Sorauren Park’s 25th Anniversary video series, Sorauren Stories, continues this month with the release of Artists of Sorauren Park, two short episodes featuring painters Michael Gerry and Leslie Norgate.

Both local residents, Michael and Leslie have found inspiration in the people, nature, buildings and moods of Sorauren Park.

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Spacing magazine has published a photo essay by photographer Chloë Ellingson, a local resident, on how residents have been using the park in the pandemic.

Like other city parks, Sorauren Park has seen a noticeable increase in daily usage, even as permitted activities have been cancelled.

Says Spacing:

During the summer days of the pandemic, local photographer Chloë Ellingson found herself spending much more time in Sorauren Park than she ever had before, despite it being only a few blocks away from her place of many years. And she was not alone — many nearby residents would spend their entire days at the park. She took it upon herself to talk to her new ‘neighbours’ throughout the course of a day to discover how life during the pandemic had brought them together.

Thanks Spacing and Chloë Ellingson for featuring our corner of the city.

The bad news: no City permits for Pumpkin Parades this year due to COVID-19 and the challenge of controlling crowds.

The good news: Carve your pumpkin and join the Sorauren Park #PumpkinParade2020 global event!

Here’s how it works: Instead of bringing your jack-o-lantern to the park on November 1, take a picture of your handiwork and post it on social media starting at 6 pm on November 1. Use the hashtag #PumpkinParade2020 and also tag @SoraurenPark.

Friends of Sorauren Park social media moderators will share, retweet, repost to a global audience. We’ll create the world’s greatest gallery of pumpkin art.

No special carving experience necessary. All jack-o-lanterns most welcome (and feel free to include the creators in the frame.) Pumpkin democracy in action!

Did you know Sorauren Park is home to one of the few surviving elm trees in Toronto? Do you know which tree in the park evolved to proliferate through a special relationship with mastodons? Do you know which park tree is a Great Tree of Peace for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy?

Expand your knowledge of the trees of Sorauren Park by taking the new Sorauren Park Virtual Tree Tour, hosted by our young interviewers Dakoda and Cedar, with special guest expert Jon Hayes of the High Park Nature Centre. The series highlights six special trees, with an introduction and conclusion, and is part of the 25th anniversary celebration of Sorauren Park.

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