Friends of the Beach Parks

Another awesome community fire at Kew Skating Rink over the weekend. Chocolate, coffee and good times. Message us if you'd like to become a volunteer firelighter.

Join the Kew Community Fireplace, Sunday, Jan. 15, 1 - 3 PM. Also, Monday evenings when the Women's Hockey League light it up. Watch for other regular fires. (Welcome Toronto Nature School!) Message us to train as a volunteer firelighter.

The Kew Community Fireplace is being LIT up this winter. Join us to warm up every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Volunteers with Friends of the Beach Parks are often there to stoke the fire. If you would like to light the fire for a skating group or birthday party please reach out. The fire is yours to use to gather school groups by day or shinny hockey players at night. Wood is available for the public and provided by the City of Toronto for free. Email: [email protected]

Working together to transform the interior of the Leuty Boathouse! Local Architect and Beaches Black Lives Matter founder Sapphira Charles, Landscape Designer and DSF Volunteer, Ginetta Peters and Writer, Urban Designer and Architecture Critic, Lisa Rochon are excited to announce BIPOC artists Chief Lady Bird and Jacquie Comrie will be each painting a mural on the east and west walls of the interior of the Leuty Boathouse. They will be working from the 8th of September to the 12th of September. Please come down and witness their work in progress. 🤩😊

Very excited to announce a beautiful addition to the Beach Parks. The interior walls of the Leuty Boat house will become glorious, inspiring works of art. The murals begin on the 8th of Sept and will be completed by Sunday the 12th. Please come down and witness the transformation.

Have you been to Kew Gardens lately? If you have, you may have noticed the ribbons hanging off the large limb of the largest red oak in the park. Since June 20th, these ribbons have been catching sunlight, breezes and the attention of friends. The ribbons welcome the summer and share leafy perspectives. They are an invitation to celebrate this historic tree and the pre-settlement red oak savannah that our beach community is nestled in.

This amazing limb reaches down to us from what may be the oldest red oak in Kew Gardens, maybe even the entire east end. This tree's circumference is 18ft!…and it is likely over 250 to 300 years old. If you know of one larger, please share. I have a special arborist tape measure. We could measure it together and get it on the Big Tree map for Toronto.

Heritage Recognition and a Commemorative Plaque application have been submitted for this great oak. Wish us luck in getting Urban Forestry approval for both.

Posted on behalf of Birgit Siber

Historic, modest, iconic. Leuty Lifeguard Station (1920) on the shores of Lake Ontario, Toronto. It never gets old.

Pumpkin Parade Cancelled. Too much rain. Stay cozy and dry!