AMAZING EARTH DAY & RAIL TRAIL Celebration in the SEED –
Community & City shaking hands.
Community and all levels of government celebrated Earth Day together along a new section of rail trail between 5th and 7th street– borne of the relationships & visioning between Island Corridor Foundation, SEED Neighborhood Co-op and City of Nanaimo.
On this sunny Saturday morning as light clouds streaked the sky and a fresh breeze blew down the path of Bing Kee Food Forest a handful of wheelbarrows rolled along with shovels, pick axes and trees to plant. Wood chip piles (thanks Yeomen Tree service) and soil awaited to find their purpose and way onto the ground as the SEED Neighborhood and Bing Kee Food Forest readied for an expansion of vegetation and community energy for this big celebration day. An estimated 300 people came by throughout the day to wield those sho vels, to lay down their picnic blankets and to check out what’s been happening in this little nook of South End Nanaimo. in this growing food forest and the is new gravel path along the rail road tracks between 5th and 7th street.
DONATIONS WELCOME!
Donations for this event (because we forgot to collect any) and for general support to all the work that our volunteer hours make happen please send our way via
e-Transfer to seedncoop@gmail.com
Our youngest community members bore happy faces with hand drawn butterflies made from natural face paints provided by Nanaimo Forest School Cooperative. A beautiful potluck line up, real ceramic plates and mugs were provided for those who forgot to bring their own packout dishware. Flowers decorated the different tables and seating areas. At the entrance, a Welcome Table invited creative name tag making from recycled cardboard. It provided an overview of the SEED Community Projects with an opportunity to join the SEED newsletter list and leave a donation. As well, it shared information about the Harewood Neighbourhood Association and prompting questions for sharing conversation spaces .
Right next-door was the Community Resilience Hangout, where people were able to share their wishes to hang like fruits on a tree and access a resource pad for community resilience. Sign up, if you want to be part of the South End Community Resilience Working Group.
We were lucky to have Paul Manly get on stage in his capacity as a musician with his guitar to sing some of his beautiful community songs.
At 11 am around 25 people gathered for one of Michael Geselbracht’s legendary and deeply inspiring SEED Neighborhood Tours. Covering the history and vision of the SEED Neighborhood & Ecosystem restoration work – the tour passed through food forests near the school, along the rail roads the Salish Food Forest in the Catstream, reclaiming land from the thick web of canary reed grass – all through community power and a vision that’s worth spending your Saturday mornings and afternoons on – plus: kids get free wheelbarrow rides!
Surely Bing Kee Food Forest has shaped up over the past 7 years where, like so many neglected spaces, it grew mostly blackberry thickets, and hidden gems of garbage. Even a year ago a walk along the railroad tracks was bumpy and saw a lot less people. Now we have two bins (and applying for two more from the City) to collect the dog waste and offer receptacles for any garbage left along the trail.
On that note:
A BIG SHOUT OUT to all the garbage pick-upers!
…who do their rounds and without whom the city would feel a lot less enjoyable for everyone. And just a friendly Earth Day reminder that avoiding creating waste in the first place, is the best way, as: Waste is waste when wasted – and can stay a resource instead when managed with wisdom. Repair Café Nanaimo, who came to offer conversation space around this could tell you all about it. For the larger perspective and local climate action their next door table Nanaimo Climate Action Hub offered a great contact point, pointing to the conservation efforts & protests to preserve the nature sanctuary of Cable Bay.
Representing a vision and hope for Nanaimo’s population to reclaim some of its food sovereignty Nanaimo Food Hub was there to tell you where to find local fresh organic produce in the city (tip: last year there was a regular Farmer’s market at the Montessori School on Fridays).
Seniors for Climate brought color and a tea space.
Nanaimo Area Cycling Coalitionwas there to advocate for bikeability just next to Strong Towns Nanaimo.
Around noon after a gratitude activity led by Nanaimo Forest School teacher Michael G the potluck lunch was officially opened.
Shortly after Snuneymuxw Elder Lolly Good offered a touching opening prayer and blessing, followed by three short speeches from the SEED members Les Malbon and Michael Geselbracht as well as one of the core organizers Jenni Ottilie Keppler, speaking about the relevance of community, beauty and attunement to our environment to bring such a place to life and make the revolution beautiful. Thomas Bevan from Island Corridor Foundation and instigator of this collaborative celebration expressed his gratitude to the many parties involved in making this happen.
From the higher levels of government Sheila Malcomolmson MLA / Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and George Anderson MLA / Parliamentary Secretary for Transportation and Leonard Krog Mayor of the City of Nanaimo acknowledged the efforts of this collaboration and expressed their appreciation. The speeches were led by the warmth of heart of MC Lisa Bhopalsingh, CAO of Community Services & Deputy and General Manager.
ABOUT THE RAIL TRAIL HISTORY & OUTLOOK:
The 7th Street Connector nature path was driven by an urgent need: incomplete sidewalks forced children and families to travel alongside an active rail line.
A design from 2015 proposed a $ 7.7M solution, but it was never built due to lack of funding. In 2024, the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF) and Southern Railway of Vancouver Island joined forces to rethink and start with the fundamentals, using a first-principles approach, to advance a simplified and immediate solution.
With $225,000 from the City of Nanaimo, a 1.7 km soft-surface trail was built in 2025–26 alongside the railway.
The result is a safe, and already well-used corridor delivered at a fraction of the original cost demonstrating what’s possible through collaboration and practical action.
The ICF hopes to expand this model toward the Chase River community next!
Photos above by Susana Michaelis –
Thank you so much for your continuous efforts in documenting the great and fun things that are happening in the Nanaimo community spaces.
Nanaimo Forest School’s 1st Annual Food Forest Classroom Development Prize goes to…
In addition to the speeches, Nanaimo Forest School Co-op presented their 1st Annual Food Forest Classroom Development Prize. The prize supports the pursuit and development of a food forest in the north end of town – near Hammond Bay. The 190$ was raised at Nanaimo SEEDY Sunday by selling fruit trees, berry bushes, veggie seeds from the Nanaimo Forest School Co-op Nursery.
CUTTING THE RIBBON
The City had brought 20 small scissors, so children could join the Mayor in the cutting of the Ribbon – democratizing the inauguration and matching the distributed governance and community vibe of the event.
TRAIL SNAILS, RUNNERS & CAKE
The inauguration ceremony wouldn’t be complete without a race and walk along the trail, which was led by Shelby Drope and Michael G. and supported by Lolly Good and her rhythmic drumming. We made sure all the kids had given back the scissors before running the race. After a few braised knees but overall happy faces and apparently enjoyable piggyback rides the attention wandered over to the beautifully decorated rail trail cake that was waiting to be cut together.
With the end of the formal procedure local neighbor, Steven Dickinson aka DJ ill lyrics brought the dance floor to life, while kids zipped and buzzed along the trails and people who hadn’t seen each other in 20 years reconnected. The work party was going on, and trees were planted with a blessing of a drum and a prayer.
Community Eco Art: PULLING TO GATHER
Right along the trail wishes were written with natural inks on Korean paper and bound to woven baskets made from Ivy as Art Action Earwig led this workshop as part of their PullingToGather Community Eco Art Event Series that will continue far into September for River’s Day, which will be celebrated in the Catstream.
MUSIC & GRATITUDE
As the DJ music faded, a chorus of voices emerged in heartfelt harmonies led by community song circle duo Sylvia Humble and April Laurie.
We closed with a circle of gratitudes and a collective one, two, three clap just as the rain started setting in.
The takedown went smooth thanks to many hands pitching in. A spill of compost juice over one of our committed volunteers provided the cherry on top…. Nature offering her nourishment, in the most unexpected way.
This couldn’t have been done without the help of all the volunteers.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
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Links to news on Earth Day:
BC trail continues to grow | Walking Post
With bramble cleared, and path paved, ribbon cut for Nanaimo trail | Nanaimo News Bulletin
Chek News on Earth Day & Rail Extension (before event):
Chek Media Video about Rail Trail extension: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xcduaHjvg0
E&N Trail expanded in Nanaimo | CTV
DONATIONS WELCOME!
Donations for this event (because we forgot to collect any) and for general support to all the work that our volunteer hours make happen please send our way via