Willistead Park Completely Manicured Inside and OutCitizens of Windsor, sick and tired of the the on-going feud between the Mayor Eddie Francis and striking city employees decided "enough is enough". By 7:30 A.M. on Saturday morning an army of Windsorites infiltrated Willistead Park and quickly established a beachhead.
CUPE members hastily retreated to the front entrance of the park where they maintained composure for the rest of the day. By 8:00 A.M. Old Walkerville was wide awake with the throttling of lawn mowers, weed whackers and leaf blowers. It was reveille for Walkervillians. More people with lawn mowers, garbage bags, gasoline and water started streaming into the Park. A diverse crowd. Men, women, children, teens, the working, the non-working. Lawyers, doctors, engineers. By noon there were about 50 lawn mowers running while platoons of others were busy raking, weeding, spotting, picking up litter, bagging garbage and marshalling it out of the park. There was very little talking, everyone just seemed to know what had to be done and how to do it. People rolled into the park, picked a patch of weeds and started cutting. By 5:00 P.M. it was over. Willistead Park was completely cut and cleaned. Inside and out.
Here are some pics:
The Finished Product
Sweet
Late Afternoon. The Last Lawnmower has Left
The Weeds Come Down
Raking and Bagging
Early in The Morning
Pick Your Spot
Heavy Artillery
Work is Getting Done
There Goes the Meadow
Grass Baggers
In the Thick
Weeding the Gardens
The Eco Group
The Hill
Litter and Grass Waiting to Go
More People Coming
Steady Work
The Details
Media Hanging Out
Order in Kaos
23 comments:
The park looks great thanks to the efforts of these civic-minded Walkerville residents. "Have lawnmower, will travel!"
...by the way, great photos!
What a wonderful thing!
Thanks to everyone involved!
This post will probably be deleted as well by the editors at the windsor star, but here goes. Where is sid THE kid been lately, or has visited, or has made a comment regarding the situation in Windsor all this time now? In TO, watching his Titanic in Windsor go down? And why hasn't the last offer from the city been submitted to the members for a vote? Is it that sid THE kid wants to PATTERN Bargin in TO, as an outcome to Windsor's? Not bad questions, but would love to hear the answers!! And jim wood was in TO Sunday, for what, instructions from the mothership? Not impressed with the union, or unions, since it's not their members they care about, it's all about FACE anymore!! Guess you can't be a union and admit, "what were we thinking"? I have lost alot of respect for the unions, but have empathy for the struggling families that don't think they have a voice without their fearless leaders?,and FEAR the militant mentality of the union(s)!! I wish you "wanting to work folks, GODSPEED"!, and those union forever folks "good mental health, someday".
PS Editors, you can delete my comment, but it will be posted on YouTube video of the worker with the grandparents, as well as the CBC site Toronto, and the blogs of Windsor, and I WILL make mention of your censorship!!
There is nothing obscene, offensive, etc, etc, etc, about any of my comments, or prior ones!!
I don't think your post is offensive. I think we need to hear more of your comments.
Your posts might be getting deleted because they are kind of confusing. Try posting while sober!
You tell them BILL!
It was great to see Willistead brought back to the beautiful park it is and should continue to be during the day. It's nice to see that a community can come together and do such a great thing with no concern over politics, age or race. We all worked together and had a great time (even though our bodies now disagree LOL) and we did it for the kids and the dogs and the people who use the park. Now it is safe and that is what matters.
You said it R&C H...
The next morning my feet felt like they were fused to my pegs at 90 degrees. I was hobbing around like Jed Clampett for the entire day. It was fun and necessary. I'd do it again in a heart beat and on a moments notice. A Huge thanks to everyone for your kind and tireless effort. I do so appreciate that park.
My daughter's prom is Friday night - we didn't know where the group was going to be able to go for photos, due to the strike. Now, thanks to those of you who cut grass on Saturday, they can go to Willistead. Or will the park already be closed down for Art in the Park, does anyone happen to know? They would need to take their photos at around 5 or 6pm. Does anyone know if any portion of the park would still be available for general use?
You can try your luck but they usually start setting up a couple of days before. By Friday night all of the tents will be up. There may be an open corner of the park but I doubt it. I was in Navy Yard Park in Amherstburg on Sunday. Beautiful. Flowering trees, planted and thriving gardens, rich green grass, the river, fountains, a nice gazeebo and historic buildings. A perfect backdrop for prom and wedding pics. Outdoor patios with live entertainment right on the edge of the park.
Thanks Mayor. I appreciate the advice. I haven't been in that park in years, but I do remember it as being quite lovely. I will see if the group has time to go to Amherstburg and back though. Cheers!
did my part near a city owned parking lot, just two of us so we couldn't finish it all as my weed wacker gave out. All in all it looks a heck of a lot better than it did.
Good job everyone.
We too, received only support from citizens. But the funny thing is I have trimmed and weeded the area for years with CUPe members being there and never once did they say no. But now they complain that we are all scabs? Sorry we are volunteers, we are not getting paid!
did my part near a city owned parking lot, just two of us so we couldn't finish it all as my weed wacker gave out. All in all it looks a heck of a lot better than it did.
Good job everyone.
We too, received only support from citizens. But the funny thing is I have trimmed and weeded the area for years with CUPe members being there and never once did they say no. But now they complain that we are all scabs? Sorry we are volunteers, we are not getting paid!
Not to start a Windsor Star-style anonymous internet troll fight here, but whether or not you are getting paid, anonymous, you are a scab.
I'm not judging anyone; I'm happy to see Willistead cleaned up. But it's scab work nonetheless.
Dictionary definitdion of "Scab": - A worker who refuses to join a labor union or to participate in a union strike, who takes a striking worker's place on the job, or the like.
How about this: When union workers strike it is common and acceptable practice for management to stand in and do the work. Could it be that the citizens of Windsor are management?
Grassman42,
No. The management in this case would be the city worker's supervisors.
Consider Supervisors as middle management. They are still accountable to us (citizens, taxpayers).
Add this to the "scab" def:
...who takes a striking worker's place on the job FOR PAY.
Justify it to yourself however you like. Crossing a picket line to do striker's work is scabbing.
Well, these people for now will not starve, boo hoo. They have excellent credit ratings, and are using their credit cards and cashing in some RRSP and GIC's to get by!! So folks, its not all that bad as punk ryan makes it out to be, but why haven't they had the opportunity to vote on the last submitted offer from the city? Is still the mothership (ryan & moist) dictating the actions of the 2 presidents not to do so, so they don't screw up the PATTERN BARGAINING set for TO this summer? PUT THE LAST OFFER TO THE MEMBERS, AND LET THEM VOTE!!!!!!!
To Anonymous:
To quote a very smart man:
A SCAB is good...it's what helps to heal a wound.
So I will take the name scab as an honour and look at it that maybe all us "scabs" who worked on the Saturday in Willistead helped to heal the wound of the park. Thank you.
To Chris,
To quote a smarter man, Jack London, a scab is a traitor to his class. If you take the title of scab as an honour, that's your prerogative. Different people have different values.
Anyway, the park looks good. Everyone should be happy about that.
CUPE strikers, you've lost a lot of respect in this city for your actions and comments. Its been two month's now and city is getting along quite fine without you. I think it's time for a lot of layoffs and outsourcing for all the bad vibes you've brought to the city in these hard economic times.
Have a nice day!
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