Tales from York is a blog series focused on the people and places that make York's Greenbelt great. The series will cover everything from local businesses, to seasonal events, to life on York farms. Look out for our upcoming posts to stay up-to-date and informed on exciting going-ons in York's Greenbelt. 

The festive season is approaching and the Greenbelt is getting lit up with holiday cheer! It’s the time of year to cozy up with a warm beverage and enjoy the local celebrations in your town! In York Region you don’t have to travel too far to find the holiday magic. There are great events and fun winter recreational activities to get you in the holiday mood right in the Greenbelt!

See the list below for some great ideas and make it a Greenbelt Holiday!

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"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."
– Dorothea Lange

On November 15, 2015, we had the pleasure of announcing the 20 winners of the Greenbelt’s 10th Anniversary Photo Contest. You can see all the winning photos here but I encourage everyone to visit the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to see them in person, framed and hanging in the gallery.

The photos are on display until March 2016.

The exhibition would not have been possible without the support of our partners at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Professional Photographers of Canada – Ontario (PPOC-ON).

The McMichael's Anna Stanisz, Associate Director, Creative Learning & Programs, and Rachel D'Oliveira, Art and Special Programs Coordinator, found us a home in the gallery. PPOC-ON, provided a team of master photographers and judges--including Kamini Le Capelain, Deb Deville, Brad Kelly and lead judge Jay Terry--who deliberated for hours over the final selections.

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Grantee Spotlight is a blog series highlighting the experiences and successes of the Foundation’s grantees, as they work with communities and other Greenbelt partners to keep our province’s farmlands, forests, and wetlands safe and sustainable for future generations.

It’s our Greenbelt too!
Youth speak out about the future of our Greenbelt

Guest post from Julia Martini, Environmental Education Coordinator, EcoSpark

The first round of public consultations for the 2015 Coordinated Review may be over, but we were reminded that we haven’t yet heard from everyone.

On November 5th 2015, 150 students, teachers, scouts, local organizations and community members joined EcoSpark and Dunbarton High School in Pickering for a memorable student-led Greenbelt community forum. The night may have been about the Greenbelt, but the spotlight was on youth!

The Greenbelt forum provided youth with the much-needed opportunity to share their ideas, information and experiences on this beautiful and important landscape. Youth reminded us that they are the future voters and stewards of the environment and they had a lot to say to those making the decisions about the future of the Greenbelt.

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Tales from Niagara is a blog series focused on the people and places that make Niagara’s Greenbelt great. The series will cover everything from local businesses, to seasonal events, to life on Niagara farms. Look out for our upcoming posts to stay up-to-date and informed on exciting going-ons in Niagara's Greenbelt. 

My Dad has been a Budweiser guy for as long as I’ve known him. Growing up, we ate spaghetti and meatballs, chicken, potatoes, soup and sandwiches – on white bread. It’s not that we weren’t open to new food and drink, but hey, if it ain’t broke, then why fix it?  

That’s why, when my sixty-something year old father told me he had a new favourite craft beer, I knew it must be something special. 

To find said craft beer, we took a drive into the Greenbelt, to an old church near Niagara-On-The-Lake. Silversmith Brewing Company sits on the main stretch in downtown Virgil, population 2,325. Tucked in tight, and covered in greenery, it could be an easy place to miss. A small town secret. It was just before noon, and we were early for our 12:45 tour. I thought I’d have some time to snap a few pictures before the other tour-goers showed.  We opened the grand wooden church doors and, well, small town secret it was not. The place was packed. Like Saturday night pub kind of packed.

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Guest speakers alongside former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. L-R: Foundation Chair and Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP Partner Rod Northey; Broadbent Institute Executive Director Rick Smith; Former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty; Foundation CEO Burkhard Mausberg; and Former Mayor of Mississauga Hazel McCallion. 

Regardless of where you live in Ontario, you will likely have a strong opinion about Dalton McGuinty's time as Premier. His departure from politics wasn’t entirely smooth. But headlines notwithstanding, Mr. McGuinty has been called "Canada’s greenest premier ever." This is no small part due to his study of biology as an undergraduate student, and with that his understanding of ecosystems and commitment to environmental protection. 

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Tales from Niagara is a blog series focused on the people and places that make Niagara’s Greenbelt great. The series will cover everything from local businesses, to seasonal events, to life on Niagara farms. Look out for our upcoming posts to stay up-to-date and informed on exciting going-ons in Niagara's Greenbelt. 

Thursday October 2nd was an exciting night for the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.

That evening, Foundation's Niagara Office staff joined 300 of Niagara’s top volunteers, executives, and philanthropists at the Holiday Inn & Suites Parkway Conference Centre for the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Niagara Business Achievement Awards Ceremony. 

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Funding to support the development of a master plan for the Credit Valley Trail was announced on the Culham Trail near Credit Valley Conservation’s administration office in Mississauga, on September 11, 2015.  Project lead Susan Robertson (far right) and Greenbelt Foundation Vice-President Susan Murray (sixth from the right) attended the announcement with local councillors and provincial politicians.  

On September 11, 2015 the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and Credit Valley Conversation announced a plan to develop a 110-kilometre hiking trail along the Credit River.

With a $100,000 grant from the Foundation, Credit Valley Conservation, partnering with the Credit Valley Heritage Society, will bring to life a 60-year old vision of a connected pedestrian corridor. The new 110-km trail will allow walkers and cyclists to travel from the Credit River headwaters in Orangeville to the mouth of the river at Port Credit on Lake Ontario.

The full trail is expected to be finished in 10-15 years.

The first step is to engage members of the public in the four municipalities along the river to develop the preferred route, identify the cultural and natural highlights along the way, and assess land securement priorities. 

To kick-start the process, we asked our Greenbelt Friends living along or near the proposed route to complete a short survey about what they’d like to see as part of the new Credit Valley Trail.

We received almost 200 responses!

Below, project-lead Susan Robertson gives us the scoop on what people want from the new Credit Valley Trail.   

Environment, feature, Grants, Nature, Recreation,

Pilot Project announcement on October 14 in Niagara-on-the-Lake. From left, Phil Tregunno, chair of the Ontario Tender Fruit Growers, Jim Bradley, MPP St. Catharines, Wayne Gates MPP Niagara Falls, Burkhard Mausberg, CEO of Friends of the Greenbelt, Lord Mayor Pat Dart, Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

Last week the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation announced a $400,000 investment in the Niagara tender fruit industry. 

Not only is it the largest investment we've made in the last five years into the province’s agricultural sector, it will also result in 13,000 new tender fruit trees in Niagara, and is projected to provide an injection of roughly $4 million into Ontario’s economy.

All that to say - we're pretty excited.

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On August 11, 2015 we officially launched the Greenbelt 10th Anniversary Photo Contest, arguably our most ambitious contest to-date.

We invited photographers from across the province to submit their best Greenbelt shots - the winning photographs were to be displayed in special exhibit at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and, eventually, to tour various locations across the Greenbelt. 

We'd secured two great partners--the Professional Photographers of Canada and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection--and we knew from experience that many talented photographers find inspiration in the Greenbelt's diverse landscapes. And yet, there was still that lingering worry  - "Suppose we couldn't get enough entries?" 

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I really love good news. 

In 2010, the Greenbelt Fund was created as a non-profit organization to help encourage the consumption of local food in and around the Greenbelt. Since its launch, the Fund has supported dozens of projects, increasing the amount of local food purchased across the province. With the Province’s support, the Greenbelt Fund has delivered results: for every $1 invested, we’ve seen a return of $13 worth of purchases of Ontario-grown food! That’s putting more local food on Ontarians’ plates that was previously imported.

Last week, the Province announced they would be providing $6 million over three years to continue the Fund’s work increasing sales of local food, making it more widely available and building awareness of the variety of food grown and produced in Ontario.

This is a big deal, and at the Greenbelt Fund, it’s a celebration.

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