Groups work together to spruce up Thornhill parkette

YorkRegion.com
Oct. 7, 2016
Tim Kelly  

Three groups are better than one when it came to giving a local parkette a shiny new and improved look.

A local business, the City of Vaughan, and more than a dozen volunteers combined forces this past summer to transform Chateau Ridge Park, located just off Dufferin Street, one block north of Steeles in Thornhill.

The 1,000 residents who live adjacent to the parkette will now be able to enjoy the newly planted maple trees, several metal park benches, perennials that were planted and a wider walkway courtesy of the work.

The City of Vaughan committed $7,000 in funding to the project and it also benefited from a $4,500 donation from Wholesome Harvest Bakery, a local business.

One day last August, a number of City of Vaughan workers combined with local volunteers to do some planting and spruce up the parkette.

“It has changed the whole area,” said Deb Sher, a representative for Wholesome Harvest Bakery, who was on hand for a small park opening Friday morning.

Jay Todd, manager of forestry and agriculture for the City of Vaughan, and Vito Divenosa, a city roads and parks supervisor were also in attendance to see the finished product.

“It was very transformative,” said volunteer Sophia Valente, who pitched in to help this past summer.

Maria Filosa, head of the local ratepayers group which applied for city funding to make the improvement happen, was pleased with the results.

“It took a while, but we’re very happy with how it looks now,” Filosa said.