South Bayview Bulldog Admin

Caribana parade enthralls City in perfect weather

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Seriously sunny day sees  hundreds dance along the parade route with thousands more watching. Twitter fan says “looks like sooooo much fun. Getting positive vibes just watching it on the news!” Officially it’s the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival. This West Indian festival of  colour and music is snaking its way along the Lakeshore a distance of more than 3 kilometres. Commonly called Caribana, the event is in its 47th year, billing itself an “explosion of Caribbean cuisine, music, revelry as well as visual and performing arts.

Board Game Tournament at Leaside Library

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School Trustee Gerri Gershon has tweeted a timely reminder about the Summer Board Game Tournament at the Leaside Library on McRae Drive. This is a great way to have some fun with your friends and make new friends as you compete in (and learn) board games like chess, checkers, cards and others as well. You keep your score and challenge others. It goes on Mondays between 2. and 8 p.m. The scheduled dates are August 4, 11, and 18, 2014. Winners receive prizes at the end of August. You can drop in with no registration required. Website 

Six Leaside Gardens of Distinction are named

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Six hard-working homeowners in Leaside have had their gardening recognized by the Leaside Garden Society. The homes have been declared Gardens of Distinction. It is an award that comes more or less out of the blue as garden society volunteers roamed the neighborhood taking pictures of attractive front yards. It is the first time in many years since the awards has been given. This year the following homes were chosen: 1 Kenrae Rd., 35 Heather Rd., 34 Parkhurst Blvd., 4 Divadale Dr., 36 Donlea Dr. and 142 Glenvale Blvd. The survey of homes was led by volunteer Barry Schneider. In addition to a lawn sign identifying their winning home, the chosen gardeners also received a $25 gift certificate to Sheridan Nurseries.

Biker charged in April crash at Eg and Brentcliffe

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Sources say the motorcyclist who collided with a car at the corner of  Eglinton Ave. E. and Brentcliffe Rd. on April 9, 2014 has been charged. The man was seriously injured in the crash and spent many weeks in Sunnybrook Hospital. He has recovered from his injuries and is well enough to face the charge. It was prertty apparent from these photos taken by Rudy.ca and published in The South Bayview Bulldog that the biker slammed into the side of the car as it was turning onto Brentcliffe. 

City staff urge rejection of condos at Garden Court

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North York Community Council, which has jurisdiction at the lower level, will consider the staff report on the proposal to convert the Garden Court Apartments from rental to condominiums. The staff has recommended quite clearly that it opposes the change. Its report makes these points (edited) 1. City Council (should) refuse Official Plan Amendment application, Residential Rental Demolition and Conversion application. 2. If the Official Plan Amendment and Draft Plan of Condominium applications are appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, City Council direct the City Solicitor together with other appropriate City staff to appear before the Board in opposition to any appeals filed in respect to these applications. 3. City Council authorize and direct the appropriate City officials to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Panic on Twitter as Facebook servers go down

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#facebookdown  UPDATE: Facebook is back online after a 35-minute outage. This was the second major outage in the last two months. Back in June they went down for approximately 41 minutes.  Facebook has over a billion monthly active users worldwide.

Facebook is down. How will I share pictures of my cats?
— MMinSC (@MMinSC) August 1, 2014

Toronto Hydro submits 5-year plan to raise rates

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Toronto Hydro has submitted a five-year rate application to the Ontario Energy Board.  An average household could face increases of approximately $3.54, every month, for the next five years. CTV

Report on the “Slow Down” lawn sign program

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The Leaside man who is providing a lot of leadership in the program of community signs asking motorists to slow down has sent out an interim report. Roger Cattel is supported by many selfless Leaside residents and businesses. He names a few and notes that many others asked not to be named. Sign-A-Rama on Eglinton Ave.  has done the printing and many others have donated money. Among them: Lexus on the Park, Parkview BMW, Patrick Rocca, Mike Zivot, Andy Elder of Grilltime and Jon Burnside.  Roger points out that his work has been careful not draw attention away from the efforts of Georgia Walsh’s family to raise money for the Hospital for Sick Children.  As Roger says: “(The) focus right now is 100% on getting more signs out there. Signs are arriving in lots of 10 and 20 at a time and are slowly making it out there. There are over 400 of you waiting for a sign: making my way through all the emails from first to last. However, on August 13/14 we will be receiving a delivery of 300 signs. Near that time a communication will go out letting people know where they can be picked up around the neighbourhood. A Facebook page will be launched shortly where updates can be viewed – thinking that will work better than trying to administer over email.”  Everyone is much in admiration of Roger’s work and the wonderful team that has been assembled. 

Skyway Bridge to re-open by Monday dinner hour

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The Skyway Bridge northbound into Toronto will re-open Monday night between 6 and 8 p.m. This after a three-day shut down for repairs. It was closed down last Thursday when a dump truck with the bin raised slammed into the superstructure. Traffic will be slow for a few days as repairs are completed.  A 34-year-old Brampton man is facing a count of impaired driving.

There’s a welcoming smile to be had at Refuel

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There’s a welcoming hello and smile at Refuel from Abbie Memon. The new cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juice bar at 1633 Bayview Ave. is just opened.  Abbie and husband Naeem are an enterprising couple and their place should become a frequent stop for South Bayviewites. Naeem met Abbie when he was a senior staffer of many years with a large juice chain and he hired his future wife. Their dream now is to make their little juicery a success. The large colourful menu reveals many easily customized drinks. We had a soy-milk orange, apple and strawberry smoothie. Delicious. Naeem has plans to add some off-season attractions to his menu. A fresh fruit and vegetable salad bar will soon appear, he says. We say welcome to Refuel and to Naeem and Abbie. Give them a visit. They’re next door to Pagnello antiques.

Separated as kids, sisters embrace, cling together

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Twin sisters Victoria Guzzo of Toronto and Clair Heathcote of Scotland embrace and cling to each other as they meet for the first time in their lives. The story of the wonderful fulfillment of their search for each other is at CTV .

Truck rollover snarls Overlea-Millwood

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We thank “Captain Frank” of the Salvation Army headquarters staff at Millwood Rd. and Overlea Blvd for snapping then tweeting his picture of this truck rollover Thursday morning on Overlea. It appears the vehicle may have been a bit top-heavy and although it was a messy accident, there were no serious injuries.