On the Wall Off the Wall
Take Pride Winnipeg
Style Manitoba
Winter 1999
Take Pride Winnipeg
Style Manitoba
Winter 1999
In 1999, 30,000 people picked up after others throughout Winnipeg. A sampling of parents with teenage kids? No. Volunteers from schools, organizations, community and rotary clubs, church groups and ordinary citizens enthusiastic about keeping Winnipeg a clean, picturesque, healthy community? Yes. In fact 28,500 bags full of garbage were collected by this army of volunteers culminating in the Mayor's Volunteer Service award for 1999. The driving force behind all this trash talk? Take Pride Winnipeg a non-profit, community beautification organization that has been battling to boost civic pride for almost ten years now.
Formed in 1991 with funding from the City of Winnipeg and BFI, Take Pride Winnipeg's mission is to raise public awareness and promote citizen responsibility in keeping Winnipeg clean and beautiful. With three dedicated full time employees aided by countless volunteers it is more than accomplishing it's goal.
Tom Ethans relaxes at his desk in his office overlooking the brand new CanWest Global baseball park in downtown Winnipeg. Behind him a summer garden scene of Leo Mol sculptures and the Pavillion at Assiniboine Park adorn the wall. He smiles as he tells of being at four elementary schools in the morning thanking the kids for entering a Take Pride contest. They were composing songs expressing why Winnipeg is such a great place to live.
"The kids were just so pumped up when we walked in there. I told the one group at Beaumont school in Charleswood that I was pleased that they had done well, that their music video was great, and I just wanted to come out to all the schools that participated and thank them - and by the way you won. They went crazy." Ethans is a man who clearly loves his job as Executive Director of Take Pride. He also unabashedly loves the city he lives in.
"I think potentially we can have one of the best cities in North America. And if we do little things like cleaning it up and making it more beautiful, we can attract more people here." And Ethans knows exactly who to nudge to get the ball rolling in the right direction.
"The key to the future of Winnipeg is the youth. If we can get young people to be excited about Winnipeg and want to stay in Winnipeg, work and raise a family here, they will take pride in their city."
Jessica Abraham gushes excitedly as she recalls the interesting, inspiring and fun time she and her Grade four classmates from Hastings elementary school in St.Vital, had stalking litter last year. In fact Winnipeg is teeming with pint sized officially licenced litter stalkers, and grafitti hunters specially recognized by Louis the Lion the popular mascot of Take Pride. These Pride Club members were part of the mentor program designed to get young people excited about keeping their community clean and beautiful. After winning a poster contest, Abraham, 10 and her classmates were invited to a special spring time Litter Control kick off breakfast at the Winnipeg Arena in which over 80 school and community groups participated.
"There were lots of mascots and dancers there and even cheerleaders. We got t-shirts and hats,"said Abraham. The event left quite an impression, and judging by the reaction of the Hastings students, cleaning up has become a cool thing to do. The corresponding garbage pick up around the school was tackled with enthusiasm.
"We would get outside and they were picking up every piece of litter they could find, and were weighing who had the most," said Deb Scott, the Grade four teacher at Hastings who's class participated in the program.
Two years ago the pilot project was launched with five St.Vital elementary schools. Students from Glenlawn Collegiate's leadership program were recruited to teach five one hour classes to Grade four and five students with creatively presented topics on litter and grafitti control and taking pride in your community and city, culminating in a garbage pick up around the school grounds. Theresa Oswald a teacher and leadership coordinator at Glenlawn Collegiate believed that Take Pride's mentor program would be an ideal fit with the leadership program at Glenlawn. She was right. After ironing out some rought spots from the previous year, 1999 saw participation spread to 48 elementary schools, 129 classrooms and over 3000 elementary students. (the Pride Club newsletter has jumped from 12,000 to 50,000 copies distributed to Winnipeg schools this past year.) 250 high school students from 27 high schools became mentors in an expanded city wide program. Scott was impressed with the young people who taught her class.
"It was nice to have high school students who were good role models, they were really concerned about issues in the environment and talked about it with the kids." Oswald agreed.
"When we have kids in a high school setting serving as leaders and showing civic responsibility, our entire community is going to be a better place to live." Of the schools that participated last year ninety-five percent are going to participate again. The mentor program even has fans in the United States. Because Take Pride is affliated with Keep America Beautiful, Waco, Texas got wind of the idea and tried it with great success in their community last year. This year Chicago will implement the mentor program in schools all over the windy city.
After the spring time 'Team up to Clean up' season starter, four high school students were hired as full time litter stalkers. This past summer they gathered 278 bags of litter in five weeks of work. They even awarded special tickets for people who picked up garbage making them eligible for weekly prizes. Another student crew labled The Urban Green Team took on the grafitti problem as well as gathering garbage. This TAGTEAM (Together AGAINST GRAFITTI) was a group effort including Take Pride, the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Services. The group removed over 1700 grafitti 'tags' in 1999.
"Grafitti is now at a more manageable level in the city. Last year when the tag team started we had a backlog of over 2000 calls, now we are at 200 calls,"said Ethans. One of the positive offshoots of tackling the grafitti problem has been the use of painted murals to deter the spray paint wielding offenders. A respect for the artists work leave murals very rarely disgraced.
This past spring, summer and early fall twelve different Winnipeg artists graced Winnipeg's buildings with an eclectic array of appealing designs. Take Pride in conjunction with city businesses and organizations commissioned 22 murals in 1999 with the theme of Winnipeg past, present and future.
At Main and Sutherland on the North side of the New West Motel, the Contess of Dufferin steams out of the side of the brick wall, a bison grazing unconcerned a few yards from the tracks. A few feet away a 1950's vintage diesel engine roars out of a mountain pass. Canadian soldiers storm Juno beach in Normandy during D-Day at the St. James Legion. There's a sunflower field at Ash and Academy. A Turkish market on Maryland. A futuristic school bus rushes by on East Elmwood Community Club. And a Lancaster bomber glides over prairie wheat fields in St. James. These inspired designs brighten up what would otherwise would be considered an eyesore for the community.
Mandy VanLeeuwen, 20, is the mural coordinator of Take Pride. Responsible for the artists VanLeeuwen also lends a helping hand whenever needed. She likes the size of the murals and the sharing and contribution that goes into the creative process.
"You get to see a lot of community involvement, which is nice,"said VanLeeuewen. "You are always learning and the designs they come up with are amazing." Artists, the owners of the buildings and Ethans usually come to a consensus about what will be painted.
Typically it would take and artist about three full weeks with a lot of overtime to complete the project. But the hard work is well worth it. The artists were very grateful for the opportunity and proud of their work. Working outside in the fresh air was beneficial as was the experience in dealing with a curious public, who sometimes offered their own critiques.
"You meet a lot of interesting people working on a mural," laughed VanLeeuwen.
So Take Pride Winnipeg wants you. Wants you to get out there and start picking up the trash and sprucing things up around your home and community. (Winnipeg in Bloom, a front yard garden and landscaping contest attracted 460 applicants from Winnipeg this past year.) Winnipeg is considered one of the cleanest cities in North America and Take Pride aim to keep it that way. Ethans and company welcome all takers.
"I will speak to any organization or group in the city about how they can help to make Winnipeg better." And with strong volunteer support better it shall be.
(If you or an organization you belong to are interested in Take Pride Winnipeg please contact them at 956-7590)
Formed in 1991 with funding from the City of Winnipeg and BFI, Take Pride Winnipeg's mission is to raise public awareness and promote citizen responsibility in keeping Winnipeg clean and beautiful. With three dedicated full time employees aided by countless volunteers it is more than accomplishing it's goal.
Tom Ethans relaxes at his desk in his office overlooking the brand new CanWest Global baseball park in downtown Winnipeg. Behind him a summer garden scene of Leo Mol sculptures and the Pavillion at Assiniboine Park adorn the wall. He smiles as he tells of being at four elementary schools in the morning thanking the kids for entering a Take Pride contest. They were composing songs expressing why Winnipeg is such a great place to live.
"The kids were just so pumped up when we walked in there. I told the one group at Beaumont school in Charleswood that I was pleased that they had done well, that their music video was great, and I just wanted to come out to all the schools that participated and thank them - and by the way you won. They went crazy." Ethans is a man who clearly loves his job as Executive Director of Take Pride. He also unabashedly loves the city he lives in.
"I think potentially we can have one of the best cities in North America. And if we do little things like cleaning it up and making it more beautiful, we can attract more people here." And Ethans knows exactly who to nudge to get the ball rolling in the right direction.
"The key to the future of Winnipeg is the youth. If we can get young people to be excited about Winnipeg and want to stay in Winnipeg, work and raise a family here, they will take pride in their city."
Jessica Abraham gushes excitedly as she recalls the interesting, inspiring and fun time she and her Grade four classmates from Hastings elementary school in St.Vital, had stalking litter last year. In fact Winnipeg is teeming with pint sized officially licenced litter stalkers, and grafitti hunters specially recognized by Louis the Lion the popular mascot of Take Pride. These Pride Club members were part of the mentor program designed to get young people excited about keeping their community clean and beautiful. After winning a poster contest, Abraham, 10 and her classmates were invited to a special spring time Litter Control kick off breakfast at the Winnipeg Arena in which over 80 school and community groups participated.
"There were lots of mascots and dancers there and even cheerleaders. We got t-shirts and hats,"said Abraham. The event left quite an impression, and judging by the reaction of the Hastings students, cleaning up has become a cool thing to do. The corresponding garbage pick up around the school was tackled with enthusiasm.
"We would get outside and they were picking up every piece of litter they could find, and were weighing who had the most," said Deb Scott, the Grade four teacher at Hastings who's class participated in the program.
Two years ago the pilot project was launched with five St.Vital elementary schools. Students from Glenlawn Collegiate's leadership program were recruited to teach five one hour classes to Grade four and five students with creatively presented topics on litter and grafitti control and taking pride in your community and city, culminating in a garbage pick up around the school grounds. Theresa Oswald a teacher and leadership coordinator at Glenlawn Collegiate believed that Take Pride's mentor program would be an ideal fit with the leadership program at Glenlawn. She was right. After ironing out some rought spots from the previous year, 1999 saw participation spread to 48 elementary schools, 129 classrooms and over 3000 elementary students. (the Pride Club newsletter has jumped from 12,000 to 50,000 copies distributed to Winnipeg schools this past year.) 250 high school students from 27 high schools became mentors in an expanded city wide program. Scott was impressed with the young people who taught her class.
"It was nice to have high school students who were good role models, they were really concerned about issues in the environment and talked about it with the kids." Oswald agreed.
"When we have kids in a high school setting serving as leaders and showing civic responsibility, our entire community is going to be a better place to live." Of the schools that participated last year ninety-five percent are going to participate again. The mentor program even has fans in the United States. Because Take Pride is affliated with Keep America Beautiful, Waco, Texas got wind of the idea and tried it with great success in their community last year. This year Chicago will implement the mentor program in schools all over the windy city.
After the spring time 'Team up to Clean up' season starter, four high school students were hired as full time litter stalkers. This past summer they gathered 278 bags of litter in five weeks of work. They even awarded special tickets for people who picked up garbage making them eligible for weekly prizes. Another student crew labled The Urban Green Team took on the grafitti problem as well as gathering garbage. This TAGTEAM (Together AGAINST GRAFITTI) was a group effort including Take Pride, the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Services. The group removed over 1700 grafitti 'tags' in 1999.
"Grafitti is now at a more manageable level in the city. Last year when the tag team started we had a backlog of over 2000 calls, now we are at 200 calls,"said Ethans. One of the positive offshoots of tackling the grafitti problem has been the use of painted murals to deter the spray paint wielding offenders. A respect for the artists work leave murals very rarely disgraced.
This past spring, summer and early fall twelve different Winnipeg artists graced Winnipeg's buildings with an eclectic array of appealing designs. Take Pride in conjunction with city businesses and organizations commissioned 22 murals in 1999 with the theme of Winnipeg past, present and future.
At Main and Sutherland on the North side of the New West Motel, the Contess of Dufferin steams out of the side of the brick wall, a bison grazing unconcerned a few yards from the tracks. A few feet away a 1950's vintage diesel engine roars out of a mountain pass. Canadian soldiers storm Juno beach in Normandy during D-Day at the St. James Legion. There's a sunflower field at Ash and Academy. A Turkish market on Maryland. A futuristic school bus rushes by on East Elmwood Community Club. And a Lancaster bomber glides over prairie wheat fields in St. James. These inspired designs brighten up what would otherwise would be considered an eyesore for the community.
Mandy VanLeeuwen, 20, is the mural coordinator of Take Pride. Responsible for the artists VanLeeuwen also lends a helping hand whenever needed. She likes the size of the murals and the sharing and contribution that goes into the creative process.
"You get to see a lot of community involvement, which is nice,"said VanLeeuewen. "You are always learning and the designs they come up with are amazing." Artists, the owners of the buildings and Ethans usually come to a consensus about what will be painted.
Typically it would take and artist about three full weeks with a lot of overtime to complete the project. But the hard work is well worth it. The artists were very grateful for the opportunity and proud of their work. Working outside in the fresh air was beneficial as was the experience in dealing with a curious public, who sometimes offered their own critiques.
"You meet a lot of interesting people working on a mural," laughed VanLeeuwen.
So Take Pride Winnipeg wants you. Wants you to get out there and start picking up the trash and sprucing things up around your home and community. (Winnipeg in Bloom, a front yard garden and landscaping contest attracted 460 applicants from Winnipeg this past year.) Winnipeg is considered one of the cleanest cities in North America and Take Pride aim to keep it that way. Ethans and company welcome all takers.
"I will speak to any organization or group in the city about how they can help to make Winnipeg better." And with strong volunteer support better it shall be.
(If you or an organization you belong to are interested in Take Pride Winnipeg please contact them at 956-7590)