Good neighbours make good neighbourhoods

It takes 100s of volunteer hours to bring the community facilities like gardens, murals and playgrounds.
It takes 100s of volunteer hours to bring the community facilities like gardens, murals and playgrounds.
It's okay to play in the bocce court but please don't kick balls against the fence.
It's okay to play in the bocce court but please don't kick balls against the fence.
The native gardens are tended entirely by local volunteers.
The native gardens are tended entirely by local volunteers.
The orchard was installed in 2022 and 2023 and the trees are still very vulnerable.
The orchard was installed in 2022 and 2023 and the trees are still very vulnerable.
The native gardens by the playground have been scaled back but still take lots of work to maintain by volunteers.
The native gardens by the playground have been scaled back but still take lots of work to maintain by volunteers.

The TGCA has been delighted to see the south end of the community association site get some pretty incredible enhancements over the past 6 years. The bocce ball court (managed by Thornview Seniors Centre) was around before anything, then the inclusive playground was built in 2019, then the native gardens surrounding the playground, a mini-art gallery, and, of course, the community garden and orchard last year, and just last month we got a new mural too. It’s become a real community hub for all ages and we’re very proud of the transformation of the space. Unfortunately, it’s been pretty messy lately.

All of these additions to our community represent literally hundreds of volunteer hours put in by generous community members, not to mention hundreds of thousands in grants and hard-won fundraising dollars. Can you imagine coming back every week or two to make the space nice and seeing total disregard for your hard work? Put yourself in these volunteer’s shoes and you might understand how someone investing their time would get discouraged. Eventually, we could lose them and our gardens.

Lately, garden volunteers have noticed that there’s been a lack of respect toward our community hub, and these folks, our community neighbours, want nothing more than to make this a beautiful and welcoming place for everyone, so we thought it might be helpful to think about this space like it’s your next-door neighbours’ house. For example:

Litter: there’s often an unreasonable amount of garbage in the playground and surrounding gardens. Please use the garbage bins that are provided near the parking lot to dispose of all garbage and recycling like you would at your neighbours’ house. If you see some garbage or recycling that could go in a bin, please take a moment to put it in the bin while your children play, and feel good about contributing to the place our community gathers in a positive way.

Respecting garden areas: please explain to your children that the native gardens and orchard are not part of the playground. Think about them like your neighbour’s garden; you wouldn’t run through their flower beds, right? Every plant that gets squashed or branch that gets broken causes harm to the plants that have been painstakingly nurtured by our gardeners.

Community garden fence: please do not allow children to kick balls against the community garden fence. Your neighbour wouldn’t be pleased to see their fence being used as play equipment either.

Cigarette butts: our gardeners find large amounts of cigarette butts in the native gardens. Please don’t put your cigarettes out in the garden. Instead, dispose of your butts in provided ashtrays around the building or in the garbage.

Let’s try to think of our shared spaces as our neighbourhood yard that we all take care of together, instead of the next person’s problem. We are very fortunate to have these facilities that our community built together, and if each visitor pitches in to take care of and respect them then the gardens, the orchard, the community garden, and the playground can continue to be enjoyed for generations to come.