Randy Young, one of GaLTT’s earliest supporters and volunteer extraordinaire, sadly passed away in Nanaimo Regional Hospital on October 30th.
Randy was truly the patriarch of Gabriola’s amazing trail system. Randy and his wife, Lynne, joined GaLTT at the time of its creation in 2004. Randy was elected as a GaLTT Director in 2006, and very quickly took charge of trail building activities. With the help of many dedicated volunteers and an uncanny ability to scrounge needed materials, Randy’s many achievements were accomplished with a shoe-string budget. His ‘get it done’ attitude made things happen.
Randy continued to organize and lead bi-weekly volunteer trail parties – building new trails, maintaining existing trails, constructing boardwalks, and removing invasive species – until he retired from the board in early 2016. He somehow managed to inspire countless volunteers over the years to show up every second Sunday to work on trail projects regardless of the weather. The ‘rain or shine’ tradition of GaLTT’s volunteer work parties continues to this day.
Randy worked tirelessly to achieve GaLTT’s vision of an end-to-end island trail network. He was also a great believer in the importance of building new trails to connect island neighbourhoods and to provide access to the shoreline. During Randy’s ten years as the chair of the GaLTT Trails Committee, he built many new trails on undeveloped Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure rights-of-way to accomplish these goals. The yellow-painted concrete blocks marking the entrances to Gabriola’s many shore access trails are one of Randy’s many legacies.
Randy also served multiple terms on the Parks and Open Spaces Advisory Committee (POSAC) for Electoral Area B as an unofficial representative from the GaLTT board. He advocated strongly for improved shore access and improved signage in the 707 Community Park. It was Randy who suggested the quirky name for the “Trail to Nowhere” in the 707.
Randy and Lynne were a dynamic team. Lynne regularly attended the work parties, cheerfully signing in the crew, tracking hours, and taking photos. They both carried hand clippers on their daily trail walks. At its AGM in February 2016, GaLTT awarded honorary life memberships to Randy and Lynne in grateful recognition of their enormous contribution to the development of Gabriola’s fine trail system. In their honour, a plaque was installed on the aluminum footbridge spanning the gorge just beyond the boundary of Joyce Lockwood Community Park. The bridge was one of Randy’s last GaLTT projects.
GaLTT, and any Gabriolan who regularly or occasionally uses island trails, owes Randy a huge debt of gratitude for his dedication to building and maintaining Gabriola’s extensive trail network. He will be missed! We send our deepest condolences to Lynne and family.
