Two summers ago, walking the Okanagan Rail Trail (ORT), Vernon鈥檚 Rosalie Worbets imagined a lot of things.
She pictured herself flying; pictured herself riding horses; pictured what the people who built the rail line must have thought when they saw Kalamalka Lake.
Worbets didn鈥檛 get to go on the rail trail in 2020 due to a hospital stay but she鈥檚 hoping to change that in 2021.
The native of Wahstao, Alta. 鈥� Wahstao is an Indigenous word for 鈥楲ight On The Hill鈥� 鈥� which is 100 miles east of Edmonton turns 100 on Friday, Feb. 5.
鈥淭he rail trail is a wonderful thing, I鈥檓 very proud of it, and I hope to walk it this summer,鈥� said Worbets who, five years ago, donated her age in metres to fundraise for the ORT and she challenged other seniors to do so as well.
In front of a TV crew, Worbets stood at the rail trestle in Oyama and said, 鈥淟et鈥檚 get going. It鈥檚 time to build.鈥� She called the ORT a 鈥渉ealth and wellness trail,鈥� and wanted it built and to be able to walk it.
A few summers ago, Worbets and two of her great-grandchildren, Graydon and Halle, were taken on a rickshaw ride along the Kalamalka Lake portion. She knows how important this health and wellness trail has become and is incredibly proud of how the volunteer community has gotten behind this project and made it happen.
鈥淭he Okanagan is incredibly important to my family and I鈥檓 so glad I could help in a small way,鈥� said Worbets, who lived with her husband, Bill, in Lake Country. Bill died in 2003 and Worbets moved to Vernon in 2011. She still walks as much as can in the courtyard at her seniors鈥� residence.
A seven-day-a-week-and-more bridge player prior to COVID, Worbets said her secret to reaching 100 has been staying positive.
鈥淭ake it one day at a time and everything is good,鈥� she said.
Her milestone birthday will be celebrated with her family by Zoom conferencing.
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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