Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett will be front and centre at the New Pathways to Gold Society’s (NPTGS) 10+ Anniversary Celebrations in Lytton, April 14. Barnett was a founding director of the non-profit organization when it was formed in 2007.
“I am very proud to have been a founding director of an organization that has done so much for the Hope to Barkerville corridor, especially right here in 100 Mile House, including the Gold Rush Snowmobile Trail, Jobs Creation Partnership program and many other projects,” said Barnett.
“When I left the Society and went into government, I worked hard to get substantial funding for NPTGS and was thrilled to see projects like the Ice Caves at Bridge Lake and new recreational facilities at Canim Lake Band delivered as a result.”
NPTGS has been active throughout the Gold Rush/Spirit Trails corridor from Hope to Barkerville. The Society has worked on many projects in the 100 Mile House region in its decade-plus of operations, including the $400,000 Jobs Creation Partnership program and the $700,00 Gold Rush Snowmobile Trail.
The NPTGS 10+ festivities, co-hosted by NPTGS and the Lytton First Nation (LFN) feature a trade show, “Partners Along the Pathway,” with displays, gold panning demonstrations, performances by the Barkerville Players and geocaching tours provided by the Gold Country Communities Society. The show starts at 11:00 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m.
The celebration also includes the Chief Cexpe’nthlEm Recognition and Reconciliation Storytelling Circle, commemorating the courage and wisdom of the Nlaka’pamux leader who ended the Canyon War of 1858. Descendants of Chief Cexpe’nthlEm and U.S. militia Captain Harry Snyder will participate, as will traditional knowledge keepers, drummers and dancers from the Nlaka’pamux and other First Nations. Plans to renovate the memorial to Chief Cexpe’nthlEm will be unveiled at the event, which takes place at the Parish Hall in Lytton, commencing at 4:30 p.m.
That will be followed by “Rising From the Ashes,” a benefit concert to assist Interior communities hit hard by the 2017 wildfire crisis, 8:00 at the Lytton Memorial Hall. The concert features an all-star cast of talented, veteran First Nations musicians like legendary saxophonist and Sound Tribe front man Al Stager, Ritchie Adams, Jim Billy, Big George Kirstenstein, Francis Charlie, Willard Wallace and Gordon Dick of the Baby Fats Blues Band. Admission to this evening of country, rock and roll and blues music is by donation.