Tinto Bar de Tapas looks good in yellow and red

by  • 

The sign is up and the yellow and red (tinto) atmosphere of Tinto Bar de Tapas is very inviting. It is located at 1581 Bayview next door to Badali’s and will be open soon. The owner is Otta Zapotocky, restaurateur and sommelier who is already established on Bayview at the French bistro L’Avenue.  As we wrote a week or two ago announcing this new spot, Otta will no doubt provide the same genial presence and sommelier skills at his Spanish bar. Hours of business of the new bar will be somewhat different from L’Avenue. Guests are expected to linger into the evening a little longer at Tinto Bar Tapas although it will also be open for brunch. It is a welcome addition to Bayview Ave. and will bring additional life to the east side of the street.  These pictures were taken Saturday night by The Bayview South Bulldog and we’re betting you can have a splash of wine there within hours. 

Mt Pleasant right of way cost $98,921 in 1915

by  • 

There is a brief and entertaining thumbnail history of Mount Pleasant Rd. linked here.  A most amusing tidbit tells of the acquisition of the land needed for the City to cross Mt. Pleasant Cemetery which had opened in 1876. The story goes that in 1912 the cemetery operators were approached for a right-of-way. The City didn’t like the offer and refused it. As a result, the City passed by-law 7311 in 1915 permitting expropriation of the property for a stunningly high price at the time. The agreed amount was  $98,921.88.  The construction of the road began next spring. All the streets located on the north and south ends of the cemetery were absorbed into the new north-west thoroughfare of Mt. Pleasant. It did not go south of St. Clair of course or north of Blythwood Rd. The muddy road was opened for traffic in 1919. 

Etobicoke burglar came through unlocked doors

by  • 

Frightening home break-ins to be sure. But it is just jaw-dropping information that the burglar was apparently able to enter three houses through an unlocked door. Are we leaving our doors unlocked at 2 a.m. in South Bayview? If so, please get a grip on things. Locked doors may or may not stop a burglar, but they will sure slow him down. Smashing windows and forcing doors also make a lot of noise. The Etobicoke break-ins occurred around 2 a.m, in the Enfield and Gort Aves in the area near Brown’s Line and Lake Shore Blvd. One terrified woman found a man in mask standing over her bed. she screamed and he fled, leaping over fences ‘like a gazelle”  This is clearly a young man who is quite athletic.  At one point, officers chased the suspect in a foot pursuit, but he got away. People out there are rightly alarmed but who knew that people in Toronto actually left their doors unlocked in the dead of night?

Unhappy ending as Brazil loses to Netherlands

by  • 

Saturday morning tree-planting on Bayview Ave.

by  • 

Realtor Richard Byford snapped this picture of Saturday morning tree-planting on our favorite high street. Saturday, July 12, 2014 

NSS publishes drill for 2015 enrolment — already!

by  • 

Northern Secondary School 

Eglinton plan leaves local councillors divided

by  • 

The City Planning Department’s vision for Eglinton Ave. has been passed by City Council 26 to 7 with a very substantial 12 councillors absent. Whether they were really away or just hiding is yours to guess. The plan seems to suggest that Eglinton can be turned into a sort of walk-in-the-park with wide boulevards, benches, bike lanes and stands (of course) and less traffic. And maybe it can. It won’t happen before 2020 at the earliest so there is a lot time to change things. Toronto Sun  Also there is this break down of the vote on this question from the City. Who voted how is at the bottom of the page.  Proponents of the plan — and there are many including the Leaside Property Owners — feel there has been sufficient consultation and that the changes will be agreeable to the people who live here.  A curiosity worth noting in yesterday’s voting however is that the thoughtful Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) and Toronto Centre’s Krystin Wong-Tam (Ward 27) were among merely seven councillors who opposed the plan. John Parker (Ward 26) and Josh Matlow (Ward 22) voted in favour. Mr. Matlow is very enthusiastic. Karen Stintz (Ward 16) was among the absent. 

Humphrey, Newbigging funeral homes to merge

by  • 

Intense competition in the funeral industry in Toronto is seen in an announcement from the Murray E. Newbigging and the Humphrey Funeral Home that they will merge effective August 15, 2014. A tip-off to a rationalization of the industry in South Bayview was the sale last year of the Newbigging property at 733 Mt. Pleasant Rd. where the Newbigging family has served the community for nearly 65 years. The land obtained a price of $5,500,000. The operations of both companies have also been touched by the emergence of the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery visitation centre in recent years. There is said to have been some hard feeling among traditional funeral directors that a cemetery should move into the funeral service business. The Humphrey Funeral Home — A.W. Miles Chapel — is located at 1403 Bayview Ave. at St. Cuthberts Road and has been in business under the Humphrey name for 135 years. Here is the news release

Humphrey Funeral Home – A.W. Miles Chapel Limited and Murray E. Newbigging Funeral Home today announced the amalgamation of their operations to form Humphrey Funeral Home A.W. Miles – Newbigging Chapel Limited, effective August 15, 2014. “Major redevelopment on the Newbigging site at 733 Mt. Pleasant Road provided us with the opportunity to merge our firms,” says Paul Newbigging, second generation President of Murray E. Newbigging Funeral Home, “We’ve found the principles, staff, and facilities at Humphrey Funeral Home – A.W. Miles Chapel to be of the highest order. Together, we will continue to serve Toronto’s families for years to come.” Wayne Hamilton, Managing Director at Newbigging’s, and a valued staff member for more than 40 years, will join Humphrey’s as a Director. Paul Newbigging will also join Humphrey Funeral Home as Past President of Newbigging’s in a semi-retired capacity. “This is the finest example of two Toronto families working together into the future, to better serve our community at a responsible cost – and we are pleased to enter into this new chapter of our business with Newbigging’s,” says Bruce T. Humphrey, fourth generation President of Humphrey Funeral Home – A. W. Miles Chapel Limited. Both longstanding family operations, with Humphrey Funeral Home – A.W. Miles Chapel Limited and Murray E. Newbigging Funeral Home having served Toronto families for 135 and 64 years respectively (199 years combined), this historic move will carry their common tradition of family service into the future at 1403 Bayview Avenue (at Davisville Avenue) – the current location of Humphrey Funeral Home

Lawn Summer Nights fundraiser at Leaside club

by  • 

The second of four scheduled  Cystic Fibrosis of Canada fundraisers took place at the Leaside Lawn Bowling Club on Hanna Rd. tonight (Thursday, July 10, 2014).  Pumped music ranging from the 50s to right now washed over an elegant young crowd of supporters as they ate, drank and played bowls to celebrate this Lawn Summer Nights event. Lawn Summer Nights was conceived four years ago according to organizer Rachel Balchin. She is with KPMG, a prime sponsor and benefactor of the Lawn Summer. It was Rachel herself who lost a cousin, Eva Markvoort, to this disease. The  heartbreak inspired Rachel and others to create a fundraising event which now extends to nine cities in Canada. Teams with madcap names like Lawn Order, The Royal Canadian Mounted Bolwice and Guacabowles, now compete, after a fashion, in Toronto, Ottawa, London, Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.  Teams are urged to dress the part  and much of the costuming on show tonight was sensational. The four women of Cast My Line (above) were there with their whale mascot, Willy. Elegantly dressed young bowlers chowed down on sandwiches and various delicatessen dishes from the Zane Caplansky Food Truck Thundering Thelma. The remaining two Lawn Summer Nights will take place at the Leaside Lawn Bowling Club on the last Thursdays in July, 17 and 24.  Photo: Cast My Line starring l-r Jennifer, Chelsea, Ashley, Sonia and Willy.   

Neighbours watch pool fly into Colin Ave. backyard

by  • 

Nico and Jane Cape were fairly confident but still apprehensive as workmen prepared to “fly” their new laminated swimming pool into the backyard from the pavement of Colin Ave. in Chaplin Estates. Their neighbors were fairly confident too, but apprehensive. “I hope that tree survives,”said one. It was a sentiment everyone echoed. But finally, about 1 p.m. after careful checking of all the links, the fully anchored crane and the position of trees, wires and rooflines, the whole lift happened in a  matter of about a minute. Here we see the 2,500 pound pool rising above trees and homes, swinging across neighbors yards and into the Cape’s prepared backyard at 16 Colin. Below, we see the pool before it was taken off the trailer and the whole Cape family, smiling happily to know that the pool had landed safely in their yard. Thursday, July 10, 2014  

Bayview-York Mills snarl as truck rips down wires

by  • 

Hydro and emergency workers have cut power to the downed wires at Bayview Ave. and York Mills Rd. and have freed a dump truck driver who had been trapped in his truck. It isn’t quite clear what happened but somehow his large truck brought down a hydro pole. The collapsed wires were draped over the big vehicle and they also were touching two cars. Now happily, everyone is out safely but you can count on a very congested time around this intersection as work begins to get the wires back up where they should be.  Photo: CP24 via Twitter  

Pudsey the Dog could make it on Bayview

by  • 

You  may fall in love with this canine ball of fluff. He’s a candidate for the smart dog walk along South Bayview but right now Pudsey is busy starring in his own movie, Pudsey the Dog, The Movie. Pudsey came to stardom when he and his teenage owner and trainer Ashleigh Butler appeared on  Britain’s Got Talent. Here we see the agreeable puffball and hear Ashleigh tell his story. Movie opens this summer in United Kingdom.