Category: COVID-19
Sorauren Rink closed for the season
The warmer temperatures have brought an end to this year’s season at the Sorauren natural ice rink.
Special thanks this year to:
Everyone who came to enjoy the rink and followed the extraordinary public health rules.
Teenagers and kids of all ages: not having shinny sucked! We recognize the sacrifice made by all players. Shinny will rise again. Thanks to the many teenagers who helped on flooding and shovelling crews.
Parks, Forestry and Recreation staff: The COVID rules meant a new level of collaboration with year, with City staff opening up the Fieldhouse at 9 pm nightly and 7 am on weekends to provide access to water and heated storage for the hoses. Thanks for the late nights and early mornings.
Returning sponsors: Scooter Girl Toys, Snap Fitness High Park and especially this year Chander Chaddah, Sutton Group Associates. They support the rink financially (and in spirit) so that we can purchase replacement hoses and boards, erect additional signage, and pay for volunteer recruitment efforts like the cool toques. #ShopLocal
Sorauren Hosers Rink Crew: the volunteers who make it happen every year. “The Sorauren Hosers are a highly organized crack squad of ice-masters,” says the West End Phoenix. This year it was more important than ever for the Hosers to get the rink established, knowing it’s a friendly outlet for community physical and mental health. They’ll be back next winter.
Get your portrait at the park and support the Friends
Have you read about pandemic “porch portraits”? Here’s our version: Park Portraits, a way to remember a summer like no other, and to support the non-profit Friends of Sorauren Park.
Gather your family, partner or your social circle. Or come by yourself, and maybe bring a pet. Book a time online, and our portrait photographer Enrique Baniqued will take your portrait in our attractive park setting.
The cost is $25 per portrait, with proceeds to support the activities of Friends of Sorauren Park.* You’ll have the option to contribute more if you like.
Park Portraits are part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of Sorauren Park. If you like, you can also choose to have your portrait featured on our Sorauren Park social media channels (opt-in) as part of the celebration.
You’ll receive a high-quality, high-resolution digital file. As an option, we have made arrangements with Envoy Business Services Roncesvalles and Prints Charming for printing and framing. We’ll send the file for printing and framing, and notify you when it’s ready. You’ll pay the additional fee at pick-up.
Costs:
Digital high-resolution portrait file: $25 minimum contribution (paid online at time of booking)
Option: Hard-copy print at Envoy, sizes 4 x 6, 5 x 7, or 8 x 10, $1.00 each, or 11 x 14, $1.25, on card stock (paid at pick-up)
Option: 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 frames $25-$45/frame; 11 x 14 frames $35-$80/frame at Prints Charming (paid at pick-up)
Booking Dates & Times
Monday, August 31: Book between 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, September 2: Book between 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Book using our online form.
Portrait sessions will last 10 minutes and your exact time will be confirmed via email on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive 10 minutes before your confirmed time and practice physical distancing from other groups and the photographer.
Location:ALL PHOTOS WILL BE TAKEN at the bench on the south side of the baseball diamond, near the Fieldhouse, 50 Wabash Avenue.
Book your memorable Park Portrait today!
*Friends of Sorauren Park is a non-profit community group that has fundraised to develop the Fieldhouse, the Town Square and the bake oven. In ordinary years, the Friends provides free programming at the park including outdoor movies, the natural ice rink, and festivals. We run communications channels to promote park activities and news, and have advocated for the new Wabash Community Centre for more than 10 years. This year, thanks to donors and a Canada Summer Job grant, the Friends were able to hire two summer student interns to produce Sorauren Stories, an ongoing video series bringing park life to a screen near you. We look forward to resuming regular programming asap!
Sorauren Park life now on YouTube
Since we can’t show movies in the park this year, the Friends of Sorauren Park are making our own movies, and bringing them to screens across the neighbourhood and around the world.
Sorauren Stories is our 2020 summer video program, starting with the ongoing Dogs of Sorauren Park series, a new People of Sorauren Park series, and the upcoming Trees of Sorauren Park and 25th Anniversary special. Videos will appear on all Friends of Sorauren Park social media platforms, and will also be compiled on our new YouTube channel, with closed-captioning.
Continue readingSorauren Park welcomes a second summer intern
The Friends of Sorauren Park have secured a Canada Summer Jobs grant to hire Claire McPhee for a return engagement as the park’s second summer intern, helping the Friends and the Farmers’ Market with a special COVID-adapted summer program.
Continue readingSorauren Stories comes to a screen near you
For a summer like no other, the Friends of Sorauren Park have launched a fun new program to enjoy and learn about the park while keeping everyone safe. Sorauren Stories is a series of videos and video events about the park, its people and pets, its natural history, its human history, and its power to inspire.
The series is rolling out across Friends of Sorauren Park media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, our website and newsletter, with interactive elements in the park itself.
Continue readingSorauren Park gets a summer intern
For the second year, the Friends of Sorauren Park have hired a summer intern to help with park programming and documentation. Enrique Baniqued will join the otherwise all-volunteer FOSP team to create special COVID-adapted programs for a summer like no other.
Continue reading
Sorauren Park 