Stephen Thirlwall
With more new buildings and more people living in Centretown, the need for more parks and public spaces in which to gather is becoming urgent.
Dundonald Park, one of the few large parks in this area, has recently seen two activities drawing more people there: a series of concerts held from the late summer into October, and the annual Fall Fair.
DIG’s music in the park
The Dundonald Improvement Group (DIG) started informally before the COVID-19 lockdown, when concerned residents and social agencies came together to create a safe and healthy park environment.
DIG has recently returned in a more formal fashion with a board of directors and has quickly moved into action.
In collaboration with local businesses, such as the Art House Cafe, and the Music and Beyond festival, it has presented afternoon and evening concerts: jazz, classical, and folk.
One concert I attended was Finely Tuned Elephant, an excellent local jazz-rock band, whose music encouraged audience members to get up and dance. Others watched comfortably from lawn chairs or just sat in the grass.
Another show featured Kayano, a longtime hippie, who had survived the 60s while keeping it alive through folk and country tinged songs, accompanied by guitar and harmonica.
Fall Fair had perfect weather
The Fall Fair is the result of months of planning by the Centretown Community Association’s (CCA) Trees, Greenspace and Sustainability Committee and the Centretown Community Health Centre (CCHC), and the dedication of a growing cadre of volunteers.
The weather on September 24 was perfect. Volunteers worked together seamlessly. We helped one other, shared with each other, and learned many new things.
New activities were plentiful and the overall plan was to engage with those who came to the fair so as to make them full participants. The Dundonald Garden group had children planting hundreds of flower bulbs to decorate the garden next spring. The children also decoratively painted small bird feeders and rocks.
Several troupes of Chinese elders from Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre performed dances for over an hour. Some dressed in fancy costumes and held red fans. Other groups appeared in just sweat tops and pants. They danced to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” “Are you going to Scarborough Fair,” and Chinese themes.
The Chinese dancers also visited the various park displays. Although many only spoke Chinese, through hand gestures, expressions and a few words, they held many interesting conversations with the exhibitors.
Capturing the park on canvas
Prominent Ottawa visual artist and Centretown resident Christopher Griffin joined the celebration to paint a beautiful scene much like the park with trees, people and dogs. Having sketched out a rough plan ahead, he was able to complete this large canvas portrait in an hour to the amazement of the crowd watching.
The NeighbourWoods Tree Survey group, having completed two seasons of mapping and assessing trees in Centretown, finally had extensive data to produce an informative display about our urban forest and how our community can learn to appreciate and care for it, and extend it into the future.
The Pollinator exhibit keeps growing with several tables of of information, museum-like sample pollinators and photographs of many kinds of pollinators at work. The Frank Street Bee and Butterfly garden also had a table.
Adults, youth, and children could draw or paint their own picture of a tree, whether realistic or imaginative. Some chose to draw one using black ink and a twig pen.
Magically, a DIG concert dovetailed with the fall fair when Music and Beyond’s Julian Armour introduced a saxophone quartet, which performed during the fair’s last hour.
At the CCA information table, residents could ask about the community, and speak with two of the candidates for Somerset Ward councillor.
The Ottawa Art Gallery returned with drawings by Annie Pootoogook. The Ottawa Public Library Bibliobike and story hour brought new books and stories. CCHC also offered kite building.
All this and more – fueled by free popcorn.