Volume 6 Number 10, October 2005

Comments? editor@dufferinpark.ca

EVENTS IN OCTOBER:

FUNDRAISER FOR CLAY AND PAPER THEATRE/ THE NIGHT OF DREAD:

Monday October 17, 7 p.m., at the Gladstone Hotel. Bob Bossin and friends perform, with a special screening of “Citizen Z,” the CBC mini-doc about the puppets in the park, by Cavan Young.

THE NIGHT OF DREAD: Saturday October 29. Assemble at 5 p.m. by the basketball court. From David Anderson, director of Clay and Paper Theatre:  “Night of Dread is an INVITATION to the community, both near and far, to parade our private and collective fears through the streets of Toronto and to laugh at them, mock them, to name them, and to burn their names in a big bonfire, to waltz with Death, to eat the bread of the dead and to remember those who have gone from our midst.”

Night of Dread Workshops: Every Tuesday from 7pm to 10pm, and every Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm, at the rink house, or by the field house in nice weather.

“Our workshops are also an INVITATION - to you -to help us build those images, giant puppet masks, costumes, shrines both personal and public and much more. Bring all your talents to join us at the Dufferin Grove Park Rink House as we prepare for the sixth annual Night of Dread over the next two weeks. We need: organizers, musicians, leafleters, dancers, masqueraders, builders, sculptors, sewers (that means people who sew!), painters, people willing to learn stilt walking, puppeteers, sponsors, donors, and much more."

"Help us make this the strangest, dreadfulest, most thought-provoking Night of Dread yet! No experience necessary; only a willingness to try and join with your neighbours. All materials are provided."

RINK CHANGES: A LOT OF GOOD NEWS...

On October 2, 2004 (a year ago) the temperature was 31 degrees. By the beginning of November, it was very chilly – Toronto weather! By rink opening day on November 27, the ice on Dufferin Rink was hard and smooth.

The rink opening day party last year was far too crowded, and we resolved not to have any more celebrations involving the rink house – it’s no fun to have to take a number to get in and out of the building.  But after that, the rink season was one of the best. Although the weather was relatively mild, the compressors and the rink staff kept our ice in shape and the skaters and shinny hockey players had a really good time – at least until the cliffhanger March season (the sun is already too strong in March, and the ice is too thick by then, and the compressors can’t quite keep up).
It became clear as the rink season went on last year that so many people want to play shinny hockey at this rink that we need to spread the wealth. So last April a large group of shinny hockey players and other rink friends met with rink staff for a post-season planning session. This was the plan they made for this year:

1. CLUSTERING THE RINKS: there are three outdoor artificial ice rinks within ten minutes of each other in this hockey-crazy neighbourhood: Dufferin, Wallace (at Dufferin and Dupont) and Campbell (just north of Wallace Street on Campbell Avenue, near Lansdowne and Dupont).  Tino DeCastro, the City’s recreation supervisor for this area, agreed to treat these rinks as a CLUSTER. That means that when there are no shinny hockey permit spaces available at Dufferin Rink, groups can still – easily – get a permit space at one of the other two rinks in this cluster.

2. LET THE WOMEN PLAY SHINNY: Women’s shinny hockey is a thrill whose time seems to have come. It’s sprung up all over the city. Last year we added an open shinny hour, then had to change that to two hours. After one hour of racing up and down the ice, some women are just not ready to stop. This year, there will be women’s open shinny times at all three cluster rinks: Wednesdays 9-11 p.m. at Dufferin Rink, Thursdays 8.30-10p.m. at Wallace rink, and Sundays 6 to 8p.m. at Campbell.  And for the first time this year: a city-wide women’s shinny hockey tournament, at Dufferin Grove Park January 6-7, organized by Deirdre Norman.

3. ALL-DAY SUNDAY SHINNY: is there some old Sunday-sports prohibition that explains why there’s almost no place to play open shinny hockey on Sundays in Toronto? Who knows?  But that’s over now, in this cluster. On Sundays, there’s half-day shinny hockey at Campbell Rink, shinny hockey after 6 p.m. at Dufferin Rink, and all-day shinny hockey at Wallace Rink.  At long last!

4. STAFF-SHARING AND FOOD: We’ll try to make a start on this. Each outdoor artificial ice rink cost about $1 million to build, but many of those rinks are a bit orphaned – they need more care. Dufferin Rink has demonstrated that a cared-for rink is a lively rink, and a lively rink makes a wonderful, diverse neighborhood meeting place even in the cold of winter. All rinks of this cluster will get more care this winter. For starters, senior rink staff will keep in close touch with rink users and follow up all rink user suggestions within days, for all three rinks of this cluster. Tino DeCastro’s slogan is “let’s make it work.” He’s helped make it work for Dufferin Rink; now it’s time to spread the wealth. (Also with snacks, cookies and drinks available for hungry/thirsty shinny players at all three rinks.)

5. OPEN EARLY AND OPEN TWO: every year from the beginning of November, kids and adults are knocking on the rink house doors, asking, is the rink open yet? When we were finally allowed to open last year in the last week of November, the rink was mobbed, and there were near-riots a couple of nights – too many people trying to share the ice. With this much enthusiasm for winter sports, the people at the April rink planning meeting resolved to ask the city to open selected rinks in the middle of November, always two in one area. That way, if one rink is too full, the overflow can go to a rink close by. In our case, we decided on Wallace Rink as the backup. To compensate for the early opening, we’d close on the last weekend in February, when it’s hard to keep good ice in anyway.

RINK CHANGES: SOME BAD NEWS THAT HAS TO CHANGE

Almost every year since amalgamation (1998), rink users have had to stop the City from delaying the rink opening. Last year was an exception, but this year it’s starting again. It seems that the City wants to open our rink a week later than last year. We thought we had finally persuaded the City to settle on opening the first batch of rinks on the last Saturday of November, but now we’ve been told that two rinks only (city-wide) will open on December 3, and the rest not until December 10.

A bit of history: Toronto is rich in outdoor artificial ice rinks – we have 51, spread throughout our neighbourhoods. During the 1980’s, when there were a lot of experienced rink operating staff in the city, these outdoor rinks usually opened shortly after the middle of November and closed on the last weekend in February. Those dates work the best because the big enemy of an outdoor rink is not mild temperatures but the angle of the sun.  The sun is weakest from November to February. By March, even if it’s below zero, a sunny day will turn a rink to mush.

Beginning at the end of the 1980s, there were so many reorganizations of city staff that there were new people in charge of rinks every few years. Many were unfamiliar with running rinks, and they had to learn from scratch, again and again. For the few experienced rink staff remaining, and rink users with a memory, this has been utterly frustrating. And here we go again –- new management, another learning curve, another rink user campaign needed to remind city staff about the best ways to run the rinks. (How long, Lord?)

The myth of “no money”: three years ago the city toyed with the idea of not opening rinks until just before Christmas. That was to save money. What a numbers game: 51 neighbourhood rinks worth a million dollars each, 5 months of cold weather, 3 months of low or no sun, but only 10 weeks a year for people to have the enjoyment of the rinks. Many people from this neighborhood got in touch with their friends all over the city, and e-mails flooded City Hall. The rinks opened earlier.

It’s good that City staff and Councillors listened, but creating problems and then backing off from irate citizens is not a viable way to govern.

When city staff say they can’t open the rinks because they have no money, we say: we have some suggestions. Redirect your spending. Our little research group, CELOS, has been looking into where the Parks, Forestry and Recreation annual budget of $210-plus million goes. (Doing this research is like pulling teeth, there are so many secrets.)

One place is consultants’ fees: too much money seems to go into buying advice from consultants. Detailed information about consulting contracts is supposed to be public but most of it is hidden. Still, with some digging it’s possible to find some of these contracts.

Example One: It appears that a consultant (an architect) was paid $2000 to help pick out the new rubber flooring for Dufferin Rink House, and then to design a pattern of laying the tiles. There were four similar products to pick from, and the tile pattern is: gray in the middle, blue around the outside. $2000 can be used to buy that kind of advice or, preferably, to run the rink an extra week.

Example Two: In 2001, the city paid WGA Wong Gregerson Architects $392,448 to tell the city what needs to be fixed in “recreational and cultural facilities.” In 2004, the city gave Accent Building Sciences a contract for $803,000 to give more city-wide advice on the same issue. At Dufferin Rink, the consultant recommended, for this year, fixing broken hockey boards ($19,000 for twenty or so new pieces of plywood and a paint job, routinely done every year anyway), putting in the new rubber changeroom tiles (we noticed ourselves that the old ones were in shreds; new tiles $15,000), replacing a compressor in the mechanical room ($105,000, but a visit from the compressor company established that our existing compressor is still fine), and fixing a gate that was twisted by a zamboni bang (the zamboni operator and the rink guards had reported it since it was obvious that the gate was hard to close). Along with several other assorted items including a $13,000 “contingency” amount (?), those jobs are listed at $190,000 in the budget. Question: which of these problems could have been addressed by city staff without the consultants?

Example Three: last December the City hired a very large American company, “Cinergy Solutions,” to help “retrofit” all the rinks and arenas so they would be more energy-efficient. The contract is for $10.3 million, all borrowed money. Two years from now, Parks and Recreation will have to begin paying back this loan, with interest, from its operating funds (operating funds are the money for staff, zambonis, etc.). Over $1 million a year has to come out of Park (and rink) operating funds. The contract says that no money will really be lost because the company guarantees that the city will be saving an equal or greater amount from its reduced energy costs. But the baseline energy cost chart, for comparison after the retrofit work is done, seems very dubious. And so far the actual methods of the energy retrofit are a mystery (i.e. the company says that actual descriptions of the work are a trade secret, and so the City’s Freedom of Information office wrote to us: “access denied.”) Question:  Can rink staff and rink users work together with city technical staff and help to meet Kyoto targets without $10 million of mystery engineering?

Our CELOS researchers met with the new Parks Forestry and Recreation general manager, Brenda Librecz, in September (she took the trouble of coming out to the park personally, although unwell). She is perhaps a little taken aback that outsiders like us are getting so involved in the city staff’s business. But we think it’s high time. Park friends who want to champion city parks (and all that’s in them, in this case the rinks) can help:

call our new general manager’s office (416 392-8207, e-mail blibrecz@toronto.ca) or the mayor’s office (416 397-2489, e-mail mayor_miller@toronto.ca). Let them know we want to work with them to help them spend their budgets sensibly, and let them know that cutting the rink season is a false economy.

OUR TAXES: Parks and Recreation staff will often say that the millions spent on major projects (and the consultants hired to carry them out) come from a different pocket than operating funds that are used, for instance, to run the rinks. In the end, though, all the money the city takes in taxes comes from the same pocket – ours. Taxes are a pool of money intended for the good of us all. City staff are there to help us make the most of this pool – that’s their job, even if they don’t always remember it. In this huge city, their days are often chaotic and it’s hard to for them to keep their focus. Park friends can help remind city staff of what’s needed – we need to remind them to 1. talk to us, and 2. Collaborate!

CITY SECRETS: CLEANING OUT THE CITY CUPBOARD

The park’s dogged little research group just got incorporated. It’s called CELOS (pronounced si-loss):  “Centre for local research into public space.”  So far, CELOS research has been funded partly by a book grant Jutta Mason got from the Metcalf Foundation (all this research will be in the book), partly by food cart and snack bar profits (your mini-pizza and cookie money at work), and partly by the people who paid for the “city secrets” freedom of information appeal fees last Christmas. There’s more information about CELOS’s efforts on the park web site; click on the research page. Research help is always welcome; send suggestions to celos@dufferinpark.ca.

CAMPFIRES IN THE PARK IN FALL

We’re back to two campfire sites now that the cob fireplace is also available, but you have to call the park first. Friends of the park have a standing year-round campfire permit.  Park staff will train you in campfire safety if you don’t know already, give you water, pails, and a shovel, and kindling if you need it. You have to bring your own wood. You can also borrow grills from us, and a cast-iron stand, if you want to cook more than marshmallows or hot dogs on a stick. For more information or to book a permit ($10), call the park at 416 392-0913 and ask for Matt or Mayssan, or click on campfires.

A few VERY important reminders: 1. the fire permits are for small cozy campfires. No bonfires in the park, ever, except on the Night of Dread. 2.  You can’t go home without making sure the fire is out completely, no smoldering. 3.  You have to bring back everything you borrow from the park staff.

THE COB COURTYARD IS READY FOR USE

Georgie Donais writes: “Thank you to everyone for helping with and supporting the project, and for coming out to celebrate the wall's completion! I want to remind folks that the wall is there for everyone to use: sinks will be operational until the end of October, when they'll be shut down for the winter; electricity can be turned on by park staff if you need it; and fire permits are available for the fireplace. See you in the park!”
The cob courtyard party was astounding: an estimated 500 people came out to celebrate Georgie’s project, including many of the people who helped out so much. The park staff knocked themselves out to feed everyone that wanted food. Some people were exasperated by the commotion and others were thrilled. It was a moving, wonderful, musical party, and the cob courtyard was spectacularly lit with Christmas bulbs, candle lanterns, and fire. The surprise of that huge party was consistent with the surprise of the whole project – who would have thought that amateurs could build something so beautiful?

And there may be more to follow: to be discussed all winter, at the rink.

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

This year was the seventh year of the Native Child and Family Services pow wow in the park. There were over a thousand people there. It was exciting, but there were too many people for a neighbourhood park. Our washrooms are too small, even with the rented Johnny-on-the-spots; the many vans and trucks driving through the park are dangerous; the playground is filled with bored older kids doing daredevil stunts with no supervision in sight. This year the cob courtyard was damaged. The event security staff said they had no control of the overflow.  We’ve asked the City Permits Section to relocate the pow wow to Christie Pits next year, because it’s a regional park with a road for vehicles, lots of washrooms, more buildings for performers to change, a food service building adapted to large groups, and a variety of sports areas. Hopefully the event organizers will bring along extra staff and crafts and sports equipment for the many children who quickly tire of watching the dancers, and then the pow wow will be even more fun, for the kids in whose honour it’s held.

Neighbourhood parks can hold a lot of liveliness, but that needs to be on the scale of picnics and occasional smaller festivals (and markets), not huge city-wide events. As the park gets ever more friends, we’re learning that there have to be limits to growth.

TRIBUTE TO A GARDENER: ARIE KAMP

The park’s flowerbeds got away from us a bit this summer – there was too much to do, and the sustained hot weather required gardening labour that was just not available. Even so, the park flowerbeds are full of colour, and there are many compliments from people walking through. The volunteer gardeners, especially Klaudia Meier and Reema Tarzi, planted flowers and vegetables and beat back the weeds (now that Caitlin Shea has moved to Switzerland). But there’s another reason for the gardens’ colour and vibrancy: Arie Kamp.

Arie began gardening in the park over ten years ago. He added more and more flowerbeds, and he used to get up at 4.30 a.m. in the summer to tend them, sometimes working until dusk with only a little siesta in between. Arie is 79 now, and he’s mostly concentrating on the beautiful morning glories that he grows up the rink chain-link fence. But the mark of his hands persists everywhere else in the park too. Arie was always a great seed collector. He would ride his bike all over the City, getting the best seeds he could find from public gardens or, with permission, from private ones. Some of the plants from those seeds have established themselves permanently in the park now, and many of Arie’s flowers come up on their own, year after year, in every crack they can find (even between the concrete slabs by the rink house). So, good on you, Arie! (And for anyone who wants to collect seeds from the park, you have Arie’s blessing.)

FARMERS’ MARKET: EVERY THURSDAY 3.00 TO 7 P.M., ON THE RINK PAD

At this time of the year the farmers’ trucks are overflowing with their harvest.  More growers have joined. There’s lots of prepared food too, tasty park bread, snacks. Leave yourself extra time when you go there because it’s also a place where neighbours run into each other and news is exchanged (face to face instead of electronically!). To get on the weekly market news e-list, contact market manager Anne Freeman (leave her a message at the park or e-mail her at market@dufferinpark.ca).

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This printing of the newsletter was again sponsored by Tere Oulette, the owner of a wonderful toy store called Scooter Girl Toys at 187 Roncesvalles, and a very loyal friend of the park. She says she loves the park and she’s sponsoring one print run every month. The other out-of-the-blue sponsors this month are park friends Ron McFarlan and Janet Parsons. They just decided to send the park $100, and it was put straight to work.