Secret ingredient unites Kitchener: Dollops of ice cream
When it comes to uniting neighbourhoods and building a sense of community, there is one thing more important than the communal gardens, movie nights and bike rodeos highlighted at the annual Kitchener Festival of Neighbourhoods celebration. Ice cream. “If you want people to come, you have to give them free stuff,” noted Anna Maste of the Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association, one of about 50 supporters who showed up at Kitchener City Hall Sunday to brainstorm ideas.
Specifically, free ice cream, judging by display placards detailing dozens of community events held last year with support from the City of Kitchener, John MacDonald Architect and Waterloo Region’s Social Development Centre.
It’s an impressive scorecard for the 24th year of this community building initiative: 130 activities in 49 neighbourhoods across Kitchener.
Anecdotally speaking, almost every one seems to have included ice cream.
“Loneliness is a very real problem in our society,” notes Matthew Kieswetter, priest at St. Andrew’s Memorial Anglican Church, who staged a dessert event that incorporated ice cream drumsticks to integrate the church into the wider community.
“By bringing people together, we’re not alone.
“The spontaneity that comes when you met new people is where good things happen.”
But if ice cream is the key to connection, it’s not the end result.
“It’s a multicultural community,” notes Wisam Osman, whose Paulander neighbourhood hosted a potluck, barbecue and an inclusive, break-the-fast meal during Ramadan.
“These activities and events have helped people get together.”
It makes communities safer when people know each other,
points out Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic.
“Strong neighbourhoods are the key to a strong community,” the mayor says. “When people know their neighbours, there’s a greater sense of belonging and quality of life.”
Longtime MC Bill Bean, who handed out a series of awards at Sunday’s gathering, says inclusive activities that range from a Pumpkin Paluzza to birdwatching hikes to a Diwali celebration are about “community building.”
“It’s about reaching across the fence, across the street, to connect with people, to share experience and knowledge in creative fun ways.
“Especially now, in the isolation of the ‘device’ culture, I celebrate the opportunities to talk, laugh and share together.”
A draw at Sunday’s event awarded two neighbourhoods — Settler’s Grove and Schneider’s Creek — $20,000 grants to stage future events.