The Bill Nielsen’s Trail Society has completed another small addition to the trail system in Lacombe last week. The new portion of trail connects Elizabeth Park Boulevard with Spruce Drive.  

Vice President of the Bill Nielsen’s Trail Society, Diane Hayduk says they saw quite a bit of support from the community.

“Usually with Bill, it was always like he'd quickly go do a trail and then seeks permission and forgiveness afterward. This time, the city was aware that we were putting in a trail and it connects Elizabeth Park Blvd to Spruce Drive to the Elizabeth Lake Trail. I know the school kids love it because they have a shortcut now,” said Hayduk.

The trail was completed during a worker bee day where students from Burman University provided some help trimming some trees and shovelling some recycled wood chips that were donated by Central Alberta Pallet.

“They did a fantastic job helping us out.  It's not really easy work pushing rock, sand, and chips over in wheelbarrows because the trails are usually inaccessible with machines,” added Hayduk.

Hayduk says fall is a wonderful time to head out on the trails, enjoy nature, and possibly even check out the new portion of the trail.  

Unfortunately, this year’s Bill Nielsen’s Trail Run (BTR) has had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic but in honour of Nielsen’s birthday on Saturday, October 26th, there will be an online event held until October 3rd. People are encouraged to post pictures and stories of Bill Nielsen, his trails, or the BTR on social media.

“Hey, if you got stories about Bill, we love to hear stories about him. If you have pictures of with Bill running or on the trail or just Bill you can post it to this event and that's what we're holding instead of an actual race,” said Hayduk.

You can find the Bill Nielsen Trail society’s social media to post a picture or memory below: