On Saturday, prominent community members had the opportunity to compete against each other panning for a real gold nugget in the media/celebrity/sponsor panning event, at the World’s Invitational Gold Panning Championship, hosted by The District of Taylor.
This year’s champion was Rob Fraser, Mayor of the district of Taylor. Mayor Fraser is a professional gold panner and said he started panning when he was elected in 2014. He took up gold panning to carry on the legacy of his mentor and former mayor of Taylor, Fred Jarvis. Jarvis was an avid gold panner.
According to Fraser, gold panning is historical in The District of Taylor.
“The Klondikers used this route, the peace river to get up to the Klondike. They checked every creek and every river on the way up to the Klondike for gold because they were really into it then,” said Fraser.
The championship took place at Peace Island Park and featured gold panning competitions, as well as vendors selling handmade goods.
Visitors who were new to gold panning had the opportunity to learn how to pan by demonstration and compete to win the title of “Professional Gold Panner”.
This weekend was the return of the gold panning championship after being cancelled for the last two years due to COVID-19.
