friends of dufferin grove park
February 2004 Newsletter

In this issue:

Inspectors come to the park: the sequel.

On Dec.18, occupational health and safety inspectors Jim Mackay and Danny Neill came to the park and made it evident that there were big problems with the way we use the rink house. They wrote a report asking that the new community kitchen be destroyed and the locks on the garage door be changed so that no one other than the zamboni driver could go in there. They ordered all the giant puppets to be removed from their perch in the garage rafters, and these were carted away to other parts of the city. A sad week!

The outcry that followed, the newspaper coverage, the intervention of our new councillor, Adam Giambrone, and the many thoughtful e-mails sent by so many people, all contributed to producing a silver lining that at times seemed to engulf the black cloud almost entirely. Parks and Recreation director Don Boyle gave our area's parks and rec manager James Dann a free hand in making all possible accommodations to the workplace safety suggestions in the report. The blue propane Olympia ice-resurfacer disappeared and suddenly there was a shiny white gas-powered zamboni instead, sent by rink supervisor Brian Green. The jerry-built shelves in the garage were replaced with strong, elegant ones built by city carpenters. When the public health inspector came, he ordered a fourth sink in each of the two little rinkhouse kitchens. The city paid for these to be put in, and for the dishwasher to be moved to a better location. All the clutter of years of storage by all the many folks who use the rink house - even the old cans of paint from when the rink was first built — were carted away from the breezeway, with the help of 8 maintenance staff. New fire extinguishers were brought in and mounted, hooks were put up to coil the giant zamboni hoses, broken kitchen equipment (donated, but at the end of its useful life, as donated items often are) was carted away. The whole place looks great.

The clean-up and reorganization were one part: finding the boundaries between the legal regulations and the one-size-fits-all philosophy was another. The workplace safety inspectors and the fire safety inspectors all made it clear that in their view, a building built for one purpose ought to be used only for that purpose. Public health raised their eyebrows. Mixed-use adaptations were just seen as wrong. But no rule could be found to back up this approach. It was the same with the lack of clear boundaries between staff and volunteers, which the inspectors identified as too risky. But Don Boyle said: "we have to work closely with volunteers, all over the city. In each neighbourhood, the boundaries are worked out differently. If it works well, we'll try to support it - that's the point of parks and recreation." That's his decision, and he's sticking to it.

As it stands now, all inspections done to date have concluded that our clubhouse activities are within range of what the regulations require. We don't know how many other inspectors are still to come and what they will identify. The storm may be coming to its end, however, and now it's time to celebrate.

"My funny valentine" zamboni festival, Saturday February 14.

The Occupational Health and Safety inspectors who came to the rink on Dec.18 said that zambonis and the community don't belong in the same place. Well, that may have been true once, but no longer. Cavan Young, who used to arrange outdoor concerts at the park when we started all our activities ten years ago, and David Anderson of Clay and Paper Theatre, have devised a St.Valentine's Day festival when the zamboni will be officially invited to become part of our community.

To show that we are serious about our attachment to the zamboni, we are renaming the rink snack bar the "Zamboni Cafe" and the new community kitchen has already been renamed the "zamboni kitchen." The giant puppets will return on that day, from the places they were evacuated to. We're hoping that Parks and Recreation director Don Boyle will come and maybe even drive the zamboni, since that's how he got his start at Parks and Rec. Mayor Miller has been invited, also some of the councillors on the city's Economic Development and Parks Committee (including the chair, Councillor Brian Ashton), although we doubt they'll come - they're all really, really busy, trying to dig us out of our municipal troubles. But we hope that our own Councillor Adam Giambrone will come, and maybe his assistants as well. Probably the inspectors will not come, because it may be that the inspectors think health and safety are NOT FUNNY. Whereas Cavan Young and David Anderson say that our mental health and safety depends on seeing the fun in almost everything, at least for a moment.

There will be market vendors selling valentine gifts, good food (including bread fresh out of the oven) and music and, at 4p.m., a beautiful little puppet play done (in the multi-purpose zamboni room) by some of the park staff who are also in theatre: "The Counterfeit Marquise." It's nothing to do with the zamboni -- it's a Charles Perrault fairy tale -- a love story, for Valentine's.

Cavan got a National Film Board grant to do a 10-minute movie of this Zamboni Valentine, so they'll be filming on that day. Cavan is also holding a nick-naming ceremony, to cement the zamboni's position as one element in our community. Zack? Zoe? Zorra? Zed? (One of our rink staff will officiate at the christening - his name is Zio.)

This festival will have the additional purpose of celebrating the saving of our community kitchen. So some of our benefactors are also invited, particularly John Broley of the G.H.Wood Foundation (they gave us a grant of $8,000 to supplemented the city grant we got to build the kitchen), and James Dann, the parks and rec manager who worked so hard to help us make our rink a safer workplace but not lose what we do there. Cavan will be requesting comments on-camera from anyone who is willing, but it doesn't matter if you're camera-shy; the festival will be a celebration of coming through this latest storm, and that's the heart of the matter. Food, music, beautiful skating, a campfire, snow hills, and neighbours: Saturday February 14, from 2 p.m. at the rink. Happy Valentine's Day. And remember to wear something red.

Web site mutates into a web 'zine (kind of)

Ever since our web author, garden co-ordinator, and park staff Caitlin Shea returned to her full-time web work (she still comes and volunteers!), park friend Joe Adelaars has gone to work on the site. Building on what Caitlin started, Joe made changes and added many nice touches (some of which are invisible except to other web authors, who have told some of us web illiterates that Joe's work is elegant). When we decided to start adding city-wide park budget information, and a city rink inventory that includes ratings and problem high-lights, the project became too large for one park friend and we found a programmer who could help. Henrik Bechmann has now joined Joe in working on the site. There are many new features already (have a look at the home page and see) and more coming in the next few weeks. Thanks to John Culbert we have lots of photos now. We've also been able to add in some of Jane LowBeer's beautiful newsletter images. Of course, none of this would have come to pass if Emily Visser hadn't started a web site for us in the first place. But who would have thought it would become such a big project?

Return of the monthly recipe

People keep asking about how you cook the Greenfields farmers' market organic greens - here's how:

Braised collard greens (or kale, chard, turnip, or other greens) for four people

4 bunches collards or other greens, 1 onion, diced

long stems and tough ribs removed 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Salt 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 tablespoons butter (or duck fat, rendered from farmer Ute Zell's ducks)

Plunge the greens into a large pot of boiling salted water. Cook them for 10 minutes, then remove to a bowl. Reserve one half cup of the cooking water. In a wide skillet, heat the butter or duck fat, add the onion, garlic and red pepper flakes, and stir over medium heat until the garlic is lightly coloured and the onion is soft. Add the greens and their reserved cooking water and 1 teaspoon salt. Turn down the heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Taste again for salt. They can use a lot. (Recipe adapted from Deborah Madison).

Do-it-yourself ice maintenance

Sometimes we just can't get a zamboni driver — they're all busy elsewhere — and we're not allowed to drive it ourselves. But if there's snow on the ice, the puck won't move, so the shinny hockey players don't have fun anymore. This is where our special long green ice-rink shovels are the right tool. A staff person opens the swing gates at the east end of the rink and the shovellers skate back and forth on the ice, moving the snow out to the gates. Two people are stationed right at the gates with ordinary snow shovels, and they take the snow that's delivered by the green ice shovels and throw it right out and to the sides, so they won't block the zamboni later. Tony Lam, Nay Lin, and Ricky Ma are three enthusiastic shovellers.

Back in December when the weather was so warm, some shinny players figured out that they could shovel water off the rink, too. They lined up with the shovels overlapping slightly and then all together they pushed a wall of water out the swing gates. Obia Stevens, Rohan Newman, Lucas Porter, Alastair Burgess, and Blaine Tynes pushed so much water out that staff person Lea Ambros said she had to jump out of the way of a wall of water arriving at the swing gates. This was better than anything the zamboni could have done! We would have congratulated these ingenious shinny players, except that they didn't stick around waiting for a handshake - they were back out on the ice, having a really good game. (But of course, anyone who helps shovel is entitled to some free food from the snack bar afterwards.)

A friend of the park is a friend indeed

This month's line-up of people who've done a good thing for the park:

Paul Safarin: who does our posters when there's an event. Paul works at Kwik Kopy on College and Shaw, and he's also a graphic artist. Almost any poster you see around was a gift to the park from Paul. The latest is the Zamboni Valentine poster.

Bill Wright: who has funded a number of newsletter printings. We made enough food money these past months that we didn't need his help to bankroll the last few, but when the inspectors came, Bill offered his help again. We keep his offers for rainy days - it's nice.

Liz Noble and Arthur Irwin: who came through when a park-lawyer friend from Ottawa needed a house to rent for the few months so she could work on our legal issues. Arthur is a real estate agent: a joyful matchmaker between families and houses in this neighbourhood and a park booster. The efforts he and Liz made for our lawyer included many extras.

Judy Simutis: who got really miffed when she heard that public health rules might prevent her from donating her rice-crispy happy faces to the rink snack bar. Judy keeps her eye on the main thing, and her "nobody can stop a happy face" attitude gave heart to the park staff when things looked dicey.

John Culbert: who was a friend to the park years ago, and then popped up again after the inspectors came. John lent us his high-quality digital camera, made the pictures into glossy prints for a city hall display, burned CD's, prepared pictures of the web site, and gave moral support when the rules seemed too daunting. In his other life John's a CFO with no illusions.

Peter Thillaye: who, for several years now, has been finding old skids and bringing them to the park for us to burn in the bake oven. Because of Peter there is bread. The three green sheds beside the rink fence are full of his bounty. And he just doesn't quit. Since the park staff have to pry all the skids apart with a crowbar, Peter has also contributed quite a bit to their muscle mass.

Jeremy Payne: who is the Weller Tree Service forester who carved the little Christmas tree at the top of the dead tree in the park. We finally found him. He was flabbergasted to hear that the carved tree had been pictured in the Globe in December. He said he sometimes carves such little trees before they have to take a tree down, because he feels that people are disheartened to see a tree go, and a carving might make them feel better.

Brian Cranley: who found the little carved top section on the ground after the park crew chopped it down, and brought it to the rink house for us to keep. A good rescue! Jeremy and his crew came there to have a look, and we gave them park cookies.

DUFFERIN RINK - HOURS OF OPERATION (ending Feb.29):

Rink clubhouse: open Monday to Saturday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. , Sundays: 10 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.

Shinny hockey: same hours as the rink clubhouse except Sundays. There is a (strictly enforced) age schedule. If you ever see the wrong age group on the shinny ice, do us a favour and notify the rink staff right away.

Pleasure-skating: always freely available. The gate never closes except during bad weather. After 9 p.m., skating is unsupervised. Then it's like skating on a pond: shinny hockey and pleasure-skating are sometimes happening at the same time and people use the rink on their own responsibility. The large rink lights turn off after 11 p.m., and illumination is only from the small building lights and whatever moonlight/ snow-light happens to be there.

Parking: the best place to park is east of the rink on Dufferin Park Avenue (at the north boundary of the park). You have to walk west a short distance along the pedestrian walkway at the north side of the rink. Or you can park at the Dufferin Mall across the street.

Shinny hockey schedule:

Monday - Friday:

9:00am - 3:30pm all ages

3:30pm - 5:30pm Level 2 (about 13 to 17, medium pace)

5:30pm - 6:30pm Level 1 (12 and under and parent or caregiver, or novice adult)

6:30pm - 7:45pm all ages

7:45pm - 8:55pm Level 3 (usually 18 and over, fast-paced)

PERMIT FOLLOWS

Saturday

9:00am - 12:00pm all ages

12:00pm - 1:30pm Level 1 (12 and under and parent or caregiver, or novice adult)

1:30pm - 3:45pm all ages

3:45pm - 5:15pm Level 2 (about 13 to 17, medium pace)

5:15pm - 7:00pm all ages

7:00pm - 8:45pm Level 3 (usually 18 and over, fast paced)

WEEKLY PERMIT FOLLOWS - CONTACT STAFF

Sunday

10:00am - 6:00pm No shinny hockey. Pleasure-skating both sides. (9.45 - 1.30 learn-to-skate program on part of the ice)

6:00p.m. - 7:00pm FAMILY SHINNY SEASONAL PERMIT

7:00 - 8.30pm LEARNERS' SHINNY SEASONAL PERMIT PERMIT FOLLOWS

Weekly permits: (booked by the week only) shinny hockey permit times:

Tuesdays: 9p.m. - 11p.m.

Fridays: 9p.m. - 11p.m.

Saturdays: 9p.m. - 11p.m.

For adults the permits cost $67.51. For children and youth, there is no charge. To book a permit, call the rink at 416/392-0913 and leave a message.

IN THE EVENT OF SNOW, IF RINK USERS HELP STAFF IN CLEARING THE ICE, THE RINK OPENS FASTER. WE HAVE LOTS OF SHOVELS, OR BRING YOURS FROM HOME.

RINK PHONE NUMBER: 416 392-0913

RINK PHONE MESSAGE WILL TELL YOU CURRENT ICE SKATING CONDITIONS

Farmers' Market:

Rinkhouse suppers: Thanks to our good cooks and the community kitchen, there's Friday night supper, Saturday night supper, (both 6p.m.to 8p.m.) and Sunday lunch (12.30p.m. to 5p.m.). There's a $5 main plate, plus a vegan soup, a salad, and a dessert. No need to make a reservation, but you can give us a warning if you're coming with a big group of friends. There will be tables set up, but only around the edge of the change room, to leave more space for the skaters.

So you can skip the after-work cooking on Friday, or alternatively, the Saturday-after-household-chores cooking, and meet your friends at the rink. Some nights we'll have a campfire outside too - and if you want one, we'll be glad to help you start it.

Farmers' Market:

The organic market runs throughout the winter, every Thursday from 3.30 to 7. There's meat, baking, honey, prepared foods, and storage vegetables, as well as all kinds of fresh organic vegetables and fruits imported from warmer climates. (Only our regular farmers are allowed to sell this produce at our market, and only during the time when they can't grow those things themselves). First Thursday of the month is also craft market day. For information, call the park at 416 392-0913.

To read past issues, access the newsletter archives.

For ongoing updates on Dufferin Grove Park, and to share your views on community issues, join our Friends of Dufferin Grove email listserve. Just click here to join.

Newsletter prepared by: Jutta Mason; Illustrations: Jane LowBeer

Technical support: John Culbert

Web site: Joe Adelaars, Henrik Bechmann, Caitlin Shea

Park phone: 416 392-0913; street address: 875 Dufferin Street

E-mail: dufferinpark@dufferinpark.ca

List Serve: Emily Visser, Bernard King

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This page last updated: 14-Mar-04