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.