K&P Trail grand opening

Jeff Green | Aug 30, 2017

It was a rare occasion for the summer of 2017, a sunny Saturday, and participants in a ceremony and parade marking Trans Canada Trail day at the Sharbot Lake Railway Park and Trailhead were pretty happy about the good weather. The event was originally intended to mark the completion of the K&P trail between Lake Ontario and Sharbot Lake, and the opening of the final piece of the Trans Canada Trail in Eastern Ontario. Delays in completing the Sharbot Lake to Tichborne section, slated for completion by the spring of 2018 now that all the necessary land agreements are in place, meant that the it was the anticipated completion of the trail that was being celebrated. That did not put a damper on the celebrations, which were jointly organized by Frontenac County and the Central Frontenac Canada 150 Committee. A number of people who have been integral to the development of the trail were acknowledged during the 20 minute ceremony. They included Anne Marie Young, who spearheaded the project for Frontenac County for several years, and Wayne Robinson and Marcel Giroux who helped secure passage of the trail through private lands between Tichborne and Sharbot Lake. Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith and Frontenac County Warden Ron Vandewal spoke about the role the trail is already playing for residents and visitors alike along the Hwy. 38 corridor. As if to reinforce that point, there were bicycles, a horse drawn wagon (courtesy of the unstoppable Bill Lee) walkers and runners, horseback riders, a convoy of ATV’s and a wagon carrying vintage snowmobiles, all lined up waiting for the ceremony to end. Then, after a ribbon cutting, the motley parade from the park to the Oso beach began, as befits the opening of a multiuse trail. A free BBQ and music by Jim Macpherson, Craig Bakay and John Grindrod greeted them when they got there.