Putting community front and centre

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This article was published 03/09/2021 (1739 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s no telling what can happen with a can-do attitude and some community buy-in.

For a prime example, look no further than Glenn McWhinney Park, located at 401 Roch St. in East Kildonan.

Formerly known as Roch-Lin Park, the park was renamed for local community activist, and former Canadian Football League player, Glenn (Keeper) McWhinney in June 2014.

Ever since, Glenn’s son Jeff McWhinney, who has become the unofficial “keeper” of the East Kildonan park.

“The park, for so long, had no namesake,” said McWhinney, who along with being a lifelong football fan now works for the CFL as the official “keeper” of the Grey Cup. “But everyone had a piece of this park.”

Over the past seven years, Glenn McWhinney Park has become not only a shrine to the game that father-and-son both love, but also to the community they both called home.

On Aug. 10, McWhinney held a small ceremony, to both present the winner of the scholarship that bears his father’s name with their award and to unveil commemorative plaques that have been added to seats from the old Blue Bombers stadium that were installed at the park.

“I had chosen people who were very significant to our family and the community,” McWhinney explained. “(My father) would never accept it as his park, he’d want it to be thought of as their park.”

When work began on rejuvenating the park back in 2015, McWhinney said he knew he wanted to pay tribute to more than just his father. Evangeline Bolianaz, a woman who was like a mother to many children in the neighbourhood, was someone McWhinney wanted to acknowledge. Her name, and those of her children, adorn one of the gold seats from the old stadium.

“These were all our season tickets, by the way,” McWhinney said with a grin. “Dad sat here, I sat here, and my uncle sat here.”

One plaque commemorates Darren Krosney, McWhinney’s childhood best friend, who died in service of his country on Aug. 22, 1983, while another recognizes the work that neighbour Frank Judd, a veteran of the Second World War, had put into the park over the years.

“He’s done a wonderful job,” said Edna Krosney, mother of Darren, of the park and the seat dedicated to the memory of her son.

The other plaques commemorates the Wesleys, a Cree family who lived on the block with the McWhinneys and the Krosneys.

“They really taught us a lot,” McWhinney said, adding that knowing the family eventually helped him and others on the path to reconciliation. “That’s why it says, ‘Migwetch’, for not having a culture explained, but understood and celebrated.”

Other families, including the Frights, the Ryans, and the Matthes, are acknowledged as well. Shirley Matthes, one plaque notes, as an original committee member for the park back in 1969.

McWhinney said that the ongoing work on the park could not have happened without support from area city councillor Jason Schreyer.

“Jeff’s had these amazing ideas for the park and we’ve kept on allocating funding for these ideas,” Schreyer said. “He personally puts in a lot of TLC. He spends a lot of time there. I’d like to see what we can apply to other projects. The neighbourhood really appreciates it.”

As well, McWhinney noted significant contributions from the private sector.

“All these people knew who my dad was, not from a football player standpoint, but from a neighbour, a buddy,” McWhinney said. “When you have someone say they’re not taking any money or anything for what they’ve done, that speaks to community.”

And while the park serves as a prime example of what can be done in a small space, McWhinney said there’s more yet to come.

“This project will never be over,” McWhinney said. “When my dad passed away, I lost my best friend. He and I were very close. We were business partners, friends, father-and-son. It was difficult. I never got a chance to say goodbye. For me to continue on with that park, it keeps him alive.”

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca or call him at 204-697-7112

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