When Sally Enns invited a few friends to her 10th birthday party, she told them to wear outdoor clothes.What she didn't tell them until they got there was that they were cleaning up part of Squamish's trail network.
But that didn't seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, as the six youngsters and Sally's father Ron managed to pick up more than 50 pounds of garbage in a little more than an hour from a stretch of the Discovery Trail in Dentville Sunday (March 6).
"We're environment lovers and we just wanted to keep the environment clean so more animals will come," Sally said when asked how she came up with the idea.
The trail, which connects Howe Sound Secondary School and Capilano College to the Squamish Business Park and the North Yards, runs right behind the Enns' house on Britannia Avenue, and Sally and her dad take it to school every day.
In recent years, they've regularly seen great blue herons and heard coyotes - a special treat for Sally, who loves the dog family and hopes to become a wolf biologist when she grows up.
In past years, Sally's family had taken the time to clean up the trail, as had her class at Squamish Elementary School a few years ago.
When Sally came up with the idea to do another cleanup as part of her birthday party - celebrated a week later than her Feb. 28 birthday - her parents were surprised but supportive.
"I thought it was great," said Ron. "I was proud of her. We've gone and cleaned up stuff before and I was thinking if she could get her friends excited about it that would be great."
"I was a little shocked," said Sally's mom, Carla Fuhre. "I said, 'Are you sure you want to do that? We can do that another time'."
But the kids made fun out of what some might consider work.
"They were kind of excited, because I told them the person who picked up the most garbage would get a prize, and I had other prizes for everyone," said Sally.
"They had such a good time, I had to slow them down," said Ron.
"They just made it a big, fun event."
Naturally, fast food and candy wrappers made up the lion's share of the trash, but there were some unusual items, including boxer shorts, a fire extinguisher, a chair cushion and even a few bikes stuck in the mud.
"I felt sad and kind of angry," said Sally of the amount of garbage they found.
"I think our community should do more of that kind of stuff."
