Need a late lunch or quick dinner? Grand opening at Main & Danforth (2632 Danforth Avenue) – TODAY!
Reminder…
Hope to see you all at 2:00 p.m. at East Lynn Park for our Earth Day Clean-Up with Councillors McMahon and Davis. Maybe some collective good karma out there will stop this darn snow from falling?!!
With this beautiful weather finally upon us, (okay, and some torrential rain, but let’s go with glass half-full) it is time to get out strolling with the dog, the kids, the partner, the cute guy/gal you met for coffee last week and want to see again. (Who says “gal”?)
Think about strolling over to Stephenson Park sometime. It’s just south of Danforth and west of Main, on Stephenson Avenue, and it’s a lovely spot with a wading pool, playground, loads of space. We posted about it last summer, including pictures of the newly painted pool. (Click here for that post) We hear that more trees are on the way, and a group of caring neighbours have formed a group to help improve the park even more.
If you prefer a more concrete reason to visit the park, here are two:
(we posted about this earlier this week, but now there’s a poster!)
Do you know about Jane’s Walks? They are happening this year on May 4th and 5th, and DECA’s own Steve Wickens is guiding one in our neighbourhood. To find out more, click here.
Is there ever any end to the cool things that go on in our local parks?
Merril Park Dog Association Spring Clean!
Saturday, April 20, 2013 10:00 a.m. – noon in Merril Park
Check out their blog to learn more about them!
Councillor McMahon’s Annual Spring Clean-Up – Danforth East
with DECA and the Danforth Mosaic BIA and Councillor Davis!
Saturday, April 20, 2013
2:00 p.m. onward (until it’s clean!)
Meet at East Lynn Park, bring gloves
Councillor Davis’ Clean Up Day
Too many events to list in and around our area, including our join event starting at East Lynn Park at 2:00 p.m. – here is the link to her website: http://www.councillordavis.com/action-centre/1356
A word from a local business we just heard from:
Our business is called REC Athletics, we organize and facilitate adult recreational level sports leagues. We are starting out our 2013 season with an Ultimate Frisbee league, operating on Wednesday nights @ Stephenson Park. The spring season will commence on May 15, 2013 running until end of June, with a skills workshop, and scrimmage being held on May 5, 2013. Our summer season will begin early July, running through until the end of August. We are also working with the city on some plans to include a fall season that would operate through September and October.
Registrations are happening quickly, but we still have several spots remaining for both team, and individual registrants. People can visit our website (www.recatheltics.com) for more information or to register! We will be launching a new website June 1st, this will better serve our customers and our business with a more efficient registration and payment system. Also people are encouraged to visit and “Like” our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/RecAthletics) to remain updated with all the happenings REC Athletics!
Spring is chalking up to be a busy time for Danforth East! In addition to the activities listed in a previous post, there’s also a transit expansion and funding discussions, a spoken word celebration via Open Minds and Red Rocket and an education session on encouraging young readers. Take your pick!
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We were thrilled to welcome more than 40 enthusiastic people on the blustery evening of March 27th at Artisans at Work:
The crowd included residents, local business owners, landlords, community organizations, potential pop-up tenants and other supporters of the project. If you missed it, check out the PowerPoint presentation online for photos, to learn more about project successes/challenges and to find out about the models in use around the world.
The Models
Participants discussed three models being used with success around the world to implement pop-up projects and added one more of their own creation. Then everyone voted on the model they felt would be most effective in this neighbourhood. The model that won by an overwhelming majority was the ongoing, incremental increase model:
During the brainstorming, a suggestion was made to base incremental rent increases on a percentage of a tenant’s retail sales. This system provides the possibility of additional growing rent to the landlord and is fair to the tenant (their rent increases as their sales increase). DECA has been experimenting successfully with a similar model and now has direction to finalize the details. Next steps: the Landlord Working Group (see below) can begin asking more landlords to get on board and the new tenant application can be posted on the website by April 30th.
Three Working Groups
Three groups have formed to help make this a success. If you are interested in being a part of this exciting project, please consider signing up to participate in one of the following working groups.
What’s your passion?
There’s lots to do over the next three months! The landlord group is looking at ways to entice more of the 16-18 landlords with empty storefronts to get on board. The tenant group is working out ways to recruit the best tenants, as well as the application and interview process. The big launch event group is brainstorming ideas, making preparations, selecting a name for the event, considering affordability and potential partners in June. Join in by emailing the group co-ordinator; they’ll fill you in and invite you to the next meeting. Expect working groups to meet about once every two weeks over the next three months.
Wanna be part of a cleaning/painting crew? There will be lots of opportunities to volunteer coming up as we recruit more landlords! Stay tuned.
Interested in a retail pop-up shop opportunity? The new tenant application will be posted to the website by April 30th.
Whether you’re into fixing parks, fixing a TTC station or fixing your downhill wardrobe, Danforth East has something for you next week.
