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News 2007-2008

News 2007-2008

From the March 2008 Newsletter:

PARK EVENTS IN MARCH

March is a mixed mud/snow/mud season at the park. However the rink is open until March 16, so there will still be things happening there.

March 8: Saturday morning skating party

From skating teacher Eroca Nicols: The skating lesson teachers enjoyed their time with the kids so much they’ve invite everyone from the lessons to a skating party on Saturday morning from 10-12, everyone else is welcome too! We will have some friendly music selected by Ginger with Christina Serra's help. So you boogie-skate and fall safely. Other activities:

• 2 foot glide race! (Nick, Sean) / Ginger and Sean will have a gentle mini hockey game. / Figure skating demo! / Ice fishing theatrics (For those kids who enjoy pretending to be fish on the ice / campfire for warming.

March ice on the rink

Dufferin Rink is scheduled to stay open to the end of March break, that is, to March 16. Outdoor ice rinks often do poorly in March because the angle of the sun is too high and therefore on sunny days the ice is bad even in below-zero temperatures. (We’ve invited Councillor Ootes to come by for a look and a chat about this.) This winter again, on clear sunny days the rink staff will close the rink to skaters all afternoon until dark. Remember to call ahead: 416 392-0913. (That’s also the citywide rink hotline.)

posted on March 09, 2008

Helmet policy causes conflict at city rinks

By: Kevin Kennedy
Published: March 6th, 2008
Source: spacing.ca

The City of Toronto is having difficulty enforcing a six-year-old helmet policy, which has come under criticism in the city’s south end. “We have had difficulties with Jutta Mason and the group that she represents,” said City of Toronto supervisor of active living Kevin Mercer. “They don’t like helmets and I’m not really sure why.” Mason, an ardent public space activist, is a founding member of the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park. Though a three-phase helmet policy began in 2002, the issue came to the forefront when a ten-year-old child was killed while playing shinny hockey without a helmet in 2006 in Guelph. This season, City officials have made a heavy push for compliance at all outdoor rinks.

According to the City’s “Helmet Policy For Ice Activities” which was approved August 16, 2002 and revised September 17, 2004, “All participants (preschool, children, youth, and adults) who participate in and play supervised shinny hockey, hockey, or power skate activities are required to wear Canadian Standards Association approved hockey helmets.” Also noted in the policy is that staffers “are required to enforce this Policy and they are to ask participants to leave the ice if they do not have the required CSA approved hockey helmet.”

Read more >>

From the February2008 Newsletter:

Cluster Rink Events: Dufferin - Wallace - Campbell - Christie

EVENTS IN FEBRUARY AT DUFFERIN RINK

Friday Feb 8, 7pm-10pm, Saturday Feb 9, 9am-7:30pm: The 3rd Annual THE WOMEN OF WINTER OUTDOOR SHINNY TOURNAMENT From women’s hockey organizer Deirdre Norman: Fifty women shinny players of all ages and levels of play are back on the ice to play the game we all love. Not just another pretty game, TWOW is action packed and community focused. Come on and check us out. If you normally play shinny at Dufferin Rink, that weekend is a good time to try out Wallace, Campbell and Christie Rinks. There are schedules for all those rinks available at Dufferin Rink.

Saturday February 16, 6 pm to 10 pm: The annual bike couriers’ BIKE RACES ON ICE. This tournament will once again have the initial elimination rounds on the hockey side only, followed by a two-rink final that can be very exciting (and occasionally a bit bloody, if there’s a collision – the bike tires have many little studs in them). This event is just as much fun inside the rink house, with a corner set up as a pit-stop bike repair station, and lots of unusual bikes (and unusual cyclists).

EVENTS IN FEBRUARY AT CAMPBELL RINK

*Two Neighbourhood Shinny Tournaments at Campbell Rink* - There's still room to sign up! You can register with a team, or be placed on one. These are organized tournaments with referees, a score keeper and a time keeper. *Ages 16-20*: Sunday February 17, 10:00am-5:00pm. It's $8 per person/$45 per team of 6 to join, and you get snack bar food and drinks throughout the day, plus medals for 1st and 2nd place teams. To join contact Chris Pacheco at ChrisP@campbellpark.ca or 416-392-0911, or write your name on the sign-up sheet at Wallace, Campbell, or Dufferin Rinks. *Ages 10-15*: Sunday February 24, 10:00am-5:00pm. Registration is free, and there'll be prizes for the winners. To join contact Dan Watson at outdoor.shinny@gmail.com, call 416-392-0913, or put your name on the sign-up sheets at Campbell, Wallace, and Dufferin Rinks. Things have come a long way since the days of no shinny at all on Sundays!

CAMPBELL FAMILY SATURDAYS: from 4 to 6 pm: campfire with free hot dogs and hot chocolate, plus $2 skate rentals and music to skate to. This is a step toward reintroducing pleasure-skating at Campbell Rink. Everyone welcome!

EVENTS IN FEBRUARY AT WALLACE RINK

Sunday Feb 24 2- 6pm: The Gas Station Islanders' Family Skate'n'Shinny Rock'n'Roll Day. This is a family-friendly program in partnership with the City of Toronto. The Gas Station Islanders are a member of the Good Times Hockey League of the Arts (www.goodtimes.exclaimhockey.ca). From the organizers: "The Gas Station Islanders hockey club would like invite absolutely everybody to come out for an afternoon of shinny and hockey skills competitions for all ages." There'll be soup and cider at the campfire, live rink-side bands (featuring Don Kerr, Tim Vesley and Dylan Hudecki), a raffle, and drop-in shinny drills and skills competitions on the hockey pad from 3:00pm-5:30pm. The event is also a fundraiser for Right2Play (www.right2play.org) - an organization that organizes sport-oriented programs for children in areas affected by war, poverty and disease. If you want to pitch in, the suggested donation is $5.

WALLACE FAMILY SUNDAYS:

From 2 to 4, campfire with hot chocolate (free!) and hot dogs.

EVENTS IN FEBRUARY AT CHRISTIE RINK

Member of Parliament Olivia Chow is having a skating party on Monday, February 18 (Family Day), from 2 to 4pm, with rink staff helping out. There will $2 skate rentals, Olivia Chow’s favourite music CDs, and hot chocolate and cider at a campfire. Everyone welcome. Christie Family Sundays with campfires, the rest of February also: every Sunday from 2.30 to 4.30 pm.

Monday February 18: FAMILY DAY STATUTORY HOLIDAY

The rinks will be on a holiday schedule (posted at the rink, or look at cityrinks.ca All city rinks were directed to reduce their hours (4 hours less than normal) on the holiday. That would mean keeping Dufferin Rink closed all morning of the holiday Monday. On February 6, CELOS sent a letter to Malcolm Bromley, the city’s Recreation Director, suggesting that the snack bar income from Wallace and Campbell rinks could be used to restore the four nearby rinks to normal hours on the holiday ($240 altogether). There would be enough funds to help keep a few other rinks open for the normal hours elsewhere in the city, as well. Mr.Bromley replied that he would ask his staff to work with CELOS “to find a solution that doesn’t require a donation.” This isn’t really a donation, it’s putting snack bar funds to work. But it turns out that Mr.Bromley will permit the four local rinks – Christie, Campbell, Wallace, and Dufferin, to be open for the normal hours, without being cut back. So that leaves the snack bar funding for helping some other city rinks stay open longer on the holiday. Wonderful. On holidays people have more time to skate!

From the February2008 Newsletter:

WALLACE RINK AND CAMPBELL RINK

Fifteen minutes away from Dufferin Rink there are two more outdoor rinks, WallaceRink (at Dufferin and Dupont just south of the Galleria Shopping Mall) and Campbell Rink (on Campbell Avenue just north of Wallace Avenue, south of Dupont). For the first time this year they’re under the same supervision as Dufferin Rink. Each of the three rinks has different features, so try them all!

Wallace Rink, newly rebuilt last year with a circular pleasure skating pad as well as a hockey pad, has $2 skate rental every day. The loaner-skates collection started with a gift of 20 pairs collected by Deirdre Norman of the Women of Winter women’s shinny program. Rink staffer Dan Watson collected 30 more, numbered them all, keeps them all sharp, and has set up a lending system. There’s also a daily snack bar with mini-pizzas and cookies, juice and pop. On Thursdays it’s WOMEN’S SHINNY from 8.30 to 10 pm. And on Sundays it’s family day with a campfire by the rink from 2 to 4pm (with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and hot dogs), and sometimes music. The bright, new rink change room is open until 9 pm every evening, set up with games and kids’ books for breaks between skating. After 9 pm there is no staff supervision of the rink – it’s a “pond” then, often with pond hockey on the pleasure-skating side while a permit uses the hockey side.

Campbell Rink is a large single pad located in Campbell Park, at the south end of the summer soccer destination for the Toronto Eagles’ soccer club. It’s completely surrounded by houses. It’s much more of a neighbourhood rink, and at most times it is shared-use: usually shinny hockey with sometimes a few pleasure skaters around the outside. Campbell Rink is unsupervised on weekdays, but the change room is open between 3.30 and 9pm, with hot chocolate, cookies hot dogs, and juice or pop. Checkers and chess are also set up. Every Saturday from 4 to 6 is supervised pleasure-skating only, with a campfire, free hot chocolate and hot dogs, and $2 skate rentals (and sometimes music).

From the February2008 Newsletter:

SKATING IN MARCH?

Dufferin Rink is scheduled to stay open to the end of March break, that is, to March 16. Outdoor ice rinks do poorly in March because the angle of the sun is too high and therefore on sunny days the ice is bad even in below-zero temperatures. This winter again, on sunny days the rink staff will close the rink to skaters all afternoon until dark. Remember to call ahead: 416 392-0913. (That’s also the citywide rink hotline.)

From the February2008 Newsletter:

CITYRINKS.CA

The rink information web site run by CELOS has broadened its scope to include all 49 city rinks plus the outdoor rink at Harbourfront. There’s a map showing all the locations, each rink has its own information section, and there are lots of stories from the CELOS rink visitors and rink users, often with pictures. The CELOS rink visitors are working on a report card for each individual rink, with specific suggestions for improvements when necessary. All rink user suggestions welcome! The updated City of Toronto Outdoor Artificial Ice Rinks Report will be published in mid-February.

From the February2008 Newsletter:

NOVICE ADULT SHINNY HOCKEY PRACTICE

Are you a wannabe shinny hockey player, but just starting to get the hang of it? Dufferin Rink offers an hour of protected drop-in shinny hockey time, Wednesday nights from 10 to 11 p.m. None of the Dufferin Rink hot shots are allowed on the ice during that time. No need to register, and it’s free, with a staff resource person on the ice who runs some drills and passing practice and then supervises a game. For more information, call the park at 416 392-0913, and ask for Dan Watson.

From the February2008 Newsletter:

WALLACE RINK AND CAMPBELL RINK

Fifteen minutes away from Dufferin Rink there are two more outdoor rinks, WallaceRink (at Dufferin and Dupont just south of the Galleria Shopping Mall) and Campbell Rink (on Campbell Avenue just north of Wallace Avenue, south of Dupont). For the first time this year they’re under the same supervision as Dufferin Rink. Each of the three rinks has different features, so try them all!

Wallace Rink, newly rebuilt last year with a circular pleasure skating pad as well as a hockey pad, has $2 skate rental every day. The loaner-skates collection started with a gift of 20 pairs collected by Deirdre Norman of the Women of Winter women’s shinny program. Rink staffer Dan Watson collected 30 more, numbered them all, keeps them all sharp, and has set up a lending system. There’s also a daily snack bar with mini-pizzas and cookies, juice and pop. On Thursdays it’s WOMEN’S SHINNY from 8.30 to 10 pm. And on Sundays it’s family day with a campfire by the rink from 2 to 4pm (with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and hot dogs), and sometimes music. The bright, new rink change room is open until 9 pm every evening, set up with games and kids’ books for breaks between skating. After 9 pm there is no staff supervision of the rink – it’s a “pond” then, often with pond hockey on the pleasure-skating side while a permit uses the hockey side.

Campbell Rink is a large single pad located in Campbell Park, at the south end of the summer soccer destination for the Toronto Eagles’ soccer club. It’s completely surrounded by houses. It’s much more of a neighbourhood rink, and at most times it is shared-use: usually shinny hockey with sometimes a few pleasure skaters around the outside. Campbell Rink is unsupervised on weekdays, but the change room is open between 3.30 and 9pm, with hot chocolate, cookies hot dogs, and juice or pop. Checkers and chess are also set up. Every Saturday from 4 to 6 is supervised pleasure-skating only, with a campfire, free hot chocolate and hot dogs, and $2 skate rentals (and sometimes music).

From the February2008 Newsletter:

DUFFERIN SHINNY HOCKEY SCHEDULE

Monday – Friday before 9 p.m.:

• 9:00am - 3:15pm all ages (New: on Monday and Friday the rink may not open until 10am, for occasional extra ice maintenance – check at 416 392-0913)
• 3.15pm - ice maintenance
• 3:30pm - 5:30pm Level 2 (about 13 to 17, medium pace)
• 5:30pm - 7:00pm Level 1 (12 and under and parent or caregiver, or novice adult)
• 7.00pm ice maintenance
• 7.15pm – 8.55pm Level 3 (18 and over, fast-paced)

After 9 pm: Monday 9 pm: Seasonal permit (plus “pond hockey” on the pleasure-skating side).
Tuesday 9 - 11 pm: Women’s open shinny (plus “pond hockey” on the pleasure-skating side).
Wednesday 9-10 pm: Seasonal permit. 10-11pm: “beginners only” drop-in shinny (plus “pond hockey” on the pleasure-skating side).
Thursday 9 pm: Seasonal permit (plus “pond hockey” on the pleasure-skating side).
Friday 9 pm: Seasonal permit (plus “pond hockey” on the pleasure-skating side)

Saturday

• 9:00am - 10:00a.m. 9 years old and under, plus caregiver
• 10 am – 12 noon all ages

Pleasure-skating side (9.30 - 1.30 learn-to-skate program on part of the ice)

• 12:00pm - 1:30pm Level 1 (12 and under and parent or caregiver, or novice adult)
• 1.30 pm – ice maintenance
• 1:45pm - 3:45pm all ages
• 3:45pm - 5:15pm Level 2 (about 13 to 17, medium pace)
• 5.15pm – ice maintenance
• 5:30pm - 7:00pm all ages
• 7:00pm - 8:55pm Level 3 (usually 18 and over, fast paced)
• 8.55pm – ice maintenance.
• 9.10 pm: single-occasion permit (open shinny on pleasure-skating side)

Sunday

• 10:00am - 5:00pm No shinny hockey. Pleasure skating both sides.
• 5-6.30 pm: parent/child shinny program, by registration, pleasure skating other side
• 6.30-8 p.m. local adult shinny program, by registration, pleasure-skating other side
• 8-9.30 pm. Seasonal permit, pleasure-skating other side to 9, then “pond hockey”
• 9.30-11: youth shinny program (plus “pond hockey” on the pleasure-skating side)

From the February2008 Newsletter:

PARK FRIENDS DONATE EVEN MORE

In early February, Ryerson nutrition professor Janet Chappell asked for someone to come and talk to her class about food in Dufferin Grove Park. After the class she donated $200 for new skates for the skate-loaner program. Skate-master Dan Watson is thrilled to go back to Canadian Tire again and get another couple of good pairs of the smaller sizes that are in short supply. And then came a shocker: park friend David Rothberg, who’s been coming to Dufferin Grove for years, announced one day a few weeks ago that he had decided to donate $5000 to the outreach work of the rink staff. In his letter he wrote: “My reasons for asking you to take the money are:

• I want the feeling of community to permeate my city
• I prize activity.

David and his wife Alicia Peres are the parents of an enthusiastic small shinny hockey player. They like the fact that the local schools, like the one their son attends, can come to the rinks and have a really good time. So some of the funds found their way to Campbell Rink immediately, and the school visits, with free hot chocolate and free skate and helmet loans, doubled in number. As for the getting the feeling of community to permeate elsewhere – any neighbourhood group that wants a bit of help in livening up their rink, this rink season or next – call 416 392-0913. With this donation, the motto is: “Have campfires/portable bake-oven/loaner skates/Dufferin Grove bread – WILL TRAVEL.”

Older News 2007-2008

From the January2008 Newsletter:

posted January 10, 2008

OUTDOOR RINKS AND THE WEATHER

Toronto’s 49 outdoor rinks are cooled by compressors. That means that in the low-sun months (November, December, January) they can easily keep their ice in temperatures up to 15 degrees or even higher, on cloudy days. During this year’s January thaw, the ice maintenance crews at Dufferin, Wallace and Campbell rinks pushed off the water from rain at intervals during the day and the rinks had lots of good shinny hockey. They had few pleasure skaters, though – and the rink hot line that runs out of Dufferin Rink was ringing all the time: “have all the rinks melted?” It seems that many people assumed the ice must be ruined because of the warm weather. Schools cancelled their class skating visits. But the rinks were beautiful! So please pass it on: natural ice rinks need freezing temperatures. Compressor-cooled rinks don’t! They just need low sun. By the last days of February, if the sun comes out it’s already strong enough to make lots of trouble. But not yet.

Congratulations to the shinny hockey players at Scadding, Wallace, and Dufferin rinks, and to those players who came across town from other rinks, for grasping this weather-and-compressors fact. They played some wonderful shinny games on January 7 and 8 when it was 15 degrees celsius. They complained a bit, though – the ice was fine but the air was too warm. (They may think back on those days with longing, when their toes freeze during the next cold snap.) Congratulations also to the kids’ hockey program at Rennie Rink, which didn’t cancel their games. CELOS researcher Corey Chivers has posted some very clear explanations of how compressor-cooled ice relates to the weather: go to the Cityrinks web site to find out more. And one more thing to remember: according to the CBC, in the last 150 years of temperature recording, there has been a January thaw in every year except one.

From the January2008 Newsletter:

FOOD AT THE RINK

The Zamboni café is open seven days a week, serving park cookies, hot chocolate, mini-pizzas, organic hot dogs, Mary Sylwester’s vegan burgers and warming farmers’ market soup and muffins, park oven bread and butter, Sosnicki’s perogies, and other surprises. On Fridays, and often on Saturdays, the food is a little more elaborate for those rink users who’d like to have supper and skate or visit there with friends.

How the money works: all the food is also a fund-raiser for other park activities. The (very cheap) prices suggested on the menu board are to cover the cost of materials and to add a bit of money to the park fund. If you can’t pay that much, don’t! If you can pay more, do! (It all goes to a good cause – for instance – a cord of wood for the rink woodstove.) If you can’t pay at all, even to cover materials, swap some work for food – the park staff are often swamped, and a bit of help with tidying the rink house or snow shoveling is much appreciated. Or swap something the park can use – a load of clean scrap-wood from home, for instance, to burn in the bread ovens. If you forgot your money at home, just tell the staff you’ll bring it later. It all works out.

From the January2008 Newsletter:

Novice adult shinny hockey practice

Are you a wannabe shinny hockey player, but just starting to get the hang of it? Dufferin Rink offers an hour of protected drop-in shinny hockey time, Wednesday nights from 10 to 11 p.m.. None of the Dufferin Rink hot shots are allowed on the ice during that time. No need to register, and it’s free, with a staff resource person on the ice who runs some drills and passing practice and then supervises a game. For more information, call the park at 416 392-0913, and ask for Dan Watson.

From the January2008 Newsletter:

WALLACE RINK AND CAMPBELL RINK

Fifteen minutes away from Dufferin Rink there are two more outdoor rinks, Wallace Rink (at Dufferin and Dupont just south of the Galleria Shopping Mall) and Campbell Rink (on Campbell Avenue just north of Wallace Avenue, south of Dupont). For the first time this year they’re under the same supervision as Dufferin Rink. Each of the three rinks has different features, so try them all!

Wallace Rink, newly rebuilt last year with a circular pleasure skating pad as well as a hockey pad, has $2 skate rental every day. The loaner-skates collection started with a gift of 20 pairs collected by Deirdre Norman of the Women of Winter women’s shinny program. Rink staffer Dan Watson collected 30 more, numbered them all, keeps them all sharp, and has set up a lending system. There’s also a daily snack bar with mini-pizzas and cookies, juice and pop. On Thursdays there are special community skating programs: learn-to-play-shinny from 7 to 8.30 pm (free, but by registration), and then women’s shinny from 8.30 to 10 pm. And on Sundays it’s family day with a campfire by the rink from 2 to 4pm''' (with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and hot dogs), and sometimes music. The bright, new rink change room is open until 9 pm every evening, set up with games and kids’ books for breaks between skating. After 9 pm there is no staff supervision of the rink – it’s a “pond” then, often with pond hockey on the pleasure-skating side while a permit uses the hockey side.

Wallace Rink has a women’s open shinny time, on Thursdays from 8.30 to 10 pm, and a beginner’s shinny program for the hour and a half before then. Call 416 392-0011 for more information.

Campbell Rink is a large single pad located in Campbell Park, at the south end of the summer soccer destination for the Toronto Eagles’ soccer club. It’s completely surrounded by houses. It’s much more of a neighbourhood rink, and at most times it is shared-use: usually shinny hockey with sometimes a few pleasure skaters around the outside. Campbell Rink is unsupervised on weekdays, but the change room is open between 3.30 and 9pm, with hot chocolate, cookies hot dogs, and juice or pop. Checkers and chess are also set up. Every Saturday from 4 to 6 is supervised pleasure-skating only, with a campfire, free hot chocolate and hot dogs, and $2 skate rentals (and sometimes music).

From the January2008 Newsletter:

BEGINNER SHINNY FOR ADULTS

Rink staffer Dan Watson started adult learn-to-play-shinny sessions last year at Dufferin Rink. The first session got only two people, but soon it got so crowded that Dan had to turn people away. This year Dan added the same kind of sessions at Wallace Rink, and they filled up right away. Adults are avid to play shinny hockey!

So Dan’s adding another series at Christie Rink, on Tuesday nights from 9 to 10.30. From Dan: “None of the Christie Rink hot shots are allowed on the ice during that time. A resource person will be there to help you improve your skills through exercises, drills, and organized games.” It’s a registered free program, and spaces are limited. For more information or to sign up, e-mail outdoor.shinny@gmail.com or call 416 392-0913 and ask for Dan Watson.

From the January2008 Newsletter:

FUTURE OF THE OUTDOOR RINKS BUDGET

As rink users know, the opening of the outdoor rinks was a cliffhanger last fall, when the City government announced it had a general shortfall of funds and the rinks wouldn’t open until January 2008. Eventually City Council passed new taxes, Mastercard threw in $160,000, and the rinks opened in December.

CELOS, the “Centre for Local Research into Public Space,” had presented a report on the running of the outdoor rinks to the Parks Committee of City Council in April 2007. Since the opening of this current rink season, CELOS researcher Michael Monastyrskyj has been visiting rinks all over the city and enlarging the material for the report. Sadly, the Parks Committee has not followed up on the original report. But an expanded version is in the works, as Michael talks to rink users and staff all over the city.

The most surprising finding so far is that some of the outdoor rinks offer almost no time for public skating. Background: in 2001, City Council voted to cut back the outdoor compressor-cooled rink season all over the city to 70 days a year (from the original 106). This move was said to be in the interests of “harmonization,” giving every part of the city the same services.

The outcry from rink users and in the media was so strong that this shortening of the season was never fully implemented. But neither were other aspects of harmonization. If you live in the former city of North York near Broadlands Rink and you’re in the mood to play shinny hockey, you have four hours a week to choose from. Public pleasure-skating time is eight hours a week. If you live near Dufferin Rink, or come all the way down from North York (some do), you have 70 hours of shinny a week to choose from, and 85 hours of pleasure skating.

There are huge variations in public skating times all over the city’s outdoor rinks, and there are also many daytime hours when some rinks are just locked and empty. In addition, there are rinks where the helmet rules, which are policies unsupported by any laws CELOS can find, are so strictly enforced that rink users are regularly turned away.

It’s not surprising that under these conditions, some outdoor rinks have much lower attendance than other rinks. In 2006, a staff report to City Council’s budget committee proposed saving about $1.7 million a year by closing all the outdoor rinks except those at City Hall and Mel Lastman Square. Did that idea seem to make sense because of low usage in parts of the city? CELOS tried to find out if that was the reasoning behind the idea, and what the cost-savings numbers were based on. But the City’s Freedom of Information office is asking CELOS to pay $120 for staff to hunt for answers to those questions. CELOS will now appeal that response to the provincial Information Commissioner, Ann Cavoukian. Charging citizens for answering their questions seems inconsistent with the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act.

The rinks are quite a story. To find out more as the story unfolds, visit Cityrinks.

From the January2008 Newsletter:

NEW RULES FOR SKATE RENTALS

Last rink season the rink lost several of the NHLPA-donation skates through theft. There’s not enough money around to cover skate theft. So skate-lending coordinator Dan Watson has worked out some new rules. He says:

From the January2008 Newsletter:

WINTER CAMPFIRES

So far this year there haven’t been many campfires with hot chocolate beside the rink, to keep warm by when it’s too full in the rink house. The staff had to stop making them when they became a hangout for bored youth with various kinds of trouble-making on their minds. They’ll try again now that the holidays have come and gone. Birthday skating parties can book campfires (since no party can book the inside of the rinkhouse – too crowded). Get in touch with rink staff (staff@dufferinpark.ca, or 416 392-0913, or talk to them in person) at least 48 hours before you want your campfire – that’s the rule since last year’s proliferation of formal protocols.

It’s been exactly a year since Parks supervisor Peter Leiss suspended all campfires and then re-instated them with a much more complicated protocol that has added layers of bureaucracy. There are 171 e-mail exchanges about the campfire struggle, posted on the “problems and follow-up section” of the dufferinpark.ca web site, and there may be many more internal ones that park users never saw. All this for a procedure which is almost identical to what has worked well for 13 years!

When CELOS asked to see the draft protocols and the internal e-mails that resulted in so much extra bureaucracy, they were told it would cost them $1700 for staff to get that information out. Another appeal to the Provincial Commissioner, sigh….

From the January2008 Newsletter:

RINK DONOURS

• This past New Year’s Eve, Dave Bidini and Janet Morassutti invited a whole lot of shinny hockey players and their families to meet them at the rink and skate in the new year. The rink house was supposed to close early, as it does all over town, but the rink staff stayed an extra three hours to lend skates and let people use the washrooms or warm up. Other people came to make a campfire, or play on the snowhills with their kids. After the staff finally had to leave, Dave and Janet took over letting people into the washrooms (the staff lent them the key). A week later, Janet came to the park with an envelope of $270. She and Dave had collected it from the crowd that night, as a thank-you for the rink. So Dan Watson went right out and bought two new pairs of excellent-quality skates for the skate-loan collection (on sale!).
• Leemala Ragubance and Shanti Nahata, long-time park-friends also, gave the park a surprise donation, which paid for two brand new pairs of excellent-quality kids’ loaner-skates, plus this print-run of the newsletter. The occasion? Dhiwali. Leemala said giving a gift of money at Dhiwali brings good luck – if you don’t give an even number (they didn’t). Their generosity was certainly good luck for the park.
• Andrea Adams and Jason Brown gave the park a Christmas donation that’s paying for the February print-run of the newsletter. That’s not the first time, either.
• Wallie Seto brings back the best Montreal bagels for the staff and park volunteers, every time he goes to Montreal. Sometimes the rink staff get so busy they don’t even eat, and then when hunger makes them weak, Wallie’s bagels come to the rescue.
• Suchada Promsiri, who makes delicious sandwiches and pastries at her Osogood Sandwich Shop on College near Ossinton, has been concerned about feeding the staff for years now, and she has brought in many, many trays of treats for them, as well as the contents of her tip jar.

WINTER CAMPFIRES

Most Sundays there will be a campfire with hot chocolate beside the rink, to keep warm by when it’s too full in the rink house. There will also be a campfire on many market days, for skaters to warm up when the rink house is full of market-goers. Birthday skating parties can book campfires (since no party can book the inside of the rinkhouse – too crowded). Get in touch with rink staff (staff@dufferinpark.ca, or 416 392-0913, or talk to them in person) at least 48 hours before you want your campfire – that’s the rule since last year’s tightening.

And of course there’s always the woodstove inside, with books and magazines on the shelf and the windowsill, for people who want a warm break from skating.

posted December 23, 2007

Skating/Rink Holiday Schedule for Christmas 2007 is released.

See Holiday Schedule.

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