Leaside Gardens holiday office hours.
The Leaside Gardens office will be closed December 25th, 26th and January 1st.
Patrick Rocca’s Annual Holiday Skate
Please Join us and the community Sunday December 30th from 3 to 4pm for a Holiday Skate compliments of Patrick Rocca.
Join Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund free public skate Sunday December 2nd at 3pm.
Please join us for a free Public skate December 2nd. @ 3 PM
The event is a chance to raise awareness for the Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund.
The Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund was established in 1972 in honour of Taylor Statten I, a leading figure in North American camping and youth education who believed that summer camp can play a critical role in a child’s early life and development. Camp can build self-confidence, encourage teamwork, leadership, and an appreciation of nature, and is also just plain fun! It is in this spirit that we eagerly look to share these experiences by helping bridge the gap between camp fees and what families can afford.
The Fund provides financial assistance that can be put towards any camp that is an accredited member of the Ontario Camping Association or the Canadian Camping Association and is willing to contribute to the Fund by offering a satisfactory fee reduction. In addition to demonstrated financial need, the Fund seeks potential campers who are at least 11 years old and have shown leadership qualities. Once accepted for sponsorship, the Fund will provide annual financial assistance to the camper for as many years as required.
For mor information please visit www.tscbf.com
Join us for the 6th Annual Induction Celebration of the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame
The 2018 Leaside Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Community Celebration will be held on Friday November 16 at Leaside Memorial Community Gardens in the William Lea Room.
Date: Friday November 16, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Cost: $30
We will offer seating and food and drinks (cash bar) will be served.
The event is open to everyone and tickets will be available for purchase from October 16, 2018 at the Leaside Arena office, the Leaside Arena Pro Shop and the Curling Club.
For more information about the event or to purchase tickets please email leasidesportshalloffame@gmail.com
Leaside Gardens now part of the National Inventory of Military Memorials
We are pleased to announce that Leaside Memorial Community Gardens is now part of the National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials.
The National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials website is a repository of memorials and monuments located in communities across the country. Currently, more than 7,500 memorials are posted on the website.
This recreation facility was named in honour of the World War II veterans. The plaque mounted outside the facility reads: “In memory of the men of the Town of Leaside who gave their lives for their country in the second World War – 1939-1945”.
17 Servicemen from Leaside were killed in World War II. All of the Servicemen resided in South Leaside at some point. Some were raised in Leaside while others moved to Leaside as young adults.
Committed to our community
May 31st marked the first community education session under the auspices of the Leaside Gardens Safety Committee. The free CPR, AED and Choking response clinic was attended by a full house of 80 participants. Made possible through a donation from the Dr. Tom Pashby Sport Safety Fund, the session saw Panno Medical’s front line paramedics put the enthusiastic group through the paces of these critical life-saving techniques.
The gathering also gave the Gardens board the opportunity to publicly thank The Mikey Network (dedicated to placing defibrillators in locations across the province), Executive Director Morty Henkle, and the Daiter family for their donation of four defibrillators to the facility.
The Mikey Network is also committed to teaching people how to use defibrillators, so cardiac arrest victims may have a second chance at life. This gives Leaside Gardens an unprecedented six defibrillators strategically located around the facility and all marked with highly visible red signs and the Mikey logo.
The safety committee will be following up this successful clinic with another no-cost seminar on September 27th focusing on concussions. Our guest speaker that evening will be noted concussion expert Dr. Michael Hutchison, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Hutchison holds a PhD in Rehabilitation Science and is a registered kinesiologist who specializes in sport-related concussion research in various populations, including adolescent students, university level students, and professional athletes. He has published widely and presented internationally in the area of sport concussion. Pre-registration is required; details will be available soon.
New electronic sign
The new electronic sign became operational in May. We are particularly excited about the community notice portion of this sign that faces north up Laird Drive and is visible to traffic coming south to the Gardens. We are making this screen available at no charge to not-for-profit community groups in Leaside, Thorncliffe and surrounding neighbourhoods. Schools, libraries, youth organizations, religious organizations, and local sports groups are encouraged to use this modern means of communicating their news and events to the community. Leaside Gardens user groups and the Leaside Gardens Arena board will also use the sign for community outreach. Commercial entities and political messaging are not allowed. The sign will not be illuminated from dusk to dawn. Again, the sign’s use is free of charge to groups who qualify. Call the office for information on how to get your message out to our community: 416-421-4944.
What’s in a name? The Dr. Tom Pashby Play Safely Rink
When the Leaside Gardens board named the new ice surface the Dr. Tom Pashby Play Safely Rink, it wasn’t just a way to honour a well-known pioneer in sports safety and revered member of the Leaside community. While that in itself is a wonderful reason, the heart of the decision behind the donation made by the Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund was to make Leaside Gardens one of the safest facilities in Canada.
The Gardens board established a safety committee charged with the responsibility of making recommendations to the board for improved safety measures. Members were drawn from the major user groups, swimming pool users, Pashby Fund and Gardens board.
Since first sitting down in October last year, the group has made some good progress focusing on unsafe conditions that presented themselves at the facility. To date the board has adopted many recommendations of this committee, including:
- More defibrillators accessible to users on the ice, main lobby, swimming pool change rooms, time-keepers’ benches.
- Signage regarding emergency action plan protocols to be posted at strategic places around the facility, letting patrons know where ambulances should go, having someone meet the ambulance, and ways to get on the ice.
- Implementing a system of locating and calling the arena staff for assistance.
- System of notification to arena management for accident reporting.
- Helmet policy for all recreational skaters.
- Annual or semi-annual educational sessions i.e. CPR/first aid or concussion clinics both for user groups and community at large.
- “No ball playing” signs posted in the facility dressing room areas and corridors.
- Consideration of a deterrent on the ramp leading to and from the rink and dressing rooms in Pashby Rink to reduce running, horseplay and use of wheelies.
- New exterior ramp beside the stairway at the flag stand to alleviate dangerous traversing of the muddy and snowy hill to the front entrance.
- Regular safety messages electronically displayed in the lobby.
In conjunction with the Mikey Network, a donation of four defibrillators has brought the total number installed at Leaside Gardens to six; this in itself is unprecedented. Following this will be a community CPR, Choking and Defibrillator clinic on May 31st, offered at no cost, in the William Lea room. Working with Panno Medical, we will have Toronto and area paramedics provide critical life-saving information. Space is limited, so be sure to register today.
So, the next time someone asks, “Why The Dr. Tom Pashby Play Safely Rink?” you’ll be able to tell them.
SAVE THE DATE – SAVE A LIFE
FREE CPR, Choking and Defibrillator clinic
May 31, 2018 | 7:00-9:00pm
On May 31st Leaside Gardens will offer a FREE CPR, Choking and Defibrillator clinic in the William Lea room. Working with Panno Medical we will have Toronto and area Paramedics providing critical life saving information.
TOPICS TO BE COVERED:
- CPR and AED for adults
- How to help a choking adult
- CPR and AED for children
- How to help a choking child
LMCG event celebrates its 65 anniversary and kicks-off Food Drive
Leaside Memorial Community Gardens was the scene of ceremonies to mark its 65 anniversary as well as the tenth anniversary of the neighborhood food drive started by Sarah and Claire Jordan. The event was opened with a ceremonial cake cutting, and speeches by political and civilian figures, and Ray White, Chairman of the arena. Sarah and Claire co-founders of the annual food drive also spoke.
There were refreshments – breakfast pastries, and cake served by LMC, and delicious peameal bacon sandwiches supplied by Andy Elder of Grilltime. Additionally there were displays by the facilities user groups, a collection of memorabilia from LMCG, and commemorative crested pucks for sale.
The focal point was a clever “canstruction” in the Lea Room consisting of a wall of canned chickpeas donated by Tufts Valu-Mart on Bayview Ave. The structure spelled the word HUNGER. The cans could be purchased for a contribution to the drive, thus “eliminating hunger”.
It was a wonderful event celebrating the expansiveness of the community spirit the exists in Leaside.
