Vancouver has its Stanley Park Seawall. Victoria has its Galloping Goose. And if a former Squamish councillor's vision becomes reality, Squamish may one day have its Talking Turtle or Laughing Turtle, or something else entirely.
Meg Fellowes says that's just one of the many facets of her vision that's subject to community input.
The trail would use some existing pathways while others would need to be worked out with input from the community and landowners. The trail's key component, presented by Fellowes at a Squamish Historical Society (SHS) gathering last Thursday (Nov. 14), is a series of interpretive and perhaps interactive signs that would tell some of Squamish's stories along a route connecting key points of interest.
The proposed Talking Turtle Trail is about 10 kilometres long, a circle route, flat, and seriously beautiful, Fellowes said in a written description of the concept. It invites us to get out of our cars, slow down, and be amazed and thankful for all that Squamish offers.
In a telephone interview, Fellowes said the seed for the idea came to her during last year's inaugural Squamish Culture and Heritage Festival at Quest University.
I was so impressed by the Culture and Heritage Festival last year, and I think there's an opportunity to expand on that and put it in physical form, she said.
The turtle aspect of the proposed name has two purposes inviting people to slow down and take in the beauty around them, and giving trail users an icon to follow along the route. One of the most challenging but rewarding aspects of the project would be choosing which stories to tell and how to tell them, she said.
For instance, Fellowes said she could see having a sign along a trail segment in or near the West Coast Railway Heritage Park that talks about Squamish's transportation history how, for the first few decades after the European settlement, one had to travel by coastal steamer from Vancouver to get here, followed by the building of the rail line and then the highway.
Everybody knows their own story really well, she said. The trick is going to be getting people to listen to other people's stories.
Squamish Nation participation would be key, she said, because of their peoples' long history here and because their stories are so important to this community.
SHS and the Squamish Trails Society have both been supportive of the idea, and the idea was recently been presented to council, where it was referred back to staff for more input, Fellowes said. She said she would also like to talk to the tech-industry support group Inside Edge about adding an interactive component to the interpretive program perhaps one that allows people to access video and other material via their smartphones.
I just think Squamish is such a fascinating town the diversity, the history the opportunity in a small town to experience so much of what B.C. is about is just amazing, Fellowes said. Having so much not only outdoors but also as a cultural landscape is pretty unique in the province.
