Category: Uncategorized

The re-opening of Loblaws on Redway Road had a good start today as Virgin Radio FM 99.9 host Tessa (inset) was live during the morning. Among the fascinating food spectacles was this Sushi Dragon prepared for the occasion. The cheeky South Bayview Bulldog had some fun during the event by asking if Leaside was big enough for Tessa and the Bulldog. Who knows about the Dragon. But it was — and is. The store was sparkling as Manager Carlos Tereceros surveyed the newly outfitted location.  The maple syrup taffy pop rolling was a huge success. There was musical entertainment such as an opera-singing chef and gourmet food sampling. The first 100 adult customers to visit the store on opening day received a $25 President’s Choice Gift Card. This Loblaws location will continue to offer customers the convenience of a full-service grocery store, with a new distinctive food market-style layout that includes quick and easy grab-and-go meals and new premium and chef inspired food offerings.

Parents of Rolph Road Public School are agreed on a plan to go it alone in the renovation of the tennis court that sits on the school property.  The court needs work, maybe as much $16,000 worth, according to an estimate from the Toronto and District School Board (TDSB). There’s very little money at the board so it proposed a private-public arrangement with the Wilmington Tennis Club to build a possible two courts and a club house. Robin Dickie, chair of the school council, took this proposal to the members and found strong opposition. The playground property already accommodates a soccer field and baseball diamond as well as the tennis court. Robin says she felt it was her duty to put the offer on the table.  There was, she said, “passionate” opposition to the Wilmington deal for a number of good reasons. The playground is for the Rolph kids and no one knows just how any new tennis facilities might effect that. The  tennis court just needs fixing, not enlarging, the parents say. Better to find the necessary money and keep the facility a purely Rolph asset. And finally, the prospect of more traffic on quiet Rolph Road is a concern. The path was clear and the council has now struck a committee made up of Robin, Linda Carte and Stan Flemming to raise money by donation. It seems a cause that Leaside could well  get behind. The council is also able to allocate some monies each year to add to the ultimate total. Here’s hoping that businesses and individuals will chip in to help Rolph School reach its goal. Maybe COBs Bread would like to run another matching donations program as they did so successfully for the Cody School Dirt to Turf campaign.   

Public meetings will be held next week to discuss the possible size of populations and boundaries of City electoral wards, such as Ward 26 (Leaside) and Ward 22 (Davisville). The meeting closest to South Bayview in general will be at S. Walter Stewart Library, 170 Memorial Park Ave on Wednesday, January 7, 2015 beginning at 6 p.m. A news release today (Friday, January 2, 2015) suggests that populations of wards may be as much as 30 to 50 percent above the targeted average of 60,958.  City boundaries are of course numbered but they are also fitted inside the boundaries of federal constituencies, two to a constituency. The federal boundaries have names and thus Ward 26 has inherited the name Don Valley West. The federal lines have just been re-drawn and will form the basis on which voters elect the new Parliament in a general election expected this year. Other municipal boundary meetings will be held Thursday, January 8 and Saturday, January 10 at Parkdale Library, 1303 Queen St. W., and  Trinity St. Paul’s Church, 427 Bloor St. W. respectively. These three meetings are part of a two-stage public consultation process. Additional information, including meeting times, locations and the full calendar of the review’s public consultation meetings, is available at http://www.drawthelines.ca.

Front door bricked in

The Local Public Eatery restaurant in the old bank building at 180 Laird Drive has hung a sign saying the business will open early in 2015. Looks like there’s a couple of months work left there at least. There appears to be a permanent or convertible roof going in on the extension at the rear of the building. The original front door to the bank featuring the crest of the Imperial Bank of Canada has been bricked in, but the crest has been saved. The new entrance to the restaurant will be on the northeast corner of the building on Laird at the corner of McRae Drive. As we reported in September, the Local Eatery franchise is a western Canadian chain with five trendy dining and drinking establishments in B.C., Alberta and Toronto’s Liberty Village. The Toronto Local says on its website that its “kind of like your living room, with better food and people to serve you beer, fanatical about craft beer and rotating new selections, passionate about great food and the best ingredients.” It is owned by Vancouver businessman Jeffery Fuller who also owns the Joey chain.  

The future of the Glebe Manor Lawn Bowling Club property on Manor Rd. is playing out largely in the shadows. Among the most recent unusual moves was a closed meeting for shareholders of the defunct club held in the William Lea Room at the Leaside Arena. Security guards refused entry to the media and even turned away Josh Matlow (Ward 22) who is intent, as are many others, on having the land as a park. The property is now said to be essentially in the process of changing hands from a controlling group of shareholders led by Phil Foubert and a developer, Michael Volpenstesta. The deal has not closed because the city has not approved plans to build.  The linked account in the Star quotes Mr. Matlow as saying there is something “fishy” about the deal. All in all, the parties to the sale seem to be treating the matter as an entirely private transaction. Katrina Clarke, Toronto Star 

Ray White tweeted the rear view of this 1963 Karmann Ghia, a VW specialty car. Picture on the right sees it using the fair days of December for a little cruising around Leaside. The picture on the left is from an unknown Flickr acount accessed via Google images. Nice Car and thanks Big Ray.