Fri, Feb 19 2010 - Friday Night Skate & Community Dinner (View Original Event Details)
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We gathered at the Dufferin subway station at 6:15, walked the short distance to Dufferin Grove park, and sat down for a community meal together. The dinner at Dufferin Grove Park on Friday night was delicious! Warm, nutritious, and good stuff -- some had vegetarian chili, others braised beef, and yet others had potato-kale enchiladas with black beans. Yum! The food was inexpensive too: a full meal was $2-$6.
Over dinner, Nicholas regaled us with tales of Toronto -- he's a volunteer tour guide in the city, so his Toronto trivia was highly entertaining. We discovered that Dufferin Grove Park used to be a horse-racing track! Gathering over dinner was a great way to get to know one another; the conversation ranged from talk about movie theatres, to Toronto trivia, to the Olympics, and other random things.
One thing that we talked about was disappointment around the possibility that some activities at Dufferin Grove Park -- such as the community dinner that we enjoyed -- are in danger of closing down. A community campaign has begun to save these locally-grounded aspects of the park's life. Full details about what's happening are now available on the Dufferin Grove website.
After dinner, and fortified by a good meal, we headed outside for skating! As we started out, Robert offered an informal skating lesson for those who wanted it. Others just took the the ice and skated -- all with different levels of experience and ease.
It was very fun to be on the outdoor rink. The ice conditions were a bit wonky, though, because the weather had been so warm recently. There was still plenty of ice, just not quite perfect skating conditions. Still, lots of fun had by the skaters!
By about 8:45, we were ready to unlace our skates, and go out for coffee. Most of the group trekked the short distance to Bloor Street, and gathered at a Tim Horton's for coffee and tea. After chatting for another hour or so, the group was ready to head home. So, basically we had good food, good conversation, and good skating - overall, a good start to the weekend!
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.