DECA – Page 123 – Danforth East Community Association

May 14, 2013

Don’t procrastinate!

Hailstorms on Mother’s Day? Snow in mid-May? Frost warnings right after everyone planted their flowers? (Score 1 for the procrastinators!) If this retro weather has got you down, here is some neighbourhood news to pick you up.

Let’s get down to business. First off, thanks to Som Seif for the great talk about getting started on investing – those of us who put learning ahead of hockey last night are sure glad we did. We left feeling empowered and ready to take charge of our financial futures, which is not too shabby for a Monday! Thanks also to Lazy Daisy’s Cafe for hosting us.

Since I’m procrastinating doing a family budget, let’s catch you up on some of the events and news from the neighbourhood…

Community Environment Days – May 16 and June 1

Councillor McMahon’s – May 16 @ Ted Reeve Arena from 4:00 -8:00 p.m., 175 Main St. (enter off Ted Reeve Dr., north of Gerrard St.)

Councillor Davis’ – June 1 @ East York Memorial Arena Parking Lot, 888 Cosburn Avenue from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

From Councillor McMahon:

Join Councillor McMahon and the City of Toronto for Ward 32’s Enviro Day & Festival! After dropping off your items for recycling and donation, stop by one of the tables for information on various environmental initiatives. Stay to have a BBQ’d hot dog/veggie dog and listen to live music, and of course, don’t forget your compost!

Read here for more information about Community Environment Days.

From Councillor Davis:

The weather is finally getting warmer and it is time for our annual Environment Day. This year, Environment Day in Ward 31 will be held on Saturday June 1, 2013, at the East York Memorial Arena Parking Lot, at 888 Cosburn Avenue. And once again, it is rain or shine!

Pick up a new Backyard Composter, Green Bin, Kitchen Container or Free Compost.

Drop off unused Computer Equipment, Cellphones, TV’s, radios, VCRs, paint, batteries, medication, propane tanks, or fluorescent bulbs.

Donate school art supplies such as buttons, keys, stamps, cork, cd’s, books, jewelry, fabric or cameras

Donate supplies for reuse including sporting goods, textbooks, glasses, hearing aids, dishes, ornaments, kitchen utensils, clothes, linens and even food.

Come learn chat with local community and environment groups. Enjoy children’s crafts and entertainment. Help keep our communities clean and green.

DECA’s Danforth East Arts Fair Application Deadline

The Danforth East Arts Fair(one of DECA’s hallmark events!) is only a few months away and the application deadline is coming up on May 31, 2013. Get your applications in! Visit the website at: www.deca-arts.ca for more information.

Tree Care 101 (June 1, 2013)

Thanks to our friends and neighbours at the Beach Hill Neighbourhood Association for co-organizing this wonderful event with DECA’s tree group!

Learn to care for your trees, including how to mulch! Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 11:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m., Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Wright Room, 79 Hiawatha Road (three short blocks west of Coxwell Ave., south of Gerrard Ave. E.).

Delivered by your LEAF tree expert

Learn to care for your trees, the basics: mulching & watering
Presentation and opportunity for supervised hands-on practice with a tree!

Held in conjunction with:

Neighbourhood Tree Stewardship Project
Danforth East Community Association Tree Group
Major sponsor Anne Howatt, hosted by NUUC, donations welcome

Film Screening @ Coxwell Library (June 5, 2013)

We assume that this is free. We’ll let you know if we’re wrong about that.

Colour Creative Summer Camps

“Like” them on Facebook for all the info!

Did you know that you can call 311 to get an extra green bin for free, or to change the size of your garbage and recycling bins? The smaller your garbage bin, the less you pay on your bill!

May 9, 2013

Investing 101 Reminder, Community Space & A Note from LEN

Investing 101

A reminder that the DECA Learns Investing 101 event will be held at Lazy Daisy’s Cafe on Monday at 7:30pm. Hope to see you there ready to make millions ;)

Community Space at Artisans at Work

The crew at Artisan at Work are looking to expand! And in order to do some renovations to their space to make a 1000 square foot community space they are looking to crowdsource funding. If you’d like to contribute to this unique community hub, check out their fundraising page.

A note from LEN:

Christal and I are super-excited to deliver East Danforth’s second-most anticipated spring resurrection – LEN!

Thanks to DECA, most of our neighbours already know that we’ve returned, this time for good. We have a sweet little location at 698 Coxwell Ave, right at the corner of Coxwell and Danforth (thanks again to DECA and an our amazing client, Mary, both of whom connected us to the space!).

So, all East Danforth residents and visitors need fret (or travel outside DECA boundaries) no longer in order to make your home beautiful, woo a special someone or even start a meaningful art collection.

To celebrate and say thanks to everyone for their AMAZING support, we’re preparing a nice little day-long launch celebration for May 11th. This Saturday. 11am-6pm. There’ll be treats and bubbly beverages.

We also made sure we stocked the shop full of especially beautiful things for Mother’s Day. Our prices are more democratic than ever with original Fine Art from established Canadian artists starting at $50, luxurious bath products from Quebec for $11, unbelievably cute organic soy wax candles at $6, Janet Stein sterling silver and semi-precious stone jewelry that’s rare, refined and on-trend for under $100 and spectacular handmade wood cutting boards and other kitchen items starting at $50.

Can’t wait to see our favourite clients and meet new friends this Saturday! To keep up to date on the latest LENvents make sure to visit www.len4all.com, follow LEN on Twitter (@Len4All) and like us on Facebook (facebook.com/Len4All). Even better, visit us in person, 5 days a week during regular business hours or book a private appointment by email (len@len4all.com).

May 9, 2013

A Danforth East Mother’s Day

Forget all those department store flyers that you get in the mail this week, Danforth East has your Mother’s Day needs covered. Whether she’s partial to the traditional gifts, prefers the gift of time or the gift of silence, there is something local for everyone.

Picnic in the Park: Put the little ones in the wagon with a large blanket, soccer balls and sunscreen and head down to Better Bulk (2044 Danforth Ave.). You can get some organic cookies, fruit and juice boxes, and some chocolate covered espresso beans might not hurt either. You also need to check out the fridge by the cash counter where there is a selection of fancy cheese that is a true hidden gem of the neighbourhood! Next, swing by Royal Beef (1968 Danforth Ave.) for some of their house-made-all-natural-nitrite-free sliced roast beef, some havarti cheese (can there ever be too much cheese?), kaiser buns, garlic stuffed olives and some of that delicious chocolate stuff they have on the top of the deli counter. (Bring extra freezer packs because you’re unlikely to leave without some meat for dinner too.) Pack it all up the cooler bag and roll the gang over to East Lynn Park for an afternoon of slides, swings, sandwiches and snacks. And if you were to drink wine out of a water bottle while you’re there, who would know? Not that we would ever suggest such a thing.

BackYard Oasis: Clean off the outdoor furniture and freshen up the back yard with some bright outdoor pillows from the Pillow Shoppe (1434 Danforth Ave). Conveniently, they have a buy 2 get 1 free promotion going on right now. Make sure to set out a icy cool pitcher of lemonade and some fresh fruit prepared in a bowl and some snacks from Plank Road Market (1716 Danforth Ave.) DECA fun fact: Plank Road Market was our first business revitalization project.

Green Thumb: If she views gardening as a relaxing and enjoyable activity and not a taxing chore, then have the kids tell her she’s loved by spending the day gardening together. You could pick up a flat of flowers from one of many local garden shops and wrap up some Gardener’s Hand Repair Lotion available at Len (698 Coxwell Ave.). And if she’s in need of gardening gloves, tools or gardening pots you’d better stop by Home Hardware (2154 Danforth Ave.).

The Simple Snooze Button: For many mothers an extra hour of sleep is literally a dream come true. So when the little ones start making noise on Sunday morning let mom sleep in. Take the kids out. It does not matter where, just not within earshot. Don’t return home until 11:00 a.m. and don’t dare walk in the door without a latte from Seb’s Cappuccino (1928 Danforth Ave. ) and a croissant from Celena’s Bakery (2036 Danforth Ave.).

Traditional Day: Treat her to a lovely brunch at Melanie’s Bistro (1870 Danforth Ave.). I recommend the eggs florentine. There you can present her with a gift card for some pampering – like a simple mani or pedi from Metro Nails (1985 Danforth Ave.) or services from SUGARMOON (1509 Danforth Ave.), who happen to have a Mother’s Day promotion on now too. Melanie’s is also a lovely spot for dinner, and they also rock the late-night dessert as well.

See? There are so many options to spoil and spend time with mom this weekend. Let’s be clear, if you can’t choose between these great options, it is possible to do all of these if you really want to hit it out of the park! We have so many wonderful businesses, so if you need more ideas please scroll through our posts. Feel free to leave a comment if you have other thoughts.

May 2, 2013

Kicking & Dancing All Summer Long

If you’re wondering how to keep your little ones active this spring and summer here’s a few ideas. Of course, there are plenty of options out there so if you know of other great activities in the neighbourhood please leave a comment on this post.

Dancing: Pegasus Dance Studio has a solution to spur creativity and movement in your little ones – dance and art camps. They have a variety of camps starting at 3 years old up to 18. See the posters below for all the details.

Or Kicking: East-ender Courtney recently launched a chain of Little Kickers for your budding soccer stars with classes in our neighbourhood. Programs are available (at various locations) starting at 18 months up to 7 years old, using a philosophy to “Play not Push“. Local classes will be held at Earl Haig starting at the end of May on Saturday and Wednesday afternoons.

Did you know there is a page on the DECA Website that lists a whole bunch of local amenities, including classes and parks.

May 2, 2013

Updates

A few updates…

Safety Notice – Update

We have an unconfirmed report that the female female with the gold tooth who was knocking on doors in the area has been caught. We hope that everyone who had contact with her is safe and sound. If you have firm info on this, please contact us or leave a comment below.

Len is opening where?

Contrary to what you may have read this afternoon, our friends at LEN are not setting up shop at 698 Danforth Avenue, which is at Pape. We are quite happy to report that they are opening at 698 Coxwell Avenue, which is just north of Danforth Avenue on the west side. Yay! We’ve updated the original post but can’t recall all those emails.

(Big thanks to one of our readers, Alison, who pointed out our error!)

55 Division Town Hall – New Date is May 15

The 55 Division Town Hall has been rescheduled from May 8, 2013 to May 15, 2013. All other info is the same. Click here to see our updated post for the details.

Does this nice weather get you outside and talking to your neighbours? Why don’t you talk to them about DECA! They can sign up for the blog, follow us on Twitter (@DECADiaries), like us on Facebook, and/or pay $10 and officially join DECA!

May 2, 2013

Pop-Up: Musical Talent & New Business Alerts

Musical Talent?

June is going to be a busy time for Danforth East. The Pop-Up Team is busy planing a ‘Pop-Up-Apaloza’ of activities all month long and are looking for musicians/bands of all types to volunteer at the June launch. Although we do not have money to compensate alternate arrangements can be made – like busking or community hour for students. Please contact Maximilien if you’re interested.

New Business Alerts

A few weeks ago we hinted that a new business would be moving into 698 Coxwell where S Sense previously operated out of. Well it’s now official. After a successful experience as a pop-up shop in December and January Len: Democratic Purveyors of Fine Art & Beautiful Things is back in the neighbourhood. They will be doing a soft opening this Saturday, May 4th from 11-6 PM and would love to see their friends from the pop-up shop come in to say hello. Next Saturday, May 11th they will have a Grand Opening with tasty treats for all! And if you haven’t made the connection yet, May 11th is the day before Mother’s Day.

In other pop-up news, one of the vacant store fronts that was the home to the original pop-up shop in October has been rented. Canadian Nutrition Super Stores has opened at 1948 Danforth (formerly Metro Nails). So if you are a fitness enthusiast or wishing you were then you should stop in to say hello to Deon, the store manager. Apparently they aim to please and are offering a 20% discount on everything in the store right now. They don’t mind special orders or stocking special items either. Welcome to the neighbourhood Deon!

Don’t forget about this Saturday’s Jane’s Walk in our neighbourhood with DECA’s own Steve Wickens @ 10:00 a.m.! For more details, click here.