Comments on The Burd Report: A maaaarvellooous idea

I agree Victoria Park should be for the exclusive ...

2010-08-13T21:49:53.040-04:00

I agree Victoria Park should be for the exclusive leisure of the people.

Victoria Park is just a few steps away from the historic architecture of the downtown, keeping its charm and appeal.

It is part of an Open Space Plan which aims to safeguard the survival of Cobourg's economic health and visual appeal.

Open space gives a place distinctive character. It relaxes the eye and soothe the spirit. It invites recreational use and enjoyment, cuts dust and noise pollution, could absorbs flood waters, provides wildlife with a natural habitat, filters poluted water and air, and moderates the climate with leafy windbreak and shade.

By Carl Sandburg THE SHO...

2010-08-10T20:49:09.229-04:00

By Carl Sandburg

THE SHOVEL MAN

ON the street
Slung on his shoulder is a handle half way across,
Tied in a big knot on the scoop of cast iron
Are the overalls faded from sun and rain in the ditches;
Spatter of dry clay sticking yellow on his left sleeve
And a flimsy shirt open at the throat,
I know him for a shovel man,
A dago working for a dollar six bits a day
And a dark-eyed woman in the old country dreams of
him for one of the world's ready men with a pair
of fresh lips and a kiss better than all the wild
grapes that ever grew in Tuscany.

A poem by Carl Sandburg, from The Chicago Poems, 1...

2010-08-10T20:45:50.612-04:00

A poem by Carl Sandburg, from The Chicago Poems, 1916.

HAPPINESS

I ASKED the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell
me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of
thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
I was trying to fool with them
And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along
the Desplaines river
And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with
their women and children and a keg of beer and an
accordion.

In the 1950's, after Hurricane Hazel, the Metr...

2010-08-10T20:15:08.436-04:00

In the 1950's, after Hurricane Hazel, the Metropolitan Toronto Conservation Authority was slapped together to attempt to control any other natural disaster headed Toronto's way. Dams were built (Clairville), conservation areas set aside (Heart Lake, Albion Hills) and all manner of public participation was taken into account.

I remember my old man, fresh off the boat from the Gorbals, taking the family to Heart Lake on a Sunday only to find the place full of 'wops'. Not just wops, mind you, but wops drinking red wine from open bottles, glasses clinking for all to see. Appalling. Simply appalling.

Or at least it was until my old man started kicking a soccer ball around the 'gorse' on top of a hill with those wops, wops who as it turned out laid brick just like my old man did. Then of course, the wops weren't wops anymore. They turned into Italians and fellow 'brickies' and my old man's Dow came out of the brown paper bag and suddenly he felt good about defying a stupid law -a stupid law the 'wops' never paid any attention to in the first place.

Geez, y'know, I'm going to take a walk around this Victoria Park place some weekend when soccer balls are being kicked around by...well...by what my old man maybe called 'wops' -except that's not what they are anymore, is it? And we can't turn back the clock. And we shouldn't want to turn back the clock. And we ought to know more than our parents did because we should have learned from the lessons they taught us. But now, at age 60, maybe I need reminding of Heart Lake circa 1960. Maybe I need to see that my old man learned a lesson or two on a warm July day that he never forgot. And maybe I need a refresher in those lessons.

Mr. Keeler love your post about the beach. It is a...

2010-08-10T11:37:53.811-04:00

Mr. Keeler love your post about the beach. It is a place for young love for sure. You say it very directly but the sentiment is still awesome.

Does that include first ouzo?

I know for a fact, that a nasty Greek has done al...

2010-08-09T22:21:27.898-04:00

I know for a fact,
that a nasty Greek has done all the above in that park...

I neglected to point out that Deb made a strong po...

2010-08-09T20:08:59.545-04:00

I neglected to point out that Deb made a strong point that families with limited funds cannot always afford events.

They can afford to take their children to Victoria Park admission-free where they have room to run wild, room to execise their spontaneous imagination, room to flop and roll on a sandy beach, and more than enough water to toss to the heavens in exuberant childish glee.

Poorer people cannot afford the air conditioning common to the small business crowd, so an outing from a stifling home to a breeze-teased beach & park is a welcome respite.

Victoria Park has been Cobourg's unsung educational institute. To those generations who were born and raised here, Victoria Park was the location of their first kiss, first drink, first toke, first fuck.

I know several people that fucked on the beach next to the cement wall by the Breakers. Furtive sexual activity in Victoria Park has been greatly facilitated with the new anti-visitor garden, er, uh, Serenity Garden, where the foliage provides good cover.

Considering Cobourg's west beach included, I have often wondered just how many Cobourgers were conceived on the waterfront. After all, teenagers can't fuck at home with their parents present, so...

Free public parks provide the opportunity for born-Canadians to mingle with new-Canadians, to let children play together, to assimilate to each other. And to do this without contriving and imposing an event to expedite it. Let serendipity reign.

None of the above abuses a public park. It is consecutive mass commercial events that abuse a park. It's enough already.

Sounds like we are all agreed - what we want is V...

2010-08-09T19:29:51.536-04:00

Sounds like we are all agreed - what we want is Victoria Park and the beach to be left alone without any staged events. I'm good with that - now to get the message across to the Town. BTW, Deb, Taste of the Danforth, I understand, may primarily be Greek, its original function, but now incorporates other cuisines too. Hopefully that will continue.

Have to say I appreciate and will happily agree wi...

2010-08-09T18:41:06.559-04:00

Have to say I appreciate and will happily agree with the sentiments expressed by our Mr. Keeler in his comments about our beloved Park.

Maybe it's because all us former hippie types spent so much time there, especially after dark when the straights went home, that we feel a sentimental and special connection to it.

I'll never forget the first time I was confronted by the sight of
auxiliary cops buzzing around the place on their toy like four wheelers, looking all important.

Please, leave the serenity of our Park alone. It's so much more than just a generator of tourist dollars. For some, it is santuary, pure and simple.

Having attended "Taste of the Danforth" ...

2010-08-09T18:31:30.099-04:00

Having attended "Taste of the Danforth" on the weekend, I can confirm it showcased mostly Greek food; pork, chicken and beef souvlaki, spinach and lamb pies, squid and plenty of BBQd corn.

Until Gail R made her suggestion I didn't realize it was those nasty Greeks cluttering up our waterfront. Thought it was those other ones from further east in Asia. Like the folks we saw at Dundas Square enjoying the Turkish Festival. Lots of saris and hijabs in that crowd, and the music was fantastic.

But Greeks in Cobourg? Would we even notice when they've been here all along?

Here's the thing Gail; Victoria Park is not ju...

2010-08-09T17:55:47.787-04:00

Here's the thing Gail; Victoria Park is not just an extension of the business district. Nor is it just a venue for flea-marketeers attached to Canada Day or Ribfest to flog their cheap crap to the detriment of retail businesses uptown.

Victoria Park exists as a FREE ZONE, a place where a person can feel free from the chronic hawking of wares and services. We are assaulted with messages and images on tv, in the movies, on highway billboards and streets to buy this or that, BUY BUY BUY.
A public park should be the one place in a community where an individual can be free from this assault.

Victoria Park is a place where spontaneity can exercise itself. This is becoming more and more difficult because a small group of people hijack the park for their pet projects. It is cluttered with memorials and smothered with contrived events.

While a Danforth event seems like a mahvelush idea, it would be just one more event to burden the park and deny park-lovers another event-free day. Donegan Park, Peace Park, James Cockburn Park are valid alternatives – lets give Victoria Park a break from the constant loading on of events from well-meaning people with great ideas involving commerce.

If the food is 'ethnic' and contains -er- ...

2010-08-09T17:14:46.764-04:00

If the food is 'ethnic' and contains -er- garlick and things like, well, you know, 'spicey stuff' and the like, and there's no Robertson's Marmalade with the cute little Golliwog on the jar to spread over real English muffins baked by Weston's well, you won't see me there. Or the Missus. No, there has to be Rock Candy and Horehound Drops and a George Formby Film Fest before we'll call it 'multicultural'.

(What about drag acts? Will there be any drag acts? We could skip the marmalade if there were some decent drag acts y'know....)