Area families unlimber toboggans and sleighs

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There was a reward of sorts for parents and kids as they unlimbered the sleighs, toboggans and whatnot to hit the snowy hills. This was the scene shortly after noon at Talbot Park opposite Leaside High. Streets across South Bayview are pictures of sunny winter weather. Shovelling sidewalks and sweeping cars clear of snow is the community occupation this Saturday. 

Sunnybrook School celebrates its milestone

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This is an extract of an article submitted by Sunnybrook school to  The Town Crier: In 1950, a pregnant woman, her husband and their small son travelled from Vienna to Toronto to start a new life. Irmingard Hoff, the daughter of a prominent Viennese surgeon and a pharmacist, had studied early childhood education in Vienna and brought with her to Canada a dream — to start a nursery school. Two years later, through sheer determination, Hoff’s vision took shape. She rented space in the basement of St. Augustine of Canterbury church on Bayview Avenue — just south of Sunnybrook Hospital and north of the recently opened Sunnybrook Plaza. With eight students and one committed teacher, Sunnybrook School was born. By 1960 Sunnybrook School had 40 students and a waiting list. The classroom space was cramped, and Hoff wished for outdoor space where she could have a proper age-appropriate playground and a garden. With the help of some supportive parents, the Hoffs were able to raise the money to build the first privately owned nursery school in Toronto housed in a building designed for the purpose. In September of 1960 Sunnybrook School opened its doors at 469 Merton St. with 65 students in five classes. Town Crier 

Snow clearing continues through the night

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Some 600 plows continue to clank through the streets tonight in an attempt to bring some order to the city’s traffic on Saturday. A news release regarding emergency services and staffing is on a page here. The good news is that the sunny weather forecast is holding so that everyone may at least go out without snow in the face. This storm is easily identified by those over about the age of about 12 as the worst in the city since the execrable winter of 2008. The snowfall of that year however fell early and frequently right through to the end of February and we may hope that Toronto will escape the 2013 winter with less snow overall than in 2008. 

13.5 hrs on tarmac leaves vacationers exhausted

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These are the faces of weary travellers essentially imprisoned aboard a Sunwing Vacations jet which sat on the tarmac at Toronto airport for some 13 and a half hours today before they were released back into the terminal for a short break. They later re-boarded and departed for Panama City tonight. It was a scenario very much in the cards as technology, human expectation and immutable weather collided to make victims out of airline passengers. There was precious little food and even less water. In the end, passengers were given consolation food vouchers for use in the terminal and a small “travel voucher”. Hundreds of flights were cancelled through the day. A Sunwing spokesman sounded a little sensitive when interviewed by CP24 as he tried to explain the company was  doing its best. The spokesperson, Daryl McWiliams, blamed problems related to de-icing. That would have been an essential process for any plane taking off today and it was not explained why Sunwing seemed to be out in the de-icing cold. Finally, at about 8 p.m. the jet was able to obtain a gate to disembark passengers into the same terminal from which they had boarded the plane at 7 a.m. The  Sunwing saga was the most dramatic of the countless inconveniences experienced at the airport.  

Snowfall slows, expected clearing this evening

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Pearson airport depatures

Today’s snowfall has dropped more precipitation that expected with mid-afternoon measurements at about 20 cm. Central Toronto was expected to receive more like 15 cm. The weather formation is moving east however and conditions are expected to clear tonight in anticipation of a sunny day Saturday. Conditions have been miserable everywhere but the disruption of personal plans has been perhaps most serious at the airport. There are reports of tourist aircraft sitting on the tarmac at 2 p.m., as much as six hours after they were scheduled to depart. Screens and websites show that traffic outbound has been pretty much shut down.  Police are asking drivers to stay at home to permit plowing and help prevent accidents. Many cars are stranded. There were some 275 accidents reported between midnight and 1 pm., according to the Ontario Provincial Police.

Public confidence shaken by 787 battery failures

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Burned out lithium-ion battery
Public confidence has been badly shaken by revelations that the large lithium ion batteries which power 787 Dreamliner jets are dangerously unreliable. The damage has been done not just to Boeing aircraft and its new jetliner, but to a vast range of industry and government elements who are supposed to know what’s going on. In the case of the 787 batteries,  assurances that it was safe are now seen to be just plain wrong.  Further, no one seems to know how such an alarming misconception could have gotten started and been perpetuated even into the daily commercial service of these jets.   The top transportation safety official in the U.S. says that, among others, the Federal Aviation Administration accepted test results from Boeing in 2007 that failed to properly assess the risks of smoke or fire from the batteries. Deorah Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board said that in a battery failure this year one of the eight cells had a short circuit and the fire spread to the rest of the cells. Boeing’s tests showed no indication that the new lithium-ion batteries could erupt in flames  Boeing wrongly concluded that the batteries  were likely to emit smoke less than once in every 10 million flight hours. Once the planes were placed in service the batteries overheated and emitted smoke twice in January and caused one fire, after about 50,000 hours of commercial flights. In effect all bets are off about the lithium-ion battery. Boeing has been given clearance to fly the 787 for test purposes but all other planes remain on the ground and airlines are being warned to expect delays in scheduled deliveries.

Boston weather babes gleefully predict the end

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Column by Michael Graham of the Boston Herald where the Mayor has issued a edict requiring everyone to stay home: As I write this, I’m watching a network of weather babes gleefully announcing that we will all soon be crushed to death by an avalanche of unstoppable ice pouring down from the heavens. Perhaps they’ll be wrong, and the snow will miss Greater Boston. Or perhaps they are right and, as a Democratic congressman predicted for the island of Guam not long ago, Boston will be “capsized” beneath a mountain of snow. But either way — whether you’re reading this and mocking the pre-storm panic, or you’ve been forced to burn this paper as a heat source out of sheer desperation — I have one simple request. Shut the (bleep) up about the Blizzard of ’78.  Michael Graham

Bob Arsenault and Judy Anglin off to the Oscars

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Congratulations to Leaside’s Bob Arsenault and his wife Judy Anglin who learned this week that they had won  tickets to the 85th Annual Academy Awards red carpet arrivals event to be held Sunday February 24, 2013 in Los Angeles. Bob and Judy entered an online lottery on a whim and have just been notified that they are among the select winners of a pair of tickets for bleacher seats along the red carpet.  Bob and Judy are well known along South Bayview, having lived here for 20 years. They are pictured (inset) in their usual jovial state of mind dining in Paris. Nice work guys.

Crescent Rd. gate post “a garbage can separator”

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Someone went to a lot of trouble to  build new gate posts at the entrance to Rosedale on Crescent Road just east of the subway station. We won’t ask who paid, we think we know. But look, the presumably cultured residents on the north side of the street are using the gate pillar to create a nice separator between their blue and their green bins. Poo. Bet if we had pillars like that we wouldn’t clutter them up with garbage cans. No way. Yonge and Roxborough News

Her secret: “He always had his hand on my knee”

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Delightful people, John and Ann Betar are the longest married couple in the U.S. They’re from Connecticut and have been wed these 80 years. Mr. and Mrs Betar are very alert at 101 and 97. Mrs Betar has a couple of  good lines in the video which can been seen here. As to the secret of their long marriage she quips   “He always had his hand on my knee” and  “We eloped to Madison New York. We didn’t have enough money to go any further.” 

Ward 31 skating party set for this Sunday

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Janet Davis (Ward 31 Beaches-East York) will hold her 10th Annual Skating Party on Sunday, February 10 between 11:30 am. and 1:30 pm. at East York Memorial Arena, 888 Cosburn Ave. As usual, there will be cookies, face painting and a craft table for kids. Children under 6 must wear a helmet on the ice. You can get information at 416-392-4035 or write to Ms Davis at Councillor_Davis@toronto.ca