First, picking up the dropped ball

Before I say anything about the 2019 season, I want to take a moment to pick up a ball I dropped back in the Fall by not recognizing an incredibly huge support contribution that the Park Oven is a grateful recipient.

Students from the NSCC’s Baking & Pastry Arts Program at the Akerley campus held a bake sale fundraiser will all proceeds going in support of the Park Avenue Community Oven. This is the 2nd straight year the students have held a fundraiser for the Park Oven, and this year raised a whopping $850 in a single go!

The timing of this support could not have been better as over the winter, unfortunately, we lost our amazing firewood sponsor from the last 7 years. Because of this financial support, we will now have the funds necessary to ensure the Park Oven has all the firewood needed to heat our hearts and cook our food for another season.

On behalf of all the other Park Oven organizers and volunteers, a rousing big thanks to the students and NSCC for their support. We appreciate it! Continue reading →

The 2018 Annual General Meeting of the Leighton Dillman Park Oven, Garden & Orchard Association will be held Monday, July 16th at 7pm. The location will be the Alderney Library in Dartmouth Nova Scotia.

Recently, pupils and staff from the Nova Scotia Community College’s Baking & Pastry Arts program held a bake sale in support of the Park Avenue Community Oven.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to visit those students and faculty at Fresh Twenty One (a student-led restaurant classroom) to enjoy some delicious food, and receive a cheque for $800 in proceeds from the bake sale! Continue reading →

The 2016 season is quickly coming to and end and while we don’t have the exact numbers yet, it has been a very busy year for visitors to the park. To keep things running and improving, the Park Oven is fortunate to receive a lot of support from people and businesses in the community. Special thanks this year belongs to:

Continue reading →

There is lots happening in and around the Leighton Dillman Park these days and this post should get you caught up to speed.

Accessible Gardens

We are pleased to announce the completion of 5 new barrier-free, accessible garden beds in our community garden area. These plots will enable seniors and disabled persons to enjoy the simple pleasure of getting outside and staying active through gardening. Gardening is known to have many benefits for overall physical and mental health such as improving mobility and flexibility as well as reducing stress levels and allowing the person to relax.

We could not have accomplished this project without the grant from the Dartmouth Community Health Board that paid for the timber and supplies. We were also extremely fortunate to have Sean Murray from Work of Artz and Mick Doran‘s team from Kildare Construction donate their expertise to help design and construct the new gardens. Sean, Mick, and the team showed up on a Saturday at 9:00 AM and worked straight through to 6:30 PM to complete the project in time for planting season. They even donated some additional supplies that were required. 

Rebuild, Grand Re-opening & AGM

As we announced last summer, we were the fortunate recipients of a $25,000 grant from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.  These funds allowed us to complete the rebuilding of the Park Avenue Community Oven through a series of community cob-building workshops. It will also allow us to expand our urban orchard with the planting of new trees and bushes happening in the Spring and Fall of 2016.

With the rebuild now complete, we are excited to have our soft opening scheduled for Saturday, June 4th and our Grand Re-opening and AGM slated for Saturday, June 25th. As always, the oven will be open every Saturday at noon starting with our soft opening. We also would like to extend an invite to any interested members of our community to attend our AGM which will be held onsite at the Park Avenue Community Oven from 10:30 AM-12:00 PM following by our Grand Re-opening at noon. Bring food to cook!

Volunteering

Our volunteers are amazing! They help bring the Dartmouth Common to life by enabling our unique venue to be utilized by thousands of visitors each year. Last year alone, we hosted 39 event bookings and 26 Open Ovens, with this year promising to be even busier.

For persons looking to get involved in one of the most happening community development projects in the province, now is the time! We are hosting a volunteer orientation and training session on Sunday, June 5th from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM at the park oven. For more information and to RSVP, please email Owen at paco@dartmouth-oven.com.

Well, that’s the story, folks. Glad we could get together.