Time to Vote!

As some of may already know, there's something great in the works for the "Birchwood" Field, so named due to lack of formal existing name (we know what that's like!) adjacent to Orlebar Park.  

The project, submitted by the Privateers Football Club, has already won $25,000 under the Kraft Celebration Tour contest, which will be put toward more work on the football field. 

That's the good news. 

The great news is that the project is also in the running for an additional $75,000! If successful in winning the additional funding, the priority would be to begin planning toward a building with washrooms and change rooms.

Voting takes place on July 21st and 22nd and there will be a TSN broadcast on August 21st at Victoria Park.

For more information on the proposal for the field can be found here.

It would be amazing if we could get all of the neighbourhood, and our extended social networks, to vote for the field on the 21st and 22nd of July.

Fun times with neighbours

Thank you to everyone who came out today! 

The weather turned out to be great, if a little windy. 

Plenty of people, some food, soccer, getting to know each other, and even a tiny bit of magic. 

We will definitely have to try this again!

Picnic this afternoon

Despite Arthur's best efforts, we are on for the neighbourhood picnic this afternoon. Join us at the Orlebar Park at 1pm and bring a snack to share with your neighbours. Don't forget your water and sunscreen!

Rain date

Just in case... Still hoping for Arthur to pass us by in time for Sunday afternoon... but...

Rain date for the neighbourhood picnic is next Sunday, July 13th at 1pm.

Check here, on twitter, or on Facebook for updates this weekend.

Helping Out

It's all coming together... 
Here's a preliminary To-Do list for the picnic - this was posted under the main picnic post, but we are adding it here as a stand-alone post as well. 

Many people have asked how they can help out with the picnic. Please let us know, by PM messaging Sam Murphy on facebook or emailing her at pei.sam@gmail.com, if you have an interest in taking on any tasks on the list or have access to items needed. We are, as always, open to new ideas and please let us know if we're forgetting anything. 

This information will also appear on the facebook group site.

Some highlights and logistical matters already tended to:
-The picnic will be potluck style.
-The city will supply extra tables and garbage disposal.
-Posters are going up in the next few days.

To-Do:
1.Celebratory (visual) markers such as a banner(s) or balloons
2.First Aid kit
3.Name Tags
4.Organize Music(ians)
5.Booth with some comment boards would be a great idea. We could have a few different topics:
6.Activities for the kids 
7.Shelter (Does anybody have shelter or know of anybody who might have one?)

Picnic!!

Project components

Below are a few details on how we had seen some of the more "organized" components of the project possibly unfolding, keeping in mind that we are completely open to comments and suggestions. Of course, the overall goal of building a community identity and greater engagement will take time and continue on.

Project planning (June)

- Engaging partners – City, heritage resources, schools, area residents
- Detailed planning of survey and other engagement tools

Project launch (June-July)

- Initial public communications
- Heritage open house
- Park planning open house
- Social activities – BBQ in the park
- Invitation at all events to suggest neighbourhood names

Name contest launch (August – September)

- Run engagement exercise with name options
- Launch vote

Park visioning & design (August – September)

- On site exercises

- Design ‘contest’

Project wrap-up (October)

- Selection of neighbourhood name and public reveal
- Final proposal for park
- Submission of results to City Council

First Meet and Greet

Last night, there was an initial group meeting of residents.  The objective behind the meeting was to build neighbourhood awareness, and build community through an informal meet and greet.  One component of the gathering was updating residents on a micro-grant application submitted by a few area residents.

It was quite neat to meet so many people interested in seeing where this goes.

For those who couldn't make it, we chatted about our interest in developing a stronger sense of community in the neighbourhood and exploring ways to make the park a place for all age groups.

As a first step, we thought we'd set a date for a neighbourhood picnic. The date we are working with is July 6th, around 1pm, at the park.

In the meantime, we can keep chatting about the various aspects of the project within the Facebook page. Feel free to share your ideas and thoughts as well, and please keep spreading the word to your neighbours.

The Facebook group was started last month in efforts to start to spread the word and to engage a larger audience, so anyone living in the area bounded by University, Euston, Longworth and Allen is more than welcome to participate.

If you know of people who want to be involved but who don't do Facebook, feel free to share this blog site as a place for basic updates, but we will also have to depend on word of mouth and posters as well. For what it is worth, I also try to post some of this on Twitter under @sammyjmurphy.

And a blog too...

It's a simple fact that not everyone is on Facebook or Twitter, so in the interest of sharing information as widely as possible, I'm creating a blog where information can be cross-posted.