The South Bayview Bulldog

It was a day of snow and sunshine on Saturday for shoppers in South Bayview. The brilliant sunshine encouraged many people to get busy with their errands but the pleasant weather was frequently interrupted by nasty snow showers like the one plaguing these people near the CIBC on South Bayview. Wind gusts of up to 50 km//h made the minus 3 temperature feel more like minus 10. Tonight it will be minus 8 and tomorrow it will continue cold but with the sun being a little more consistent.  There will a 30 percent chance of light snow. 

Olympic swimmer Martha McCabe will be honoured as Leaside Athlete of the Year at an evening event of the Leaside Hall of Fame next Friday night (November 29, 2013). Marhta is the daughter of Joe and Nancy McCabe of Heathbridge Park in Bennington Heights. Martha is a alumnus of Leaside High School and trained at the Unviersity of British Columbia. These days she lives and works in Toronto. Martha is a member of the RBC Olympian program and swims at the University of Toronto Aquatic Centre. Martha, 24, trains daily in hope of gaining an opportunity to swim at the 2014 Commonwealth games and possibly at the World Championships in 2015.  

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Hardy residents of the Garden District Residents Association turned out today (Saturday, November 23, 2013) to clean up Allan Gardens. What a public spirited crew. But first there was the group photo to be taken by the Toronto Bulletin. The photographer spent a while getting the 20 or so volunteers organized just as he liked. Kristyn Tam-Wong (Ward 26) was there with other blue-bag equipped residents ready to scour the 155-year-old park. But then individual members of the clean up crew needed their shots. Bottom is an image similar to what will appear in the Bulletin. Allan Gardens is one of Toronto’s largest downtown parks. It is also notable for the Edwardian conservatory (1910) and famous for seasonal displays of chrysanthemums. Some say Allan Gardens has no natural constituency or support group as other major parks do. In a recent article the Bulletin called it “a 150-year-old community orphan.” Riverdale Farm has a stewardship group as does the new Corktown Common. 

It appears that old friends are at work behind the papered-over windows of the former Teaopia Shop at 1592 Bayview Ave.  Former Canada Post letter carrier “Brian”, a well remembered regular on the street from a few years ago is about to help his daughter and her friend open Tori and Cate’s Cupcakes. The grand opening is the weekend of Saturday, November 30, 2013 and you may be able to catch a glimpse of Brian in the kitchen. He’s the baker. Can’t wait. 

Sorensen and JFK

John F. Kennedy is remembered today for what he did and for how he died so dreadfully 50 years ago. But like the greatest of great men Kennedy continues to be remembered and honoured for the things he said. The eternal strength and clarity of his language continues to thrill millions around the world to this day. His direct words were set within sentences that gripped our hearts and souls. Who is not moved even now by his call to self-sacrifice and service in his inaugural address?  “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.  He made the same searing impact with his solemn vow to spare no cost in defense of freedom. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” It was a time when much of the world lived under rigid dictatorship.  Kennedy wrote his inspiring speeches in collaboration with a studious assistant, Theodore (Ted) Sorenson. Sorensen died in 2010 at the age of 82. Kennedy owed much to his speech writer but it was JFK’s appreciation of his duty to render his words worthy of his office that has endowed this U.S. president with the greatness we admire today. 

There are some entertaining pictures from the archives on the current BlogTO of Eglinton Ave. in the 30s, 40s and 50s. These two from 1955 are choice because they play to the much discussed location of the new Eglinton Crosstown LRT station which will be built at Laird Drive and Eglinton. Top we see a Loblaws store just west of Laird. It sat  where the Great Canadian Bagel strip mall is now located. The mall will be demolished for the main station.  Previous post. The apartment building to the right of the store sits there to this day and will apparently survive the Crosstown LRT construction. Below is the view looking southwest from east of Laird where the Pier One outlet now stands. Somewhat to the east, out of frame, Metrolinx will build the secondary entrance to LRT station.   

Fans of Minnow Hamilton and Sarah Morgenstern’s useful online service Savvy Mom will want to know that the company is moving from its space at Bayview Ave. and Millwood Rd. (over the Skate Exchange) to new corporate offices at Yonge St. and Davisville Ave. Savvy Mom is Canada’s most popular parenting and home-related advice service and has been built into a national brand by these two hard-working former university room-mates. They founded their company about six years ago while they shared a couple of non-fat lattes. As they say, “these moms were too savvy (definition of savvy: practical know-how) to let their ideas remain in utero.”  Good luck ladies.  SavvyMom

Those who just happened to pass the Maurice Cody playground on Cleveland Street today (Thursday, November 21, 2013) beheld a joyous sight. The green artificial turf playing field is down and well on its way to completion. The field is the fulfillment of years of dreaming and arduous fundraising. Countless numbers of residents of Davisville Village will have contributed money and no doubt many good people from Leaside also dug deep, even though their kids go to other schools. Maurice Cody Junior Public School at 364 Belsize Drive has had this important neighborhood space on its north side behind the building since it was built in 1928. But it was perpetually either a mud hole or dust basin. Now, as these pictures show, the field will be a good-to-go playground, baseball diamond, soccer pitch and more. Steve Agnew of Ross and Anglin Contractors noted the field’s versatility. It will have an asphalt running track around the playing field and a sand pit for jumping sports. What you see at top inset is a sand sprinkling machine. Fine particles fall between the blades of artificial turf helping them to stay upright and simulating grass. In the same picture, the backstop for home plate is on the left. As to money, the final bill is unknown but an educated guess might easily put it over $400,000. In the spring, residents and businesses like Cobs, Tremblett’s Valumart and others had put together more than $50,000. That has no doubt  grown over the summer and fall. Josh Matlow (Ward 22) negotiated a sum of $300,000 to be contributed by the city.