It was a beautiful day on Saturday and families came out in record numbers. By the end of the day over two thousand people had come to visit.
It was the third annual 43 Division Police Station Open House and Barbecue. This year it was my Community Association's turn to take the lead in setting it up on behalf of the Community Police Liaison Committee, where I'm a sitting member.
Each of the following video clips are less than a minute long.
Hi Anexplorer !! It looks like you had a great time over the weekend. That police station is quite a large place, it is bigger than Salem's High School !! Now I am gong to yell at you.....What kind of zoo only has pelts and skeletons!!! Maybe if the staff of the zoo would feed them you would have some live animals to display !!!
by Bohemian (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 7:17 AM
Hi Katie,
I would have defended the zoo until recently. Certainly the pelts and skeletons they provided for demonstration purposes were from animals that had died at the zoo of old age and the (live) python is used to being petted.
But the Toronto Zoo has just been the subject of headlines in the papers for its new policy of killing off its Reindeer herd.
Two years ago, zoo execs gave approval in principle to the euthanizing of male reindeer. This spring is the first time it's been executed, so to speak.
Remarkable, eh? I wonder if anyone considered how this looks.
Call it herd management, or whatever. They're snuffing Rudolph.
Never before has the zoo imposed a euthanasia order on a breed of large animal. The only precedent I can find, about five years back, is the mara, a sort of jumping guinea pig from South America.
The zoo euthanized male maras to cap the population. Later, it sold off the whole lot. Many staff wonder: Why kill the boy reindeer? Why not just neuter them? True, this can cause atrophied antlers. Big deal. The kiddies who visit will still ooh and ahhh and hum Jingle Bells.
Or, staff wonder, if you're going to exterminate every male, why breed the eight females in the first place?
by Anexplorer (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 7:50 AM
Anexplorer - thank you for sharing this community event. I remember our many trips to the Toronto Zoo but since that is over 25 years ago I am sure it has changed alot. Loved the little MOther's DAy post; it is all in the perception of one's own mind!!! For 8 years I worked in daycare as a preschool teacher; one day one of my three year olds asked as I gave out some coloring pictures - teacher "how come you never have to do any work?" june
by Anexplorer (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 1:14 PM
Anex, That sounds like you had a wonderful day. It's great when a community comes together for occasions such as the one you went to. Have a great day!
by Crone (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 1:28 PM
This was my first year organizing the event, and I have to say it went over very well. Of course having good weather didn't hurt.
Next we have a community garage sale, the official opening of the Waterfront Trail, Neighbour's Night Out, our Plant Exchange, Fall Picnic and then our next newsletter. Being president of a Community Association the work never ends.
And somehow I have to fit my full time job in there. Whew!
by Anexplorer (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 2:33 PM
That looked like alot of FUN! Also, alot of hard work getting things ready, which speaks volumes of the people that are involved in that project! The blue skies caught my eye as well.......we've been buried in winter so long!
the real benefit of an event like this is that it makes neighbors out of strangers - a problem of increasing proportion in our cities as people stay behind locked doors for too many hours.
by AZRON (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 3:17 PM
Great turn-out! Looks like you (all) did a wonderful job planning this. I'm sure the community is very appreciative of all the hard work put in to this.
by Secret (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 3:18 PM
I know what you mean about the long winter, Celtic Mist. I think I may have been suffering from a vitamin D deficiency because the longer the day went on with me constantly under sunny skies in the great outdoors, the better I felt. Instead of feeling exhausted after a long day on my feet, I was just feeling outrageously happy. Near certifiable!
by Anexplorer (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 4:02 PM
A strange thing to say about a police station, but it is a beautiful building. Just 3 years old and built to the LEEDs Silver standard for environmental quality, it is quite the place. It also contains our local Emergency Measures Services forcing both the police and EMS to actually talk to each other.
Crime has gone down over 15% since the Station went in. And, of course, we open it up to the public every year at this time and I join about 15 other community groups in sitting as an adviser to the Superintendent in charge of the station.
by Anexplorer (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 4:08 PM
Absolutely right Ron. Way too many frightened people huddled away behind their locked doors. We put on about 8 large local events and advertise another 20 events being put on by other local organizations, to entice people outside where they can get to know each other. This is our community and if we don't get out there and be seen using it, someone else will. Nature abhors a vacuum, I hear.
by Anexplorer (PM , CC ) on Monday May 12, 2008 @ 4:13 PM
Ummm, PELTS? Petting PYTHONS? No thanks. I like petting as much as the next person does but NOT PYTHONS. A suggestion would have been to ask the local humane society to bring adoptable animals. They pet MUCH better than PYTHONS. Who wants to pet on dry scaley skin when you could be slobbered on by a dog, or have a cat leave hair all over you. Ummmm, on second thought.....
The python was 14' long and the best behaved living thing at the event. I guess knowing you could swallow whole anyone that annoyed you tends to make you more laid back (if "laid back" is a term that can be used for snakes?)
Big kid that I am I could resist going over for a feel and he (if it was a he) was very soft and warm. Kind of like a leather belt that was out laying in the sun.
Many Blogstream members are there
already! Quotes from members: "It's like blog lite!" -- "I like the instant
gratification!" -- "Stop spectating, get in the game!"
If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
I would have defended the zoo until recently. Certainly the pelts and skeletons they provided for demonstration purposes were from animals that had died at the zoo of old age and the (live) python is used to being petted.
But the Toronto Zoo has just been the subject of headlines in the papers for its new policy of killing off its Reindeer herd.
Two years ago, zoo execs gave approval in principle to the euthanizing of male reindeer. This spring is the first time it's been executed, so to speak.
Remarkable, eh? I wonder if anyone considered how this looks.
Call it herd management, or whatever. They're snuffing Rudolph.
Never before has the zoo imposed a euthanasia order on a breed of large animal. The only precedent I can find, about five years back, is the mara, a sort of jumping guinea pig from South America.
The zoo euthanized male maras to cap the population. Later, it sold off the whole lot. Many staff wonder: Why kill the boy reindeer? Why not just neuter them? True, this can cause atrophied antlers. Big deal. The kiddies who visit will still ooh and ahhh and hum Jingle Bells.
Or, staff wonder, if you're going to exterminate every male, why breed the eight females in the first place?
All three years we held the event, the weather has been perfect. Bright, sunny but comfortable.
Guess we'll pay for it one of these days!
Loved the little MOther's DAy post; it is all in the perception of one's own mind!!!
For 8 years I worked in daycare as a preschool teacher; one day one of my three year olds asked as I gave out some coloring pictures - teacher "how come you never have to do any work?"
That sounds like you had a wonderful day. It's great when a community comes together for occasions such as the one you went to. Have a great day!
Next we have a community garage sale, the official opening of the Waterfront Trail, Neighbour's Night Out, our Plant Exchange, Fall Picnic and then our next newsletter. Being president of a Community Association the work never ends.
And somehow I have to fit my full time job in there. Whew!
Thanks Crone!
What a beautiful police station.
I am so glad you had a nice turn out.
the real benefit of an event like this is that it makes neighbors out of strangers - a problem of increasing proportion in our cities as people stay behind locked doors for too many hours.
ron
Or maybe it was sun stroke!
Crime has gone down over 15% since the Station went in. And, of course, we open it up to the public every year at this time and I join about 15 other community groups in sitting as an adviser to the Superintendent in charge of the station.
I'm not sure about the python, though; he seemed to sleep through most of it.
Sherry
The python was 14' long and the best behaved living thing at the event. I guess knowing you could swallow whole anyone that annoyed you tends to make you more laid back (if "laid back" is a term that can be used for snakes?)
Big kid that I am I could resist going over for a feel and he (if it was a he) was very soft and warm. Kind of like a leather belt that was out laying in the sun.
A bit like that park you are working to clean up - the vacuum has sucked in some undesirables...
all the best.
ron