"Hey so I have a couple of names for the new park at Galloway"
Jerome Persaud was beaming at the thought of staking claim to a Burby park name.
"What do you think about....The Guild,The Backyard or Big Backyard,The Gallows?"
I noted the new park was technically in the hamlet of Guildwood."How about Guildwood Yards?"I said......"Yeah that works!" Jerome exclaimed. A collaboration of Burby minds always bodes well for the TBL.
The discovery of the Yards was not made by Jerome but rather the tandem of Marvin Afrye and Rob Skaksko. The sudden need for New Burby parks was sparked this year because of construction and a TDSB mandate to plant trees right in the middle of our Burby staples. The nerve.
Although Marvin and Rob looked at over 30 schools before discovering The Yards, they will attest it's not a tedious task. " It is such a sweet childhood game and every school we went to had a burby box!" said Afrye. And when they finally found Guildwood? "As we approached the corner, it was as if the Burby God's opened the sky!! "
Park exploration is an activity that is engrained in our fibers. Every school passed by always begs the question....can we play Burby here? The distance to the fence is always the first check mark. East Yorks Rob Fallon is obsessed with Burby and finding the perfect arena for his team. He is determined to make a playable park using a mobile box like the one at The Hood.
Oddly enough this year is turning out to be the opposite of the "Crisis" that so many members were afraid of. More parks are popping up and there has never been a larger variety of fields. After months of searching Fallon has discovered "The Cliff". A quiet little oasis in the East end. The Bulldogs new home will played at for the first time this Sunday at high noon. Fallon describes the park as "a small but beautiful and fruitful land, beloved by its inhabitants"
Burby exploration reaps rewards. Keep up the search. Long live Burby.
Adrian Golombek
The Cliff. Located at Cliffside Public School will get its first Burby action this Sunday between the East York Bulldogs and Cliffside Heights.
