Monday, March 1, 2021
WINTER PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS - FOSS Facebook members have spoken!
DENNIS LIU - $100 gift certificate from Urban Nature Stores.
TODD CLUSTIVIK - $60 gift certificate from Urban Nature Stores.
DAN HUANG - $40 gift certificate from Urban Nature Stores.
Friday, February 26, 2021
SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - FEBRUARY 22ND, 2021
Summary: FOSS Steering Committee Meeting
February 22, 2021
7:04PM, Via Zoom Video Conferencing
FOSS WINTER PHOTO CONTEST: All photos must be submitted to the FOSS FACEBOOK SITE by 8:00PM, Sunday, February 28. Refer to the FOSS blog for contest details.
Photos submitted must be taken in Col. Sam Smith Park during the winter.
The top three Facebook “likes” shall be deemed as the winners. Results will be posted 2 days after the closure of the contest.
Photos submitted (with permission of the photographers) will become part of an on-line video presentation titled: Colonel Sam Smith Park in Winter.
FOSS PARK PEOPLE GRANT: FOSS gratefully thanks Park People for their generous grant that makes possible the photo contest as well as a variety of other activities for visitors of all ages who appreciate the joys of nature that Col. Sam has to offer. Check FOSS website for details. Those activities include:
Virtual Bird Walk—Saturday, February 27th. 9:00 AM. Live on FOSS Facebook Group.
Kids’ Activities-a new activity presented every Friday. Activities will be archived on the blog for future access.
Wildlife Videos featuring Col. Sam Park: 1. Changing Seasons, 2. Colonel Sam Smith Park: A Sanctuary in the City and 3. Journey of Cooper’s Hawks.
Tree Walk Presentation: 17 minutes long. The video, with accompanying text, highlights a walk-through of Col. Sam Park and emphasizes tree identification.
COLONEL SAM’S BIRD FESTIVAL 2021: On February 19, several members of the FOSS Steering Committee held a video conference with the city’s Bird Festival organizers. Due to COVID-19, the festival will most likely be a virtual (on-line) event. The organizers were impressed with FOSS’s recent activities (i.e. those sponsored by the Park People grant) as well as with FOSS’s on-line sessions presented during last year’s festival. They also expressed interest in a FOSS suggestion about the possible use of QR codes for disseminating park information.
Visitors are asked to notify the police at 416 808-2200 for drug infractions and 311 for trash build-up. Any problems reported to 311 are greatly strengthened when accompanied with a photo.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Friday, February 19, 2021
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Friday, February 12, 2021
FOSS WINTER PHOTO CONTEST ENDS IN TWO WEEKS
With just over two weeks to go until the winter photo contest ends, there is still time to add your images to the 60 or so already posted in the Winter Photo Contest album on our Facebook page.
That album can be found under "more", "media" and then "albums".
Take a moment to look at the beautiful photographs and, as hard as it may be to choose, please add your comments. Remember, Facebook allows you to rethink any previous comment by simply clicking on it to remove it. Any "like", "love" or "wow" emoji comment will be accepted as a positive vote for an image for the purpose of selecting the three winners.
The contest will end at exactly 8 p.m., Sunday 28th. February, 2021.
Friday, February 5, 2021
Monday, February 1, 2021
SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - JANUARY 25TH, 2021
Summary: FOSS Steering Committee Meeting
January 25th, 2021
7:00PM, Via Zoom Video Conferencing
FOSS WINTER PHOTO CONTEST: All photos must be submitted to the FOSS FACEBOOK SITE by 8:00PM, Sunday, February 28. Refer to the FOSS blog for contest details.
Photos submitted must be taken in Col. Sam Smith Park during the winter.
The top three Facebook “likes” shall be deemed as the winners. Results will be posted 2 days after the closure of the contest.
FOSS PARK PEOPLE GRANT: FOSS gratefully thanks Park People for their generous grant that makes possible the photo contest as well as a variety of other activities for visitors of all ages who appreciate the joys of nature that Col. Sam has to offer. Those activities include:
Winter Bird Feeder Project—Check out the five bird feeding stations that are located around the skating loop. This project is in its 6th season. Thank you to the Urban Nature Store on N. Queen Street for their donation of bird seed. Thanks also to the volunteers who tend to the feeders.
A Boxing Day Walk Around—Nature walk with park visitor interaction.
Boxing Day Bird Count
Kids’ Friday Activity Corner—Check the blog for kids’ projects. A new one is posted each week.
Due to COVID-19 restraints, planned guided bird and tree identification walks were forced to go “virtual”. See the blog for more information.
Check the blog for a revolving series of slide presentations about Col. Sam Park:
i) Journey of Cooper’s Hawks
ii) Col. Sam Smith Park: A Sanctuary in the City
iii) Changing Seasons—Winter in Sam Smith Park
ON-GOING CONCERNS: Unsightly graffiti on the Australian Rules Football storage facility and the growth of numerous new winter trails that disturb/destroy natural vegetation. FOSS will attempt to resolve these concerns.
Visitors are asked to notify the police at 416 808-2200 for drug infractions and 311 for trash build-up. Any problems reported to 311 are greatly strengthened when accompanied with a photo.
Friday, January 29, 2021
Sunday, January 24, 2021
MYSTERY "GREEN CANOE" FINALLY REMOVED FROM WETLAND POND
Well, that day came today.
Alan Roy, Terry Smith, Bruce Wilkinson and Alan’s heroic son Alec, plus, of course, Alan’s dog Koa removed the object. It turned out not to be a canoe at all but a deflated tetrahedron, marker buoy from a sailboat race that must have come adrift during a storm and floated in to the pond from the lake through the culvert.
Roped off, wearing chest waders and a life-jacket, the intrepid Alec, under the watchful eye of his dad and dog, ventured out on to the ice from the island and secured a line to the object.
Then, using an axe, Alec cut a channel through the ice for the shore crew to haul it ashore while they marked the timing of each heave on the line by, of course, singing sea shanties.
As the buoy was dragged back along the shoreline for disposal, a lot of very sleepy looking crayfish tumbled out of it and were tossed back in to the water.
Done, finally!
A very good day.
Friday, January 22, 2021
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Friday, January 15, 2021
Friday, January 8, 2021
Friday, January 1, 2021
FOSS ONLINE WINTER PHOTO CONTEST STARTED NEW YEAR'S DAY! HERE ARE THE DIRECTIONS FOR SUBMITTING ENTRIES
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
FOSS ONLINE WINTER PHOTO CONTEST STARTS ON NEW YEAR'S DAY
Friends of Sam Smith Park's online winter photo contest starts January 1st, 2021 and will continue until the end of February when prize winners will be announced. Details and directions will be posted on this blog and on our Facebook page on New Year's day as well as being emailed to our contact list.
It is important to note that only FOSS Facebook group members will be able to post their photographs and vote, so, if you are not a member already and you are a Facebook user, please take a few moments to sign up.
We are excited about this new project and look forward to seeing and sharing beautiful images of our special park and its wildlife during the winter season.
Saturday, December 26, 2020
WHIMBREL POINT'S WEATHER DAMAGED SIGNS REPLACED.

It gave them the opportunity to explain to curious park visitors the significance of that special spot, the best spot anywhere to observe the spring whimbrel migration, and to pass on the story behind the bench’s dedication plaque to Fred Bodsworth and his role in the fact that we can still see this beautiful bird and other passing shorebirds today.
Click here for a previous, more detailed, FOSS post on Fred.