There will wine-tasting among fine cuts of meat at Grilltime Saturday when Mark Bolduc of the The Vine Agency visits between 12 and 4 p.m.  Grilltime owner Andy Elder offers an invitation to all to enjoy some of his fresh cooked hors d’oeuvres to go along with the wine. Some of the vintages to be tasted are:

WINES

McManis Family Vineyards/Ripon, San Joaquin Valley 2015 Viognier, River Junction/Wine Enthusiast 88 Best Buy, Roccafiore/Todi, Umbria 2015 Rosato di Sangiovese, Tin Barn Vineyards/Sonoma, R8 by Mike Lancaster’ Cab Sauvignon, California / Rod Phillips 4 stars, Chateau Pesquie/Mormoiron, Ventoux Rhône 2014 Les Terrasses Rouge, Ventoux/Parker 91, Saviolidis 91, Tenuta Cocci Grifoni/San Savino di Ripatransone, Marche and 2011 ‘Le Torri’ Rosso Piceno Superiore (Sangiovese/Montepulciano)

GRILLTIME

Grilltime is at 72 Laird Drive (parking at rear) (416) 467-4745.

There was good fellowship for Leaside guys and their friends from nearby at the Guys Night Out and Toy Drive Thursday night at the Leaside Pub. Mayor Tory, Councillor Burnside and many more joined the gathering. The idea, rendered annually, is to bring a toy for a child who might go without come Christmas. Andy Elder reports there was a big turnout. The mayor said  a few words too. Says Andy: “It was a great night, well attended, well executed. So many including Jeff (Hohner, pub owner) put in lots of effort to make it happen.” Andy, owner of specialty meat shop Grilltime, Dave Illiatovitch-Owen of seafood retailer De La Mer and Trae Zammit of the Smokin’ Cigar combined to offer a private evening of oysters, steaks and cigars for eight at Andy’s Laird Drive Grilltime emporium. The night will include beer and wine. Says Andy: “It sold for $1800. I’m proud of that.”

So there’s this must-have toy called the Hatchimal. Yeah, we just learned what it was today too. But there are enough people who know, and enough kids who want it, that greedy persons are buying them by the bag to trade on the pressure (real or imagined) that children will put on their parents to get one. Ugh.

Police have released razor-sharp photos of a suspect in the robbery of four banks since November 21, 2016.  This fresh-faced young man enters a bank and waits in line before passing a hold-up note demanding specific denominations of money and indicating he is armed with a gun  All four robberies took place on Yonge Street, between Davisville Avenue and Lawrence Avenue West  Three of the robberies occurred at 12:30 p.m. He is described as early 20s, 5’10″ – 6’.

John Glenn, the last surviving member of the original seven American “Right Stuff” Mercury astronauts, has died at the age of 95 at the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University. Glenn was credited with reviving U.S. pride after the Soviet Union’s early domination of manned space exploration. His three laps around the world in the Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962, forged a powerful link between the former fighter pilot and the Kennedy-era quest to explore outer space as a “New Frontier.”

Chef Ivan and Brother James (Bailey) have announced they are closing the Bar Mar restaurant at 623 Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Manor Rd. Previously, the distinguished former bank building on the corner had a long history as the French restaurant Celestin. It was purchased by the Bailey brothers in 2009. In an announcement this week they say the brand Bar Mar band will continue “via pop ups and special events though for the while Bar Mar will not have a fixed location.”  It was only in April that the restaurant changed its name from Celestin to Bar Mar and theme from French to Peruvian/Spanish.

 

Walking down an alley at College Street and Spadina Avenue at 2.30 a.m. isn’t something that many of us can relate to but police are hoping someone can help with the capture of the three men who stole a man’s backpack and glasses at just such a location. YouTube video.

Three area residents are remembered in obituaries on the Humphrey Funeral Home site.

AUDREY TOBIAS

Audrey Sylvia Tobias was a recipient of the Agnes Macphail Award. Her long life was filled with activism and the defense of personal freedoms. She was a Wren in the Canadian Navy during WWII and politically engaged all her life.

DR, ROBERT BOUSFIELD

Dr. Bousfield was a distinguished urban planner and served as an expert witness at the Ontario Municipal Board. He conceived two lasting gifts to the public realm in proposals for a green belt around Toronto (1958) and the Toronto Waterfront Plan (1967)

JAE BLUE

Ms Blue was a teacher and world traveler whose life was ended at age 69 in a traffic accident December 1, 2016 in East York. Toronto Sun

 

Event reminder! The 13th annual Leaside Guys Night Out & Toy Drive is set for Thursday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. at The Leaside Pub at Laird and McRae Drives. As Jeff says, this is a great night for friends to get together and raise some cheer and do good by donating toys (and money to buy toys) for the kids in Thorncliffe and Flemingdon.  Last year, the night provided toys for about 2,500 kids.

A winter clothing drive is being held Saturday, December 10 at the InsideOutside Health and Fitness Studio at 210 Laird in aid of the Yonge Street Mission. See clickable poster.

Future versions of the $10 bill will feature the picture of Viola Desmond, a Nova Scotia woman who in 1946 challenged the whites-only rule in movie theatres. A video has been made in the Heritage Moments series which tells of her experience and the role it has in leading to the removal of such rules. The new series of bills goes into circulation in 2018. Other women on the short list were poet E. Pauline Johnson; Elsie MacGill, who received an electrical engineering degree from the University of Toronto in 1927; Quebec suffragette Idola Saint-Jean; and 1928 Olympic medallist Fanny Rosenfeld, a track and field athlete. Famous Five activist Nellie McClung, the Alberta suffragette who fought in the 1920s for women to be legally recognized as persons in Canada, was for many Canadians the most obvious omission from the short list.

 

Police are appealing for help in finding a suspect in the deadly attack on a man outside an unmarked social club on Donlands Ave at Plains Rd. Wednesday night. The dead man is identified as 46-year-old Ardian Kaloshi, who was known to police. Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Det.-Sgt. Mike Patterson said officers from 54 Division were called to 393 Donlands Avenue, located near Plains Road, shortly before 10 p.m. Mr. Kaloshi was found with “obvious head injuries,” on the sidewalk Patterson said.

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