By Gordon Lambie
Local Journalism Initiative
Over the weekend, the Massawippi Foundation held a ceremony to officially inaugurate Ethan’s Beach, a secluded waterfront space linked to the Massawippi Trail on the western shore of Lake Massawippi. Due to the fact that the land access to the beach involves a three kilometre hike down a mountain and then back up again, the ceremony was hosted at the Quebec Lodge outdoor centre on the other side of the lake, with interested parties being ferried across to see the beach by pontoon boat.
“Ethan’s beach is part of a property that was acquired back in 2014,” said Hélène Hamel, the foundation’s Community Engagement Manager, sharing that the space has been named for the grandchild of one of the foundation’s board members. Hamel said that work on the trails that cross the 1,200 acre land conservation then began in 2017 and have been a gradual labour of love since that time. Access to the beach by land was, in fact, ready last summer, but a formal opening was not possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
