South Bayview Bulldog Admin

Documentary films mark Leaside Centennial

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Earlier Story

This year marks the centennial of the Town of Leaside. The still largely unbuilt community was established by an act of the Provincial Legislature on April 23, 1913. The railways were instrumental in the creation of the town. Well known streets like Laird, Hanna, Wicksteed and many others carry the names of executives of the Canadian Northern Railway, prime movers in the plan. See Wikipedia  for more of this type of information.   To help spearhead the commemoration  the Leaside One Hundred Committee has been convened by  Councillor John Parker and is co-chaired by Virginia Evoy and John Piper. Other members are Lorna Krawchuk, Geoff Kettel, John Parker, Charlene Kalia, and Muhammed Wani. An interesting undertaking will be the production of a documentary 100 Years Inside Leaside devoted to telling the “then and now” vignettes of a proud community. The producers are asking anyone with archival material or a story to tell to contact them at Lea100Productions@gmail.com.

Union says teacher “protest” is charter issue

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Public schools will be closed across Toronto and South Bayview tomorrow as teachers continue their rolling strike action against the Ontario Government. The “alert” image above is on the Maurice Cody Junior Public school site and is on all school sites. Parents are scrambling to arrange for children to be cared for and  occupied during this shutdown. Premier Dalton McGuinty called the protest an “illegal strike” and said his government will ask the Ontario Labour Relations Board to prevent the elementary school teachers from walking off the job. Officials said late yesterday that McGuinty will similarly “bring OSSTF’s illegal strike notice to the OLRB in the coming days.”  The  Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario has suggested that its action is protected under the Charter of  Rights as a political protest. Fairly unanimous legal opinion seems to be however that it is actually an illegal strike and as such the union may be subject to fines if it continues to encourage teachers to leave school. 

Man builds 80s era VIA coach in basement

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Well done feature from Global News on Vaughan man who has built a 1980s era VIA rail coach in his basement. Really.

First Nation can’t agree on grievances

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Interesting situational story here on the turmoil in aboriginal ranks as to what they want.  Edmonton Journal

Leaside Garden Society meeting this evening

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A reminder that the Leaside Garden Society meeting is this evening.  It will be in the community room of  Leaside Library, 165 McRae Drive beginning at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be addressed by well known gardener Sonia Day who will speak on Incredible Edibles — fun things to grow in a city garden. Visitors and new members are welcome. Memberships: single $25 or family $30

Police radar busy on Moore Ave. today

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Toronto Police Service has a radar unit, well concealed, at work on Moore Ave.  between Welland Ave and Bayview Ave this morning (Thursday, January 10, 2013) The speed limit along this section of Moore is 40 km/h so be careful. 

A fix for the TTC dead zone on Bayview Ave.

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Reader Michael Bell has raised the long-standing issue of the TTC “dead zone” on Bayview Ave between Sutherland Dr. and the “downtown” intersection of South Bayview at Bayview and Davisville Ave. Vast numbers of residents in Moore Park, Bennington Heights and surrounding streets have no direct bus connection to the shops and services of the business district which is their preferred destination. The dead zone strikes when the 88 South Leaside buses heading eastbound to Thorncliffe Park turn at Sutherland Dr. In fact there are alternate lines, 88 South Leaside and 88A South Leaside. They both follow Sutherland but they split at Millwood. The 88A route goes east to Overlea Blvd and 88 goes back to McRae Drive and heads out to Wicksteed Ave.  These are useful routes, but we wonder why the 88 route can’t be adjusted to serve the shoppers of  Moore Park and Bennington.Heights. If, for example, the 88 continued up Bayview past Sutherland, it could stop at South Bayview’s downtown and then turn right on Millwood and resume its route along McRae at Trace Manes Park. This solution seems feasible to we laypersons at the South Bayview Bulldog, but if it’s not  there must be a fix of some kind to the dead zone. The only way south end residents can now take The Better Way to South Bayview is to ride the westbound  88 South Leaside bus to the St. Clair station, transfer to the northbound subway and then catch the 11 Bayview bus at Davisville Station. 

Demolition nigh for Glebe Presbyterian Church

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Demolition of the century old Glebe Presbyterian Church at 124 Belsize is very near. The old building has been surrounded by heavy wire fencing in preparation for the work. As noted in a prevuous post, application has been made to build three sets of two semi-detached town homes on the site. The 1913 church was for sale most of this year. Sale price had not been made public but the listing price was $2,850,000. This limited information caome from the City’s website and reveals no plans or illustrations. The application does say that the homes will sit atop a common underground garage which will be accessed from Belsize Drive. Judging by the value of homes in the Glebe and with an added amenity like an underground garage, the value of each unit will be substantial. Profit to the builder would be very handsome as well if he paid only the listing price This proposed project however may seem attractive to residents here and elsewhere considering the frequent attempts by developers to challenge zoning with multi-level towers. 

$50,000 extortion attempt at recruiting firm

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Toronto Police Service report:   Drake International Recruiting, 320 Bay Street, reports that on January 4, 2013, they received an email from unknown hacker agency advising they have hacked into their client database including contact details, names and passwords. The agency was asked to send a one-time payment of $50,000.00 U.S. to prevent the data records from getting released over the internet. The complainant with their other agencies around the world has agreed on not paying this group.

GTA luxury car thieves plead guilty

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 Andrzej Zalewski, 34
Two members of a well-oiled auto theft scheme in the GTA have pleaded guilty in Newmarket court to many counts of break and enter, theft of cars and possession of 99 keys to stolen cars. One trademark of the team was to break into homes, even while the residents were at home asleep, and steal cars keys which they would later use to steal the car. It’s another wake-up call that the theft of keys cannot be ignored because thieves have a way of coming week weeks, even months later to steal the vehicle.  Andrzej Zalewski, 34, and accomplice Damian Kaleta, 29, will be sentenced later 

Breakfast TV live on South Bayview this Monday

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Those who saw the CityNews live truck on South Bayview this morning will be interested to know that it was here to do a survey for a live shot into Breakfast Television. Bonnie Goldmacher tells the The South Bayview Bulldog that the live broadcast will take place Monday, January 14, 2013 at the new Fitwall fitness studio at 1675 Bayview. For those who don’t know, the company is just established in Canada and it intends to add franchises over time.  Watch for it. Website.

Century of wedding dreams in Homefront window

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Homefront’s Wedding Registry window contains a century of wedding dreams. It features a gorgeous heirloom bridal gown which was designed by 1950s Manhattan couturier Eleanora Garnett. The gown was presented to the first bride in 1958. I was that first bride. It’s made of oyster coloured duchess satin and originally had a mandarin collar and wide obi front sash. It was worn in that design by the first three brides and the fourth redesigned the neckline and sash which you see today. The gown is 54 years old and still a classic. Now for a story more than a 100 years old. The veil displayed in our Homefront window is made of silk tulle and embroidered with brussels and rose point lace. It was purchased shortly after 1900 by my grandmother when my mother was just an infant. It was to be worn by my mother at her wedding, and in 1929 it was (upper right). The outdoor wedding took place in September and she walked down a spruce pathway and was married in a pine grove serenaded by madrigal singers. Centre right we see the veil worn by a wartime bride with her RCAF groom. This lady lives today at 97 to recall her fond memories. At the bottom right is a photograph of me wearing the veil.  In all, the veil has been worn by 10 brides and each time it looked different as  different headpieces were used. Today the gown and veil belong to no one bride as they have sailed into history and have become heirloom classics Trish Stuebing, President, Homefront.  Homefront is at 371 Eglinton Ave. West (416) 488-3189