Bonnechere Provincial Park now accessible to all

BONNECHERE PROVINCIAL PARK – When Mark MacIsaac visits the beach at Bonnechere Provincial Park with his two young boys, he usually sits by the shore on his wheelchair. Now, he can take the plunge himself thanks to a newly purchased floating beach wheelchair, called WaterWheels. On June 2, the Friends of Bonnechere Provincial Parks and staff from the park itself participated in the second-annual volunteer day at the park. Everyone worked together to construct accessible paths and lay out new accessible mats to the beach. “This is a new project that we are starting,” Kelly Draves, acting assistant park superintendent, said. “It’s not the end of it yet, it’s just a start.” Volunteer day started in 2017 after flooding ruined the beach. People banded together and cleaned up the park. Due to the success of the program, it has been made into an annual event. “Today we have volunteers from the public working with our park staff to make our provincial park more accessible and more inclusive for all of our park visitors,” Draves said. “We have created a beach access path. We have enhanced our comfort station and our facilities and our toilets to be accessible to people in wheelchairs.” Pick up a copy of the June 6, 2018 paper to read the full story.