The 29th Annual Ridge Meadows Rivers Day event was held on September 25, 2022 from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. hosted by the Alouette River Management Society. This event celebrates BC Rivers Day and World Rivers Day which is held on the 4th Sunday in September every year. Traditionally the event is hosted at the ALLCO Fish Hatchery but due to continuing COVID-19 sensitivities and BC Corrections, this year the event was a family-friendly day in ALLCO Park. Unfortunately that meant there was no trout fishing but we did not disappoint. This year’s event promised to be filled with lots of fun and interactive environmental displays, live music, face painting, carnival games and live northern spotted owls on site!
This year we saw 489 attendees, 24 exhibitors, 32 volunteers who contributed 135 hours on the day! We sourced a local bakery (Bella Nonna’s) to make 100 salmon-shaped cookies for us to give away to the event participants. We provided an opportunity for a local small business to offer their wares for sale and bought coffee and treats for volunteers from a new local coffee shop called “The Nut”. We hired local entertainers: Click and Clown, The Well-Worn Trail, and Lisa Rae Simons to provide on-stage fun for kids and their families. We also recruited mostly local environmental and community groups to attend the day including Ridge Meadows Recycling Society, Maple Ridge Museum on the Move, Maple Ridge Bears, the CEED Centre, Golden Ears Transition Initiative (GETI) and many more. We also had BC Wildlife Federation and the BC Conservation Foundation’s Northern Spotted Owl group attend as well.
We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to our financial supporters:
City of Maple Ridge Festival Support Grant $1500
Innergex Renewable Energy $1000
Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program $1000
Vancouver Port Authority $700
Ridge Meadows Rivers Day provides a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Alouette Watershed and its importance within the community. It’s also an excellent way for environmentally-minded organizations to promote themselves while supporting a great cause. If your organization is interested in participating in Rivers Day next year please email sophie@alouetteriver.org
View the photos from the day: Rivers Day 2022 Photo Album
