David Stickney 1943-2015
The community Facebook page Leaside Chit Chat has many remembrances of David Stickney, the Leaside High School mathematics teacher who died this week. There is also a Facebook Tribute Page to the late teacher.
Mr. Stickney died while watching a softball game played by a girl’s club that he helped coach. On Chit Chat, Janet Ahier recalled many good times in the Spring at “Stickney Farm.”
Steve White noted the outpouring of sympathy. There were more than 100 comments logged in only three hours. Good friend Nicholas Mitchell recalled that “Stick” was not just a Leaside student and football player but also the school captain. “He played centre on the football team and his nickname was Tank, Mr. Mitchell said.
Arthur (Alfie) Peneycad recalled Mr. Stickney from the 1950s when they were neighbours on Cameron Crescent. He wrote: “We played street hockey and football together. David started teaching in Oshawa. He once told me that he got his teaching style from his old Leaside math teacher “Pop Stafford”.
Dave was the one that mentored me and got me through algebra, trigonometry and geometry (1965). Everyone knew Dave. He had a nickname for everyone. David and I spent Spring Break together with Jack Hardy and John Noseworthy in Daytona Beach. Dave was the Master of Ceremonies at my wedding.
If anyone should be called “Mr. Leaside” there (is) no one more deserving than Dave. Below, Larrry Hurd posted an old video of David Stickney. Beloved math teacher died watching softball game
The Toronto Star says that many of the first streetcars delivered as part of a $1.25 billion order were so poorly manufactured that the TTC refused to accept them. Only five of 50 are now in service. The condition of the cars, as described by TTC spokesperson Brad Ross, is genuinely shocking. The faulty cars had frames that were out alignment with the walls. “Thunder Bay (Bombardier factory) was finding when they went to attach the under-frame to the side walls they weren’t square. You either accept that or try riveting it to create that square alignment. We rejected that. We don’t want it riveted. We want it built properly, because rivets pop,” TTC CEO Andy Byford told the Star. According to the Star, most of the early problems with the streetcars related to the fact that the European-design for the vehicles wasn’t working with the parts being supplied to Bombardier by a Mexican manufacturing facility. Bombardier must still deliver a further 30 streetcars.
Passenger train is a fatal catastrophe and ordeal for hundreds. By morning, thousands of rescue workers and medical personnel are employed helping people. There is no cause offered for the train wreck. Reuters
Lowes Canada has replied to the South Bayview Bulldog that readers should “stay tuned” for information about where it will locate new outlets in Toronto. The home renovation and housewares firm has taken 13 former Target locations across Canada. This news caused speculation that Lowes might be thinking of opening a Midtown Toronto outlet on Overlea Blvd in the vacant Target store in the East York Town Centre. . The reply from Lowes says only that it will be “sharing the locations on June 30 (2015) when the purchase transactions close.” Fair enough. We note they didn’t say no. .Will Lowes finds its way to the East York Town Centre
At least 50 people were hurt after an Amtrak train derailed in the Frankford section of Philadelphia Tuesday night, according to officials. Officials say eight to ten cars derailed on the 2000 block of Wheatsheaf Lane. At least 50 people were injured though officials have not yet revealed their conditions. Officials say approximately 240 people in all were on board. The train was coming from New York and heading to Washington, DC, according to officials. In a video posted on Instagram, passengers are heard telling other victims to crawl forward. Twitter Philadelphia
Mayor Tory took an hour today to earnestly petition taxpayers to support him in what planners call the hybrid solution to the Gardiner Expressway. There are bits of that which may still elude even careful listeners but there is much that is clear. The Gardiner would still be connected to the DVP (phew) and there would still be a route to the east. At whatever point, there would be some expensive fiddling with the road to make the land under the Gardiner more pleasant for commercial activity. The seemingly tireless Don Peat of the Toronto Sun, has provided some long quotes which may make things clearer for you. It was classic John Tory. Courtly, eloquent and looking-you-in-the-eye with, we trust, all the cards on the table. Toronto Sun
Janet McDougald
Three school boards are taking the OSSTF to the Ontario Labour Relations Board claiming that the high school teachers are on strike illegally. The three, Peel, Durham, and Rainbow District (Sudbury) are all facing such strikes. But Janet McDougald, Chairman of the Peel board, says it’s a fraud. The teachers have walked out on local talks over issues that must be negotiated at the so-called central table with the province. As such, the OSSTF is using the strikes as a bludgeon (our word) on the government. That’s illegal, says McDougald. It will be interesting to see what the Labor Relations Board has to say. There is no date set for that.
Hydro One has fired an employee for harassing a woman television reporter during what appears to have been a group-attempt to introduce obscene language into homes and bars where FC games were being broadcast. “Hydro One is taking steps to terminate the employee for violating our Code of Conduct,” Hydro One spokesman Daffyd Roderick said in a statement. The Globe and Mail story linked here recounts how the man fairly wallowed in his ignorance. Good reading. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has also pledged Tuesday (May 12, 2015) to find and punish similarly minded-persons by keeping them out of the arena. This abusive conduct is a variation on growing public vulgarity or maybe just the growing ease with which it is distributed. YouTube is notorious for permitting any type of comment. The arrival of Twitter has also introduced vulgar, profane, racist and hateful language into the lives of people who would not normally be so subjected. The celebrated case of Dion Phaneuf and Joffrey Lepui revealed how users of public media like Twitter have no idea that they are subject to prosecution for libel. It was a perfect case of the uneducated (or stupid) barging into the regulated halls of public communication. It may be that many of those who are F-bombing TV reporters think that there is no legal consequence. Not everybody is smart. Below reporter Shauna Hunt of City News confronts the jackasses but they are well protected by their macho armour. Globe and Mail
Friends, colleagues and former students of David Stickney were shocked today to learn of his death while watching a softball game of a girl’s team that he helped coached. The circumstances were conveyed on Facebook by a long-time friend Nicholas Mitchell. “Our hearts are with Janet, Irene and Eric,” he wrote. Staff and former students at Leaside High School responded on Twitter and elsewhere to the loss of the well-regarded teacher. One wrote that David Stickney was a true friend who really cared about his students Peter Goulimis was among many tweeting at #Leaside. He called Mr. Stickney a man “who gave and never took” adding,”RIP Stick.”
Shauna Hunt
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