50th ANNIVERSARY: 1970-2020

This year, we will be celebrating 50 years of activity at the Summerstown trails. The official announcement was made on Sunday, January 5, during the annual Official Opening Day at the trails.

Martin Bowman, FOTST first president, recalled the work and community spirit of the many volunteers, mostly neighbours of the Summerstown Forest who kept the trails going for the better part of 35 years. With few resources and often using their own personal snowmobiles, these people groomed and maintained the trails, often facing much adversity.

Current FOTST president Vic Leroux thanked the many partners and sponsors of the Summertown trails, noting recent initiatives including the adding of skate skiing and fat biking activities, the addition of new trails, new grooming equipment to better deal with the changing weather conditions, the construction of a new parking lot, etc.

The creation of the Friends of the Summerstown Trails ten years ago changed the destiny of the trails, with thousands of users now visiting the trails every year, both for winter activities and off-season visits.