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Earth Hour 2013 on Roncy
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Category Archives: Community Engagement
WWF Canada to host Toronto Earth Hour Event on Roncy
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Roncesvalles Village has held annual Earth Hour celebrations since 2010. We’ve showcased local acoustic performers, choirs, flash mobs, lantern making workshops and candlelight walks. We have joined millions world wide, globally recognizing the largest planet-focused movement in the world!
Our City Councillor Gord Perks is a recognized environmentalist, our MPP Cheri DiNovo and MP Peggy Nash are driving forces behind “Clean Train Coalition.” RoncyWorks models success in street planning and preserving. And, no fewer than four school/residential associations in the community have Green Teams. We are champions of eco awareness.
Our community cheerleading caught the eye of WWF Canada, whose 2013 Earth Hour Campaign brings attention to the Cheerleader, both through a series of cheerleading videos and the appointment of regional Captains, of which I, your author, am one!
This year’s Earth Hour Event is a thrilling opportunity for Roncy to welcome other Toronto residents to our community, helping to promote what Earth Hour is all about. My own personal role is to Educate through Entertainment, I want to share my passion, engage new devotees, find more voices, attract larger crowds … in hopes that those in Government can see that the People want attention brought to Climate Change. Our celebratory joining together, symbolizes this.
Roncesvalles Village BIA to Co-Host the 2013 WWF Canada Earth Hour event. Ontario’s Earth Hour Co-Captain this year is local resident Karyn Klaire Koski.
Saturday March 23, 8-9:30 pm
Festivities will start at 8:00 pm at either of two Gathering Spots: South at Grafton Park or North near the Revue Cinema. RoncyWorks Earth Hour Marshals will start promptly, leading candlelight carrying Walkers towards each other along the commercial side of Roncesvalles and then crossing at either set of lights – before Wright Avenue.
WWF Canada will have staging set up on Wright Avenue, between High Park Library and Howard Park Emmanuel United Church. Free entertainment will greet walkers — taking only a few minutes out for quick nods from speakers to announce the symbolic POWER OFF at 8:30 pm — and performances will continue till 9:30.
BRING YOUR OWN CANDLE OR LANTERN AND YOUR MUG OR CARAFE FOR HOT CHOCOLATE
Learn more at WWF Canada – Earth Hour or Earth Hour in Toronto on facebook
New tree sustains damage
It was truly disheartening to see that a large branch broken on one of our new Black Locust trees between 111 and 113 Roncesvalles one Friday evenng in early October. And it was shattering to see a huge branch torn off the same tree a few days later. The RMRA’s Greening Committee Chair, Bill Montague, called 311 and was told that Forestry would check it out.
This damage had us fearing the worst, that it might have been a victim of vandalism. But, it might also have been a case of extreme carelessness. There had been substantial construction at 115 Roncesvalles Avenue for quite some time, and it is possible that the damange was somehow related, or that a delivery van or something similar snagged the branch.
We’re hoping the cause is the latter and that no one in our neighbourhood would damage a street tree on purpose. At the same time we’re aware that there are great misunderstandings about how trees fit into an urban environment. For example, many people think that tree roots are the cause of pipe damage, whereas it’s leaking, broken pipes that attract tree roots to the available water.
Thankfully, there are tree experts in the neighbourhood keeping a watchful eye. We’ll have to see how this one recovers.
Where did the cans go?
There’s something conspicuously missing from Roncy as of yesterday evening. Those little blue Butt-In Please cans have disappeared from the sidewalk.
Our social experiment, diligently initiated by RoncyWorks volunteers, has happily diverted many pounds of cigarette butts from the sidewalk, gutters and plant beds since they were installed last spring. But the blue tin cans have taken a beating. Although these low-tech, handmade cans have served their purpose rather well, they’ve been abused — used as trash cans, kicked, squashed and stolen.
In anticipation of hundreds of people walking the street during the Polish festival, we thought it prudent to remove them. RoncyWorks volunteers had been planning to put them back out next week. However, we’ve noticed that many are in too rough a shape to be reused.
We’re working on more permanent alternatives — ones that smokers will actually notice — but for that we need to have some shops on board and we need to raise funds, as we have none to speak of. So, our plans will take some time.
In the meantime, we’re wondering whether we should put the old ones back out and add some new ones. Should we take another kick at the can? Let us know if you would like to see the little blue cans back out on the street until a more permanent solution is in place.
Roncy Rocks; Multi Media ~ Art/Music Festival
Roncy Rocks was originally conceived, out of a need to stimulate Roncesvalles foot traffic. This was when the street underwent its much needed, urban face lift. Today, it has happily tumbled into being a highly recognized, FREE, day- long event that showcases a multitude of local Artists through their musical talents, voices, abstract arts, visual arts and media arts like; film, television and photography.
“I knew if we created a venue with art on the street, then people would come” contends initiator and Chair Liz Szynkowski. “Art is truly the ‘Soul of Humanity’ and our community boasts a large concentration of artistic talent, in all genres!”
Roncesvalles is one of Toronto’s neighbourhoods that naturally attracts art -awakened professionals because it is culturally diverse and arts supportive. This dynamic annual event is not only an excellent platform to celebrate the multitude of spectacular, local talents, but is also a very enjoyable tourism stimulator and community spirit builder.
