Runnymede Park

    Runnymede Park is located in The Junction, Toronto's neighbourhood stretching on Dundas Street West between Keele and Runnymede Streets. Runnymede Park is for those athletes in you. If you are a sportsy-outdorsy type of individual,  take a stroll in The Junction and visit this park. The park offers pool (open in the summer), tennis courts, a soccer field, a baseball diamond, a bocce court and two children playgrounds.

  

 Fun fact: Runnymede Park was one of the few parks in Toronto that had a railway siding running through it. Until 2008, the rail was operated by Canadian Pacific Railway when the track was put out of service and the rails were removed from the park.

Save the date: June 29, 2013

      Every year, Maltese Community of Toronto celebrates Maltese Imnarja Festival in Runnymede Park. Come out to the annual celebration enjoy Maltese-style picnic, folk dancing and traditional singing. This is a great way to explore Toronto's cultural heritage. If you do not want wait until June to visit the park, come out for a picnic at any time and use parks tables and benches. To keep the park clean bring compostable food containers, thus if anything is left behind it wont's harm the nature.

Environmental Tip:

Pick up litter and bring your own water bottle (you can refill it in a water fountain inside Gorge Bell Arena). A great way to reduce plastic waste and take care of the environment. 

Toronto Music Garden

Toronto Music Garden is located along Toronto’s Harbourfront in downtown Toronto, located at 475 Queen's Quay West on the waterfront between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue. 

This park is called a “Music Garden” because the landscape was designed to reflect Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major. It was designed by famous international cellist Yo Yo Ma and landscape designer Julie Moir Messery. For more information on the unique design, click the link below:

http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/thewaterfront/parks/musicgarden.cfm

The music garden is best known for its Summer Music in the Garden performances and its audio guided tours which happen between June until September. The garden is also perfect for any flower or garden lover, as it boasts a vast array of plant species and wildlife. 

Although the park is significantly quieter during March, the park is open all year around and is the perfect time to explore the paths and musical landscape of the garden. Sitting right at the waters edge makes for breathtaking and peaceful views. If you are looking for more recreational activities, just to the east of the park sits Harbourfront center and the Natrel skating rink as well as many restaurants. Who wouldn’t love to skate and eat right on the waterfront?

For more information on the various recreational activities at Harbourfront Center, click on the link below: http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/thewaterfront/parks/musicgarden.cfm

Environmental Tip: The Toronto Music Garden and Harbourfront center are located just a short walk from Union Station. Instead of wasting gas by driving, take the TTC or go bus to Toronto’s oldest train station and enjoy the wonderful sights and sounds of the waterfront as you walk to the garden.

Trinity Bellwoods Park

Amidst the busy city life of downtown Toronto lies a grassy oasis perfect for any nature lover to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Trinity Bellwoods is hands down, one of the most beautiful parks in the Toronto downtown area. Located between Dundas and Queen West on the North and South and Gorevala and Crawford Ave. from East to West, this park has everything you could ask for; grassy knowles, long and winding walkways, ancient oak trees, playground, skating rink, and more.  You can be sure that there is a little bit of something for everyone, no matter the season.

So what could you possibly do in March you ask? Well who doesn’t love skating? Trinity Bellwoods is fully equipped with a Natural Ice Rink – as long as weather permits.  The park also launched their first ever Greenhouse just this year! During the winter season the park hosted an informal discussion series called “Don’t Ask an Expert”. An example of a talk done recently was “How Not to Plan a bike vacation” by professional cyclist Jungle Ling.

If you want to get actively involved in the Trinity Bellwoods community, there are three things you could do. First off, there is the Adopt a Tree program. This program is suggested for families with young children or dogs. Simply put, you sign up for a specific young tree and make sure it gets 5 gallons of water a week when there is no sufficient rainfall. There are taps in the park, and water containers and carts are provided by the parks community volunteer group.

Next, you could get involved with Friends of Trinity Bellwoods, a community volunteer group dedicated to the livelihood of this Toronto Park. Meetings are held monthly and are open to all community members. Noteworthy events to consider are the Park Days. Held every spring and fall, these day long events encourage everyone in the community to participate in a day of weeding, mulching, planting, litter picking, and general promotion and discussion of care for the park. Go to the link below for more information.

http://www.trinitybellwoods.ca/

Finally, the summer season brings in the famous farmers market; which supports and promotes local, sustainable agriculture. The farmer’s market aims to educate the community on the food they eat, where it comes from, and how the food is grown and prepared.

So Why Participate You Ask? Why would I waste my precious time weeding and litter picking at the local park? Well, Friends of Trinity Bellwoods believes this; Toronto parks are the “lungs” of our city. Park trees and green spaces help clean our air of pollutants. We all want to breath healthy, clean air, right? Through this park, we can promote a lively, safe community through small interactions amongst people. 

“Parks allow people from all walks of life to spontaneously cross paths, and strike up conversation” – Friends of Trinity Bellwoods.