This Week in Press Releases - April 11-15, 2016

Toronto Argon players and former Gryphons Cam Walker (left), Jake Reinhart and Dan MacDonald.

Every week, the City of Guelph and other groups send out notices to announce new events, imperatives, and information that you need to know. Here is this week in press releases.

Exhibition Park Wins Design Award

It's not the most well-known awards show, but the Awards of Excellence from the Parks and Recreation Ontario (PRO) Educational Forum were given out last Thursday and the City of Guelph and Earthscape won the coveted (I assume) Excellence in Design Award. “We are honoured to share this PRO Award with Earthscape, which recognizes their professional and unique approach of designing public spaces, their culture of putting kids first and dedication to adapting to client and site specific needs,” says Rory Templeton, landscape planner with the City and manager of the Exhibition Park play equipment project. According to the City's press release, the Excellence in Design Award recognizes a park, recreation and/or cultural facility or renovation project in a completed stage that has demonstrated high standards of planning, design, community involvement, operation and maintenance, quality of aesthetics, usability, accessibility and versatility. So the next time your kids ask to play on the equipment at Exhibition Park, you can correct them as say the "Award-winning equipment at Exhibition Park."

The Argos are Coming (to Train)

Alumni Stadium at the University of Guelph will be home to the CFL's Toronto Argos, at least so far as training camp is concerned. “We are thrilled to welcome the Argos to U of G for what will be an exciting month around our campus,” said Scott McRoberts, U of G’s director of athletics, in a press release. Of course, on a university campus in June, any activity is exciting. “Our decision to host training camp at the University of Guelph was based on our belief that this facility is best for our football team’s preparation for the upcoming season,” added Jim Barker, the Argos general manager. “Alumni Stadium has an excellent football field and all of the other necessary facilities we need to be successful. We couldn’t be more excited about heading to Guelph later this spring.” This isn't the first time the Argos have trained at the U of G, they were regular fixtures on campus during the 80s and 90s, and this year former Gryphons Cam Walker, Jake Reinhart and Dan MacDonald will be returning to Alumni Stadium with their new team. The Argos will be in town starting on May 25 and will be at Alumni Stadium working until June 18. The CFL regular season begins on June 23.

Active Guelph Wants You (to Join a Spring Bike Ride)

The Guelph Hiking Club is holding their second annual Magnificent Magnolia bike ride on May 7. The 12km ride will visit several Magnolia trees and other Spring blossoms, in and around Downtown Guelph beginning at Speed River Cycle at 135 Wyndham St. N, at 1 pm and end at Arthur Street N. for a garden party where refreshments will be served. Lemonade will be served along the route, and there will be prizes for those in costume. Prizes for the Best Dressed Cyclist, Most Outlandish Ensemble, and Best Spring Bonnet will be up for grabs for those that dress up. Prizes and refreshments will be courtesy of Speed River Cycle, Wike, Goldie Sherman Pottery and Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation (GCAT), and oh yes, please wear your helmet too. For more information, contact activeguelph@gmail.com.

GAC is Hatching Pop-Up Art Downtown

The City of Guelph, Downtown Renewal and Downtown Guelph Business Association are teaming up to help the Guelph Arts Council put new installations and exhibitions in vacant and transitioning spaces in downtown Guelph this spring. The three projects will be on display at a bus shelter in St. George's Square (Carolyn Meili’s Ever Black & White), 10 Carden Street (Polina Teif and Shannon Garden-Smith's Sliding Door) and an empty storefront in Old Quebec Street Mall (Amanda and Kiel Wilson-Ciocci's KIAM). HATCH projects in this round will run from April 15 to May 15, 2016. For more information, check out the GAC website.

Guelph Art Project Makes it's Way to Toronto

If you're in the Toronto area, and you want a taste of Guelph, you can make your way to the The Gladstone Hotel to see ReMediate, part of fourth annual four-day Grow Op exhibition celebrates innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape, gardens, art, and place-making. The ReMediate project by Christina Kingsbury and Anna Bowen is a three-year site-specific art installation on the former Eastview Landfill site in Guelph; Kingsbury sewed a 2,000 square foot quilt out of handmade paper for the site embedded with local native seeds and becoming a pollinator garden as it decomposes, while Bowen’s poetry documents both the quilting labour and collected stories about the site. “ReMediate is anticipated to be one of the stand-out projects for this year's Grow Op. The project engages visitors through multiple media - video, poetry, photography, and material samples - in a room that will transport visitors to the unique landscape of Eastview Landfill, Guelph, Ontario,” comments Gladstone Grow Op curator Christine Leu. To learn more about the artists, you can visit their websites here, and here. ReMediate will be at the Gladstone from Thursday April 21 to Sunday April 24, and the Opening Party is Friday, April 22 at 7pm.