This park is named in memory of Corporal Matthew Dinning. It was unveiled on July 12, 2008 by the Town of Richmond Hill.
Matthew David James Dinning was born in March 1983 at Richmond Hill and raised in Wingham, Ontario, where he was very active in high school and community sports. Following graduation from high school, he completed a Police Foundations Program at Westervelt College in August 2002 and joined the Canadian Forces in May 2003 as Military Police. Completing his military police training in Spring 2004, he was posted to CFB Petawawa and subsequently transferred to 2 MP Platoon in May 2005. Soon after, he volunteered and was selected to be a member of the Close Protection Team assigned to protect the Regional Command South Commander, Brigadier General David Fraser, in Afghanistan. Following intensive training, he deployed to Kandahar in February 2006. On April 22, 2006, Corporal Matthew Dinning was one of four soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Gumbad, Afghanistan.
