The South Bayview Bulldog

When voters cast ballots tomorrow the residents of Moore Park’s subdivision one (previous post) will have an extra hurdle or three to leap. Their polling station is actually outside the subdivision, seemingly the only such example of this oddity around South Bayview. In other elections, voters could access a polling station near at hand, and with lots of parking. The photo above shows well-known voting station venues. Left to right Our Lady of Perpetual Help School on Garfield Ave., OLPH church on Clifton Road and Whitney Junior Public School on Rosedale Heights Dr. For reasons unknown, only voters in subdivision two will vote at OLPH school but not those in subdivision one. They will instead trek to the inaccessible realm of The Deer Park Public Library at St. Clair Ave. East and Alvin Ave. This is the land of parking enforcement officers, delivery trucks, U-turning taxis, no street parking and streetcars. Thanks for nothing.

South Bayview saw a pleasant and very busy Saturday, October 25, 2014. All across the area families were out and about. And you know that our traffic warning in the morning about DVP travellers clogging Bayview was sadly right on money. Wow! At 10 a.m. it looked like Monday rush hour. Two pumpkin giveaways, one organized by Patrick Rocca was in the lot at McDowell’s valu mart on Bayview and one by Charlene Kalia at Pawsitively Pets on Laird Drive, drew hosts of people. What’s not to like about a free pumpkin. These are long-standing local services — Rocca’s Annual Pumpkin Giveaway and Kalia’s Ghoulish Giveaway are great hits. Photo at top shows Charlene with Gary Wise, creator and owner of Wisey’s Pies and Bake House on EglintonAve. E at Laird. His wares were a treat for pumpkin seekers. Also part of the team was Sara Celestini of Royal Bank, who provided the bags. The pumpkins were delivered to the event by Chad McDowell of the valu mart. At the Annual Pumpkin Giveaway, Patrick (inset) is seen at the barbecue for a lunch that seems to have started at 11 a.m. With him is Tikva Humby. The lineup was long. At Manor Road United church we see Marilyn at the costume jewellery counter in the sun-filled great hall and (bottom photo) many shoppers delighted in checking out the goods. The South Bayview Bulldog took home his favorite  home-made chocolate cookies.  MRUC Fall Fair is a good one among many good local fairs.  

The excellent occasion of  the Rolph Road Elementary School’s 75th anniversary was topped off Saturday, October 25, 2014 as goodly numbers of grads, staff and former staff crowded the school’s gymnasium at 31 Rolph. Friends found themselves in old photos and chatted away the years. Youthful mischief returned for a moment to much laughter when, it being nearly Halloween, one man  said to his old pals “Shall we go break some windows?” Mr. and Mrs Fletcher reminisce.

There was a moment at last Tuesday’s Ward 26 candidates debate which seemed to say a lot about how traffic laws are bent and ultimately changed. John Parker, the councillor, said that he had no problem with the common practice of cyclists ignoring the requirement that they stop at a stop sign. The practice is known, he noted, as an Idaho stop after the unique legislation that permits cyclists there to treat a stop sign like a yield sign and a stoplight like a stop sign. A question had been asked about how cars and bicycles could possibly be reconciled on City streets. In fact, the discussion was about how all the candidates were in favour of bike lanes. Mr. Parker just added the stop sign reference seemingly as an after thought. Can letting cyclists roll through stop signs and stop lights make things work better? Idaho introduced this legislation in 1982 and it remains the only place in North America where such practices are allowed. Even today, Boise, the capital of that wide-open place has barely 215,000 souls. Bayview and Millwood might look like a speedway to your average Idaho driver. The bicycle versus car dilemma was seen at a police community safety meeting on October 2, 2014 at North Toronto Collegiate Institute. The discussion broke down not only among members of the public but among the police on hand over just where and when it was safe to cycle. Bike riders said they frequently did not feel safe on the road and therefore had to ride on the sidewalk. This is illegal and it enraged pedestrian-minded members of the audience.  As anyone knows, it is a daily sight to see bicycles speeding up and down the wide sidewalks of Bayview Ave. Bicycle lanes may help riders to travel more safely. But the collectivity of cycling habits has created an expectation of drivers which challenges even the most careful. Their job is more suited to a pilot with 360 degree radar. Cars fortunately can come to a dead halt without falling from the sky while the driver deciphers as best he can where the cyclist is going. Ideas like rolling stops and safe haven for bikes on the sidewalks hang heavy over the prospects for urban peace however.