Mantracker star Terry Grant will be teaching his skills this week in Enderby.

Image Credit: Terry Grant Facebook Page

“BUH-BYE GEORGE CLOONEY, HELLO MANTRACKER”

VERNON - Another celebrity is making tracks in Enderby.

Terry Grant, star of the Mantracker T.V. series, will be sharing his famous skills in Enderby this week with four clinics and two evening speaking events.

Tina Knull, who operates an emergency animal shelter and hauling business, says all she had to do was ask.

“Just for the heck of it, I thought I would email him,” Knull says.

When he wrote back with a yes, she thought it was hoax. She and her two daughters, 7 and 9, are huge fans of the show, and all of them were stunned. Fast forward five months, and Knull still can’t believe it.

The event was born when an A.L. Fortune teacher asked Knull if she would put on an hour-long clinic on the basics of tracking. As chair of the Backcountry Horsemen Shuswap branch, Knull knows a thing or two about tracking animal prints in the bush.

“My girls and I go camping with our horses quite a bit,” Knull says. “It’s very important to know what crossed your path five minutes before you got there.”

The teacher was concerned that some of her First Nations students were missing out on an important part of their heritage.

“She felt the kids were losing touch with their roots of how to track and hunt,” Knull says.

With Native elders getting older, forgetting the old ways, and dying, the teacher felt it was imperative to connect youth with the land.

“She’s hoping the kids will feel some of the instincts their ancestors had by learning how to track,” Knull says.

The event has obviously gotten larger than a one hour seminar, and the scope has broadened too.

“I firmly believe kids... need to be in the great outdoors with the freedom to be kids,” Knull says. “We’re starting to expect them to be machines.”

Tracking offers a fun, exciting and interactive way for kids to experience the outdoors. And the celebrity shadow of Mantracker is making it all the more attractive.

“Some of the teachers tell me kids are playing more Mantracker than hide-and-seek in the schoolyard,” Knull says.

There’s still some room in the private clinics, and fans can pay at the door (cash only) for the evening talks.

There are four “Learn to Track with Terry Grant” sessions (done on foot, rain or shine) with two each for adults and students in grades 6-12.

The clinics will be held during the day September 19 and 20, and you can hear Grant talk both evenings from 7-9 p.m. at MV Beattie Elementary. The clinics are $135 for students and $150 for adults, while the evening events are $10 per adult and $6 for kids 10-17. Kids under 9, accompanied by an adult, are admitted free.

Enderby is attracting its share of stars this summer. The Disney movie Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney, just wrapped up filming in the area.

“Buh-bye George Clooney, hello Mantracker,” Knull says.

There's still room in the clinics, but you have to call and reserve them. Contact Knull at 250-938-1217 or teenieknull@yahoo.ca.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013