The Pontiac Quad Club has installed a new trail shelter between Picanoc Road and Fort Coulonge.
A building where quad riders and snowmobilers can meet up, shelter from the elements and rest, the roughly 4-by-6-metre refuge will eventually contain a small wood stove and an adjacent dry toilet.
“Needless to say, it could even save a life when darkness arises, and you are lost,” said club administrative assistant, Diane Barrette.
The club’s installation of the new shelter comes nearly three years after its previous building was vandalized in 2021.
“I am sure everyone will remember that three years ago the Pontiac Quad Club had a construction trailer which was vandalized, and the wood stove stolen,” Diane said.
At the time, club president René Barrette estimated the damage to be in the range of $2,000.
“It’s too bad. Around the Pontiac, every time we want to do something, it seems like they break everything,” René told THE EQUITY in 2021.
“Ever since, we have been asked by our members to construct a shelter just like all the other clubs have, a promise which we said we would honour,” Diane told THE EQUITY.
According to Diane, it took two years to acquire the proper authorization from the Quebec ministry of natural resources and forests ( Ministère des Ressources Naturelles et Forêts).
“We can only hope that it will not be vandalized. As mentioned earlier, a place like this could save someone’s life,” she concluded.
by Connor Lalande
Campbells Bay July 13, 2023
