The South Bayview Bulldog

Friends, neighbours and family gathered in Ramsden Park on Sunday night to commemorate the death of Oliver Martin and Dylan Ellis who were shot to death during the night of June 12/13, 2008. A memorial park bench and a tree were erected in the park last year. Their killer has not been caught. There is a $50,000 reward for information leading to a capture. Courtesy Yonge and Roxborough

It’s impossible to walk by Chen’s Passion Fruit on South Bayview south of Starbucks and not stop to admire the blossoms on the many indoor shrubs and trees on sale. These were seen over the weekend.

Homefront has announced the return of Sophie Conran Glass. Sophie’s glass line was cancelled months ago because of — what else — unsatisfactory business terms with the Turkish company that manufactured the glass. In the re-newed collection, there is a large salad bowl, a large jug, champagne flutes, goblets, wine, Hi ball and Rocks glasses and a hurricane lamp. They go well with any style of dishes and of course they look fantastic with Sophie’s collection, also available at Homefront. 371 Eglinton West and 1579 Bayview Ave.

Lady on the right invites you to rent a DVD. But she’s from happier times and today the Blockbuster on Bayview Ave has little more than zip to sell you (left). The store is practically empty even though it started out the bankruptcy sell-off with more inventory than any other in the city, according to staff. The close date has been moved up one day. Last day of business will be Saturday, June 18, 2011.

The Rose Park Drive Street Party must surely be one of the oldest in the City. Saturday, it played out smoothly again in its 40th anniversary edition. Above we see magician Tricky Ricky entertaining the kids in an encore performance. He was a hit last year, too. As usual the ladies of Rose Park cooked up a storm and there was cake to celebrate the day.

Here we have a truly wonderful 1956 picture of the Leaside Fire Prevention Parade taken on St. Cuthbert’s Rd. approaching Bayview Ave. There are great features to this picture. The 1954 (we believe) American LaFrance ladder truck is a beauty. Behind it is a Ford station wagon with speakers on the roof that rival the size of the car itself. Amazing. On the right, parked outside St Cuthbert’s Church, is the panel delivery belonging to Badali Fruits. It appears, as family history has it, that the late Mr. Badali was making a delivery to either the church or Humphrey’s Funeral Home across the street. Those who saw this post previously, before a few changes, will know that we were confused about the location of this picture. A visit to St. Cuthbert’s Drive however cleared up the positioning.

The Beer Store, that jail-like in-and-out place owned by the big beer companies, is going to open what it’s calling Beer Boutiques. This would seem like a welcome departure from the charmless by-the-case outlets that have ruled beer sales in Ontario since ale was first brewed. In contrast to Beer Store locations, in which customers have no direct access to product and order it at a counter similar to a fast food outlet, Beer Boutiques will be self-serve stores with a more open and inviting appearance, as shown by the concept illustration above. Now, beer is a personal pleasure. But it’s also a huge driver of business. Would we like to have one of these places on South Bayview? No kidding. On hearing this news, many have said the Ontario Government should just go all the way and turn the beer sales business over to private enterprise. Others, like the readers of the linked blog, think The Beer Store owners don’t know how to choose beer and thus the Beer Boutiques won’t be any better than the old beer stores.

Picture at the top was taken Friday June 10, 2011. Below (at left) we see the same place, 48 Donlea, on February 13, 2011. Not much progress. Picture at right is from Google.

It was perfect evening for a barbecue as families gathered for the fundraiser for the Leaside arena expansion. The event was held Thursday in the lot belonging to Canadian Self Storage, 1 Laird Dr., across the road from the arena. The event featured a bouncy castle and other games as well as delicious hamburgs and hot dogs.

Ontario will issue a new purple-coloured identity card to hundreds of thousands of citizens who don’t have a driver’s license. It will cost $35 and has a series of features to make it more useful. Among them, raised lettering and a cut corner to help make it more identifiable to the visually impaired.