Vol. 6, Nr. 1 — In this issue:
- A gift from the NHLPA
- Breastfeeding at the rink
- Skating schedule
- Penalties for bad language
- Stuck in the snow
- Ben Figuereido: in memoriam
- City Secrets: follow-up
A FINE CHRISTMAS
PRESENT FROM THE NHL PLAYERS’ ASSOCIATION
In October, park supervisor Tino DeCastro told us that the NHL players’ association sometimes provides rinks with hockey gear (including skates and sticks) so that kids who can’t afford them can still play. Tino knew that we often have school classes and other kids coming to the rink with not even skates or sticks, but a strong desire to play hockey. Last year’s "grandmother grant" let us buy a lot of garage sale skates. But hockey skates are much less common at garage sales than figure skates are, so we’re chronically short of them. And good used sticks are really rare, as are decent hockey gloves. So Tino helped us fill out an application to the NHLPA. Just before Christmas we found out that Dufferin Rink is one of the sites they chose to donate fifty brand new sets of equipment. That was some surprise!
Here’s what it says about the NHLPA "Goals and Dreams Program" on their web site: "Launched in 1999 as a way for the players to give something back to the game they love, Goals & Dreams has donated full sets of equipment to over 7,000 children in 17 countries. In addition, over 75 ice re-surfacers and more than 110 sets of boards and glass were provided to community arenas in small towns in Europe and North America. Funds were allocated on a pro-rated basis according to the nationalities of the NHLPA’s membership. To date, the program has donated more than $15-million to grassroots hockey programs around the world making it the largest program of its kind!"
Instead of passing the hockey sets on to individual kids we’re setting up a lending service so that lots of kids can share the pleasure. Some of the pants and pads will do double duty by also being shared with the few remaining City-run hockey house leagues. We’ll have a lending library of hockey gear, in enough different sizes (also for girls!) that the effect can multiply. Our grateful thanks to the NHL Players’ Association, and to Tino DeCastro, for finding us a solution for our problem of impecunious hockey wannabees.
We’ve invited the NHLPA to ask their locked-out members whether they might want to come over to our rink when the gift equipment comes, and play a bit of shinny hockey with some of our shinny regulars - including many Portuguese, Jamaican, Greek, Vietnamese -- "rink rats" from so many cultures. But the NHL guys might be too shy. Watch the bulletin board, or the sports page for updates on this.
PARK SQUIRRELS ADOPT PLASTIC
A friend of Dufferin Rink tells us that he’ s been noticing a design change in squirrel’s nests over the past few years. David Cotes says that the squirrels have begun to work with plastic bags more and more. Sometimes they tear them into strips and weave them in to the nest; occasionally they slip a bag over the whole nest. One assumes that they like the waterproofing as well as the softness. David says he’s seen this novel use of plastic bags at Trinity Park as well as in five squirrel’s nests at our park.
BREASTFEEDING ETIQUETTE IN THE SHARED-USE RINK HOUSE
When Dufferin Rink was rebuilt eleven years ago, it seemed like a good idea to widen its use so that families as well as youth would like to go there. Rinks have a tendency to become a bit unpleasant, with some scary scenes being played out - bullying and various illegal transactions. Dufferin Rink used to be well known as a place like that. If the rink could be made a more pleasant place, we thought, families would return and there would be a mix of rink uses that would be better for everyone - youth too.
So we added the wood stove and the cookies and the storybooks, and gradually families returned. We got female as well as male rink staff, worked with the city to improve the ice cleaning, posted "no swearing" rules on the wall, and more families came. (More youth too, the ones who had been bullied away before.) There used to be trouble with fights and damage on Friday nights, so Dan DeMatteis and Lea Ambros started Friday Night Supper, and the eaters squeezed out the rascals. Then the market came, and now there are days when it's hard to find anyplace to change into skates, the place is so full of activity.
The youth whose turf was altered in this way have been pretty accepting of the changes, even if they have to go outside or into the washroom to change on busy days.
However it's important to make sure that a balance is maintained between being a shinny hockey change house and a place for families with little children. One issue that recently tested this principle came up over the breastfeeding of babies in the rink house.
Here's our practice: breastfeeding a baby is welcome anywhere in the rink house at any time. Babies have to eat, and that's the best way to nourish them (so that they will become strong skaters and hockey players!). No need to hide the nursing baby by putting a blanket over its head while it nurses, either - why hide such a wonderful sight?
There is however a problem if a mother feels the need to disrobe in such a way that a good deal more than the nursing baby is visible. A few babies are a bit rowdy, and hard to nurse discreetly. In those cases, we have several options. There is a comfortable seat in the women's washroom (the washroom is bigger and brighter than normal, so there's room for a nursing corner). If the baby's mother wants to stay in the main room, there is a curtain that can be pulled across half the room, or if she prefers, there is a small screen that can be placed beside her, wherever she's sitting, to give a bit more privacy.
The reason why any radical disrobing during breastfeeding is screened like this is that many people find it unsettling to see a woman who is visibly undressed in the middle of the rink change room. Youth of both sexes are often modest, and so are many of the families of different cultures who have also come to use the rink house.
(By the way, a message to the occasional shinny hockey players who feel the need to strip down and change before or after they play hockey: the same thing applies to you folks - pull the curtain or change in the very large men's washroom, sitting on the bench that's provided there. Not everyone wants to see your underwear.)
Shared use of the rink house means taking into account all the different points of view, so all the different groups can come inside. Babies can eat, people can skate, farmers can bring their excellent food, young folks can play checkers with friends - the whole quilt.
DUFFERIN GROVE PARK
OUTDOOR ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK - HOURS OF OPERATION:
Rink clubhouse: open Monday to Saturday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. , Sundays: 9 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. After 9 p.m., skating is unsupervised. Building closes at 9, rink gates close at 11 p.m.
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.
Rink 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)SEASONAL AND WEEKLY PERMITS FOLLOW — CONTACT STAFF
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 PERMITS FOLLOW — 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)
SEASONAL PERMITS FOLLOWSingle-occasion permits are available Tuesday and Wednesdays 10 p.m.-11 p.m., Fridays 9 p.m. - 10 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Saturdays 9 p.m. to closing. For adults the single-occasion permits cost $67.50. 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, to find out current ice skating conditions
Rink information (for all city rinks) is also available here on our web site
BAD LANGUAGE AND OTHER
SINS AT THE RINK
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." That’s how the saying goes, but at our rink there is a by-law against swearing, and another one against making threats. Here are some of the other rules: lounging around in the rink house corners trying to look like a gangster, isn’t allowed, and neither is lengthy public kissing or hugging with one’s sweetheart. People are not allowed to get into a fight, and they can’t urge other people to fight each other either, no matter how "Canadian" that kind of approach is in hockey. People can’t use the front entryway as a place to cluster with their friends and make loud jokes or say rude things to each other. On the ice, people can’t smoke (anything), or play bumper cars with the learn-to-skate chairs, or skate under the lift gate when it’s being raised for the zamboni (it can fall down if it’s unsecured, and squash a person). Groups can’t play chasing games on the pleasure-skating rink unless the rink has no other skaters at all, and older shinny hockey players are not allowed to play hockey during the younger kids’ shinny time. Above all, nobody can tell a staff person to get lost if they ask them to follow the rules.
The penalties are: for breaking one of the rules, one or two warnings, then out for the day. For refusing a staff request: out for the day right away, no warnings. For refusing a request to leave for the day: out for many days, until the person books an interview with Tino DeCastro, our area parks supervisor. If they miss the interview: out for the season. In some cases of rule-breaking, the bad guy/gal may be asked to work some community hours (picking litter or washing dishes or shovelling snow) to get back into the staff’s good graces.
And if a rink user has been banned and then comes back after the ban is over, the rule is: no hard feelings. The returning rink user starts again with a clean slate. Over the years, there have been many people who got in trouble at the rink, sometimes in a lot of trouble. Then they grew up a bit. Many came back to play hockey to their heart’s content. Some have become great friends of the rink and are a pleasure to be with. They are the deep-down reason for this rink - showing that people can surprise each other, and that ill will can turn into respect and even friendship, more often than one would think.
COME AND GET YOUR LOST THINGS
It’s clear that fresh air must make people forgetful. That’s why so many skates, gloves, scarves, keys, eyeglasses, jackets, snow pants, rag dolls, and other objects, get left behind at the park. It’s pretty seldom that people return for them - but if you lost something, there’s a good chance that we have it. Don’t be a pessimist. For example, we have three pairs of found skates (boys’ and mens’) in the rink house office. Owners: come and get them!
STUCK IN THE SNOW AT DUFFERIN RINK
On the Thursday before Christmas there was a snowstorm that started with 20 cm. of snow and then turned into ice rain. Then it turned very cold. When the city ploughs cleared the little dead-end piece of Dufferin Park Avenue right by the rink, they left a four foot-wide snow bank on the south side of the street next to the rink house, all the way down to the corner light. Five days after that storm, we called City Councillor Adam Giambrone’s office. We asked an assistant: Could our Councillor get in touch with Public Works and let them know that the rink is a public facility that gets between 2500 and 3000 visits in during a holiday week? Could he let them know that the snow bank had cut off emergency and maintenance vehicle access to the building all week? Could he arrange for a city plough, so that cars bringing hockey kids and gear would stop getting stuck there?
The councillor’s assistant called us back the next day and said that the Public Works supervisor had personally inspected our street and had decided that the snow piles, more compressed by then (from all the stuck cars rocking back and forth) but still reaching four feet into the street, were "up to code." The councillor’s assistant said there was nothing more he could do. After we made a fuss, Councillor Giambrone personally left a phone message at the rink, saying that it was unrealistic to expect more help during the holiday week, when most city departments had only a skeleton staff.
Who knew, that city services take the same holidays the school kids take! It’s a bit unnerving, though. Surely school holidays are not a time to do second-rate snow clearing so that a family facility like our rink becomes a tough place to get to. And also: how could it be that blocking the way to a well-used winter City facility with a wide snow bank for a week is "up to code" for the snowplough crews…..? (Who devised that code?)
Kevin Beaulieu,
who also works in Councillor Giambrone’s office, has said he’ll try to
work something out with Public Works before the next snowstorm. In case
that doesn’t bring an improvement, the person in charge of City snow
removal is Andy Koropeski, Director of South District
Transportation Services. His e-mail is akoropes@toronto.ca. Friends of the rink might
want to post that address on their fridge.
BEN FIGUEREIDO: IN MEMORIAM
On the Monday before Christmas the park lost a long-time friend, Ben Figuereido.
Ben moved into the apartment building next to the rink around the same time as the rink began to change, almost ten years ago. He was a retired construction worker with lots of stories, both from his time on the high steel and from his shoe-less childhood in Portugal. After a few years of talking to people, Ben knew almost everybody around the park.
He liked to be useful. He
planted the grape vines that climb up the chain-link fence, and with
those grapes, the bakers made a starter for the first park-oven
sourdough. 
Ben fixed things, from the bakers’ ash scoop to the garden
hose leak that annoyed the community gardeners. Ben knew planting lore,
and weather prediction (and he was highly gratified whenever his
predictions were more accurate than those made by the "fools" at
Environment Canada). He watched birds as closely as he watched people,
loved dogs, and worried a great deal about the homeless Chinese man who
lived in the park for two seasons.
Up until his gout and his arthritis got bad, Ben made a yearly trip to Cuba, and always came back with stories proving that Cuba was the most beautiful place on earth. In the past few years, though, Ben was kept from travelling by the multiplying physical troubles of older age, and he would often wonder out loud what he would do when he could no longer look after himself. This was the fear that Ben shared almost daily with his park friends as the years rolled over him, until on the Monday before Christmas he took a step that pre-empted that fearful prospect forever.
Although the park was Ben’s "village" in some ways, his relatives were not so aware of the friendships there. This meant that many park people who knew Ben were unable to find out about the location of his memorial service until after it was over. That was sad for them. And yet - Ben’s stories and arguments and Mr. Fix-it hints were freely given to so many people in the park for so long, and those memories will last well beyond any memorial service. And then there are the grape-vines that Ben planted by the smaller park oven, next to the chain-link fence. Every spring they sprout whitish-green leaves along the dead-looking branches, and by late summer the branches are heavy with purple and green grapes: a lasting memorial for the strong-willed man who planted them there.
WOOD FOR THE WOODSTOVE
Shortly before Christmas, some residents of the apartment building and the houses next to the rink told the park staff and the local councillor that they couldn’t stand the late-night hockey noise any more. Annick Mitchell came over one evening and laid out the problem in detail. When the rink was left unlocked all night, shinny hockey games would often happen at two or three in the morning. Then the zamboni would come to resurface the ice at six a.m. Bad news! Between the bang of the pucks on the boards and the beeping of the zamboni whenever it reversed, sleep was getting scarce.
So we settled for locking the rink every night after eleven. Many people told us how disappointed they were, that the pleasure of late-night skating was no longer available. But they understood that the noise had really become a problem.
The silver lining to the cloud is that Annick Mitchell, in gratitude for being able to sleep again, donated a large amount of cut-up wood (that had been stored in her back yard for two years) for the rink house wood stove. Before that we were so low in our wood supply we only had one piece left! But now we have our warm fires in the woodstove again. Rink users (and toboganners) can dry off their wet mitts there. People can read storybooks to kids there, sitting in front of the fire, on the rocking bench donated by Leemala Ragubance. As for the shinny hockey players - at least Dufferin Rink is still open until eleven every night, with shinny on both sides after nine (most city rinks close earlier). And after eleven, the neighbours can get to sleep. That’s fair.
NEIGHBOURHOOD MARKETPLACE
Suchada Promtiri is a wonderful cook and pastry chef. On holidays she often brings treats to the park, to sell and raise money for the park. Sometimes she brings savoury things like Thai spring rolls or brie-tomato tarts, other times she brings sweets. On New Year’s Day she brought over a big box of date squares and cheese-tarts covered with sugared grapes. They didn’t last long. Suchada and a partner have recently opened a take-out pastry shop called "Osogood" at 874 College Street - another sign that things are changing for the better on that strip of College Street.
To find out more about people who can fix your appliances, make your shoes, paint your house, help you with your taxes, or anything else you need, go to the park web site marketplace page. This is a spot for neighbourly recommendations, not ads. (If you want to recommend a local business, e-mail us at marketplace@dufferinpark.ca.)
CITY SECRETS AT ROCK-BOTTOM PRICES: FOLLOW-UP
The "buy a city secret" program paid for five more freedom of information appeals to the province, asking for follow-up on requests that were refused by the City. We had asked for details on how the city is run and how money is spent, particularly money allocated for playground replacements and money spent for consultants’ fees. Once the appeal answers come in, we will need to follow up with some additional clarifying questions.
That means filing some new requests with the city. First-time municipal requests cost only $5 each. If you missed your chance to buy an appeal to the province for $25, here’s your chance to buy a city request for only $5. Watch the park bulletin board for details, or look on the park web site research pages.
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 (you'll be sending a blank email to the group, and will receive an automated reply confirming your subscription).
Newsletter prepared by: Jutta Mason; Illustrations: Jane LowBeer
Technical support: John Culbert
Webmasters:Henrik Bechmann, Joe Adelaars,
Park phone: 416 392-0913; street address: 875 Dufferin Street
E-mail: dufferinpark@dufferinpark.ca
List Serve: Emily Visser, Bernard King
Park photographer: Wallie Seto
Printing: Quality Control Printing at Bloor and St. George