*This post is sponsored by TD and the TD Common Ground Project. All opinions are my own, or that of my family.*
TD has been generously celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday – or Sesquicentennial, which is a word I now love! The TD Common Ground Project is revitalizing urban green spaces in many communities across Canada.
Here in Kingston, one of the oldest community parks, Victoria Park, got a beautiful upgrade thanks to the donation from TD . I was amazed to learn that Victoria Park turned 125 years old this July. You can read a little history on the park in this article from The Kingston Whig Standard.
My girls and I were able to take in the grand reopening ceremonies, which were held on July 30th.
Some city officials were there to celebrate. The town crier cried out for the community to gather at 11am and we heard short speeches from the mayor, Bryan Patterson, and Mark Gerretsen our MP. There was a ribbon cutting, and then the splash pad was turned on. (I think that was the highlight for my girls!)
There were a ton of things to do during the park’s grand reopening ceremony.
TD was giving away swag – we got sunglasses, sunscreen, a stress ball and a beach ball! Then the girls had to visit the TD tent so they could paint the large mural they had erected there.
Mio Gelato was giving away gelato to the first 200 folks in line, then you could buy their goods for the rest of the celebration.
There were bouncy castles for the kids to have a ball with.
And then, of course, the splash pad! Once it was officially turned on, music was played and everyone enjoyed the day.
I was surprised by the number of people who had come out. We ran into many friends and schoolmates of the girls. It’s so nice to see the city working hard to get the community together for these events.
I am very impressed by the fresh, new beauty of this community park. I spent a few years walking through Victoria Park as a student at Queen’s University and this is the most beautiful I have ever seen it.
The picnic areas have new, easy to use, barbeque pits and accessible picnic tables. We came with a picnic and I was amazed how easy it was to see both the splash pad area and the climbing structures right from the picnic table. I let my girls run off and play while I sat and watched the world go by (and took some pictures!)
We are planning to visit the park a few more times this summer. (We’re hopeful there will be a few less people so we can better enjoy the space!) The native plants in the new garden will only get better with time, and maybe I can capture a few more beautiful images with fewer people cluttering up the view!
Have you visited Victoria Park since its Grand Reopening? What did you think? Leave me a comment and share your views on the newly revitalized park space. We had a lot of fun at the opening ceremonies and we can’t wait to go back!
Be sure to visit my previous post to see just how much work really went into this project. Between the TD Common Ground project, and the City of Kingston, a lot of hard work went into getting this park ready to bring the community together! The girls and I were very happy to be a part of bringing awareness to the project.
~Jess
To learn more about the Victoria Park project, please visit:
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