Friends of Withrow Park

Have a Say in Recreation Programming at Frankland Community Centre (including Withrow Clubhouse!)

2012-02-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

The Frankland Community Centre is setting up a Community Advisory Committee. A Community Advisory Committee has a few roles: (a) counsel and advise staff re: programs to reflect community needs and interests, (b) fundraise to enhance activities for the community, and (c) act as a community partner and source for community feedback. In short, this is a way to work with the recreation department to improve programming by discussion and fundraising.

The first meeting will be on Wednesday February 29th at 6 pm at the Frankland Community Centre. Join in the discussion about our community centre programming!

Under 13 Shinny at Withrow Rink from 9 am-Noon on Friday, February 17

2012-02-15T07:17:00.000-08:00

The City of Toronto has changed its usual Friday rink schedule to allow for Under 13 shinny from 9 am to Noon on Friday, February 17th (a TDSB PA day). Have fun!

Skating Party on Friday-February 3 6:30-8:30

2012-02-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

Join us for our skating party at the Withrow Rink on Friday. Hot chocolate, cookies, music & skating. A fun family night at the rink. See you there!

Friday January 27 PA Day Shinny for 13 and under crowd

2012-01-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

The City has kindly changed its schedule for PA day to give the kids some ice time for shinny. Mark your calendars- 13 and under shinny is from 9-12noon. Please wear a helmet.

SKATING PARTY ON FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3rd 6:30-8:30 pm

2012-01-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

Join us at the Withrow Rink for the 2nd annual Friends of Withrow Park Skating Party!

Skating, music and hot chocolate at the Withrow rink. This is a free neighbourhood event for all ages
during public skate time.
Don't forget to bring your mug for the hot chocolate!

Change to Holiday Skating Schedule for under 13 Shinny

2012-01-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you know that the Withrow Park rink schedule has been changed for Friday January 6. From 9-noon on Friday January 6 there will be shinny for kids under the age of 13. Enjoy!

A Beautiful Holiday Sing-a-Long...Next is a Skating Party February 4

2011-12-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

It was another great Withrow Park campfire evening. We had a great crowd and it was a wonderful kick off to the holidays. Thank you to everyone who came out to join in the fun.

I want to extend a few thank yous to the people who worked to make the holiday campfire happen:
Thank you to Nancy for doing all of the hard background work to pull the event together.Thank you to Councillor Fletcher for hosting the event on our behalf and helping us with permits.Thank you to Tim Hortons for donating the hot chocolate.Thank you to Mia and Ryan for the music.Thank you to Pepper for her storytelling. Thank you to Nancy, Wendy, Catharine, Geoff and Max for fire watching. All of you help make our Friends of Withrow Park events a vibrant part of the community.

Book the evening of Friday February 4th in your calendars for our annual skating party.

Please post any pictures you may have of the campfire- it was too dark for my camera.

JOIN US FOR A HOLIDAY SING A LONG AND CAMPFIRE

2011-11-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Join us for a holiday sing-a-long and campfire on Thursday, December 8th from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the campfire pit in front of the field house. We will have stories and songs to celebrate the season and hot chocolate to help keep us warm.

Dress warmly and bring a mug for the hot chocolate!

WITHROW PARK COMMUNITY SAFETY WALK - NOVEMBER 17

2011-11-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

In July there was a community safety walk at Withrow Park to address concerns about park safety. At that time an action plan was prepared.

On November 17 at 7 pm meet with P.C. Rob McDonald, Division 55, Mark Hawkins, Park Supervisor, and Councillor Fletcher to assess the how the action plan was put into effect. We will meet at the Withrow Park Club House. Dress warmly- this is an outdoor event that will take place rain or shine.

This is a good chance to raise any safety concerns that you may have about the park and to see what progress has been made to date. I hope to see you there.

WHAT A GREAT PUMPKIN PARADE!

2011-11-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

What a great night! We counted 227 jack o lanterns at the pumpkin parade and they were a beautiful sight. The campfire was a great spot to gather and the kids had a treat with some Halloween stories by the fire.

Thank you to Councillor Fletcher for helping us to obtain the permit for the event. Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy a wonderful evening in the park. We will do it again next year!

Campfire Pit to be Brought to Parks and Environment Committee

2011-10-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

It has been an eventful week (and it is only Tuesday!) I want to thank everyone who took the time to write letters to the Parks Department and to Councillor Fletcher. You made it clear that campfires are important to our community and your voice has been heard. The Toronto Star even picked up the story and published an article today (see the link below). The City and our Councillor have voiced their commitment to maintaining authorized campfires in our park. That is the good news.

The bad news is the City wants the campfire pit structure to be dismantled, stored in the fieldhouse and put back together each time we want to have a campfire.

We can still save our campfire pit. Installing a grate over the campfire pit remains, to my mind, a viable option to address concerns about unauthorized fires. It seems like Councillor Fletcher agrees and intends to present the issue to the Parks and Environment Committee on November 2. You can have an impact on the outcome by writing to the Committee. I will provide the contact information shortly.

Below is the correspondence from the Parks Department requiring the removal of our campfire pit along with Councillor Fletcher's response. I have also attached the Open Air Fire Burning guidelines. Finally, I have attached a link to an article published in the Toronto Star about our campfire pit.

We have not had a fully satisfactory resolution of this matter but the lines of communication are opening and progress is being made.

Thanks again for all of your support!

TheStar Withrow Park users burn over fire pit dispute

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Sent via email to Councillor Fletcher [councillor_fletcher@toronto.ca] on October 25, 2011.

Dear Councillor Fletcher,

Thank you for raising the issue of the fire pit in Withrow Park to my attention. I understand that there has been some confusion about the status of fires in the park, and in particular about the status of the bricks and pavers that have been installed as a firepit in the park.

As you know, we allow outdoor fires in Withrow Park around a fire by permit and under certain conditions. This process is to ensure that outside fires meet the necessary conditions to ensure public safety, prevent conflict with the adjacent community and other park uses, and to protect the trees and other park assets. The past practice for these permits, as required by our policies and Toronto Fire Services, is for temporary edging to be installed for the time of the permit only, and then removed when the permit is over.

Earlier this fall, some pavers and bricks were installed for a permitted fire, but remained on site after the permit without permission from our Parks staff. This installation has attracted some unwanted late-night activity, including fires and some garbage on site that residents complained about. In consultation with the Fire Department, a decision was made to remove the pavers from the site.

Just to be clear, we will continue to support fires in the park, as long as they abide by the permit process. Further, the pavers that are currently in the park will be stored in the field house and made available for groups to use as temporary edging around their fire.

I hope this clarifies the issue, but please feel free to contact me if there are any other questions.

Sincerely,

Richard

Richard Ubbens R.P.F. Director, Parks

City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation 4th Floor, West Tower City Hall

********************************************************************

October 25, 2011

Richard Ubbens

Director, Parks

City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation 4th Floor, West Tower City Hall

Dear Mr. Ubbens,

Re: Withrow Park Fire Pit

Thank you for your letter regarding fire pits in parks and the situation with the Withrow fire pit. I see from your letter that currently the fire code and PFR policies prevent a permanent fire pit structure. Of course the concern with a permanent and open fire pit is that non-permitted fires will be held in the park. Understandably this is a worry. However, another solution would be a locked grate over a fire pit - one that would only be opened for permitted fires. This is an option that has not yet been explored.

I will be sending a letter to the Parks and Environment Committee on November 22, 2011 asking for this option to be considered and that the policy of Dec 4, 2007 on "Parks Open Air Burning Policy" be reviewed to this end.

I will be forwarding your letter, the current policy and my letter to you to the Friends of Withrow Park and the many residents who have written to me on this matter.

Sincerely,

Paula Fletcher

City Councillor

Ward 30 Toronto Danforth

*******************************************

http://celos.ca/wiki/uploads/Issues/ParksOpenAirBurningPolicy.pdf

TheStar Withrow Park users burn over fire pit dispute

SAVE OUR CAMPFIRE PIT!

2011-10-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

The City has decided to remove our campfire pit due to concerns about un-permitted fires. Below is my email to the City in response to this decision. Please take a moment to let the Parks Department know how you feel by sending an email to the Supervisor of Parks for East York and Toronto, Colette Martin, at cmartin1@toronto.ca and copy Councillor Fletcher at councillor_Fletcher@toronto.ca.

Colette,
I am frustrated and disappointed by this turn of events.

I agree that the illegal fires have been a concern. I had hoped that we could find a way to address that concern in a way that punished the people who were up to the illegal activities and not the community members who want to put our public space to a positive use. One suggestion, which I don't believe has been fully explored, would be to put a grate across the top. On Wednesday I had left a voicemail message for Mark Hawkins and I had sent him an email asking that he speak to me about this. I believe we could arrange for funding or donations to cover the grate as this issue was discussed at a Friends of Withrow Park meeting last week. We just needed to figure out how to get it done.  My call was never returned and I did not have a response to my email.

I believe many of the complaints that you received about the fire pit are with respect to the sorrowful state of the campfire pit area over the Thanksgiving long weekend. For the record, the couch was dumped in the park for over a week before it found its place near the fire pit. It was at the field house for at least part of this time. I had assumed, obviously wrongly, that someone from the City would remove this dumped couch which was in plain sight. I can't understand how it was allowed to remain in the park for such a long time, including four days near the campfire pit where it clearly would only invite trouble.  If we want people to respect park rules and park spaces we should show them that we respect the park. Letting people dump garbage in the park and not removing it does not invite respect.

I left a message earlier today to speak to our Community Liason Officer at 55 Division, P.C. McDonald, to speak about the policing aspect of this issue.  It doesn't seem like the police have become involved in this issue and I expect that a few interventions by the police would put an end to this activity.

It seems to me that the City has chosen the expedient solution but not the one that serves the community. There is strong support for community campfires in our park.  I have heard many people comment that the fire pit is an attractive addition to our park.  People are not upset by the campfire pit but by the illegal use to which it has been put. Why don't we address the illegal behaviour?

Also, I am tremendously upset that no one has contacted me.  The members of Friends of Withrow Park are willing to contribute to viable and sensible solutions so I cannot understand why we are cut out of the process.  We all want a safer park that is put to positive use by the community. I wish we could find a way to reach that result together. If you simply dismantle the fire pit without any discussion or consultation you are cutting the "community" part out of that equation.

Pumpkin Parade November 1st from 6-8 pm!

2011-10-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

On November 1^st bring your Jack O Lantern to the park to light up the main pathway between Stratchona and Hogarth (in front of the Field House). Join us for a campfire and pumpkin parade.

Last year we had over 300 pumpkins! How many can we get this year!

Here are some pictures from last year's parade.

A Busy Day at the Park! Check Out These Events on September 24!

2011-09-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday September 24 will be a busy day at Withrow Park!

Start the day by celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Withrow Park Farmers Market. The market is a lively part of our park community. Come visit our table to say hello and take a few moments to check out the harvest festival and yummy food available every Saturday morning at the market. The market runs from 9 am to 1 pm rain or shine. Visit http://www.withrowpark.ca/ for details.

The afternoon will be filled with family fun at the park with the Kaleidoscope Kids Festival- a family fundraising event for the Broadview Community Youth Group. The festival will run from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will feature art and entertainment put on for kids and by kids, including workshops, live entertainment, activities, vendors and food. There will be performances by kids followed by a headline performance by The Monkey Bunch.

See you at the Withrow Park!

Adopt a Tree!

2011-09-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Adopt Tree in Withrow Park

You may have noticed that we have a whole lot of new trees in the park. Once the last instalment of the planting is done in the spring the park will have received about 100 new trees! As you likely know, new trees need some tender loving care and water. The trees are being looked after for the remainder of this season but in the spring we will be looking for volunteers to adopt a tree(s) to take care of and make sure it survives and thrives. If you are interested in adopting a tree(s) please contact us at withrowtrees@sympatico.ca and we will add you to our growing list of tree adopters. As we get closer to the spring we will be assigning trees and we will give you basic instructions for tree care.

Thanks!
Jen and Charlotte

A Big Thank You to Bret and Rockwell Stoneworks!

2011-09-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

Have you walked by our new campfire pit yet? We were lucky enough to have our campfire pit donated and built by Bret of Rockwellstoneworks (rockwellstoneworks@gmail.com). A big thank you to Bret for taking the time to build this campfire pit over the long weekend and donating all of the materials. We will be sure to enjoy it!

WHAT A GREAT CAMPFIRE!

2011-09-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

What a fun evening at our park! We have a beautiful new campfire pit (thanks to the help of our dedicated recreationist, Ronda Murphy) and the weather held off so that we could celebrate this new addition to our park. Marshmallows, bannock and campfire songs (thanks to Pepper who led the singing)...it was a great way to celebrate Labour Day weekend and begin our Withrow Park campfire tradition.

We plan to have more campfires in the near future. Stay tuned...

Join us for a campfire on Sunday September 4!

2011-08-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

Join us for the first Withrow Park cooking campfire on Sunday September 4 from 6 pm to 8 pm. We will cook some snack goodies on the campfire near the main pathway running from Hogarth to Strathcona.

Bring a picnic and join us for a fun evening by the fire!

Cooking Campfires at Withrow Park! First Campfire Sunday September 4! We Need Volunteers!

2011-08-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

We are going to have cooking campfires at Withrow Park! Our first planned campfire is on the Sunday of Labour Day weekend (September 4). The plan is to invite everyone to bring their own food to the park for a picnic but we will try to cook some extra treats to share from our campfire. I will circulate more information about this event (and future campfires) shortly.

In order to have cooking campfires at Withrow Park we need to have volunteers who have safety training from the City. If you can help out with the Labour Day Weekend (September 4) campfire or if you have an interest in particpating in future campfires please email me at friendsofwithrowpark@live.com so that you can receive the necessary training. I will be setting up a training session shortly (it apparently takes about half an hour).

Please also let me know if you can volunteer at the Labour Day Weekend (September 4) campfire. We need 6 volunteers who have received the City safety training. It would also be great if we could have a musician (or more than one) for music at the campfire and/or people who might help organize some camp crafts.

Let's make cooking campfires a Withrow Park tradition!

The sad tale of the tetherball and park security

2011-06-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

The good news was that we finally obtained a tetherball from the City. It was hooked up a couple of weeks ago and it quickly became a popular feature in the park. And then it disappeared....

The next bit of good news was that people in the community cared enough to track down the missing tetherball and it magically reappeared about a week later. Again it was very popular. And then it disappeared on Saturday night....

Only to reappear on Sunday night. I have no clue what happened the the tetherball in the interim.

Unfortunately, today the tetherball was damaged in the late afternoon by a group of people who thought it was more fun to destroy the tetherball (and the pin affixing it to the pole) than to play with it. So now I have a broken tetherball and that will be the end of that saga until I can find another one.

The sad fate of the tetherball is one example of mischief in the park. Recently there has been word of two much more serious occurrences involving swarmings or muggings. There will be a community safety meeting on Wednesday July 6 at 8:00 pm at the Withrow Club House. The meeting, organized by Councillor Fletcher, is to bring together police, park staff and residents to do a safety walk around the park. Please make an effort to show up to this important meeting.

Project Neutral Riverdale Launch

2011-06-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Want to reduce your energy/transportation costs and carbon footprint,  and help make Riverdale an environmental leader? We have been selected as a pilot neighbourhood for Project Neutral—a non-profit organization aiming to transition neighbourhoods to carbon neutrality.

Come and join our local organizing group for the official launch on Saturday June 18th
12 PM OPEN HOUSE 1 pm INFO SESSION
Frankland Community Centre, 816 Logan Avenue

The pilot area, bounded by Danforth, Pape, Langley and Logan  will be expanded as we progress. For more information, visit us online at: www.projectneutral.org/riverdale

No more burrs! Join us on Saturday June 11 from 9 am -11 am to pull out burdock

2011-06-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that the burdock has been spreading quickly around the rink and dog park. By mid-summer we will be picking burrs out of our dog's fur and our childrens' clothes. Never much fun.

This year we are going to try to reduce the spread of burdock by plucking the plants before they have produced the burrs. Come join us around the dog park and rink on Saturday June 11 from 9 am to 11 am to help pluck out the plants. And once you are in the park, why not take the opportunity to check out the bounty at the farmers' market at the north end of the park. After all, who doesn't need a treat after some garden work?

See you on Saturday and don't forget to bring some gardening gloves!

Camps in the Park!

2011-06-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

Check out the City of Toronto camps at Withrow Park! Look in the Toronto Fun Guide (can be found online at http://www.toronto.ca/) to find out more about the camps.

The Market is Back!

2011-05-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Withrow Park Farmers' Market started its season on Saturday May 21 with beautiful weather, yummy foods, plants to purchase, activities for children, and information from local community groups like the "Friends" and the Riverdale Historical Society. Come out to the Market every saturday from 9 am to 1 pm (rain or shine) and support a wonderful part of our park community.

Meeting with Councillor Fletcher and Parks Department

2011-05-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting. We covered a lot of issues and laid the groundwork to get things done. Now is the real work- we need to make sure that the ball keeps rolling.

It seems like the most efficient way to move ahead is to set up "project groups" to deal with the City on specific issues. The primary project issues were:
1) tree canopy
2) playground shade structures
3) playground development (particularly looking at natural play)
4) events coordination

Please let me know if you would like to take an active role in any of these groups. The project groups can get to work on their specific issues and then keep the rest of the "Friends" in the loop as to progress and developments.

If you were at the meeting and feel that I missed a project group above, let me know. I believe that the soccer and horticultural issues were self-contained issues that would be dealt with by the soccer league and Riverdale Horticultural Society but I would ask that each organization keep the "Friends" posted. It is helpful for everyone to have an idea of developments in the park.

MEETING NOTES:

In attendance on behalf of the City were Mark Hawkins (General Supervisor for Parks in Toronto & East York District), Sandy Straw (Manager Parks Toronto East York), Councillor Fletcher and Susan Serran from the Councillor's office.

Soccer Pitch
The soccer pitch is muddy and full of ruts. Mark Hawkins outlined his efforts to find a solution and secure funding to fix the field. There will be some temporary fixes to the field this Spring. In mid-September there will be a more far reaching effort to re-sod the field. The field will be fenced off for the winter. End of season soccer games may need to be moved to other fields.

Water Fountain
The water fountain at the north end of the park (outside of the fenced playground) will be replaced. Mark Hawkins advised that he would have the water fountain inside the fenced playground and the water fountain at the edge of the soccer field assessed. He will contact me to let me know about the status of the reviews and repairs.

We discussed the possibility of installing a water tap that could be used to fill water bottles. While there was agreement that the City is interested in promoting the use of tap water (as opposed to bottled water) there was some question as to where a water tap could be installed and how it could be designed to avoid water wastage (if people leave the tap open). The issue should be pursued but is not one that is likely to be resolved in the short term.

Tree Canopy
Many trees were cut down recently which highlights the problem of our diminishing tree canopy. A plan needs to be developed (in conjunction with the Urban Forestry department) for tree canopy renewal. Roberta was going to take leadership on the tree canopy project. She will work with Mark Hawkins on this issue. Let me know if you want to help.

Playground Shade Structures
Councillor Fletcher advised that she has put aside money (under section 37) that is to be used for shade in parks. She indicated the money could be earmarked to develop a shade structure for the Withrow Park playgrounds.

Playground Improvement
It looks like we will finally get a tetherball for our park. Mark Hawkins advised that we would get a tetherball this week. The ball will be left attached to the pole. If the tetherball is damaged or removed we will explore other options. Deborah from the Frankland Community Centre (Recreation Department) suggested that it might be possible to have the City summer camps put up the tetherball in the morning and take it down at the end of camp each day.

There was considerable interest in developing natural play structures that would be of interest to older children. One suggestion was to have a water pipe for sand/water play (possibly in the south/unfenced playground).

Mark and Sandy advised that outdoor sports equipment is very expensive and, in their experience, is quick to be damaged. They strongly suggested that we avoid this option for Withrow Park.

Sandy advised that she has been lobbying to reuse the cut down trees in the parks to be used as play structures or to build benches. It wasn't clear that much progress has been made on this front (they were not left at Withrow).

We need to develop a plan for playground improvements. Councillor Fletcher suggested that we consider developing a plan that allows for successive improvements to the playgrounds by creating more interesting features in and around our existing playgrounds rather than by tearing down existing structures to start from scratch.

Riverdale Horticultural Society
Mark will be in touch with Heather to discuss how to help the RHS access water for their garden.

Defibrillator
There will be a defibrillator located at the Withrow Clubhouse, at the rink and at Frankland.

Park Events
It was suggested that we create a calendar of events for the park to simplify the permit process. Also, we can coordinate events through the Frankland Community Centre to simplify the process.

We will discuss with Antonio (of the Recreation department) and Mark how to bring back the Summer Solstice and Holiday bonfire/sing along. We may be able to bring these events back as joint- Friends/Frankland Community Centre events.

Broadview Community Youth Group is planning a fair for families and children in September (likely date September 24).

Dogs
There are a few proposed designs for a fence around the off-leash part of the dog part. Councillor Fletcher sought our input as to best options to seek community input into selecting the fence design.

Thank you once again to everyone who attended. Please let me know if you believe my notes require amendment. Also, please let me know if you want to become involved in any of the listed projects (or others). Together we can make this work!

Meeting with Councillor Fletcher and Parks & Recreation- May 3

2011-04-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

PLEASE SEE THE LETTER BELOW FROM COUNCILLOR FLETCHER. WE WILL BE MEETING ON MAY 3 AT 6:30 AT THE FRANKLAND COMMUNITY CENTRE TO DISCUSS PARK ISSUES. ON THE AGENDA ARE PARK IMPROVEMENTS, PERMIT ISSUES, AND PARKS & RECREATION PROGRAMMING. PLEASE JOIN US!

Dear Julie and Friends of Withrow Park,

Further to our conversation I am writing to invite the Friends of Withrow Park to join me and Parks Staff for an informal discussion about park improvements.

I have booked a meeting room in the Frankland Community Centre from 6:30 to 8:00 pm on Tuesday, May 3 and hope you are able to join us.

Withrow is one of the most beautiful and active parks in Ward 30. I am fully supportive of your contributions to the neighbourhood and look forward to hearing more about how we can work together to make it an even better park for all users.

Regards,

Spring Clean Up

2011-04-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

The park clean up was a cold and soggy experience. We made the best of it and cleaned up a small section of the park. There were some hardy gardeners out to collect their compost. A big thank you to Sandra who braved the elements and to Sol Maya (http://www.cafesolmaya.com/) for providing us with great coffee to keep us warm.

We may reschedule to another, sunnier, day. We will keep you posted.

Park Clean Up and Compost Pick Up--- April 16 from 8 am to Noon

2011-04-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Help us get the park ready for summer fun!

We have organized a park clean up to take place on Saturday April 16 from 8 am to noon. We are meeting outside the Withrow Clubhouse where we will provide gloves and garbage bags. Councillor Fletcher has organized a compost delivery to take place in conjunction with this event. The compost will be delivered to the north end of the park (at McConnell and Fenwick) at 8 am. The compost is available for you to pick up to use in your home gardens.

Join The Discussion!

2011-03-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

On April 7, 2011 from 6-8 pm. there will be "A Conversation About Our City Parks" at the University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty of AL&D at 230 College, Room 106. There will be representatives from Park People, Friends of Trinity Bellwoods Park, Evergreen and from the City of Toronto in a moderated discussion about the current state of our parks and the vision for the future. Be a part of the discussion and join us at the meeting!

Spring Clean Up on Saturday April 16th

2011-03-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air, so we invite you to head outdoors on Saturday, April 16. Please join us for the first annual Friends of Withrow Park Spring Clean-Up Day!

We have registered our clean up with the City and we will be making arrangements to get litter bags and gloves for all participants.

More information will follow shortly.

Riverdale Horticultural Society

2011-03-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed the lovely perennial garden near the tennis courts at Withrow Park? The garden is the creation of the Riverdale Horticultural Society. The group has a meeting every second Wednesday of the month at the Frankland Community Centre (meetings start at 7:30). You can learn more about this group and their monthly meetings at www.gardenontario.org/site.php/riverdale.

Skating Party

2011-02-12T08:20:00.000-08:00

What a fun skating party last night! Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped make it happen. A special thank you to Yani for all of her hard work in organizing the event. Here are a couple pictures that I took- please add some of your own. I think we should have music at the rink every friday night- don't you?

Seasons at Withrow Park

2011-02-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of us with our friends enjoying Withrow Park throughout the seasons -M & B

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Withrow Park Skating Party- February 11, 2011 6:30-8:30 p.m.

2011-01-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

Come out on Friday, February 11^th 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. for skating with Friends of Withrow Park at the Withrow ice rink! Enjoy the music, hot chocolate & cookies – bring a mug if you can! This is a free neighbourhood event for all ages. Looking forward to seeing friends & families on the ice!

Withrow Outdoor Playgroup

2011-01-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

The Withrow outdoor playgroup, part of the Active Kids Club meets on Monday afternoons between 1:30pm and 3pm at the small unfenced playground on the West side of the park. It is for children ages 0-6 years. Our goal is to help kids (and their parents and caregivers) be active and enjoy the many benefits of playing outside. Things we've done this year include building a leaf maze, making a giant spider web around tree trunks, tobogganing and skating. You can find our blog and sign up to be notified of our updates at www.activekidsclub.com by clicking on "withrow" on the left hand side. Please joing us for some outdoor fun!"