S E P T E M B E R 2017
Leaside Life leasidelifenews.com
No. 64
Illustrator Michael Martchenko Page 4
Happy 65th! Leaside Memorial Community Gardens
SUSAN SCANDIFFIO
By COLLEEN ATKINSON
The boys with their siblings from left to right: Josh, Tate and Jacob Golden, Will and Mike Reilly.
T H E Y S H O OT, T H E Y SCO R E !
The Leaside Memorial Community Gardens will be celebrating its 65th anniversary this season. Although the Gardens first opened its doors in 1951, it wasn’t until October 6, 1952 that it hosted its first hockey game. The significant legacy that the Gardens has left, and continues to carve out for itself, whether through its part in crafting championship teams, forming and solidifying friendships, or connecting and uniting the Leaside community, could not have been predicted at that first puck drop. However, that legacy is undeniable now.
June 24th, 2017. National Hockey League Draft Day. As many young hockey players paced the floor nervously or chewed on their fingernails hoping they might hear their names being called by a big league team, Leasiders Jacob Golden and Will Reilly were spending their days somewhat differently. On that Saturday, Golden’s parents had left to take Jacob’s siblings to activities, and Jacob watched the draft alone. When he saw his name on the TV screen, he says, he was excited. Jacob’s mother, on the other hand, was more than just excited. When she returned home she immediately hung a home-made sign on the front window announcing the big news. Meanwhile, Will Reilly was watching the same channel at his house. Not really expecting his name to be called, Will watched until he saw his friend Jacob’s name announced, then left to play golf. It was only when his
Susan Scandiffio Columnist
phone “lit up” on the golf course that he discovered he had been selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins. These two humble, smart, and driven young hockey defencemen saw the culmination of years of hard work and determination, when they were drafted to the National Hockey League that day. Neighbours Golden and Reilly were selected, respectively, by the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins. Hundreds of thousands of kids in Canada play hockey, with only a tiny number chosen to play in the big leagues. And how many of those NHL, Page 32
ROBIN DICKIE
Pittsburgh and Minnesota select Leaside boys in 2017 NHL Draft When the ice was first flooded and benched seating freshly painted more than six decades ago, the facility stood on a plot of land donated by the Lea family, from whom Leaside bears its name. The building was named in honour of World War II veterans; outside the arena stands a commemorative plaque that reads: “In memory of the men of the Town of Leaside who gave their lives for their country in the second World War – 1939-1945.” LEASIDE GARDENS, Page 29 BACK TO SCHOOL STORIES PG. 10 KARLI VEZINA TRIES CONSPIRACY PIZZA PG. 16
Leaside Life
2
Leaside Life • September 2017
Published once a month in Leaside,Toronto ON, by FH Publishing Inc., 1444 Dupont St., Unit 11A, M6P 4H3 416-504-8047 Circulation 10,000 to every door in M4G PUBLISHER: Lorna Krawchuk EDITOR: Jane W. Auster GRAPHIC DESIGN: Robin Dickie ADVERTISING: Robyn Israel leasidelifepublishing@gmail.com ph. 416-276-0937 or 416-504-8047
leasidelife@gmail.com www.leasidelifenews.com
900 Don Mills Road
(at Barber Green Blvd - between Eglinton and Lawrence)
416-646-2439
We have moved! New location www.UrbanNatureStore.ca
Interested in advertising in
Leaside Life? Contact Robyn Israel at leasidelifepublishing@gmail.com
YOUR LOCAL RECOMMENDED REALTOR Thinking Of Selling Or Buying? I’m dedicated to providing my clients with unparalleled service and professionalism in their home buying and selling experience. Contact me for trusted real estate advice that moves you!
416.925.9191
charlene@charlenekalia.com
www.charlenekalia.com
Chairman’s Award for Top Level Sales Performance
SALES REPRESENTATIVE www.AtHomeInLeaside.com charlene@charlenekalia.com
Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage 1300 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4T 1X3 This is not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract with a brokerage.
SPIDER JONES TO SPEAK AT SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
“We are very excited to have Spider Jones as our speaker,” said Kathleen Mackenzie of the Leaside Skating Club, who chairs the Hall of Fame organizing committee. “He is quite a character and his presence will be
3
particularly appropriate this year.” Tickets for the reception are $25 and go on sale October 1st from the arena office and from the Hall of Fame website www.LeasideSports. com. The 2017 inductees to the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame will be announced in late September and Leaside’s athlete of the year announced in October. ■
ROBIN DICKIE
Jones was an amateur boxer him-
self, a three-time Golden Glove champion and is a member of the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame. He is also a musician.
Leaside Life • September 2017
Boxing commentator and radio personality Spider Jones will be the guest speaker at this year’s Leaside Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony and reception, organizers have announced. The 5th annual event will be held on Friday, November 17th in the William Lea Room at Leaside Arena.
Leaside Rotary Corn Roast. September 17th 12-5 PM Trace Manes Park
Patrick Rocca broker
Coming Soon • 2x South Leaside Detached 3 Bedroom • 2x South Leaside Detached 4 Bedroom With Family Room
LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Illustrator Michael Martchenko finds his muse in Leaside Janis Fertuck Columnist
JANIS FERTUCK
Leaside Life • September 2017
4
Michael at Rahier Patisserie Over the past four decades, Canada has become something of a hotbed of children’s books produced by Canadians. We owe much of this interest to the imaginative works of author Robert Munsch and his long-time illustrator, Michael Martchenko, who resides right here in Leaside and is often inspired by what he sees from his window. Michael emigrated from France to Canada with his family when he
A new, clean look boosts self confidence and can help get your child’s new school year off to a fresh start. Receive 10% off a “Back to School” haircut with a mention of this ad. 864 Millwood Rd. Toronto, Ont. M4G 1W6 416-485-2807
was seven. Before long his artistic abilities emerged, as he responded to the bright artwork in comic books and cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tarzan and the Lone Ranger. He started copying comic book covers to study the artists’ techniques, and by Grade 9 was creating sets for school plays, producing cartoons for the school paper, and planning to take illustration at the Ontario College of Art. After graduating, he worked for a few different advertising agencies before becoming the creative director at TDF Artists in the late 1970s. While organizing a graphic arts exhibit there, he put his own drawing of pigeons equipped with landing gear in an empty space. When Robert Munsch and Rick Wilkes from Annick Press saw that drawing, they approached Michael because his “playful imagination” was perfect for children’s books. And thus was born a fruitful partnership that launched with the publication of the now classic The Paper Bag Princess in 1980. Since then, Martchenko and Munsch have produced close to 50 books together to the delight of their many fans. While Michael and Robert still publish a book a year – the most recent The Enormous Suitcase coming this fall – he has worked with several other authors too, such as Allen Morgan, Loris Lesynski and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. He has also published his own stories, including Birdfeeder Banquet and Ma, I’m a Farmer, for a total of more than 90 books. Michael begins his process of illustrating a book by creating a storyboard, then making pencil sketches, followed by a meeting at the publisher’s office to discuss the work. Then the cover is produced and he
does a final copy with water colours. He has refined his style over time and enjoys putting some “surprises” into his illustrations because, as he says, “I want kids to laugh at my pictures.” For example, in the last several Munsch books, he added a small pterodactyl somewhere in the story, as well as other whimsical touches such as a palm tree, pelicans and a lobster trap around a house set in a forest in the book Moose. Michael is also passionate about paintings dealing with aviation and his love of history. In fact, he has won two awards for his aviation art, in addition to several for his illustrations. Two of the most noteworthy awards are the Children’s Illustrator of the Year Award from the Canadian Booksellers Association in 2006 and the TD Bank Grade One Book Giveaway Tour in 2013, which involved a cross-Canada book-signing trip. While these awards are obvious highlights of Michael’s career, a more personal one occurred when his mother and sister attended a presentation of the book From Far Away at Scarborough Town Centre and witnessed the enormous crowd and lineup for autographs. “My mother finally saw what I do, a moment that was really important to me,” he says. He also thrives on the children’s reactions to his artistic embellishments, which add even more humour to the already funny tales. He loves it when his audiences laugh, and children write to him calling him “the best illustrator ever” and asking to appear as characters in the stories. Michael says living in Leaside inspires him by making him “happy in winter and summer” and adds that “when you feel good, you do good work.” He enjoys Leaside’s beautiful tree-lined streets, the shops on Bayview, good neighbours and the “village” feeling. In one book, Stephanie’s Ponytail, he based the school scenes on Rolph Road. Michael is so content with life here that he asks, like many of us, “Why would we go anywhere else?” ■
o
p-;e� C> ioPTICAL
Custom Drapery, Blinds and Shutters
Tel: 416-484-4128
50% off selected EYEWEAR 20% off selected LENSES Picture Framing Available
We appreciate the Leaside Community for 25 Years of Patronage
1717 Bayview Ave. Toronto, ON M4G 3C5 ph 416-481-7207 fax 416-481-7208
660 Eglinton Avenue East @ Bayview (Sunnybrook plaza) www.proopticaltoronto.com
www.paralleleinteriors.com
I’m not number One...
YOU ARE! Call me for a complimentary evaluation of your home. I look forward to discuss with you what you can do to prepare your home for sale and how to get top dollar. I am a full service Realtor® that has specialized in our neighbourhood for almost 20 years! SHEREE CERQUA SALES REPRESENTATIVE
416 275 5224 direct 416 487 5131 office
Ultimate Realty Inc., Brokerage
sheree@shereecerqua.com Not intended to solicit properties currently or in the process of selling with another brokerage.
Independently owned and operated
Leaside Life • September 2017
5
LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Leaside Life • September 2017
6
Totum Life Science’s Stacy & Tim Irvine: in love with Leaside By SUSAN POAPS On a stroll through Leaside, you may have noticed a gleaming Airstream. Or perhaps you were one of those fortunate enough to catch this famous glamper’s makeover on CityLine last year. The travel trailer belongs to Leasiders Stacy and Tim Irvine of Totum Life Science, who traverse the distance every summer to visit family in Saskatchewan. Totum Life Science is a boutique fitness studio in Toronto, offering classes as well as nutritional counselling, physiotherapy, youth training, and more. “As owners, we felt there was a lack of adequate fitness facilities in the 1990s, which led to the formation of Totum Life Science,” Stacy tells me. “With professional health backgrounds, we were motivated to provide a more thorough approach to clients in the healthcare
The Irvine family
field. Our focus remains helping, not selling to clients, and is the foundation for what continues today.” With five locations including their most recent venture with Medisys Downtown, this couple is on the go, literally. All three children – Matt, Estella, and Jackson – are immersed
in Leaside sports, including Single A hockey (both boys) and Nitros soccer (Estella), as well as AAA Baseball (Jackson), and Mooredale football. Full confession: I have known Stacy and Tim since our 12-year-old sons started at Rolph Road PS nine years
IRVINES, cont’d ago. Since then we have watched our children grow and thrive in the community. How did they end up in Leaside? “We outgrew our cool downtown loft after Matt was born. Knowing friends in Leaside was enough to get us to have a look and put in an offer on a house on Southvale and that was it,” says Stacy. Since then they have moved to a larger house on a different street but remain in South Leaside.
I asked Tim and Stacy how they maintain balance between running a business and raising three children. Stacy tells me, “We are very fortunate that Totum is a business that involves the whole family. Working long hours to get Totum started also allowed us to see each other, thankfully. The hours are not as intensive now and there is more flexibility to coach our kids’ various sports. The Totum Youth Training Academy also allows us to see our kids at work when they attend the workouts. We also coach our children at the Summer Conditioning Camp.” Through these programs Stacy and Tim are able to meet many young athletes and parents from Leaside who come in for training or rehab. “We appreciate having a business that serves the community that we care about. It also makes the workday more fun when we run into someone from Leaside at the studio!” What does living in Leaside mean to the Irvines? “Moving to Leaside was one of the best decisions we made,” Stacy affirms. “Having grown up in a smaller city in Saskatchewan, we relate to the community feeling in Leaside, which is reminiscent of home.” This super active family is more than enamoured with all that Leaside has to offer, from schools to sports. “I love Leaside because I get to play with all my friends and my friends live close to me,” says Jackson. Estella adds, “I like to be able to walk everywhere with my friends.” And Matt chimes in, “I like everything about Leaside and there are so many fun things to do.” ■
The Staff at Look Hair Studio
LOOK HAIR STUDIO
1818/1820 BAYVIEW AVE (MEZZANINE LEVEL) 416 322 LOOK (5665) Look Hair Studio was originally opened 29 years ago as a family business by Norma (formally of Sula’s Studio) and Michael (formerly of Pierpaolo). Then 22 years ago, Annette Palumbo took over as owner and manager, and has never looked back. “We have been fortunate to have loyal clientele,”Palumbo says, and credits the longevity of the business to determination, dedication and “being of service.” “Our services are about the health of the hair, skin and nails,” Palumbo says. Look Hair Studio specializes particularly in European hair, which is thick, coarse, curly or fine, limp hair. In addition, their estheticians deal with their services in a holistic fashion, with everything from manicures and pedicures, to massages, reflexology and aromatherapy. When asked what their key to success is, Palumbo answers that it “is built on the fundamentals of loyalty, integrity, flexibility, dedication, passion and the great ability to be of service to our clients and accommodating all their needs.”
416-322-LOOK (5665) 1818/1820 Bayview Ave. Mezzanine Level Toronto, ON Tues 8am - 8pm, Wed 8am - 5pm, Thurs 8am - 7pm Fri & Sat 8am - 6pm, Sunday 10am - 4pm “Where hands, mind and heart become one with the spirit at LOOK”
Leaside Life • September 2017
“Moving to Leaside was one of the best decisions we made...Having grown up in ...Saskatchewan, we relate to the community feeling in Leaside, which is reminiscent of home.”
7
LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Leaside Life • September 2017
8
Summerhill’s Ian Morton spearheads a new BIA for Laird Leaside Industrial Area. Leaside Business Park. Both the same physical area, but as times change, so do names. And according to Ian Morton, the founder and executive chairman of Summerhill on Commercial Rd., there may be a new name denoting a Business Improvement Area (BIA) in the not-so-distant future. There certainly was a time when the municipal strength of the Town of Leaside was its very healthy industrial area, with a wide range of profitable industries. But in the recent past, many of those long-established industries have moved elsewhere, with retail and residential properties replacing them, or the properties remaining vacant. This is where Ian Morton’s com-
Ian Morton
Lorna Krawchuk Publisher Leaside Life
pany, Summerhill, comes into the picture. Ian is prepared to say that most people in Leaside have interacted with his business, even though they are unaware they have. A few years ago, when people turned in their old air-conditioner for a cash rebate, or changed over to LED bulbs with a discount coupon – they were doing business with Summerhill. The company has many clients, but two – Enbridge and Toronto Hydro – are the ones we all know well. Summerhill implements energy efficiency and demand response programs for these giants. These two, along with other utilities across the country, make Summerhill one of the few remaining Canadian-owned businesses in the field, and also the dominant player in residential energy efficiency program implementation.
Rob Oliphant, M.P. Don Valley West
Wishing all of the students in Don Valley West my very best for the new school year! Rob.Oliphant@parl.gc.ca roboliphantmp.ca Like on Facebook
416-467-7275 1670 Bayview Ave. Suite 310
As an aside, Ian mentioned to me that environmental service companies have become more specialized over the past few years, and that if he were applying now, at his own company, “I would have a hard time getting a job here – because I don’t have the technical qualifications.” Summerhill’s original office was near the Summerhill subway station; hence the name. Five years ago, when a condo was going to be built where their office was located, Ian found himself in need of a new space. His scouting efforts turned up a building on Commercial, which looked appealing. Leaside was already familiar to him, as his father had lived on Astor. Ian quickly realized that while his building was ideal for his business, the streetscape wasn’t. When his staff came and went from work as pedestrians, they had to traverse the road, competing with trucks and other fast-moving traffic. Ian praises then Councillor John Parker for seeing the need for a sidewalk and ensuring one was built. Next up for Ian? He’s putting his efforts into helping to build a thriving BIA for the area, as a way to foster innovation, boost local employment, enhance beautification, and increase security. A BIA steering committee with representatives from a range of businesses in the area has already been established. They are keeping an eye on the DUKE Heights BIA in the west of Toronto, covering the area from Dufferin to Keele and Steeles to Sheppard, which is in a somewhat similar neighbourhood. Realizing that the glorious industrial past cannot return in its original form, this group is looking for a way forward that grows employment lands locally so there will be good local jobs for people who live in Leaside or nearby – a worthy objective. ■
AMINS VIT
GA
HERBS
SPIC ES OR
GNF NIC B U
LK
GAIA NATURAL FOODS
9
Vitamins, Organic Bulk, Herbs & Spices
Leaside Life • September 2017
Best Prices Everyday! DESIGNED TO WORK REGARDLESS OF DIET OR LIFESTYLE
THE ULTIMATE IN PROBIOTIC PROTECTION
1
20%
20%
OFF
OFF
TREAT CHRONIC YEAST INFECTIONS AND URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS IN A CONVENIENT ONE-A-DAY DOSE
RAW PLANT-BASED COMPLETE PROTEIN POWDER
THE SUPER CRITICAL OMEGAMUCH MORE THAN JUST FISH OIL!
HEALTHY BLOOD PRESSURE SUPPORT
ADVANCED B COMPLEX: SUPPORTS ENERGY, STRESS, METABOLISM AND NERVE FUNCTION
15%
OFF
20%
%
MADE WITH THE BEST WHOLE FOODS AND A UNIQUE SLO-FOOD PROCESS
OFF
OFF
GAIA Natural Foods 864 Eglinton Ave. E. East York, ON (Leaside)
647.347.4491 Like Us on Facebook!
Laird Dr.
20
LOW CALORIE HEALTHY VEGAN BAR
$ 99
SELECTED RENEW LIFE PRODUCTS
Eglington Ave. E Canadian Tire
gaianaturalfoods
* While quantities last. The information in this advertisement is for information purposes only. Consult your doctor or healthcare practitioner prior to trying a new regime. Care is taken to ensure the information within this flyer is correct but error in copy, pricing and illustration may occur, we reserve the right to correct any errors.
BALANCE THE EFFECTS OF MAJOR HORMONES
15%
OFF
SALE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30, 2017*
Leaside students, get ready for a revolution in education! Leaside Life • September 2017
10
By GERRI GERSHON TRUSTEE, DON VALLEY WEST I love the first day of school! It’s a joyous event and full of promise. Yes, there is the occasional tear, but during those first days, the anticipation of the coming year is palpable and so filled with hope. At this time I always ask: are we adequately preparing Bennington, Rolph, Bessborough, Northlea and Leaside students for the world that will be theirs as they leave school? Children entering JK this year will enter the workforce around 2036. Is the TDSB preparing them for the skills and attributes they’ll need in an era of swift and radical change? How must schools change? It’s these big picture questions that trustees must consider, along with dealing with busing, budgets, school orga-
nization, HR issues, etc. During the school year I have little time for reflection, but this summer I considered the words of three leaders on the future of education: Dr. Yong Zhao (renowned educator); Dr. Yuval Noah Harari (respected historian); and Sir Ken Robinson (international advisor on education in the arts). Each approached the future of education from a different perspective. Despite the differences, all three agree that because of the pace of change we need a revolution in education, not just an evolution. They believe that learning is not linear (progressing through the grades) but organic. Rote learning is definitely out and standardized testing reveals how students conquered past or present proficiencies – not those needed for the future. All agree that today’s students and schools must be flexible and ready to deal with constant change. So are Leaside schools meeting these challenges? Math and science will continue to be important in the future, but taught throughout the day as part of our growing STEM curriculum (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics). Bessborough has led the way in STEM. At Bennington the principal sees her students as future leaders and ensures opportunities to grasp the concepts of social justice and communications at an early age. At Rolph, along with other schools, environmental science education, reflects the concern for the future where resource management and future technologies are central. Northlea focuses on encouraging creativity – an absolute necessity in our future world. At Leaside High their programs, clubs, and teams include all previous concepts while unfortunately still operating within an organizational structure instituted for a different time and place. Our high school students are taught to question the omnipresent media – to be leaders, critical thinkers – and to question previously assumed truths, about sexuality, poverty, governments, science, etc. The energy created on the first day of school needs to continue to fuel the difficult task of change needed for creating a future-thinking and relevant education system. After all, our children deserve only the very best. ■
We manage everyone’s project
P = CH Praxis Crafted Homes Ltd. www.praxiscraftedhomes.com 4 16 -2 2 0 -3 4 7 7
P = CH
Leaside’s Eco Team Goes Platinum
Janis Fertuck Columnist
school, including cycling. Green Communities, Metrolinx and the EcoTeam conducted a tour of the neighbourhood to check on the effects of the construction and increased traffic at major intersections in the area. Toronto Public Health also participated and helped to develop a plan to promote active transportation. As part of the School Travel Plan, the TDSB is now looking at adding a bike lane in the parking lot and additional bike racks to encourage cycling. The Eco Team recently submitted a petition to Councillor Burnside requesting a traffic sign at the corner of Overlea and Millwood, reminding motorists to allow cyclists space and time to merge into traffic there after a Grade 9 student was hit on his way to school. They would also like to see a bike lane on Laird and Millwood to facilitate biking to school, especially for those coming from East York. Team member Anna Postill, who is heading into Grade 12, summed up her involvement with the Eco Team by saying she enjoys “making a difference and advocating for what you believe in, even though it is not a popular thing to do.” Doris Du, entering Grade 11, echoed this sentiment when she said she joined the club on a whim, but stayed when she “learned more about it and became passionate about the team’s work.” ■
Lynda Gorges Broker
416-486-5588 Lynda.Gorges@gmail.com www.lyndagorges.com
Passionate about helping my Clients
LEASIDE
Community
PHARMACY 795 Eglinton Ave. East Toronto, ON M4G 4E4 Tel: 416-422-0186 Fax: 416-422-0185
Vanessa Mo, Doris Du and Anna Postill in front of their Eco Team bulletin board and the Platinum Ecoschools Certificate.
OPEN SATURDAYS FREE Delivery all over GTA ALL Drug Plans Accepted
Blister Packs • Greeting Cards • Stamps
Leaside Life • September 2017
11
JANIS FERTUCK
Leaside High School was awarded platinum certification on its Ecoschools audit this past May. Ecoschools is an Ontario program whose mandate is to certify schools that attain certain benchmarks in institutionalizing the concepts of sustainability and stewardship among their students. After achieving gold status for two years in a row, the Eco Team and Vanessa Mo, a Grade 9 science teacher and their staff advisor, set their sights on achieving platinum status this year through adding some new initiatives to their regular annual activities. To qualify, the team had to complete an application with 60 questions, and then accompany an auditor from Ecoschools around the school while she rated them on different aspects of their program. Regular activities of the Eco Team include a “Battery Bake Sale,” where used batteries are turned in for baked goods, and an energy conservation campaign with the team touring the school at lunchtime and leaving notices for teachers who have forgotten to turn off lights and computers not in use. In addition, this year each student was allotted 50 sheets of printer paper for use in school, but had to pay extra if they needed more. The school also committed to using only recycled paper. In keeping with the recycling theme, the team planted 250 trees, bushes and plants with the Leaside Rotary Club in Moccasin Trail Park in May. Another popular feature involves special lunches such as the Harvest and Winter Cafés where the team served locally grown meals made from seasonal vegetables, and offered a discount to those who brought their own reusable dishes. But, most notably, this year saw a new focus on promoting a cycling culture within the school. The team launched this initiative after attending a biking advocacy workshop which focused on the importance of biking to school and the issue of cycling safety. This led to a “Cycle to School Week” at the end of May during which they organized group rides – a program they hope to repeat in September. A consultant from Green Communities Canada, Laura Zeglen, contacted Leaside as one of the schools on Eglinton Ave. affected by the building of the LRT and discussed with the school the establishment of a School Travel Plan to promote active transportation to
Sandra Larosa of Rolph Road, and Barbara Sandler of Northlea.
JANIS FERTUCK
Leaside Life • September 2017
12
Meet the principals By JANIS FERTUCK Throughout my 39 years as a high school teacher, the last 30 of which were spent at Leaside High, I experienced many different leadership styles. To me, the most successful at creating a positive school environment, were those who were visible, encouraged collegial involvement, and celebrated student and staff achievements.
Two of Leaside’s public elementary schools are welcoming new principals this September: Sandra Larosa at Rolph Road Public School and Barbara Sandler at Northlea Elementary and Middle School. While both are first-time principals, they are eminently qualified, with a wealth of experience and expertise, and a passionate enthusiasm for their work. Sandra Larosa started her career at
Kathleen Wynne MPP Don Valley West
Best wishes to all students for the 2017/18 school year
Constituency Office 795 Eglinton Avenue East, Unit 101 Toronto, ON M4G 4E4 416-425-6777 | www.kathleenwynne.onmpp.ca
Windfields and Zion Heights Junior Highs teaching math and science. After only two years of teaching, she became the Chair of Mathematics for the Gifted, Academic and Applied programs at Zion Heights, and later served as Assistant Curriculum Leader for Curriculum, and the ACL for School-Wide Initiatives and the Arts. For the last eight years, she has served as Vice-Principal at Valley Park Middle School, John Wanless Junior PS and École Allenby Junior Public. Barbara Sandler began as a teacher at Nelson Mandela Park PS; then moved to Parkdale PS. In addition to being a teacher, she was also Middle Years Literacy Coordinator and undertook ESL and Special Education teaching assignments. She was an elementary guidance counsellor at several
Career highlights Sandra Larosa • Spearheaded an enrichment program for Maths and Sciences • Chaired a Math Olympics Committee and Inquiry Expo • Formed Health and Wellness Teams • Implemented inquiry-based learning and a focus on STEM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Barbara Sandler • Supported growth of French immersion and STEM-based teaching and learning at Humewood. • Promoted the arts and eco-literacy education when initiating the Nurture through Nature initiative and partnering with staff and parents on the Artist in Residence and Grade 8 Arts Legacy projects. • Was instrumental in developing a set of well-being initiatives related to mental health awareness, building healthy relationships and self-confidence.
schools. Ms. Sandler holds a Masters of Educational Administration, and served as an adjunct professor with York University where she taught a course in equity. Most recently, she was vice-principal at Humewood Community School. Both new principals are excited to have landed at Leaside schools. They have found everyone very welcoming and already met several parents. Both want to be as accessible to the parents as possible, and appreciate the strong level of parental involvement. As Ms. Larosa stated, “Communication is key in order to build trust and do what is best for the children.” PRINCIPALS, Page 25
By JEANNE HOPKINS Wilket Creek Park, just west of Leslie St. and north of Eglinton Ave., is a favourite today for many Leaside residents who enjoy picnicking and hiking in summer and snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing in winter. It also boasts a fine history. By 1963, this park was described as a boys’ paradise where children could build tree-houses and hang from ropes in the water. Then, across Wilket Creek was Toronto’s only suspension bridge into Serena Gundy Park with signs “Please walk on the grass”. Wilket Creek itself was named for Paul Wilcott, who emigrated from Pennsylvania in 1793. He applied for a tavern license in the Town of York, but was refused, as there were already too many taverns in the town. Instead he was elected overseer of highways and fence viewer of Yonge St. north from Big Creek Bridge (at York Mills) and Steeles Ave., where he built a sawmill on the creek near Cummer Ave. In 1799, his brother, Jonathan Wilcott, bought land on the east side of Yonge Street from Richard Lippincott. A brook that ran through both lots was called Wilcot, Wilkot or Wilket Creek. By 1818, Wilket Creek was a fast-flowing stream, capable of running sawmills from the West Don River north to Cummer Ave. These slowly disappeared as the waters receded into the numerous valleys. The last mill was that of Alexander Milne at Lawrence Ave. and Edwards Gardens. In 1827, Alexander Milne established a woollen mill on the creek near Lawrence Ave. and Leslie St. in what is today Edwards Gardens. But, dwindling water supply forced him to close that mill. Wilket Creek and the park named after the family are now all that remain of this original sawmills. Jeanne Hopkins spent most of her life in the historic Henry Farm community of North York. She realized her passion for local history in the Canadiana department of the North York Public Library, where she worked for 27 years. She is the author of many articles and five books of local history. ■
The Curious Idler
13 Leaside Life • September 2017
Wilket Creek Park: A creek runs through it
Changes at Leaside United Church The Rev. Rose Ann Vita has announced that as of August 31st, she will be leaving Leaside United with her next appointment being with the Emmanuel United Church in Brampton. Rev. Vita most recently worked to facilitate the recent merger of Leaside United and Presteign-Woodbine United. Rev. Emily Gordon will continue to lead the newly merged congregations. Badali matriarch dies Lena Badali, the matriarch of the “First Family” of Bayview and one of its original retailers, Badali’s Fruit Market, died in August. Lena will be sadly missed by her 5 children, 13 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. The Bayview Extension in an undated postcard.
JOHN CHUCKMAN
THE PARKS OF LEASIDE
Brakes and tempers heat up on the Bayview Extension. The 50 km/hr speed limit on the Bayview Extension continues to be a hot topic around Leaside. Two online petitions have been started, one in support of the new lower speed limit, and one in support of returning the limit to 60 km/hr. The petition started by Leaside resident Judy Weiss asking the city to return the speed limit to 60 km/ hr has garnered almost 400 signatures. A couple of comments in support of an increased limit: “I believe the speed limit of 50 km per hour is unnecessary and unsafe. Drivers are tailgating me and zipping past in the right hand lane because I am doing 50.” “It is dangerous for me to drive the current speed limit, especially with my kids in the car, as other drivers end up tailgating me, speeding around me, and being very aggressive. I am braking the whole time going downhill from Moore, and going 50km/hr is impeding the flow of traffic and other drivers!” Meanwhile, on the other side of the issue, a petition started by Jason Prenger is encouraging city councillors to ignore the growing plea to have the speed limit increased and maintain the new lower limit. Perhaps is it time for councillors Jon Burnside and Josh Matlow to weigh in. Both petitions can be found on the change.org website. Facebook users share what they adore about Leaside In one of the most active recent Facebook postings on the Leaside Community facebook page, Leasiders have been answering the question raised by Deagan Tyrtle: “What do you absolutely adore about Leaside?” Here is some of what you had to say… IDLER, Page 25
The Leaside Gardener: Leaside Life • September 2017
14
Perennial Containers 101: how to avoid “empty balcony syndrome” Since my August column in Leaside Life, Container Gardening- Growing up to cool us down!, I asked a few friends with condos in Leaside why so many balconies are empty. Their response? “It’s too windy, hot, dirty, noisy, a lot of work, difficult to dispose of expired plants, and repeating the same process every year is just too expensive. All so true and yet I also know that plants can minimize these problems, too. They can buffer wind, cool your balcony, collect city dust, and muffle noise. If you plant perennials, they do even more because they save you work and money. Right now in my back garden, I have over 50 filled containers. If they were filled with annuals a few times a year I’d be broke and exhausted. Instead, 40 are filled with “permanent” plantings of hardy evergreens and perennials that come back year after year. For all of you with small or standard balconies that you’ve given up on, left empty or turned into bicycle storage, I’m hoping to inspire you to
Debora Kuchme Columnist
try a perennial container or two. Carla Rose of Davenport Garden Centre on Bayview has been aware of this “empty balcony syndrome” for some time now. Though she’s seen an increase in the use of perennial plants in containers, she also knows it’s about informing people on what options exist and how much is being done within her industry to help. Nurseries and growers have been working on hybridized plants that can tolerate greater extremes. She also works with local growers who field-plant according to our harsh environment or harden off plants longer to acclimatize them. This is a bonus for all gardeners but especially for container gardeners. Carla knows her plants well and
JESSICA, NANCY, NIA
Fabulous facials tailored exactly for your beautiful face using Guinot face creams from France. ONLY $78. ABSOLUTE BEAUTY
1517A Bayview Ave., Toronto, ON • 416-932-3970
has a long list of hardy favourites for containers. There’s also a lot of good “how to” information online with step by step instructions for perennial container planting: the importance of soil mix, drainage and winterizing…all of which should be heeded.
Here are just a few of my tried and true tips: • Leaside is considered a zone 6 for plant hardiness, but for containers, especially on cold and windy balconies or exposed patios, I use plants that are hardy to zone 2 or 3, such as cedars, Alberta spruce, sedums, hostas, lilacs and amur maples. As you understand your microclimate better, you might be able to experiment with zone 4 or 5, but all of my failed experiments have been with zone 5 plants. • If you want your hardy plant to live on for years, it needs a good start in the right container. Plastic and fiberglass are great for balconies, and even if they’re big you can drag them to a safe location as needed. Just make sure your container is bigger than the original plant pot: at least two inches around the root sides and at least four inches deeper. This will give your new plant something to grow into for a few years. • Even though it’s September, it’s not too late to give this a try. My advice is, if you get at least three hours of summer sun, try a cedar or two in a two- or three-gallon size. A single Emerald cedar or a couple of globe cedars are an excellent way to test out your environment. They will immediately green up your balcony, offer information about your microclimate, and supply you with winter décor throughout the winter. If they survive, they are bound to inspire you to experiment further. Here’s to greener balconies in Leaside! ■
THE LEASIDE GARDEN SOCIETY’S BLOOMIN’ BUSY SUMMER
Garden winners: 198 and 20 0 Bessborou gh Drive.
The Leaside Garden Society, now in its 31st year, has been busy. In June, a band of nine volunteers from the society spread out through Leaside and Bennington Heights looking for front gardens with a ‘wow!’ factor. After much thought, and among several stunning candidates, seven front gardens were selected as recipients of the 2017 “Gardens of Distinction” awards. These awards pay tribute to the loving care Leasiders provide to create interesting, beautiful, and welcoming gardens that all can enjoy viewing. You can spot the gardens by the sign in front of each one. The garden society encourages everyone to have a look, but please respect the privacy of the owners by not walking on their properties. Congratulations to this year’s winners: 2 Burnham Road; 116 Bessborough Drive; 198 Bessborough Drive; 200 Bessborough Drive; 69 Brentcliffe Road; 160 Donlea
w w w. b ltconst r uc t ion. com Your Building Partner With over 20 years of experience in quality construction, BLT has earned its reputation as Toronto’s most sought after construction firm in the hospitality and luxury residential sector. Located right here in Leaside, we invite you to live, work, and play in this wonderful community that we call home. Contact us today for more information on how you can join the BLT family! Currently hiring for: - Project Manager
- Site Superintendent
953 A Eglinton Avenue East ▪ Toronto, ON M4G 4B5 P: 416.755.2505 x22 ▪ F: 416.755.9828 ▪ info@bltconstruction.com
15 Leaside Life • September 2017
Drive; and 96 Parkhurst Blvd. On June 24th the Leaside Garden Society’s annual Magical Gardens of Leaside garden tour showcased several unique local gardens. The tour is a longstanding tradition and an eagerly anticipated event on the gardening calendar. Proceeds go toward the society’s local beautification projects and sponsorship of Grade 3 students from Thorncliffe Public School to visit the Toronto Botanic Garden teaching garden. As well, all year the Leaside Garden Society tends the gardens around the library on McRae and provides seasonal plantings in the urn at the library door. In addition, several members contribute to the upkeep of the gardens at the Lyndhurst Centre. For further information about the Leaside Garden Society visit: www. leasidegardensociety.org or e-mail leaside@gardenontario.org. ■
Vezina goes cloak and dagger at Conspiracy Pizza I’m standing outside 176 Wicksteed idea, that pizza would do so well here Ave., looking for Conspiracy Pizza. and would be great for the neighbourThere is no pizza to be seen. I know hood. I grew up in Leaside and had it’s next to Adamson Barbecue and faith that pizza would kill in here, so I’ve read about the pizzas: the ones we decided to do it ourselves.” From with the heavy names and murky there began the journey of learning pasts. how to make awesome pizzas, with The Grassy Knoll, even more awesome named after the location names. of the suspected other The bestseller “by a shooter in the John F. long shot” is the pepKennedy assassination peroni, mostly because plot. Egg Trails, a play on “people who aren’t sure the term “chemtrails,” about us are going to try the theory that aircraft the pepperoni first, then leave bad stuff in our air. go from there,” said The Day of Deceit, from Dan Rios, Adam’s rightthe Pearl Harbour conhand at the pizza shop. spiracy that Roosevelt let Other top sellers include Japan invade America. the vegetarian Grassy Big Parma, a play on Owner Adam Skelly Knoll, a mix of red, “Big Pharma,” a term green and Tuscan kale, used to describe pharmixed sautéed mushmaceutical industry thugs. I want rooms and mozzarella, topped with to believe. The Men In Black may parmesan and sunchoke cream. Big already have been here. Just as I was Parma, new to the roster since July, about to abort the mission, someone is another, with charred corn purée, cured capocollo (or coppa) ham, Below: Dan works on the Grassy Knoll, garlic scapes, while Roger perfects the United Fruit Company. mozzarella and fresh parmesan. United Fruit Company has also been a summer hit, with Ontario peaches, bacon, basil, fresh mint and Manchego cheese. I could go on, but I’ve already revealed too much. Conspiracy Pizza doesn’t do substitutions because you can do that at almost any other pizzeria. If you want to take some ingredients off – no problem – but you can’t build your own. They put me to work at the toppings station, as I felt I wasn’t ready came to let me in. All systems go. for dough-tossing just yet. The Upon arrival I was told that proper phone started ringing right at 4:30 signage for Conspiracy Pizza is on and soon we had a lineup of orders the way, but for now, the enigmatic waiting for the oven. allure of the shop sells itself. Adam Conspiracy uses their own houseSkelly is known for bringing “legit cured ham and other meats from Texas barbecue” to Leaside, so what Adamson Barbecue, so the only inspired him to go for the big dough? toppings from the “outside world” “We had plans to rent out the besides the pickles are the pepperoni space next to Adamson Barbecue to from Venetian Meats in Hamilton. another pizzeria,” he said, but after I had a chance to make and taste they backed out, Adam decided to run the Grassy Knoll. The Italian Caputo with it. “I thought it was such a good pizza flour was perfectly crispy and
I’ll Try Anything Once!
the mushrooms, kale and sunchoke cream Karli Vezina made it the most decadent vegetarian pizza I’ve ever tasted. My second favourite is the spiciest one! The Steel Beams, with 3 different kinds of hot peppers, Anaheim chilis and Adamson jalepeño cheddar sausage. Sounds like a lot, but it fits nicely on the wheel – and in my mouth. Every few months Conspiracy reviews the lowest sellers, adding or removing from the roster. What may be in store for autumn? Dan said it will be squash season soon so keep an eye out for new fall flavours. Despite the bright lights, banquet tables and a huge conspiracy mural, created by “self-taught artist, professional doodler” and Adamson Barbecue cashier Melissa Ford, some people doubt they’re really open, like me. “People still walk in here, buy pizza and ask, ‘when do you guys open?’” Adam joked. It’s no wonder since the bottom of each receipt reads, “If you tell anyone about us, we’ll have to kill you.” What's next for me? Send ideas to tryanythingleaside@gmail.com and let us know! Until next time…for science! ■
ALL PHOTOS: KARLI VEZINA
Leaside Life • September 2017
16
Above: the mural by staffer Melissa Ford.
Leaside Life Subscriptions
Away at the cottage? Moved away but want to stay in touch? Interested in having Leaside Life mailed to you each month? How about an Annual Subscription? $12/year Email us at leasidelifepublishing@ gmail.com or call 416-504-8047.
LETTERS leasidelife@gmail.com
17
Y
ERS M TT A LE
ED
ITED
Leaside Life • September 2017
B
E
Hooray for the Leaside traffic officers Wonderful to read about this fabulous group of young people and their efforts to make a difference in the traffic nightmare we are all experiencing. Can we borrow them for the corner of Southvale and Mallory Crescent?! The clever “Stop. Don’t do the ‘Leaside Slide’” sign that someone recently posted on the stop sign here seemed to have helped short term. But this major route from Bayview to Laird continues to see drivers barely stopping or sometimes ignoring the stop sign altogether. Send us the Junior Traffic Officers – please! L. Patterson, Mallory Cres.
Distinguish Your Home & Office with Elegance & Style
John Parker’s comments in the August issue McRae Dr. and Southvale have been victimized by cut-through commuter traffic just as Parkhurst is. It would be great if they, too, had reduced attractiveness as commuter routes and were safer along their full length. Gwen Read, Astor Ave. North Leaside Traffic All of Leaside is currently suffering from increased traffic as a result of construction on our major arteries. Recently, after a traffic study, north Leaside proposed to block access to Bayview from a couple of its streets which are often used to bypass the construction elsewhere. It should be noted that, firstly, these streets are not the only ones which have this problem. Secondly, north Leaside streets, for example Glenvale, already have traffic control measures that others do not – 30kph, speed bumps, turn restrictions – yet now they want more. I assert that this plan is naïve at best, and ill-conceived and selfish at worst. Let us for the moment consider the ramifications of the plan, if it is implemented. Where will all the cars go, that use these two streets? Certainly not to Bayview, Eglinton or Laird; these streets are already clogged enough. These cars will seek access through other Leaside streets that are not so fortunate, streets like Millwood, McRae, Manor Road LETTERS, Page 23
LAMINATE 12.3MM
ENGINEERED HARDWOOD
from
from
1.79
$
/sq. ft.
SOFT LUXURIOUS CARPET from
3.49
$
/sq. ft.
2.99
$
/sq. ft.
SAVE
200
$
on select products Coupon valid at time of purchase. Exp: Sept. 30/17 LS0917
HARDWOOD • LAMINATE • CARPET • BAMBOO • TILES • VINYL • MARMOLEUM • CUSTOM STAIRS • SAND & REFINISH •
HANDRAILINGS • OAK & IRON PICKETS & MORE! Toronto 94 Laird Drive (Opposite Longo’s Plaza)
Mississauga 5945 Ambler Drive (Matheson & Tomken)
Brampton 30 Gillingham Drive, Unit 501
416-696-0000
905-282-0022
905-874-8800
(Brampton Passport Office Plaza)
Prior orders exempt. Offers cannot be combined. Coupon must be presented at time of purchase. See store for details.
Beware Leaside’s critter litter Leaside Life • September 2017
18
Leaside has a lot of critters, both wild and domesticated, and they create a lot of unwanted litter! Our house has an underground garage and amazingly enough there is actually room to park a car! As I was pulling out one day I noticed some insulation scattered on the garage floor. A simple fix, I thought – just sweep it up. A few days later there was even more insulation mixed with chicken bones and carrot tops, and upon closer inspection, rodent droppings. Worrisome to say the least! This time I swept it up and put out some snap traps. We keep our green bin in the garage, and it has certainly had its share of chicken bones and carrot tops. Thinking this might be the attraction, I locked the lid shut. Then around midnight my son knocked on our bedroom door. “I hear some scratching and
Cheryl Vanderburg Leaside Litterati
it sounds like it’s coming from the wall behind the cupboard.” I bravely went down, opened the sliding glass door, then the cup-board door, hoping the critter was inside and would run out. Alas, no such luck. After a few days of midnight scratching I decided this was not likely to resolve itself. Time to call in the professionals. Step one: go to the Leaside Community Facebook site and search for pest control. Yes, other Leasiders have had critters in their walls and their recommen-
dations for a local company were helpful. Step two: make the call. “Ah yes” was the response. “There are a lot of rats in Leaside.” Rats? A mouse I could handle, but a rat? Pat arrived within a few hours and with flashlight in hand we went about examining the nooks and crannies in the garage and laundry room as well as the size of the droppings. “Mouse? Rat? Chipmunk? Not sure what it is,” he said. He went on to explain that the construction of Metrolinx’s new Eglinton Crosstown light rail line is upsetting many of the established rat colonies, sending them out in the open to find new spots to build their nests. He added some larger snap traps – he brings his own peanut butter – and a locked bait trap. “Give it a week,” he said, “and I’ll be back.” The scratching in the wall continued for a few days and then stopped, the traps remained empty with no sign of insulation, and the only thing eating the peanut butter was a colony of ants. Problem solved. What about the raccoon feces all over our back shed roof, which sits CRITTERS, Page 23
The Bayview Leaside BIA Presents
Apple Fest 2017
September 30th & October 1st
Join us as we celebrate our history and pay homage to the many apple orchards that once graced our area. Embrace that country feeling as we salute the apple with ciders, pies, live music, art and so much more! For More Details Visit www.BayviewLeasideBIA.com
12:00 noon to 5:00pm
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
LEASIDE ROTARY CLUB Toronto-Leaside Rotary Club 24th annual community corn roast Yoursunday, neighbour for over 7517, years! september 2017 trace manes park (corner of millwood rd & mcrae Dr)
more than two billion dollars for this project chartered in April, 1940. A Message from the Toronto- wasToday, and the incidence of polio has been virRotary is a global network of community tually eradicated. Rotary’s role corn has over 35,000 DON’T local clubs MISS with 1.2this fun, family-oriented Members of the Leaside Rotary Club President million members been one of funding and providwho are neighroast, featuring fresh corn on the cob, BBQ hotdogs,
Leaside community ing thousands of volunteers bours, friends, leaders and desserts, music, kids games, motor scooters, an The 24th running of the Toronto-Leaside 2.5 billion on the ground. Rotarians problem-solvers who come look to this Rotary Club Community Corn Roast willforward be obstacle castles and slides, children have given trampolines, untold hours together to make positive,course, bouncy held on September 17, 2017 between 12 andfun countless in-kind gifts lasting change in communiface painting, live music & plenty of for the annual event each immunized noon and 5:00 pm at Trace Manes Park. We to assist eradication in their ties at home and abroad. whole family!!! against Polio welcome all our friends and neighbours in September ~ an countries. Leaside Rotary, Leaside and Thorncliffe to join us in this like Rotary clubs interFor more information,most a map and opportunity for the wonderful family event. While many of you nationally, donates $100.00 directions, please check: attend the Corn Roast annually, you may US per member, per year, to the neighbourhood to F R E E O N ! www.LeasideRotaryCornRoast.com not know about Rotary and the important Rotary Foundation under the “Every SI charitable work that we do both in the getcomtogether and DMIS Member Every Year” campaign. A munity and internationally. We are pleased reconnect at the to join with Leaside Life to present the or contact: George Hurst “Rotary Story”. end of the summer! Each year, the incominggeorgehurst@sympatico.ca President of Rotary International chooses a theme to — Don Bello, President, Toronto 416-421-6491 highlight their one-year term as President of Leaside Rotary Club, 2016-2018 the world’s largest service club. PresidentIn 1991 Leaside and other Rotary clubs, elect Ian H.S.. Riseley of Sandringham, whose areas are near the Don Valley, Victoria, Australia now presides over the formed the Rotary Ecosystem Education 1.2 million members throughout the world. Program, under the professional guidance In 1905, the efforts of a young lawyer to His theme for 2017-2018, Rotary: Making of Steve Smith and Urban Forest Associates, create a small and friendly world inside a Difference reflects the Rotary motto to plant trees, shrubs and wildflowers in the a huge and indifferent city, led to his dis“Service Above Self” and every club under Don Valley watershed. covery that there were many others in the Rotary banner can be found engaged The program was introduced to Leaside need of friendship. Paul Harris, a Chicago in charitable projects at home and abroad lawyer, and three friends banded together for the betterment of their communities and continued on the following page... and called their group the Rotary Club of the environment. Chicago. The name came from their practice of rotating meetings in the members’ places of business and their object was to “encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise.” Rotary is the largest service club in the world, and one of the largest non-governmental organizations in existence. It is important that the public know that there are no In 1985, Rotary International administrative costs attached to funds raised embarked on a global effort to eradby local Rotary clubs. Every dollar raised icate polio. goes directly to the source charity. In 1988, the World Health OrganMost Rotarians contribute to the Rotary ization adopted a goal of eradiInternational Foundation. An impressive cating polio throughout the world 91% of funds received are spent directly on and Rotary joined WHO as a major programs and the foundation has received partner. Since 2013, the Gates the highest level 4-star rating from Charity Foundation has matched every dollar Navigator. Rotary commits to polio eradication, In 1911, the first Canadian Rotary Club 2-to-1 up to $35,000,000 per year. and also the first international club was Rotary, with matching funds from founded in Winnipeg. The Leaside club the Gates Foundation, has raised known as the Toronto-Leaside Rotary Club
2017-18 Rotary Theme is “Making a
Difference”
What is Rotary?
Polio Plus: Rotary’s Massive Effort to Eradicate Polio
Rotary Planting along the Don
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
LEASIDE ROTARY CLUB Toronto-Leaside Rotary Club 24th annual community corn roast Your neighbour for over 75 years! sunday, september 17, 2017 12:00 noon to 5:00pm
trace manes park (corner of millwood rd & mcrae Dr)
Leaside Rotary at Sunnybrook K-Wing
community, she found a library without and area elementary and junior schools, and books. She determined that a children’s over the intervening 26 years, students from library would best foster education, espeBessborough, Northlea, St. Anselm’s, Rolph DON’T MISS this fun, family-oriented corn Members of the cially for young girls.community She called on Rotary Road, Maurice Cody, Eglinton, Bennington roast, featuring fresh corn on the cob, BBQ hotdogs, and schools in Halifax for support and, in Heights and Thorncliffe Park, all Leaside under thecommunity short order, the club shipped 50 cartons of guidance of students from Leaside High music, kids games, motor scooters, an Rotary hasdesserts, a long standing relationship new and gently used books and donated School, have planted over 7,500 trees. look forward to this obstacle course, bouncy funds castles and slides, trampolines, with the veterans K-Wing at Sunnybrook, to acquire children’s books locally. Leaside Rotary continues to be a major stemming from the experience of Rotarians face painting, live music & plenty ofthe funclub forwas the event each For this effort, awarded a participant in the program, and annual this year in WW2. For many years veterans have Rotary (District 7070) Achievement Award. more than 250 students descendedSeptember on the whole family!!! ~ an participated in our Remembrance Day Years ago, when Hurricane Mitch ravaged Moccasin Trail site. At end of the day, 350 ceremonies and Rotarians Peter Robson Nicaragua, the cluba organized For more information, map andand speartrees were planted! In addition toopportunity the edufor andthe the Hill family, Ric, Joan, Judy and headed a Rotary District 7070 relief effort. cational aspects of the planting, all students directions, please check: Gwen neighbourhood to and other FRotarians, R E E Nhave This translated into hundreds of thousands went on a fascinating 30-minute nature ! helped www.LeasideRotaryCornRoast.com run the Wednesday and Thursday night O I S dollars of medical supplies and funded S I walk conducted by Rotarian Bob Barnett. M students in the Rotary of get togetherBingo. and Leaside High AD the reconstruction of the village water supply systems, irrigation reconnect at the or contact: George Hurst projects and schools. end of the summer! georgehurst@sympatico.ca For many years the club was most fortunate 416-421-6491 to have Fintan Kilbride as a member. A former •$50,000 contribution to the new Leaside priest and teacher at Neil Gardens Ice Pad McNeil High, he was the •Contributed funds to help re-build the epitome of compassion, school playgrounds at Bessborough, and his selfless, charitable Rolph Road and Bennington passion represented the •Funded the construction of the children’s true meaning of Rotary. playground at Trace Manes Park He canvassed area Rotary •Funded the construction of the Trace clubs for funds and conManes Senior Centre and Tennis Club vinced medical equipment Building suppliers, pharmaceutical •Assisted in equipping East York fire companies, and hospitals trucks with defibrillators •Construction and financing of Leaside Interact Club have helped run a Casino. Memorial Gardens, on land which Rotary Participating and helping vets at that event had previously purchased to build a comwas an eye-opener for the students. In addimunity centre, and Leaside Swimming tion, the club helped to fund an upgraded pool, in partnership with the Leaside gardening facility for the vets. Lions Club •Furnished the interior of the new Leaside Public library •Provided steps for the Leaside swimming pool Over the years, Leaside Rotary has made •Hosts the Community Corn Roast every several significant and ongoing contribuSeptember. tions overseas including sending funds •Each spring the club participates in the to the Salvation Army Howard Hospital Rotary AIDS walk, the proceeds being in Zimbabwe, supporting post-hurricane split between a local AIDS group and an recovery efforts in Nicaragua, continual international body such as the Stephen support for water programs and equality in Lewis Foundation Africa and working with impoverished vil•Contributed to the Toronto Club – lagers in Jamaica. Rotary Centennial project “Habitat for When a member’s sister served with CUSO Humanity” - 10 houses in Toronto. in northern Ghana in Bawku, a small rural
Rotary Contributes to our Community
Leaside Rotary Abroad
~Service Above Self~ to donate new and used medical equipment and drugs to meet needs in the Caribbean and Central America. Annually he would take students to Jamaica to work with impoverished villagers. Currently, funding is being provided to a project sponsored by the Newmarket club to the Ogutoi Medical Centre in Uganda involving the construction of a cistern that will feed an irrigation system enabling the growing and sale of produce for local farmers and the medical centre. Rotarian Phil Russel, and his wife Marti, harnessed the efforts of Rotarians and their staff at Integracare, to rescue and send computer parts to Nicaragua.
with the TNO. This quickly led to a continuing series of donations. The Club has sent kids to tennis camp, sponsored the Thorncliffe Soccer Club teams, participated in Thorncliffe’s Night Out and is currently in a 3-year program ($5,000 per annum) to send youngsters to summer camp. For the past two years Thorncliffe Public School students have been an integral part of the Rotary Tree Planting program. Last year 250 dictionaries were donated to the Early Childhood Education program. This year the club conducted an electronic recycling day out of the East York Town Centre. It was a successful event and was well supported on local websites and Facebook. It will be repeated annually.
Working with our Leaside Rotary Working Neighbours in Thorncliffe with Young People In 2003, the Club embarked on major multi-year support for Action for Children Today and Tomorrow (ACTT) which operated out of the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office (TNO). The goal of the project was to help “latch-key kids” and children from impoverished homes have the joy of friendship and learning in an after-school program. Bill Pashby, Chair of the Board at the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, plays tennis with a couple of Rotarians
and was well known to others for his community activism. As a feature speaker at one of our clubs lunch meetings, Bill’s passionate presentation inspired the club to increase it role and scope of operations
Programs directed to young people are ongoing both at home and abroad. The Club has been funding the Amarok Society, now operating in Bangladesh and India. The focus of this organization is on the education of mothers, who in turn educate the children, and the children educate their peers. A unique example are the newspaper reading groups. Some western Canadian Rotary clubs fund newspaper subscriptions and a literate person, often very young, will read the newspapers to small groups. Annually, more than 250 neighbourhood children are involved with the Don Valley tree planting program. The Club funds special needs children. For instance, this past summer we sent a camper to Camp Scugog, run by the United Church. As well, support has been provided to send worthy students on international projects. The club contributed $30,000 to help establish the highly successful Pathways to Education initiative in the Regent Park community. In addition, Rotary has provided: •Ongoing support for a Leaside Rotary minor hockey league team. •Provided substantial funding to
After Four programs in Thorncliffe and 3 downtown core schools •Funded scholarships and prizes at Leaside High and Marc Garneau Collegiate •Provided financial support for the establishment of a East York Youth Help Line. •Funded the “Participation/Acknowledgement/Transformation (PACT) program, a victim/offender mediation process to help address court backlogs and youth crime. •Provided $150,000 support for research and development of a family vehicle transfer device, in partnership with Bloorview-MacMillan Centre •Hosted a Christmas dinner for CNIB residents and Care Free Lodge for over forty years.
How does Leaside Rotary Fund its Donations? In years past, the club participated in the very popular city-wide event known as Caravan. Our club ran the popular Calgary pavilion. Funds raised from this event provided the core funding for the Leaside Rotary Foundation. The club also ran a successful Saturday morning bingo out of the Knights of Columbus Hall. This was an excellent source of income, helped fund the Foundation, and allowed the club to make many significant charitable contributions. Unfortunately, as Bingo fell out of fashion, the club had to look at other avenues to raise funds. As a result, the club became increasingly reliant on the continued on the following page...
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
~Service Above Self~ very popular Community Corn Roast held annually at Trace Manes Park to raise funds. This event is now our major fundraising initiative.
An Invitation If you have been looking for an opportunity to contribute to your community, and are interested in Rotary, we invite you to join us as our guest at one of our weekly meetings. The Rotary Club of Toronto-Leaside meets each Monday at 12:15pm at LONGO’s Supermarket, 93 Laird Drive, in the Leaside Village Plaza. To find out more about Leaside Rotary, contact George Hurst, georgehurst@sympatico.ca, 416-421-6491. New members are always welcome.
LEASIDE ROTARY CLUB 24th annual community corn roast sunday, september 17, 2017 12:00 noon to 5:00pm
trace manes park (corner of millwood rd & mcrae Dr) Members of the Leaside community look forward to this annual event each September ~ an opportunity for the neighbourhood to get together and reconnect at the end of the summer!
DON’T MISS this fun, family-oriented community corn
roast, featuring fresh corn on the cob, BBQ hotdogs, desserts, music, kids games, motor scooters, an obstacle course, bouncy castles and slides, trampolines, face painting, live music & plenty of fun for the whole family!!!
FREE ON! ISSI M D A
For more information, a map and directions, please check: www.LeasideRotaryCornRoast.com
or contact: George Hurst georgehurst@sympatico.ca 416-421-6491
Critters... From Page 18
23 Leaside Life • September 2017
under a large evergreen tree where they love to nest? Not going near that! And the dead squirrel flattened in the middle of Rumsey Rd. Call 311. And pet cats? An owner wondered, on the Leaside Community Facebook site, what people thought: “Should they be indoor or outdoor pets?” A number of residents chimed in. “Outdoor cats are indiscriminate wildlife killers and poopers, which means owners cause problems for others.” “If we don’t choose to have a cat (especially for allergy reasons) I don’t understand why I should have to have other people’s cats on my outdoor furniture. They have marked them, scratched them and left hair all over them. I hate finding cats on our deck or chairs. So rude!” People also responded to a survey: 52 voted “Indoor,” 10 for “Doesn’t matter,” 5 for “Just pick up after them,” 3 for “Outdoor” and 1 for “Outdoor if it’s safe, indoor if it’s not.” Even with this feedback the owner continued to insist that his cats seemed to enjoy their lives more if they were allowed to go outside. Lastly, what about the ongoing issue of dog owners who don’t poop and scoop? You can reach Michelle Pappas on the Leaside Community Facebook site and request her customized sign. “Wanna get into yoga? Start by bending over and picking up after your dog (known as the ‘downward dog’ position). CLEAN UP AFTER YOUR DOG.” Critter litter in Leaside...just one of our neighbourhood’s little aggravations! ■
Letters... From Page 17 that are already suffering from increased traffic. How is this fair? And what about the residents of north Leaside, who have to go home or shopping? Instead of using their own streets, they will spill over onto the streets of others. Believe me, this is not a trivial point. A brief tour of north Leaside reveals many houses with 2 or more cars. Look in the mirror north Leasiders! To conclude, I see this new plan as simply passing the buck elsewhere. It is a version of “I am ok, too bad about you.” Maybe someday it may have a place in City planning, but not before a holistic neighbourhood plan is put in place. And not before the construction is done. ■ Michael Beswick
• OVER 300 FAMILY STYLE, BAR & LOUNGE SEATS WITH A SPRAWLING TWO-TIER 150 SEAT PATIO • POURING BREWERY FAVOURITES & EXCLUSIVE BARREL AGED BEERS ALONGSIDE A CURATED WINE AND SPIRIT LIST • AUTHENTIC WOOD FIRED GRILL
AMSTERDAMBARRELHOUSE.COM
Leaside Life • September 2017
24
Leaside’s first general store – pop and ice cream, anyone?
OF LEASIDE THE STREETS
ROLPH ROAD 150
By JEANNE HOPKINS
By KEN MALLETT Although there was very little development in Leaside during WWI, things began to pick up in the early 1920s when Canada Wire resumed building homes for its employees, according to local historian John Naulls. “There was other industrial activity, too, with the Durant Motors factory opening in 1921 and the completion of the CNR yards on Laird Drive,” Naulls added. But there was also news on the retail front. “When Mrs. Perrem heard the news that 100 homes were planned, she bought a lot at McRae and Sutherland Drives on May 30, 1922 with the idea of selling ice cream and soft drinks during the summer months,” he said. “That winter she joined forces with Mr. Knight, and in 1923 the store, known as Perrem & Knight at 322 Sutherland Drive, became the first general store in Leaside. The building remains today.” On August 16, 1923, two separate applications were received by council for building permits to erect stores on McRae and Laird drives. Perrem and Knight and John Osmond were each granted permits to build. “Perrem and Knight, for whatever reasons, was credited as being the first store in Leaside, in 1923. I believe that Osmond’s was the second,” said Naulls. In August of 1925, Perrem and Knight went into the gas station business, by installing a gas tank and a pump. In the beginning, the grade was too steep and under icy conditions cars would slide into the street. The police department was advised not to fill their tanks at Perrem and Knight during the winter. It is stated that Perrem and Knight’s grocery store existed until 1947 when it became the town’s post office. Today, both stores remain. Mr. Osmond’s store is now known as Olde Yorke Fish and Chips, at the corner of Lea and Laird Drive. The Perrem & Knight property is still a storefront, but the business, Red Mulberry health store, closed last year. ■
As many Leaside kids get ready to hit the books at Rolph Road Elementary School, they should take a moment to reflect on the street after which their school is named. Rolph Road officially opened in 1938, and it then led to the naming of Rolph Road Public School, which was built on August 29, 1939, but, because of construction delays, did not open until September 29, 1939. The school was named for Dr. John Rolph, one of the first lawyers in Upper Canada and founder of the Toronto School of Medicine. But, when Rolph Road School was built at 31 Rolph Rd., others thought it was named for Dr. Albert H. Rolph, Medical Officer of Health for Leaside in 1913. John Robert Rolph was born on March 4, 1795, Thornbury, England, Dr. John Rolph where he studied medicine before emigrating to Canada. Here he studied law in 1821, attending court cases at Osgoode Hall in the mornings and attending his patients in the afternoons. In his saddlebags, he carried law books on one side and medical supplies on the other side of his horse. The shortage of doctors was most apparent after the War of 1812, and as late as the end of the war in 1815, there were only 40 qualified doctors in York. As a result, hucksters used to tour the countryside selling “wonder medicines” from their wagons. For this reason, Rolph tried to establish a medical school, which became known as the Toronto Medical School, later Victoria College of Medicine. Organized medicine in Upper Canada (now the Province of Ontario) did not exist until 1824 when Dr. Charles Duncombe and Rolph first opened a small school of medicine in the city of St. Thomas, Ont. There were only 12 students, and Drs. Duncombe and Rolph were the only faculty members. Dr. Duncombe lectured on the theory and practice of medicine while Dr. Rolph devoted his lectures and demonstrations to the anatomy and physiology of the human body. But this venture proved short-lived as John, something of a firebrand, became involved in politics and joined the Reformers during the 1837 Rebellion. He was opposed to the Family Compact and secretly associated with William Lyon Mackenzie. While taking part in the Rebellion, John Rolph was forced to flee to Rochester, New York to avoid suspicion. Luckily, he reached the home of one of his students where a horse had been hidden in the woods for him. Rolph rode to Queenston, and then fled across the border. After being pardoned in 1843, John Rolph returned and resumed his medical school here, this time at his home at 10 Asquith Avenue. This school later joined Victoria University.
In 1856, the university bought the Rolph house, then located in Cobourg, Ont. John was dean of that new school, a post he held until his death in 1870. According to one of his biographers, G. M. Craig, “Rolph’s own habitual secretiveness and the absence of adequate personal papers make it difficult now to draw a full and sympathetic portrait. But his contributions to the emerging reform movement in the 1820s and to medical education over a longer period will continue to be remembered, and the intricacies of his personality will continue to fascinate.” Something to ponder as the kids walk into the doors of the school bearing the name of this complex figure. ■
Idler... From Page 13
prepared meals
catering
I love people’s beautiful front lawns in the summertime...and Janis & Jennifer taking my kids for the first fresh baked scones at Epi breads early have closed their café in the morning. at 900 Millwood to I love the history of Leaside, and concentrate on catering and how once you are born and raised their prepared meals service. there, you almost never leave. That sense of community is hard to find 416.467.8277 anywhere else. starscatering.ca I’ve lived in quite a few Toronto creatingcomfortingfoods neighbourhoods, but this is the first place that made me feel like Full service, neighbourhood caterer available I’m part of a real community. to cater all your events, big or small. Great people, nature at your doorPrivate dinner parties, business functions, step, excellent amenities, wonderspecial events, prepared meals ful small businesses, it’s safe, and for the cottage or home. the ideal place to raise a family! Preferred caterer at Leaside United Church Leaside continues to thrive because people care about preserving what it is that makes Leaside great. We may have been sounding From Page 12 a little too critical lately, and needed this post to remind us of all the posMs. Sandler echoed that sentiment: itive aspects of the “hood.” “We want to ensure that people have Like us! Follow us! The ravine...the lovely gardens confidence in the school. We have a to see while walking, kids selling responsibility to listen, to understand lemonade, little libraries on front and to support the children.” lawns, great restaurants, being able Both shareAVOCA a positive and supportto LIFE walk everywhere! Easier drive ADVERTISEMENT - LEASIDE 23 August 2017 ive philosophy of education. For downtown! ■ example, Ms. Sandler believes that “being in education is very rewarding and it is a privilege to be a trusted COFFEE, CHOCOLATES member of the community.” Ms. Larosa feels that “school is ICE CREAM & GELATOS like home” and is deeply invested in “what can be done to ensure stu• dents are happy, safe and learning.” Both also emphasize the importance Pastries coming soon too! of all stakeholders working as a • team to create an optimal learning environment. Handmade and purely Canadian When school starts, the principals are looking forward to being visible, listening to all groups, building rela850 Millwood Road
tionships and collaborating with staff to plan the year ahead. They also 416-546-1918 intend to honour and continue traditions already in place. avocachocolates.com According to Ms. Larosa, “this is an excellent opportunity to make a difference and continue to make Rolph Road a great place to teach and learn. I look forward to fostering strong partnerships with the staff, students and parents.” Ms. Sandler agreed: “One of the greatest gifts of being a school leader is to work in partnership with communities like Northlea that are so deeply invested in the success of the students…and carry on the school’s record of excellence.” In a future issue, we’ll introduce you to St. Anselm Catholic School’s new principal. ■
Principals...
Leaside Life
25 Leaside Life • September 2017
ROLPH ROAD, cont’d
50 years later, LAPI’s only case remains unsolved Leaside Life • September 2017
26
I don’t exactly recall what prompted us to establish LAPI in the beginning. It was probably a misspent childhood reading every Hardy Boys mystery my twin brother Tim and I could lay our hands on. Or perhaps it was after we’d read the official Hardy Boys Detective Handbook. Surely there was a demand for such an organization. After all, back then Leaside was a very rough neighbourhood seething with crime and intrigue. At least that’s how it seemed to a couple of 10-year-olds with over-active imaginations. So we recruited a good friend who lived down the street and the Leaside Amateur Private Investigators –or LAPI as it is still known in family lore – was born. The first item of business was not to find a mystery to solve, a case to crack, or a crime to tackle. No. First, we needed business cards. We dug out my Mom’s electric typewriter and carefully typed out the key information we thought you might find on a detective agency business card. Then we typed it eight more times to fill up the piece of paper we’d rolled into the old SmithCorona. Next, we used a little too much Elmer’s glue to stick the paper
Terry Fallis
Guest Columnist
onto a piece of cardboard from the One-Hour Martinizing dry cleaner on Bayview. Finally, with our roundedged scissors, we carefully cut out the nine business cards. Some of them even had straight edges, and from a distance, if you had bad eyesight, actually resembled business cards. As I recall, we put our code names next to our own names on the business cards. Apparently we thought our clients ought to know our code names. Mine was Saturn. I think Tim’s was Jupiter. We were quite interested in space in those days. Now, what about helping track down a missing bicycle or stolen lunch money? Not yet. Next we created a rudimentary flyer to promote this new community service now available to the law-abiding denizens of Leaside. We typed out
White House Meats
Your neighbourhood butcher for over 16 years! Top Quality Meats and Great Service. 1523 Bayview Ave. Toronto 416-488-2004
several copies of the flyer, hung them up on neighbourhood telephone poles and the community bulletin board in the laundromat on Bayview. We even put our home phone number in the ad because it also happened to be LAPI’s business line. When someone called my mother about the ad, well, let’s just say there was no mystery about her reaction. She was not thrilled that our home phone number was plastered all over the community as part of a LAPI ad campaign. On the positive side, had it happened in 2017 and not 1970, we’d have had a LAPI Facebook page, Twitter stream, Instagram account and Google ads up and running within minutes. Our first case – okay, our only case – arrived in the form of a very loud bang late one night. We weren’t allowed to leave the house at that hour to investigate, so we waited until morning. On the front lawn of the house across from us, the street sign was bent flat to the ground. Our discerning eyes and steel-trap investigative minds immediately saw the connection between the downed sign and the tire tracks that had torn up the lawn. Then we examined the metal pole itself and, eureka, found flecks of blue paint. Bearing notepads and pencils, we knocked on our neighbours’ doors in search of witnesses. No one had seen the crash, though some had heard it. We spent the ensuing days, after school of course, scouring Leaside for a blue car with front-end damage. Residents who found us sneaking up their driveways to check the state of their blue Dodges and Buicks thought we were the ones with the front-end damage. To this day, LAPI’s only case remains open. Probably a good thing as we never did figure out what we’d have done if we’d actually found the car and culprit. It was then fall and we were back in school, playing house league hockey again, so we put crime-fighting on the back burner. LAPI folded shortly after. Even now, nearly 50 years later, whenever something mysteriously goes missing in our house, my wife will often say, “This looks like a job for LAPI.” Hardy har har. A two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Terry Fallis is the award-winning writer of six national bestsellers, including his most recent, One Brother Shy, all published by McClelland & Stewart. ■
Leaside Life • September 2017
27
Leaside Life • September 2017
28
Call, email or drop into our office! 1536 Bayview Avenue 416-483-4444 info@bonniebyford.com
The Real Estate Tradition
www.bonniebyford.com ….ooooops! feeling like this?
Feeling like a fish out of water when planning to care for or caring for your older loved one? Too much stress, anxiety and worry? No time for yourself? Please contact Living Assistance Services for senior home care advice and/or help at 416-483-0070 or b.porter@laservices.ca.
Call Us to Arrange Your Team, Office or Birthday Party!
The Neighbourhood Local
Celebrating 17 years outstanding service Celebrating 17 of years of service
Call today at 416-483-0070 for a free Nurse’s in-home care assessment.
www.LAServices.ca
WE ARE OPEN FOR LUNCH AND DINNER! Brunch Served Saturday & Sunday From 10:30 am to 2:00 pm
416 . 467. 8682 • www.LeasidePub.com 190 Laird Drive, Toronto, ON M4G 3W2 Mon-Fri: 11:00 am - 2:00 am • Sat-Sun: 10:30 am - 2:00 am
Leaside Gardens...
ROBIN DICKIE
From Page 1
29
Looking for a meaningful volunteer experience? Volunteers play a vital role in creating a world of possibility for kids with disabilities. Volunteers are needed for the following openings: • Bloorview School • Music and Arts • Summer and March Break camps • Therapeutic Recreation • Swimming and so much more!
100%
recommendation rating amongst current and former volunteers!
Learn more about Holland Bloorview’s volunteer opportunities please visit: www.hollandbloorview.ca/volunteer
Just Listed
18 Marmot Street
Stunning 3 Bedroom, 4 Bathroom home with 2nd oor family room. Chef ’s kitchen, High Ceilings, nished basement with separate entrance.
Coming Soon 45 Charles St. East- 49th Floor
2 bedroom condo with breathtaking city and water views. Parking and Locker included.
North Leaside
Spectacular newly renovated 4+1 Bedroom with private drive and garage on a quiet street.
Leaside Life • September 2017
The local rink saw some big-name talent play under its rafters, including Terry Caffery, Tom Edur, Dave and Paul Gardner, Peter Mahovlich Jr., Mike McEwen, Brad Selwood, and Bill Stewart. As the years passed, that plot of land developed. Now, 65 years later, one would be hard pressed not to find something to do at 1073 Millwood Drive. The site is currently home to two rinks which are in constant demand, the William Lea Room, a public swimming pool, and the separately owned and operated Leaside Curling Club. Although the Gardens has changed a lot over time, some things have remained constants within its walls: the dedication and determination of the athletes who train, play, perform, and better themselves; and the community of Leaside rooting for them every step of the way. The brand of coffee provided at the snack bar may be different now from the one served back in 1952, but the parent sipping it with a gloved hand from a Styrofoam cup early in the morning has always been there. The Zamboni driver may no longer be Peter Mahovlich Sr., but he ensures the ice is as fresh as ever for the next group of skaters anxiously awaiting their call time at the gates. Sponsors on rink boards have certainly changed, but all have the same goal – to keep ice sports an activity available to the whole community. And most notably, the athletes of all ages and abilities who walk through the front doors have most definitely changed over 65 years, but their willingness and determination to give all they have on that ice for an hour or so have remained constant and are the reason for the Gardens’ history and future. The Community Relations Committee of the Leaside Memorial Community Gardens Board is planning a celebratory event to commemorate the first hockey game played at the Gardens 65 years ago. This will take place in the William Lea Room at the beginning of this year’s hockey season. Stay tuned for more details. Colleen Atkinson writes on behalf of the Leaside Memorial Community Gardens. ■
To hell with pedestrians! That’s how I felt about people who don’t travel by car. Then the construction started for the Crosstown LRT at Bayview and Eglinton. It made me reconsider my viewpoint. It’s funny that I would have a problem with pedestrians because anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a big walker. I like to walk everywhere. If my wife’s at The Shops at Don Mills picking up a new dress, I’ll walk through Wilket Creek and up to the mall where we’ll have a snack before heading home in the car. It’s what I do. But in the course of all my walking, I’ve come across a lot of really dumb pedestrians, who pay more attention to their silly little phones than remaining aware of what’s happening around them. However, living within a stone’s throw of the intersection at Bayview Ave. and Parkhurst Blvd. for the last eight years, I’ve come to appreciate the difficulties faced by runners, walkers, bikers, and anyone else who gets around without a car. I walk south on Bayview first thing in the morning to get a coffee. I do the same in the afternoon during my work break. My short traverse across Parkhurst from the north to the south side by the Remax office becomes an honest-to-goodness nightmare as I negotiate between cars trying to cross Bayview illegally. It’s as if I’ve suddenly become a character out of The Exorcist. The one with the head spinning around. Quite literally, you take your life into your hands every time you are anywhere near this intersection. Pleas from nearby residents to do something to make the intersection safer led to the city’s Transportation Services department recommending signs to prohibit cars from cutting across Bayview from Soudan eastbound to Parkhurst and vice versa between 7 and 9 a.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m. Also, cars were prevented from turning left onto Bayview from either street during the same hours. The rules took effect last December. In my opinion, the signs have done little to make the intersection safer. Above is a picture I took from a recent accident. Note the TTC bus crossing into the southbound lanes to get around the three-car pileup. The only solution that makes sense is a traffic light. As someone who writes about business for a living, I can say without hesitation that both Parkers Cleaners and Remax Real Estate, the businesses closest to the inter-
Will Ashworth The business of Leaside
section, would also likely prefer a traffic light over any other possible solution. How do I know this? Because you would have to be an idiot not to want a safer environment for your clients to come and go. An accident at Parkhurst & Bayview
On top of this, when I heard that the South Eglinton Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association had worked out a win/win solution with the Brown Group for its mixed-use development on the west side of Bayview between Soudan and Hillsdale Ave., it seemed a traffic light was a no-brainer. “QUITE LITERALLY, YOU TAKE YOUR LIFE INTO YOUR HANDS EVERY TIME YOU ARE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS INTERSECTION.” Even the BA Group’s December 2014 transportation study commissioned by the Brown Group recommended a traffic light. “Signalization may be desirable from a number of perspectives. These include an improvement in side street traffic operations on Soudan Avenue/Parkhurst Boulevard, and an enhancement of pedestrian crossing conditions (i.e. protected and accessible) with replacement of the existing cross-walk with a full traffic signal control,” stated the report. “It is recommended that the City consider the benefits to introducing
signal control at this location.” While I haven’t spoken to Ward 22 Councillor Josh Matlow, it’s my understanding that he, and the residents on Soudan, favour a traffic signal at the intersection. The fly in the ointment appears to be the residents living on Parkhurst. They, along with Councillor Jon Burnside and the South Leaside Traffic Committee (SLTC), oppose a traffic light, arguing it will increase the flow of traffic on Parkhurst, a street that wasn’t designed for high volumes. “If you put a light in you are facilitating the movement of traffic in both directions on Parkhurst and Soudan crossing Bayview avoiding the intersection of Bayview and Eglinton,” the councillor told me. “So, people talk about safety. Parkhurst is a local road. It’s not even designed to collect traffic in the community, never mind through it.” While I understand the argument, you could say the same thing about Fleming Cres. and even Millwood Rd., their widths being virtually identical. SLTC’s recommendations John Burns, who served on the SLTC over the three years it examined Leaside’s traffic issues, suggests Parkhurst gets as many as 3,500 cars traveling on sections of that road, 40% higher than it is designed to carry. My only rebuttal to that would be to ascertain in what year the 2,500 limit was established by the city. If it was 1990, or even 2000, the city’s grown substantially since then. The numbers might no longer be valid. The SLTC compared three years of accident data at five different Leaside intersections where there are traffic lights against accident data from Parkhurst and Bayview. Except for Eglinton and Sutherland Dr., Parkhurst and Bayview had the most at 36, and that was before the LRT construction got underway. “Putting a traffic light in at the intersection would probably result in as many, if not more accidents as it would increase traffic on Parkhurst/ Soudan and when coupled with the volume on Bayview, could exceed the total intersection volumes at some of the intersections already having traffic lights,” John Burns wrote in an email to me. “One of the major problems with lights is that they cause accidents with people running the reds.” So, the SLTC and Councillor
WILL ASHWORTH
Leaside Life • September 2017
30
PEDESTRIANS, cont’d
ANTIQUES WANTED
Bayview & Fleming 1601 Bayview Ave Toronto ON M4G 3B5 416-489-1873
30 Years Experience
Professional & Courteous 416-231-9948
DAVID MCDOUGALL ANTIQUES
BRIAN MOK
Store Hours: 8:00AM – 12:00AM (Excluding Holiday Hours)
My staff and I are proud to serve our community.
Indian & Nepalese Cuisine
FREE ENTRÉE
Cash Paid For: Silver plate • sterling • coins • gold • jewellery • watches, etc. Teak • furniture • paintings • Doultons • fancy cups and saucers • medals • military • bronze • jade • Chinese • Japanese • fine art and quality smalls.
31
For all your health and beauty needs, come and visit our convenient location.
Leaside Life • September 2017
Burnside concluded that the turn restrictions and prohibition of through traffic were the best solution from some less than perfect options. A report from the city is expected in September that studies the effectiveness of this solution in its first six months being in place. Depending on what that research finds, Councillor Burnside believes the prohibition of through traffic should be extended to all hours of the day. Finally, if pressure comes from anywhere in the community, whether Councillor Matlow’s office or the city’s transportation department or somewhere else, the thing to do is hold a community meeting to discuss the best options available. In the end, I believe the needs of a small group of residents are getting in the way of pedestrian safety at the intersection. If the city won’t install a traffic light – I’m told they’re considering moving the crosswalk north or south of Parkhurst away from the intersection, a move that does little for pedestrians like myself walking north or south – the next best solution would be to install a concrete barrier at the mouth of both Parkhurst and Soudan. That wouldn’t make Remax or Parkers very happy, nor the people living on either street, who could no longer get to Bayview, but it sure would put a smile on the face of pedestrians. Pedestrians shouldn’t have to walk Bayview or cross it for that matter in fear. They just shouldn’t. Pedestrians deserve better. ■
Buy one entree and get the second (valued up to $12.99) FREE Mt.Everest Restaurant 804 Eglinton Ave.E Coupon must be presented. Dine-in, take-out &Delivery. Can not be combined with any other offer.Delivery has to be atleast $25 after discount
SERVING TORONTO SINCE 2004
TH EXPIRES EXPIRES SEP. OCT 30, 30 2017 2015
647-748-8849 804 EGLINTON AVE. EAST TORONTO
www.mteverestrestaurant.ca
NHL...
Leaside Life • September 2017
32
From Page 1 selected are neighbours? This is what Vegas would call the longest of long shots. The importance of coaching While both have worked hard to get to the ultimate level, both Golden and Reilly also speak with much respect and appreciation of the coaching they received from their days as Leaside Flames on their journey from mites to NHL drafts. Golden was coached in his Flames’ days by, among others, his dad and Rob Regan, and Reilly, by his dad and Vanja Cecen. Bobby Orr, the greatest defenceman ever to play in the National Hockey League, once remarked, “Developing better people should be the number one goal for any coach when dealing with kids. In trying to develop better people, we are going to develop more and better pros.” That certainly seems to be the case with Golden and Reilly, whose coaches speak highly of them. Golden’s Flames’ coach Regan first coached Jacob as a five year old and through the years noticed not only his strengths as a strong stick-handler and skater but also as a coachable
Top: Will Reilly in a Leaside Flames uniform at 7 years old. Right: Jacob Golden at age 10. kid who “was always listening with both his ears and his eyes.” Regan notes that Golden “has continued to work very hard on his hockey/school balance and has made some strong decisions along the way.” As a student and player at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) last year, Reilly was coached by Seth Appert,
Leaside Gate
Seniors’ Condos and Life-Lease Units for Sale in Leaside Ask Roy to put you on his waiting list for any of these 3 buildings designed for seniors This can only be done if you are not under contract with another REALTOR
Roy St.John
Sahil
Broker
416-569-5036 www.seniorscondos.com froystjohn@gmail.com Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage 4025 Yonge St, Unit 103, Toronto, ON M2P 2E3
Bethel Green not intended to solicit parties in an agency agreement
who says that “Will is an elite skating attacking defenceman who has all the components necessary to become an NHL defenceman. His work ethic, high compete level and willingness to accept coaching allowed for great growth in his game this past season.” As kids, as with many young Canadians, both boys dreamed of playing in the NHL. Reilly, a Leafs fan, admired the play of Mats Sundin, whereas Golden had no team allegiance, but just loved watching the game. And while both have made their dream a reality with the same work ethic and great coaching, the two took different routes on their hockey journey. Golden and Reilly both played high school hockey (CISAA) with Upper Canada College. Golden then played with the London Knights of the OHL and Reilly with Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL, and then with RPI of the NCAA. Strong family support Both boys credit their families for their support over the years. Golden’s younger siblings, Tate and Josh, both play hockey. Jacob says his sister Tate “is so cute and brightens my day,” while his brother, a AA goalie, was a great playmate from their mini-sticks days to someone on whom he could take practice shots. Golden also gives great credit to his parents Tess and Eric, who, he knows, made many sacrifices and drove him to all those 6 a.m. practices! Reilly’s 16-year-old brother, Mike, is also a hockey player, and Will credits his whole family, including parents Betty and John, as well as his uncle, Pat Reilly, for all their support (and driving) over the years. Both players’ fathers comment that, as John Reilly puts it, “to be a pro athlete you have to be smart.” Both Golden and Reilly are studying business and are remarkably well-spoken as well as being driven to succeed. Their advice for any kids hoping to pursue dreams of playing professional hockey? “If you love playing hockey, keep playing!” says Reilly. “Have fun and take it day by day,” adds Golden, his friend, neighbour and now fellow NHLer. Through an enormous amount of hard work, perseverance, and support, both have developed into exemplary young men – young men with an enormously bright future ahead of them. ■
Your Old Home Movies On DVD Let us digitize your rlm and video to DVD or File.
33
Spinning Studio
www.manicmedia.ca
leasideindoorcycling.com
VHS Betamax 8mm MiniDV Film
862 Millwood Road (inside Core Body Science)
Local Leaside Business
The Leaside Painter Quality Interior & Exterior Home Painting call Mike at:
Improve Your Physique & Empower Your Movement Reformer Training corebodyscience.com 416 799 0444
416-917-6504
Heide Heemsoth Real Estate Agent, SRES® CNE
Helping You Achieve Your Real Estate Goals
416-485-2299
JON BURNSIDE COUNCILLOR ward26.ca 416.392.0215 councillor_burnside@toronto.ca
L H H e al t h St ud io SALES,SERVICE & INSTALLATION BOSTON ACOUSTIC POLK AUDIO MARANTZ
YAMAHA ONKYO BENON SANUS
PANASONIC SAMSUNG TOSHIBA SHARP
SONY JVC LG
Professional Service for over 35 Years
410 Moore Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4G 1C9
(at Bayview)
416-480-9856 www.aireontv.com
HOM THEA E SPEC TRE IALIS TS
• Massage Therapy • Reflexology • Shiatsu • Hot Stones 1699A Bayview Ave. 416-800-3938 W e a c c e pt i ns u r a n c e
Leaside Life • September 2017
416-623-9479
Leaside Life • September 2017
34
EVENTS ST. AUGUSTINE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH 1847 Bayview Ave. Listen to great live music by local artists and have a coffee and dessert with friends. The Groove Room Coffee House, Friday Sep. 8th, 7:00-8:30 pm. Cost is $5 with proceeds to the Flemingdon Park Food Bank. We are looking for performers. Contact Augustine@bellnet.ca
CANADIAN FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN — LEASIDE-EAST YORK Our monthly meeting is at 7:30pm Thurs., September 21, 2017 at Northlea United Church, 125 Brentcliffe Ave. Our Speaker will be Della Aziavor of YWCA Toronto speaking about “Helping Women Build New Lives after Violence” Visitors and new members are welcome! For more information please visit our website at www.cfuwleasideeastyork.ca or email us at joincfuw@gmail.com.
Adult Programming Leaside Writing Group, Saturdays, Sept 2, 30 • 10-12 noon. Drop in. Knitting Club, Fridays, Sept. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 • 10-12 noon. Drop in. Games Night (Cribbage), Tuesdays, Sept. 5, 12, 19, 26 • 6:30-8:30. Drop in. Adult Colouring, Tuesdays, Sept. 5, 12, 19, 26 • 7-8:30. Drop in. Play Reading, Saturday, Sept. 23 • 10-12. Drop in. Using Your Tablet, Wednesday, Sept. 27 • 4-6. **Registration required. Brain Health and Dementia (lecture by the Alzheimers Soc) Wednesday, September 13 • 7-8. Drop in. Culture Days Program – Creating Your Own Intention Doll, Saturday, September 30 • 2-3:30. Drop in.
T.A.N.G
(TORONTO AIRPORT NOISE GROUP)]
PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE Helios, the UK-based consulting firm, together with Bo Redeborn and Graham Lake, are nearing the end of their Independent Toronto Airspace Review and invite you to attend the final presentation. At the event, Nick Boud and Bo Redeborn will present an overview of the recommendations they are making to NAV CANADA to mitigate the impact of aviation noise on the Greater Toronto Area. T.A.N.G is urging Leasiders to attend as the issue of jetpath noise has been an ongoing concern for many years in the area.
Children’s Programming
EVENT DATE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2017, 7-9 P.M.
Family Time starts up again on October 4th, Baby Time starts up again on October 5th.
Location: Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel & Suites, 5875 Airport Road, Miss.
LEASIDE LIBRARY
Call for details about any program or to register, at 416-396-3835. Check us out online at www.torontopubliclibrary.ca.
165 McRae Drive, Toronto, ON M4G 1S8 416-396-3835
Send us your free listing for October by September 10th – leasidelife@gmail.com
The event is a public event, open and free to all. We are expecting a large turnout to this event and you must register to attend in advance at www. eventbrite.co.uk/e/independent-toronto-airspace-review-final-presentation
Coming Soon to Leaside
hands free stay tuned for further developments
R I B U T I N GReliability Since 1930
Promote in Your Neighbourhood!
Postcard Specials! Offer includes Design, Print* and Door to Door Distribution to: Leaside or Davisville 4000 Homes
$599
Leaside + Davisville 8000 Homes
$999 * 5 x 7, Full Colour, 12pt, 2 sides
Accurate Distributing
GET ED IC NOT
Your door-to-door distribution and in-house printing specialist www.accuratedistributing.com
416-429-9102
In the Leaside Neighbourhood Since 1995
Leaside Life • September 2017
.
co
DI
ST
m
35
Leaside Life • September 2017
36
Talbot Quads at risk On August 3, 2017, the North York Committee of Adjustment deferred sine die consideration of severance and minor variance applications for the property at 1755-1757 Bayview Ave. The applicant wanted to construct a new three-storey semi-detached dwelling on two undersized lots. The existing double duplex dwelling would be demolished. These applications would remove one of the 10 highly esteemed “Talbot quadraplexes,” intimately associated with the development of the Town of Leaside, which have existed in a prominent location on the east side of Bayview, just south of Eglinton, since the mid-1930s. The LPOA’s overall planning concerns about the applications are: • It is inappropriate to consider
ment should be undertaken, even if the number of units to be eliminated in this case is less than required to make such a review mandatory under the City’s rental replacement policy. • The applications appear contrary to the intent of the Growth Plan for the Greater Toronto Area and the Toronto Official Plan since they would actually reduce the residential density in terms of number of units (two instead of four) and likely population density, while increasing the physical density (as measured by Floor Space Index). • The applications fail the four tests of the Planning Act, such as being “minor,” and fail to follow the Official Plan requirements regarding maintaining the character of residential neighbourhoods.
1755-1757 Bayview Ave. applications for lot severance, and demolition and replacement of a building which is part of a group of 10 virtually identical buildings as a “minor variance”. It should be considered a Zoning By-law Amendment with more comprehensive analytical and public consultation requirements. • This application is inappropriate given that the properties were individually nominated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2011. Heritage Preservation Services (HPS) recommended deferral of the application pending completion of the heritage assessment. • The Talbot quadraplexes represent significant provision of rental housing in the Leaside area, potentially to be replaced by the high end of market ownership housing. As such a rental housing supply assess-
What does the decision of the Committee of Adjustment to defer sine die consideration of the applications for the property signify? The proponent can come back any time subject to the availability of space on the agenda of the Committee of Adjustment (which at the time of writing is booked to the end of September). However, the Committee’s deferral decision was intended to allow time for the City to conduct heritage assessment and other planning studies necessary to establish a City position with respect to the applications (and others that may appear). The LPOA has requested that the heritage assessment include all 10 properties with double duplexes (i.e. 1747-1749 to 1783–1785). These properties were individually nominated for inclusion in the City
Geoff Kettel
Saving old Leaside of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties by the North York Community Preservation Panel in 2011. The 10 properties clearly form a “group,” and demolition or major change to any one building would affect all 10 properties. The Talbot quadraplexes are important to Leaside for several reasons, of which their association with Henry Howard Talbot is only one: • They represent the second set of apartments associated with Talbot. Talbot was responsible for the Kelvingrove, Glen Leven and Strathavon apartments on Bayview near Sutherland, which are rare “garden apartments, as well as many of the single family homes in the area. • Like the apartments and many of the Talbot built single family homes, the quadraplexes are good examples of the Georgian Revival style. Evidence presented to the OMB hearing on the Talbot apartments (November 2009) noted the value of the quadraplexes to the east side of Bayview. Heritage planner Paul Dilse stated: “Over much of the length of the east side of Bayview Avenue... there is...an architectural integrity that is authentic to Leaside.” Of the Talbot duplexes, he commented, they “extend the domestic appearance of the neighbourhood’s single-detached houses...out to Bayview.” The Talbot Apartments were preserved following an historic OMB and Divisional Court battle in 2009-2010. It’s time to protect the second set of Talbot apartments. What next? Talk to your neighbours, let the LPOA and Councillor Burnside know what you think should happen to these properties.
Fight to retain single family character of Bennington Heights The OMB hearing for an application to amend the Official Plan and zoning bylaws to allow the construction of a townhouse block fronting Evergreen Gardens in Bennington Heights, ending on Bayview, began on July 24th. The OMB hearing room witnessed a closely fought battle for
GAYLE FORCE IN BUSINESS 35 YEARS!
BARRE BURN PILATES BODY SHRED CARDIO JAM CHAIR PILATES STRETCH POST NATAL CHISEL IT
GAYLE FORCE CLASSES ARE LIKE HAVING A PERSONAL TRAINER!
CLASSES HELD AT ST. CUTHBERT'S CHURCH (1399 BAYVIEW AVE. AT DAVISVILLE)
Evergreen Gardens Gardens and construct a block of townhouses having six (now reduced to five) units, each with integral garages fronting on Evergreen Gardens. This proposal is precedent-setting, introducing a new and more intensive housing form to the area. In fact, the density is higher than for some four-storey apartments. These are very large units, 3,000 square feet, 20 feet wide over three levels. The developer is clearly seeking to achieve the maximum possible density. Plus the larger the unit, the greater the selling price. Should townhouses come to Bennington Heights? The applicant’s expert planning witness suggested this style of housing development is merely an extension southward of similar developments spreading along Bayview, especially in the York Mills stretch. However, in Leaside, extending from Glenvale (just south of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre) to Moore, in fact, there are no townhouse developments. In 2009 a planning application proposed to replace the Talbot apartments (three complexes totalling 100+ units) from south of McRae to Sutherland, with a large townhouse development and an apartment building to replace the rental units. This was appealed to, and refused by the OMB, appealed to the Divisional Court, and also refused there. I argue the proposed development does not fit in, and support the Bennington residents in recommending its refusal. ■
WANT TO TRY US OUT? TEST DRIVE OUR MANY CLASSES FOR ONE WEEK
FREE!
(NO NEED TO CALL...JUST COME! NEW MEMBERS ONLY.)
W ILLS & E STATES Lawyer House calls
Eve & wknd. appts. Flat fees "Important choices made easy."
W ILLS . T RUSTS . E STATES . 647-360-9519 www.lifeplanninglaw.ca
37 Leaside Life • September 2017
GAYLEFORCE.CA 647-222-5095 GAYLEFORCEFITNESS@GMAIL.COM GAYLE BOXER DUNCANSON
the future of Bennington’s single family detached home character. Two opposing narratives played out: one, Bennington Park’s single family character should remain unsullied (despite recent OMB decisions allowing the splitting of a couple of large lots into smaller lots, but still allowable for single family detached houses); the other – the site’s adjacency to Bayview demands a more intensive form of development (the apartment building on the Bayview/ Moore corner leading the way). After four hearing days, whose narrative won? Full disclosure: I was present representing the LPOA (and was granted Participant status by the presiding Member). I provided a Leaside perspective on the matter, which I think may have been helpful to the Bennington residents’ case. Leaside and Bennington residents have worked together to oppose inappropriate development before. In 1966 Cadillac Development Corp. Ltd. and Belmont Construction Ltd. applied to rezone 10.5 acres on Mallory Cres. While approved by Council, residents of Leaside and Bennington together opposed the application at the OMB and were successful. Leaside and Bennington Heights are neighbours, but their development story and municipal histories are different. Bennington is entirely residential, all single family detached houses, except for the fairly recent apartment building at the corner of Moore and Bayview. Leaside was planned as a complete community, with distinct industrial, commercial and residential areas, and has a greater mix of housing types and densities, from singles and semis to apartments and townhouses. Bennington Heights was part of the Township of East York, while Leaside was an independent municipality (the Town of Leaside). In 1967 the Township of East York and the Town of Leaside amalgamated to form the Borough of East York. After amalgamation in 1998, Leaside and Bennington both became part of Ward 26 with the same councillor. Evergreen Gardens is part of a unique area within Bennington Heights originally known as Heathbridge Park. Heathbridge Park comprises an interesting mix of five streets, four of which are culde-sacs (Heathbridge Park, Garden Circle, Windmill Rd., and Orchard Rd.) plus Evergreen Gardens, and was planned by architect James A. Murray and his students in 1946
as a “co-operative residential community.” Evergreen Gardens is also the name of a park that fronts on Evergreen Gardens (the street) and backs onto Moore Ave. With the exception of the six-storey apartment building immediately to the north that fronts Moore at Bayview (built in the 1960s before zoning was tightly restricted. In fact it sits on land still zoned single family dwelling), Heathbridge Park comprises exclusively single family detached houses. The townhouse application proposes to demolish two existing detached houses on Evergreen
RACHEL CORNEJO
KETTEL, cont’d
Leaside, the town that never sleeps Leaside Life • September 2017
38
New York City used to be called “the city that never sleeps.” That description increasingly describes Toronto, at least in the policy sense. Even in the hazy heat of summer there are always deadlines to meet, new or continuing issues to attend to, something going on. Construction and reconstruction of roads and intersections are either underway or about to be. Local traffic issues continue throughout Leaside with the LPOA’s Traffic Committee preparing to hold more public consultation in the autumn regarding traffic calming. Suffice to say, the summer of 2017 has not been free of official meetings, reports to analyze or write, or hearings to prepare for! As autumn approaches, unfinished issues return to City Council for debate and (dare we hope?) resolution. Here are two of them: On September 7th, there is a public meeting to receive input on regulations regarding short-term rentals. These include large companies like Airbnb, as well as individuals with a room or rooms or whole house to rent out. Should these rentals be
Carol Burtin Fripp Co-president, LPOA
limited to an individual’s principal residence? What kinds of controls should be enforced to prevent the kind of “bnb creep” I described in last month’s Leaside Life? What do YOU think? You can attend the September 7th meeting (9-11 a.m., Committee Room C, on the second floor at Toronto City Hall). You can also contact the LPOA and Councillor Burnside with your suggestions. This is not just an issue for downtown. It’s an issue for neighbourhoods across the city. If the City gets its policy wrong, neighbourhoods like Leaside could be affected, and not for the better. Meanwhile, aircraft noise continues to be a hot issue in Leaside. Did you know that noise complaints (especially in the afternoon and overnight) have increased significantly in the last year? Changes in flight routes
Find out why people love to live at Kilgour Estate!
Let my proven track record in condo sales work for you! STEPHEN FRAZEE, Broker Kilgour Estate Resident & Owner since 2007 RE/MAX Ultimate Realty Inc., Brokerage 1739 Bayview Ave, Toronto, ON M4G 0A1 Office: (416) 487-5131 Cell: (416) 518-6533 sfrazee@rogers.com
and altitudes have resulted in more flight paths turning over Leaside. The repetitive frequency of these low-flying aircraft interrupts outdoor conversations and disrupts sleep during the night and early morning hours. The Toronto Aviation Noise Group (T.A.N.G.) has been actively working on this matter for about four years. Originally coordinating with previous Member of Parliament for Don Valley West John Carmichael, and now with our current MP, Robert Oliphant, T.A.N.G has taken these actions: met with Transport Canada; hired an expert consultant; and identified how our noise problems from aircraft can be reduced. Specific
flight path changes (e.g., airplanes approaching or turning at higher altitudes) have been discussed by the stakeholders. The Leaside Property Owners’ Association is represented on T.A.N.G. by our past-president Brian Athey, who reports that there will be an important meeting on September 18th at which a final report – the Helios Toronto Airspace Review – will be presented (7-9 p.m. at the Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel & Suites, 5875 Airport Road, Mississauga, see page 34 for details). He comments that the key solution for Leaside is a relocation of the south downwind approach leg for aircraft landing on one specific runway, 24L at Pearson Airport. These jets currently descend over Leaside heading eastbound, then make a 180 degree (and noisy) turn in order to line up for their subsequent westbound approach to 24L. So the key problem has been identified. Our next LPOA Board meeting is on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th, at 7:30 p.m. in the Noble Room at Trace Manes. These meetings are always open to the public, and take place on the first Wednesday of each month. We invite you to attend, whether for help or advice on local matters, or just to hear more about what is happening in our community. ■
Ashian Ghazi Salesperson ph. 416-882-5585 Ashian.ghazi@gmail.com
Leaside MANOR
Maria Sabour Broker ph. 416-450-0710 Sabour.maria@gmail.com
SHANE BAGHAI introduces LEASIDE MANOR. Luxury boutique condominiums starting from the low 1 M. Featuring: • 2 Bedroom + den • 3 Bedroom + den • Terraces • Fitness Room • Miele appliances • Automatic window shades. Customize your residence with one of the best architects and designers in the city.
+ home
Serving Homeowners, Builders, Interior Designers, Architects and Contractors Visit our 10,500 square foot showroom to see our selection of brand name
Our partners include:
143 Bermondsey Road, Toronto
•
(416) 755-6555
•
FLOORINGANDHOME.COM
info@FlooringAndHome.com