Southfields Residents Group excited for future events after movie night success

July 28, 2022 · 0 Comments

Group has events planned for the fall and winter

By Zachary Roman

A group of Southfields Village residents are working to bring people together in their community, most recently by hosting a movie night at a local park.

The Southfields Residents Group, under the leadership of co-chairs Alessandra Carvalho and Alyssa DaSilva, now has 11 board members, even more volunteers, and is a non-profit.

Carvalho explained one of the visions of the residents group is to be the communication between Southfields residents and the Town of Caledon.

“We want to host biannual meetings and surveys, to elevate the Mayfield West community again,” said Carvalho. “Bring all the different cultures together… catering to every household, every age group. We want to do things for seniors, we want to do things for teens, we want to do things for kids, parents. We have lots planned.”

Before explaining what the group has planned for the future, Carvalho shared details about the group’s recent movie night in the park event. It took place on July 22 at Dennison Park in Southfields Village and Carvalho said the park was packed.

“Everybody was just having a great time, it was so nice,” said Carvalho. The night began at 7 p.m. with a DJ who played music so that kids could have a dance party. There were carnival games at the park, treats available, face painting and more. Carvalho explained since the movie couldn’t start until dusk, the residents group wanted to do something fun earlier in the night for the younger kids so they could still have fun.

Around 9 p.m. the movie started, and, as per the Southfield community’s online vote, the movie shown was The Secret Life of Pets. The whole night was made possible by the generous support of sponsors, said Carvalho, and on the day the residents group put out a call for sponsors, they received even more than they needed.

“It was so amazing, we were shocked,” said Carvalho. She said the response from the community about the event was awesome and that she’s been receiving many kind messages regarding it. She explained after the movie night, Dennison Park was left very clean.

“Everything was just perfect. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. The kids had a blast, you should have seen them. They were just so happy to connect with their friends and neighbours at the park,” said Carvalho.

Moving forward, the Southfields Residents Group plans to host one event per season. In the fall, the group is planning to host a Diwali festival with a fireworks show, food trucks, music, a speaker and more.

“We’re both Italian and Portuguese, but we want the community to come together for different festivals because that’s part of being a member of a diverse community,” said Carvalho. “We want to connect with our neighbours.”

At this time, the board of the Southfields Residents Group is full for this year’s term. However, anyone can join the residents group and come to its meetings to share any concerns or ideas they have about the Southfields community.

The group is welcoming all volunteers as well as it begins to plan its future events. To keep up with the Southfields Residents Group, those interested can look them up on Instagram and Facebook.