The Regional District of Nanaimo celebrated its 50th anniversary of providing services to the region Saturday during an official opening ceremony for the Coombs to Parksville Rail Trail.

The event was held at Springwood Park on Oct. 14 and included dignitaries from municipal and provincial governments.

Among the dignitaries were Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog, Qualicum First Nation Chief Michael Recalma, co-chair of the Island Corridor Foundation and Duncan Mayor Phil Kent, Parksville Mayor Marc Lefebvre, Qualicum Beach Mayor Teunis Westbroek, and RDN board chair Bill Veenhof.

RDN board chair Bill Veenhof said it was a special day to celebrate two occasions: the incorporation of the RDN on October 24, 1967, which now provides services to 155,000 people, and the opening of the trail which runs alongside the E&N rail line from Springwood Park in Parksville to Station Road in Coombs.

Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog, who is orginally from Coombs, congratulated the hard work of all the many individuals, organizations, the levels of government and all the other jurisdictions who contributed to ensure the building of the seven-kilometre gravel trail.

“As a native son of this area, having been raised in Coombs, I am just delighted to see that the trail takes you from the important City of Parksville to the most important part of the Regional District of Nanaimo, which is Coombs, B.C.,” Krog quipped.

Parksville Mayor Marc Lefebvre also noted the partnerships that helped make this trail a reality.

“This is just one of the examples of collaborations we’ve experienced over the last few years,” said Lefebvre.

“There’s been a number of great things. We’re delighted that Parksville was chosen to start the trail from at least this angle, and now I’m going to say, ‘Welcome to Parksville, gateway to Coombs.’”