For the past several years, Powell River Mobility Opportunities Society (PRMOS) has been instrumental in helping Powell River residents with mobility issues experience the beauty of local trails, but co-founders CC Duncan and Raymond Lavoie are concerned for the future of the society and its programming.
The couple, who founded the local chapter of the society in 2010 after moving to Powell River area, find themselves without a board of directors following the society’s recent annual general meeting.
PRMOS has three trail riders, a portable lift, a back rest and a bike trailer available, but without a board of directors Duncan said she would like residents to decide if this is a community service they still want.
“Our goal was to bring the trail riders to Powell River and to run a program,” she said. “That’s what we’ve done for the last five years and we’d like to see Powell River take it over.”
A trail rider is a piece of equipment co-created by former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan to allow people with mobility issues access to the backcountry. Unlike a wheelchair or walker, which requires a wider berth, Duncan said a trail rider with one wheel can go on nearly any trail with the help of two volunteers.
In 2010, Duncan and Lavoie borrowed a trail rider from the BC Mobility Opportunities Society and presented it to the community at that year’s Blackberry Festival street party.
“We asked the public if they’d like to see one in Powell River,” said Duncan. “There was curiosity, and there were people who already knew what a trail rider was. We decided to try and fundraise at that point to bring one here.”
In addition to being the founders of the society, Duncan said she and Lavoie have housed the equipment, done the seasonal programming and organized walkabouts, which helped promote trail riders in the community.
“We brought extra trail riders up from Vancouver so there would be trails filled with seven trail riders and teams,” said Duncan. “The first year we did it we had 30 teams wanting to participate.”
With Duncan and Lavoie dividing time between Powell River and Vancouver, Duncan said she wants to find a central location to store the riders where volunteers and users would be able to easily access them.
Last year, City of Powell River stored the trail riders in an area at Powell River Recreation Complex. According to Ray Boogaards, director of parks, recreation and culture, “that location wasn’t adequate.”
“We recognize the importance of that service that [Duncan and Lavoie] did provide in the past, but unfortunately it doesn’t work for us at this point,” said Boogaards. “We haven’t found anybody else yet who is interested in taking on that task, but there is always the hope that a group will come forward.”
In the meantime, Duncan said she and Lavoie have succeeded in getting trail riders to the community.
“We’ve reached our goal in running the program, and we’ve really enjoyed it,” she said, “but we’d really like to see people who are more involved with that section of our community take more of an active role to get the trail riders out to all the various families.”
For more information about PRMOS visit prmos.org.
