Withrow Park History Day- Saturday July 7th at the Farmers' Market

Come celebrate Withrow Park's past, present and future!

Join neighbours for a morning of fun activities for children, families and history buffs on Saturday July 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., during the weekly Withrow Park Farmers’ Market.

History and photo buffs alike can view pictures of Withrow Park in its infancy, thanks to a display set up by the Riverdale Historical Society. Maybe you’ll spot your house! The Society is also offering self-guided tours of Withrow Park.

The Friends of Withrow Park will display a park map, where you can imagine your park of the future by dropping off suggestions or making drawings.

At the crafts table, children can create crafts to take along on a Lost Rivers Walk, in which people can mark the path of the park's long-buried creek.

Kids’ games start at 10 a.m. A performance by Shakespeare in the Ruff begins at 11 a.m, when they will do ‘‘Elizabethan Bachelorette,’’ using sonnets to find historical love.

Participants include Withrow Park Farmers’ Market, Riverdale Historical Society, Friends of Withrow Park, Shakespeare in the Ruff & Lost Rivers.

The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.

See you at the market!

Dog Owners Beware

Raw meat mixed with dog treats has been found near the off leash area of Withrow Park.  The police are investigating.  Please exercise extra caution with your dog at the park while the investigation continues.

Join LEAF for a Tree Tour on Monday June 18th

The Farmers' Market is Back!

One of the best days at Withrow Park is the opening day of the Farmers' Market.  Join us in welcoming the market back to our park on Saturday May 19th from 9 am to 1pm. 

Bring your bike and get a free tune up from special market attendees BikeSauce. 

Drop by the Friends of Withrow Park table to say hello, talk about tree adoptions, and share ideas about park events and improvements (with a special heads up that we are planning a meeting on June 3rd).

And most importantly...pick up some yummy food.  There are prepared meals and snacks available (even for your dog!) and early season veggies to take home to cook. 

What a great way to celebrate the holiday long weekend.  See you there!

Calling all Park People- That's You

Park People is hosting an exciting event on Saturday May 12th.
If you're a park person, you need to be at the Second Annual Toronto Park Summit. The Summit brings park advocates, city staff, and experts together with community groups, city councillors, and concerned Torontonians to network, brainstorm, and work together to build momentum for better parks in Toronto. The theme for the 2012 Summit is Connecting Toronto's People and Parks. Learn how other Toronto residents are engaging in and improving their local parks, and help us generate ideas and create opportunities for better citizen engagement in our parks. The input we receive at the Summit will form the basis of a Solutions Paper that Park People is going to release in the fall with our ideas for how the City of Toronto can better work with local residents in our parks.

The agenda for the afternoon of May 12th is:

12:30	Registration
1:30	Opening & Introduction: Dave Harvey, Executive Director of Toronto Park People
2:00	Keynote presentation: Robert Hammond, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Friends of the High Line, New York City
3:00	Local park leaders' stories of successes and challenges of engaging in their local park (moderated by Jane Farrow)
4:00 – 5:30	Social mixer and party: Continue the discussion and meet fellow park people
5:30	Optional walk through Brick Works' trails and ponds: discussion of successful park greening and naturalization projects

The keynote speaker, Robert Hammond, co-founded the Friends of the High Line in 1999, spearheading a process to save the High Line structure from being torn down and driving a community effort to turn the structure into a park. The High Line is now one of the world's greatest public spaces. Learn more about Robert and the park here.

For this year's Summit,Park People are asking for a suggested contribution of $20 to help us offset the cost of the event. Park People is a project of Tides Canada, a registered charity, and they rely on donations to undertake their work.

The Toronto Park Summit is sponsored by TD Bank Group and supported by Mitchell Cohen and Janice Lewis

New Waterfountains! At last!

We finally have a water fountain at the north end of the park!  What other improvements would you like to see made in the park?

Join the Withrow Farmers' Market Committee

Want to help make Withrow the best little neighbourhood market it can be? We are looking for members to join our market committee! If you are interested please send a short bio to Roberta at withrowpfm@gmail.com by Friday April 27. Tell us about your various experiences, skills and hobbies, and what you hope to contribute to the market. You can help us plan special events and features, assist with promo and communications and more, and share your vision for the market and a healthy and sustainable local food system with like-minded folks. If you aren’t keen on sitting on a committee, but would still like to contribute your talents to the market, we’d still love to hear from you!!