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About Us and the Park (Main)

For some history of the park, see the History section.

See also Park Events, People, The Friends of Dufferin Grove Park Annual Reports,
Neighbourhood e-list Discussions, Dufferin Grove Is In Trouble(1), Dufferin Grove Is In Trouble(2)

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About Us | Latest News

About us: who are the friends of Dufferin Grove Park?

posted January 31, 2005, updated August 19, 2008

How the Park Works

Dufferin Grove Park is operated by the City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division. It is not operated by the friends of the park, nor by volunteers.

The friends of Dufferin Grove Park are not an organization. There is no executive, no annual meetings, no formal status. There is no written agreement anywhere between the friends and the city.

So how does it work then? And who are the "friends of Dufferin Grove Park"?

The friends in this case are all those people - more every year - who are friendly to that 14.2 -acre city-owned common space which is bordered by the Dufferin Mall, St.Mary's Catholic High School, and the mixture of affluent and subsidized housing that borders the park to the east and the south. Most park friends express their friendship only though their joy at what goes on in the park. At the other extreme, for the past 15 years, Jutta Mason has made friendship for the park her almost-full-time hobby. In between, there are many people who give things (time, plants, music, theatre, toys in the sandpit, conversation, sports skills, etc., etc.) as they feel moved to do that. There is no schedule to how these things are given, no five-year plan - it's (sorry) organic.

The City does have a formula for advisory councils, which includes a range of possibilities ranging from formal election of local representatives to an informal yearly meeting canvassing park users about what they want for their parks. In 2001, the Economic Development and Parks Committee put out terms of reference for any style of advisory councils. Advisors are to "provide comments, insights, and advice to assist staff in the performance of their responsibilities." They can "provide and, with City staff, manage funding designed to enhance existing City activities...Prepare and make public accurate financial records derived from fundraising activities."

The making and unmaking of Dufferin Grove Park.
Summer Serial

City management says it's run the WRONG WAY.
How did Dufferin Grove Park develop into a park that gets in so much trouble?

Summer Story

Chapter One,Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, and Chapter Eight are now online.

Beginning Sept.1: Fall Story

Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen, Chapter Sixteen, Chapter Seventeen, and Chapter Eighteen, are now online.

Beginning Nov.24: Winter Story

Chapter Nineteen, Chapter Twenty, Chapter Twenty-One, Chapter Twenty-two, Chapter Twenty-three, Chapter Twenty-four, Chapter Twenty-five and Chapter Twenty-six are now online.

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Read more >>

Basketball Court Shooting

When something about guns gets in the news, lots of rumours float around. Here's what happened:

On Monday night (July 11) around 10 pm there was the usual lively scene around the basketball court, with a full-court game and some people hanging around watching at the side. Inside the rink house there was one staff person cleaning and the other one baking muffins for the next day. They both heard a couple of bangs that sounded like firecrackers. Firecrackers have been around a lot since Canada Day, so they didn't think much of it. The muffin-baker was all done, so she left. Moments later, two guys came into the rink house. One of them said, "Help, my friend's been shot." His friend's hand appeared to have been strafed by a bullet and he said he had been shot in the buttock. He sat down, and the staff called the police and administered some first aid. He was then taken away by ambulance.

Although quite a few basketball players at Dufferin Grove have been involved with the courts at some point, they all agree that Dufferin Grove is not a place for guns or fights. Read more >>

The animators of Dufferin Grove Park: a culture of “yes”

The word “animator” shows up in many electoral presentations when public space is discussed. If parks need animators, Dufferin Grove is in luck – they’ve been here for years already. The hobby of the recreation program staff – to remove the blocks to people’s gifts – is the reason why there’s so much going on. The fall so far has shown what happens when park staff have a culture of “yes.” On Labour Day weekend the Morris dancers gathered by the oven and ate and danced and made music. The following market day, a Ukrainian band entertained the farmers. Two days later, the Abrigo Centre celebrated its twentieth anniversary of newcomer counselling, with a giant blow-up clown and candy floss machines and sardines, a rummage sale, and a stage with music and ethnic dancing. As soon as they had finished, a group of jazz musicians took their place and made sophisticated (difficult!) music near the marsh fountain. The weekend after, a group of environmentalist/cyclist/musicians set up special bikes hooked up to amplifiers and gave a concert beside the field house. The organizers said they hadn’t been sure they could pull it off, so they put up no posters for this event – only a facebook event notice. It turned out that the music was beautiful, the pedal-power amplification clear and steady but not over the top, and the facebook-summoned audience sizeable and appreciative. The weekend after that, the annual Havelock Street Fair organizers held the usual potluck supper by the park ovens. After supper, there was music on Havelock Street. But it had begun to rain, so the park staff lent the band two of the park tents, and the show went on.

The last weekend of September had the annual pow wow, with tipis, drums, dancers in fantastic costumes, buffalo burgers, and many vending tents. Lots of people came, and it was clearly an occasion when friends from all over the city could catch up with each other. Then, as soon as October began, the rain started. No matter – on the first Saturday, a group of refugee Hungarian Roma (Gypsy) families came to cook goulash over an open fire. Their support workers, from St. Christopher House, translated. The group, they said, wanted to cook outside because their traditional goulash tastes much better if it’s cooked over a campfire. It must be true. The park program staff had brought over two of the market tents and set them up over some picnic tables, to give shelter from the rain. The big cookpot of goulash served not only the newcomer families, but everyone else in the rainy park as well – and it was beyond delicious.

10 per cent savings

Toronto is soon going to be caught up in a pretty big shortfall of money, and cuts are going to be made that will need to be more than cosmetic. The city’s chief financial officer says that next year’s city budget is short by $774 million, and the word this year is that every departmental budget of the city has to be cut by 10 per cent. This means Parks, Forestry and Recreation too. Right now, it costs $376 million to run the parks and rec centres and take care of the trees. About $100 million is covered by government grants and fees, but that’s not enough.

That's because the increase in the Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PFR) Division's spending has been dramatic. According to the last budget report, PFR operating costs have increased $51 million in the last four years, or which $32 million was in rising wage and salary costs.

So Dufferin Grove Park's budget will have to be reduced by 10 per cent. Finding out which ten per cent needs some careful thought, by park users. That means first figuring out what the park budget is – harder than you might think. However, CELOS has been tracking numbers for some years, and we think that the park’s budget is about $429,500 for this year. Read more >>

Campfires in the park

The “culture of yes” that animates the park’s program staff doesn’t only pertain to groups and public events, of course. The park offers many pleasing sights of sociability at picnics, both morning and afternoon. At night-time the fun carries on, with staff booking campfires in the central area or nearer the playground (sometimes at both). Having a cookout or a marshmallow roast means going to some trouble. People have to bring firewood and kindling and supplies and blankets for chilly nights. The park’s program staff make it a bit less cumbersome by lending out trivets, and a big pot for cider, and metal skewers for marshmallows or hot dogs. Despite the fuss it takes people to organize such an occasion, they often call to book another one. Fire, as the Roma families said, makes everything taste so good. And incidentally, it puts people into the park at night, when it would otherwise be deserted. Safer for everybody, cheaper and more fun than police patrols. To book a campfire: 416 392-0913, or staff@dufferinpark.ca.

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Ward 18 City Councillor Ana Bailao

City Councillor Ana Bailao, the new elected representative for Ward 18, is holding her first Town Hall meeting, about the upcoming budget. This will be at the end of a whole week of City Hall budget briefings, so she'll have lots to tell. Location is the Wallace Emerson Community Centre, 1260 Dufferin (just south of Dupont, west side). Read more >>

News 2011

Peace Sukkah

October 16, 2011

Click on poster for more information.

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Yoga in the park

Thursdays at 6

Everyone welcome!

Free!

From the Summer 2011 Newsletter:

Public meeting: The future of the park.

Tuesday June 21, 7 to 9 pm, with Councillor Ana Bailao. At the park clubhouse. Bake-oven supper available from 6 p.m. Everyone welcome!

Brenda Patterson, the general manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation, has been meeting with people across the city to discuss the current organizational restructuring, called the Recreation Service Plan. Her consultations have been going on at the same time as the City’s broader public meetings about the Core Service Review, to consider what programs/facilities can be cut, what fees can be raised. The City is approaching a watershed of insufficient funds: we are short between $500 and $770 million for next year’s budget.

General Manager Patterson has invited Torontonians to hold their own meetings about what kind of Recreation programs there should be, and forward the conclusions to her staff. A good idea! The meeting topic for the Dufferin Grove meeting just needs to be broadened a little, to include how to protect the park as the budget storm approaches.

Parks and Community Centres are high on the list of places to cut costs. In the last four years, the operating cost of Parks, Forestry, and Recreation has increased by $51 million (to $376 million this year). Nearly $32 million of this rapid cost increase is for wages and salaries. Dufferin Grove Park users know that despite this increase, a week was cut off the beginning of last rink season, and there are so few city carpenters left that we have only half of the picnic tables we had a few years ago. What’s in our future, for all the city’s parks and public buildings? There may be mothballed wading pools and ice rinks, and fire-sales for community centre buildings, while taxes go up.

Costs need to decrease, that’s pretty clear from the math, but the interesting question for park users is – how to simplify in smart ways instead of waiting for our troubled councillors to hit the problem with a blunt hammer in September. So come to the meeting to help begin these neighbourhood deliberations. See the money issue for more information,
There will be a kids’ play area set up near the meeting. In the weeks leading up to the 21st, there will be some fascinating facts and figures posted on the park bulletin boards and on the website, in preparation.

Adopt-A-Thon

Saturday June 11, Sunday June 12

10am to 5 pm

Animals available for adoption, at Dufferin Grove Park, through:
TORONTO ANIMAL SERVICES
SOUTH REGION

Click on poster for more information

Read More News 2011>>

posted March 1st, 2010

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In February 2010, Dufferin Grove got in trouble

Working in public space, with the people who use it, is the job of Parks and Recreation Division. But at Dufferin Grove Park, the recreation supervisor who matched local initiatives with the needed support was moved away from contact with citizens completely, on February 19. We believe this is meant to send a warning to his colleagues across the city: don’t collaborate with local projects unless specifically directed from downtown. The current administration's top-down approach, mostly speaking with very little listening, is a very bad thing for our parks and community centres. It should be the other way around. Read more about Dufferin Grove is in trouble

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