Good thymes! On June 8th, 2019 the community celery-brated the new market-themed playground. The Open House welcomed over 1,000 people – families, visitors and interested neighbours. Co-hosted by City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam and the Friends of St. James Park, the event drew community leaders from the BIA, the SLNA, the community police and the playground designer Earthscape. Everyone joined in the ribbon cutting to officially open the playground.
Amongst the playground’s giant-sized produce, kids played at a market-style shopping activity with pretend food, cash registers and shopping baskets while being entertained by Lofty the magician. The bubble stations and police horses were popular attractions as were the musicians James Funnyhat and Tim of “Tim & the Pacifiers” fame. Families posed for pictures with the Photo Booth Guy and left with a memento photo-booth strip of the berry special day.
The immediate willingness of the community to rally behind the FSJP and this event was deeply ap-peach-chiated. Grape-ful we are for the amazing group of neighbourhood volunteers who put in hours of planning and organizing to ensure the event a pear-fect success.
This super-gourd community event was the first initiative of the recently formed Friends of St. James Park (FSJP) to raise awareness of the revitalization and the need for the park’s ongoing stewardship by the community.
