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By
Nick
Martin
Winnipeg
Free
Press
Sunday,
October
19,
1997
Bob
Tinker
stood
in
a
biting
wind
and
drizzle
on
the
banks
of
the
Seine
River
yesterday
and
chuckled
that
he
could
use
the
help
of
any
visiting
bikers
who
care
to
get
their
boots
wet.
Surrounded
by
piles
of
waterlogged
tires,
sheet
metal,
rugs
and
assorted
gunky
junk,
Tinker
said
he'd
settle
for
the
100
or
so
volunteers
who'd
waded
into
the
annual
Seine
River
cleanup.
They
got
a
boost
yesterday
with
the
official
confirmation
of
a
$55,000
grant
from
the
tri-level
Winnipeg
Development
Agreement.The
money
brings
fund-raising
for
a
Seine
River
Trail
to
$148,000,
allowing
construction
to
begin
next
spring
of
a
riverbank
path
from
Provencher
Boulevard
to
a
point
just
north
of
Marion
Street,
said
Tinker,
president
of
Save
Our
Seine.
SOS
is
also
trying
to
raise
$30,000
for
tree
planting,
Tinker
said.
"It's
a
long
process
to
haul
debris
from
the
Seine
River,
but
so
much
garbage
has
been
removed
that
canoeists
now
have
relatively
good
access
through
much
of
south
Winnipeg,"
he
said.
The
cleanup
takes
place
each
October
when
the
water
level
is
at
its
lowest.
"It
lets
us
access
more
junk,"
Tinker
said.
"There's
tons
of
tires
we've
pulled
out,
heavy
corrugated
metal,
rugs.
"Huge
concrete
blocks
have
been
tossed
into
the
Seine
just
east
of
Youville
Street
in
St.
Boniface.
"It's
been
vacant
so
long
that
people
came
in
and
dump,"
he
said.
This
year,
recent
rains
made
the
river
deeper
than
usual
for
mid-October.
The
Seine
can
fluctuate
dramatically
with
any
rainfall,
said
Tinker.
"It
goes
up
a
couple
of
feet,
and
boom,
it
goes
down
just
as
quickly."
SOS
hopes
that
its
trail
could
link
north
of
Provencher
Boulevard
to
a
proposed
trail
through
the
site
of
the
Lagimodiere
Homestead
to
the
forks
of
the
Seine
and
Red
River,
and
south
of
Marion
to
a
possible
trail
considered
by
the
Archwood
Community
Club.
However,
Tinker
emphasized
that
any
trail
would
jog
around
private
property,
using
existing
streets.
"We
have
to
make
it
clear
we're
not
interested
in
infringing
on
people."
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