Seniors  Outreach  Programs  –  June  to  September  2014  Heritage  Centre  at  Mount  Seymour  Provincial  Park      The  Seniors  Outreach  Program  coordinator,  Elise  Roberts,  planned  thirteen  programs  for  seniors  covering  a  wide  range  of  topics  and  locations  around  the  North  Shore  in  municipal,  regional  and  provincial  parks.    Some  highlights  this  year  were  "Forest  Fungi  and  Their  Mushrooms"    with  Juliet  Pendray  who  has  been  acquiring  and  sharing  knowledge  about  fungi  and  associated  organisms  for  the  past  10  years.      In  just  a  small  area  of  the  Old  Buck  Trail  we  found  a  wide  variety  of  amazing  species,  including  a  rare  Tail-­‐Dropper  Slug.        "It  was  absolutely  fascinating  to  think  that  every  step  we  took,    we  were  surrounded  by  immeasurable  numbers  of  tiny  life  forms"  said  one  participant.      

 Cultural  Days  was  hosted  by  the  Tsleilwaututh  Sacred  Trust  and  Raincoast  Conservation  Foundation  who  presented  awe-­‐inspiring  environmental  themed  films  based  on  the  risks  of  transporting  oil  along  our  fragile  coast,  to  an  audience  of  18  people  with  new  participants  who  learned  about  us  through  the  local  and  national  Culture  Days  web  site.        This  year  we  celebrated  Canada  Parks  Day  with  a  nature  inspired  literary  and  arts  event,  

holding  workshops  in  writing,  visual  arts  and  photography  including  a  poetry  walk  through  the  forest  lead  by  author  Trevor  Carolan.      We  collaborated  with  North  Shore  Wetland  Partners  and  Friends  of  Cypress  Provincial  Park  who  have  worked  very  hard  to  restore  areas  along  the  beautiful  Yew  Lake  Trail.    We  found  amazing  wild  flowers  including  the  Round-­‐leaved  Sundew  with  prey.      (Photo  by  Robert  Alexander)      New  this  year  was  a  partnership  with  Parkgate  Community  Centre  for  an  amazing  Sea  to  Sky  geology  field  

trip  on  their  bus  with  David  Cook.    We  travelled  back  in  time  over  150    million  years  all  the  way  to  Brandywine  Falls!    Who  knew  that  the  geology  of  the  Sea  to  Sky  was  so  ancient  and  amazing!      To  celebrate  the  cultural  heritage  of  Mount  Seymour  we  offered  two  programs.    "Song  of  Seymour."    Patricia  Mason's  dramatic    slide  presentation  included    images,  music,  poetry  and  prose  celebrating  the  natural  and  cultural  history  of  the  Seymour  area.        

In  collaboration  with  Alex  Douglas,  Mount  Seymour  History  Project    and  retired  skier  Ross  Regan,  we  had  a  showing  of  his  multi-­‐media  presentation  "Building  Our  Log  Cabin  on  Mount  Seymour  in  1948."  What  was  so  touching  about  this  program  was  that,  with  a  bit  of  bush-­‐wacking  to  plan  for  the  event,  and  help  from  Alex's  old  cabin  map,    we  found  the  old  cabin  site.    It  really  made  Ross'  day!        We  will  be  offering  one  more  program  this  year  in  partnership  with  Parkgate  Library:  A  History  of  Garibaldi  Provincial  Park  Presented  by  Cathy  Ross    A  stimulating  multimedia  presentation  celebrating  the  100  Year  Anniversary  of  the  Rubble  Creek  trail  in  Garibaldi  Park.  The  story  features  a  young  man  named  Billy  Gray  and  the  early  explorations  of  the  British  Columbia  Mountaineering  Club  (BCMC).  Historian  Cathy  Ross  will  use  both  historic  and  modern  photographs,  film  clips  and  a  soundtrack  of  mountaineering  songs  found  in  the  archives  to  illustrate  the  impressive  adventures  of  Billy  Gray  and  the  BCMC.