‘Building the Dream’ an inside look at Caledon’s trailway system

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

This past Monday I sat down with Donna Davies, of the Caledon East & District Historical Society to discuss the organization's upcoming book The Caledon Trailway: Building the Dream. 

The book tells the story of the evolving 35-kilometre Trailway in Caledon. It was once a railway back in the 19th century, but later transformed into the loved Trailway that we have today. The Trailway was the first registered link on Canada's Great Trail, previously known as the Trans Canada Trail, which is the longest trail in the world at a staggering length of 24,000 km.

“They decided in 1992 to do this trail from one end of Canada to the other. By that time, we had already started ours, so we became the first registered link,” explains Davies. “In '96, we had the first pavilion on the Trans Canada Trail. At the groundbreaking ceremony in December of 1995 they decided to open this as a park, with (an opening) date set for June of 1996, so then (we had) six months to build this pavilion and park here in Caledon East. The Town was involved, but so many volunteers came forth, and corporations gave their time and their money or their machinery; it's an incredible story of how it comes about.”

‘Building the Dream' is being published by the Caledon Trailway Book Committee who are a group of volunteers dedicated to keeping the historic value of the Trailway to the community alive. The committee consists of 10 members, including Davies, who volunteered each their time to bring the book to life. 

“We started in the fall of 2017, and here it is two years later. That's about how long it takes. We had to go through all of the details about deciding what we wanted in the book, the outline and so on,” states Davies. The book, like the Trailway, is an incredible storie of what a group of volunteers can accomplish.

The committee found help from a variety of other Caledon residents, such as photographers, historians and those who had historic documents and photos sitting around at home. 

The book is being dedicated to Caledon resident Walter Getman, who passed away in September, while the book was being put together.

“He was a wonderful man, who really did a lot trail wise. In fact, he was known as Mr. Trailway,” says Davies.

Diane Allengame is the author of the Caledon Trailway. She is a former archivist from Peel and was born in Caledon East, right down the street from Donna Davies. Small world! Allengame and Davies have worked on other projects together, such as Answering the Call which is the history of firefighting in Caledon. 

Davies gained vital experience in her previous employment that led her to where she is today. She worked as an assistant to the CEO of a healthcare company known as MDS for 25 years. Her background with annual reports, editing, and any publicity work, gave her the experience and interest towards editing. Davies has lived in Caledon since 1992 and has been involved with the Caledon East & District Historical Society for 20 years as well as one of being one of the founders of the Caledon Heritage Foundation and a member of Heritage Caledon for 10 years.. 

She has worked with several authors and members of the community on putting together a variety of books about the history of Caledon. The Caledon Trailway is her eighth book that she has edited and helped put together.

In one of the chapters, noted author Nicola Ross wrote a Trail Diary of her experience, tips and attractions while on the Trailway. Maps and photographs are accompanied to represent the trail and special spots along it. 

According to the committee's website, “more than just a history lesson, the book chronicles the incredible volunteer commitment and community engagement which made the Trailway a reality. Now used 90,000 times a year, the Trailway connects users to Caledon's history, to diverse habitats and to each other.” 

The Caledon Trailway: Building the Dream will be in hardcover and consist of 168 pages of maps and photos from then and now to tell the story. The book will be launched on Nov 24 at the St. James Anglican Church in Caledon East from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and will be $40 to purchase.

All proceeds will be going to the Town for ongoing improvement for the trailway.

For more information about the book, please visit caledontrailwaybook.ca.