FOSS seniors played key role in Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park creation

Photo: Contributed

From left: Penny Gubbels, Isabel Pritchard and Daphne Richard try out the new bench at Rose Lookout that was dedicated in their honour as FOSS Members of Distinction for 2023. The three individuals were primarily responsible for saving the South Slopes from development as well as the creation of Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park.

Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park might not exist today, or have its wealth of outdoor recreation activities, if not for the decades-long efforts of three Kelowna women.

Volunteers are sometimes not recognized for their invaluable role but the Friends of the South Slopes has rectified that with the FOSS Member of Distinction Award for 2023.

Penny Gubbels, Isabel Pritchard and Daphne Richard received the new award, approved by the board at the FOSS AGM on April 1, and a bench at Rose Lookout was dedicated in their honour Sept. 27.

The award honours a person or persons who rendered extraordinary service over many years, and who showed dedication and passion to the society's mission.

"It is so fitting that Penny, Isabel and Daphne are the first members of distinction,” said FOSS president Cam Kourany. “It was in November 1997 that (they) met with some others to informally discuss the orderly management of the Crown lands of the South Slopes.”

The Friends of the South Slopes Society was revived with a new mandate, to develop a plan for recreational use and environmental preservation.

“Of course, the South Slopes was, and continues to be, (their) backyard.”

Pritchard was a board member for more than 23 years (1998-2020), which included positions as vice-president and secretary. Richard was a board member for more than 15 years (1998-2006 and 2017-2022), which included positions as president and vice-president. Gubbels was a board member for more than 19 years (1998-2016), which included being secretary for many years and who still produces the regular FOSS newsletter.

Photo: B.C. Parks

This Crawford Trail System map prepared by BC Parks illustrates the most intensely-used area of Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park. Only the main trails are identified when there are, in fact, more than 200 kilometres of trails in the park located on the South Slopes.

"Many initiatives occurred during your involvement on the board, including construction of the Stewart Road East Trailhead, lobbying to include Angel Springs in the newly-established Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park, the Stewart Road kiosk, the post-2003 wildfire rehabilitation and restoration projects, producing the Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park trail map, establishing the adopt-a-trail program and spearheading the purchase of Myra Wetlands to add to Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park," Kourany told the three.

He thanked Gubbels and Richard for continuing to be very active volunteers and Pritchard for being part of the three who are “amazing” FOSS historians.

The trio have been invaluable resources for the board and it is an honour that this bench identifies the three of you as the first FOSS Members of Distinction,” said Kourany.

Gubbels has a long history in the Central Okanagan, after her family moved to an acreage in South Kelowna in 1975.

"The South Slopes was my backyard where I explored the trails by horseback for 22 years,” she said. “Then, I mountain biked and now, I hike the incredible trails of Myra-Bellevue. It was a no-brainer for me to get involved in how that trail system would be protected and managed, and that's why I got involved in FOSS in 1997.

"It's been a wonderful experience to be part of the amazing work done by FOSS over the past 28 years—so many great accomplishments by past and present members of the board and all the dedicated volunteers. I am honoured to be recognized for my 19 years as a board member, and for my continued involvement on a number of committees."

Richard said volunteering with FOSS always felt just right.

“(It is) the right thing to do when my happy place is the South Slopes,” she said. “We lived immediately adjacent to what is now Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park, providing me with a vast network of trails where I could condition my endurance horse for the Pan Am (Games) and world championships. How could I not work to protect and preserve this amazing backyard, for me and for the (residents) of Kelowna? How lucky are we?"

Richard first became involved when major access points along the city interface were threatened by development.

"Since then, my role has been focused primarily on maintaining strategic relationships with the different levels of government and other stakeholders, to acquire and manage parcels of land needed to ensure overall connectivity.”

She said the “job’”has indeed grown and evolved during the last 20-plus years.

"This recognition is truly a wonderful, a completely unexpected honour. I am so pleased to be sharing it with Isabel and Penny. We do go back a long way together. To the FOSS board and the many, many volunteers who work along with you, we commend you for your current commitments and sincerely thank you. I will continue to support you in any way I can."

Pritchard hiked and rode horses in the area commonly known as the South Slopes for a number of years, long before the establishment of Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park.

"The first hint that it could be under threat came in March of 1995 when there was an application to expand a concrete recycling business onto the adjacent Crown land," she recalled.

That application alarmed a number of local residents and thus resulted in the formation of the Friends of South Slopes. At this time the government of the day was looking at the need to expand the provincial park system in B.C. Throughout the next four years, and much negotiation at the provincial Okanagan-Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) committee, Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park was born in 2000.

Pritchard sat on the LRMP committee as a representative of the Back Country Horsemen of B.C.

The three women continue their involvement in FOSS and recreational activities in the park.

"Daphne and I are also committee members on FOSS's strategic relations committee. We hike together three to four times a week along with our fellow ‘FOSS-elles,’ Teresa MacKenzie and Jane Stevenson," said Gubbels with a laugh, explaining their hiking group nickname is their clever double entendre on the word fossils.

Photo: Rick Ellery

Members of the FortisBC team held their second annual volunteer day in Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park on Tuesday. Together with volunteers from the Friends of the South Slopes, they tackled key improvement projects from refreshing the Stewart Road East kiosk to enhancing safety on the trails to spreading gravel in specific locations.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.