Wednesday January 20th, 2016, 7pm to 8:30pm we are having a winter park meeting!  Now you may think, what the heck could be happening in the park now?  Tis is not the point, while the park sleeps away the months, now is the time to work on any initiatives for the park for the coming season, get updates on current projects/ideas that have come to the Friends or that we have initiated.  It's also a good time to meet your park neighbours, get involved and build community.  Because this is what sustains us. Hope to see you there.

The SOCEC, will be presenting a proposal that may interest park users.  If you'd like to contribute to the discusion, better come!  Their blurb below...

"Sustainability Ontario Energy Co-operative (SOCEC) is developing a community solar light and charging station and is seeking a project partner for the location of the charging station. The project will be the first of its kind in Toronto and will contribute to truly unique green space in the city of Toronto. The development of the solar charging station by SOCEC will act as a platform to demonstrate accessible sustainable energy by fostering community engagement."

Minutes from Nov. 4th, 2015 here - nov.4-15_mins_fotb.pdf

Here's a few images from the damage that Zack & Carolyn did around the greenhouse.  Thank you Marina, Velivor and Gala who showed up later to help. For those that hoped to get out, but didn't, there's always Spring Park day!

On Tuesday Sept. 8th, we posted on our facebook page....."Our sources tell us that clean up in the park was the worst ever after a weekend, in particular Bellwoods Brewery bottles. They don't do a deposit, therefore do not do returns.  Which means, put the darn bottles in the recycle bin people because even our community bottle collectors have no use for them. Make sense? Be a responsible citizen and  #dontbealitterbug. Please spread the word.  Thanks!"  We also tweeted. Well it garnered some attention, namely from Bellwoods Brewery.  Mike Clark, owner/brewer reached out to us and some pretty cool things happened over the next few days.  Thank you Mike, good work for all. Check out link below for details.  Please don't litter, return or recycle your emties. Better yet, take them to the Beer Store and collect that 10 cents per empty! yay!

http://bellwoodsbrewery.com/regarding-important-changes-to-bottle-returnsdeposits/ 

Def-con 5 Friends. Our adopt-a-tree (AAT) program is in serious need of parents for the many, many new trees we have all over the park.  The first 3 years in the life of young tree are crucial - much needed attention to watering in order to survive.  Also no bikes or anything locked/leaned to them and reducing the amount pet urination is also helpful - seriously ;-)  Imagine this, if every person who regularily comes to the park on average 3 times a week and adopts just ONE tree, man, we'd be sitting pretty folks.  Super easy to incorporate into your visit to park!  It's all set up, just gotta sign up.

Recenty, a little grove has been added to the Japanese Sakura Cherrys at the SE end for example. (The original planting was a donation from the Japanese consultate 4/5 years ago) You could call them our 'celebrity' trees.  The donation is part of    www.treecanada.ca  so, this is very excellent for our park to be on the receiving end. 

We, the park trees need your help to nuture the young to give us shade/oxygen for tommorow - the park is loosing many to the emerald ash borer.  So, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via this website contact page.  Be patient, we are volutuneers and in good time Laura will set you up.  

As some of you  may or may not know, there's been some seemingly large events this summer being promoted to happen in the park via facebook.  The majority of them had not gone through the city permit process, nor were aware that they needed a city permit. "Permits are important because they make sure that parks are not over-scheduled, used beyond capacity, and that there are no conflicts with existing events. They ensure that appropriate space and plans are in place to deal with the type and size of event, and support fair and equitable access to parks and facilities for organizations and individuals across the city."  Click on this link.... parks permits for all the info you could wish for and then some!