening ended with a presentation from Wild Wise Campbell River’s Lorna Seldon Burd. Burd gave an overview of the Vancouver Island sub-species of black bear, then led a discussion of how black bears interact with people and how garbage and attractants can have a negative effect on the bears. Wild Wise has worked with the city of Campbell River in the past, and Burd told the audience that they were interested in speaking with the new council about new challenges facing bears in the local area.
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marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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