I consider myself one of the lucky homeowners to live across from Ray Perrault Park.
The two-square blocks of park borders Grand Boulevard, East 15th Street, East 13th Street and Moody Avenue.
One half of the park encompasses a soccer field, bocce ball lane, basketball hoop, several tennis courts and kiddie swings. The other half of the park is taken up mostly with a large open space and a gentle sloping hill that defines the soccer field from the open park space.
In the summer, especially on the weekends, the soccer field and the tennis courts are in constant use. The open space that boarders Moody is busy with an array of people and functions that come to use the park on a daily basis. On a sunny summer day it’s not uncommon to see people sitting in their foldout chairs relaxing or reading a book. Others might bring a towel and sunbathe. The park is also used regularly for school functions, kite flying and exercise classes. One time the park was used to film a car commercial featuring a car falling out from one of the trees, and from time to time while shooting a movie in the neighbourhood the park is used as a staging area.
Our winters as of late have been mild with little or no snow, but in cases like our recent days of continuous snow, the gentle sloping hill that divides the soccer field from the open park space becomes a magnet for children of all ages to experience the thrill of sliding down the hill.
The park becomes alive with children dressed in bright coloured winter coats and toques all laughing, yelling and having fun sliding down the hill on toboggans, snowboards, plastic disks and even a canoe! It doesn’t matter if it’s fancy or not, just as long as you get from the top of the hill to the bottom as fast as you can!
While all the activity is happening on the hill, lower down at the bottom of the hill you can spot any number of children building snowmen, making snow angels or throwing snowballs.
It’s hard to get a fix on just how many people use the park on any one day because people are constantly coming as other people are leaving. When you take into account there are as many as 100 people at any one time actively using the hill from 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., the number of people is considerable.
We’ve since had a change in the weather. The warmer weather coupled with the rain has reduced the snow to a wet mess. If this past two weeks, with all the snow we’ve had, is any indication of what our weather might be like this winter, we can expect the kids and their parents will be back sliding down the hill once again. It goes without saying, the park is well used all year round and plays an important central role in supporting and enriching an active and vibrant community.
If you live in the Lonsdale area and have a story to tell about your favourite neighboorhood haunt, contact section editor Andy Prest at [email protected].
