Left to right

Left to right

Young Pentictonites clean up the trails

A group of Penticton residents took to the Esplanade Trail Network organizing a community clean-up.

A group of young Pentictonites took to the trails with garbage bags in hand to clean up one of their favourite spots and honour a friend’s memory.

Penticton woman Petra Hƶller recruited her friends via Facebook and organized the clean up of the Esplanade Trail Network, colloquially known as the Hobo Trails, where she often goes to write, hang out with friends and enjoy nature.

ā€œThe Hobos are a seemingly forgotten corner of our waterfront, while it makes it peaceful it also makes it quite vulnerable,ā€ Hƶller said.

She set out with the help of her friends to clear the area of the debris left in the area notorious for hosting squatters and makeshift campsites.

ā€œThis summer is the worst that I can remember seeing it. I decided that I owed it to the trails, as a gesture of gratitude for all the memories that it hosted, to organize a clean-up,ā€ Hƶller said.

The clean-up project was also dedicated to a dear friend of Hƶller’s and many others who came out to lend a hand, Carson Ruhland, a much-loved Oliver musician who died last year in a single motor vehicle incident between Peachland and West Kelowna.

Hƶller said Ruhland created many memories with her and her friends on the trails.

ā€œHe is deeply missed in our community and continues to inspire us,ā€ Hƶller said. ā€œI am very proud of my friends for turning out to help. There was no hesitation. They embraced the idea with enthusiasm right away and all worked incredibly hard.ā€

ā€œIn a way, the disregard of the trails is what makes them so special, but that means that those who take advantage of that must also take on the responsibility of maintaining them,ā€ she added.

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