SURREY — A special anniversary will be celebrated during the annual Semiahmoo Heritage Trail Walk, set for Saturday, May 31.
This marks the 140th year since the completion, in 1874, of the wagon road linking Brown's Landing on the Fraser River to the Washington State town of Blaine, then known as Semiahmoo.
The May 31 event, part of Surrey's multi-event Environmental Extravaganza, runs from 2 to 4 p.m., starting at the southeast corner of 148th Street and 28th Avenue.
"As people assemble," event organizers Maggie and Keith Gilley told the Now, "an historian will give a brief history of the Trail, and then other local experts, who always make it interesting and fun, will lead groups through a nearby section of the Trail, talking about the wealth of native trees, plants and wildlife."
On April 26, volunteers helped dig out some invasive plants and also planted native shrubs and trees during the Semiahmoo Heritage Trail Habitat Restoration, a "work party" hosted by Friends of Semiahmoo Trail. Another will be held in the fall.
"The children who get involved in these plantings take such an interest in 'their' trees/shrubs," the Gilleys wrote in an email message. "On April 26, one little four-year-old girl was delighted with the tiny shovel and gloves that Surrey Parks Dept. provided for her, and she proudly told us the names she had given to all six plants that she and her mother had planted together – it's a feel-good event, for sure."
Surrey's 17th annual Environmental Extravaganza runs from Earth Day to World Ocean Day - from April 19 to June 8.