It’s this weekend. 10 – 5 Saturday and Sunday at East Lynn Park. Go there. Support DECA. Support the artists. Enjoy your fabulous neighbourhood.
Grey Skies Are Gonna Clear Up…
So put on a happy face and get yourself over to the market tonight. This week the bounty is plentiful. At 4:30 p.m. be in the park to see the Dragonz Martial Arts demonstration. Also stop by the DECA tent to talk to the good people from the Shoelace Collective – a group of neighbours who are looking at issues of poverty in our community and ways to help. Also, Senior Link will be there selling crafts.
Don’t worry, the rain will stop and it will be just ducky.
Danforth East Arts Fair – Little Ra’s
The Danforth East Arts Fair is this weekend! Yes, this weekend. I know you don’t want to think about Christmas, but you will be so happy if you bring along your list and do some of your shopping right here while you’re still without your winter coat. While you’re there, check out Little Ra’s for the little ones in your life.
Many a parent has dreamed of kids’ clothing that’s well-priced, but still tough enough to withstand disintegrating popsicles, tempting mud puddles and, that most formidable foe of all children’s clothing, growing kids. So, too, did mother of two Heather Tormey. A lifelong sewer, she spotted a void in the kids’ clothing market, and started her line Little Ra’s after her daughter was born.
Her aim? To make stylish, logo-free duds that aren’t worn by every kid on the playground. Tormey, a loyal Danforth East-er, uses non-traditional fabrics while staying kid friendly.
Her designs can be worn in different ways as kids grow — a long dress becomes a shorter dress becomes a shirt, for example. (A friend’s 18-month-old and Tormey’s three-year-old recently wore the same dress); many are reversible for maximum style (and spill) mileage. Her kids serve as informal quality control — the clothes get “laundered and run through the park to death,” Tormey says.
Little Ra’s, which sells to buyers across North America on Etsy, creates primarily girls’ clothing, but is expanding into boys’ wear, including star-emblazoned capes and tees for budding superheroes and casual pants. (The name, for those not up on their mythology, comes from a being with a different kind of superpower — Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun — and invokes children’s sun-like place in her family).
Look for some of Little Ra’s fall offerings at the Danforth East Arts Fair, including a tweedy plaid cotton coat with an exuberant, fuschia printed lining, cozy, dark-hued pinafores and her perennially popular kimono-style wrap top. Then head for the swing sets: “Little Ra’s,” says Tormey, is for kids “who like to play in dirt, and look good doing it.”
Check out Tormey’s clothing at her Etsy store; her wares, which range in price from $20 to $30, will be for sale at the Danforth East Arts Fair in East Lynn Park on Sept. 18 & 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.deca-arts.ca
DECA Meeting Wanna Come?
The next meeting of the DECA executive meeting is this Tuesday. Let me know if you would like to come and I’ll send you the details.
Farmers’ Market Help Needed
Now that our super barricade helpers are back in school, we really really need a bit of help with the street closure barricades on Thursdays. We need help at 1:30 p.m. for about 30 minutes. If you can help please let Diana know at diana.mymarket@gmail.com.
Thanks!
And speaking of the market, I am remiss in sending out a big thank you to all those who helped make our peach festival and movie night in the park another fantastic success. First, thank you to the fabulous Vera and Slavicia from the Cozy Cafe and Bakery for their delectable peach strudels. The peaches were from our peach farmers, one of whom was in hospital with a collapsed lung – so we wish Matteo good health and a quick recovery.
Also a big thank you to Better Bulk for donating the popcorn for our movies under the stars event. Thank you to volunteers Mohit and Pria Raj for popping corn all night long and to Show Pro for donating all the electronics we needed to make it happen. Thanks to Alison McMurray for organizing the whole shabang. And thanks to you for supporting DECA through our (minimal) fundraisers and with your $10/year membership fees. It costs us $450 for the right to show the movie. We also pay permit fees every week for the park and for all the other stuff we do. That’s where your money goes – so thanks!
Media on the new Tim Horton’s
I missed these stories when I was out of town in August about the new Tim Horton’s/Esso at Danforth and Greenwood. Here’s one by the Star’s Urban Issues columnist, Christopher Hume. And one by Peter Kuitenbrouwer at the National Post.
Jason Allies Photographs at Danforth East Arts Fair
Photographer Jason Allies had never participated in an art sale or exhibit before last year’s Danforth East Arts Fair. He gathered his courage, printed umpteen copies of his vivid photographs, rented a tent and hoped for the best.
Within hours, he had sold out of several of his scenes of Toronto, including an iconic photograph of a red streetcar, one of which was purchased by ward 31 Councillor Janet Davis. Now, here’s the good news: he is back at this year’s arts fair, so you will have another chance to buy his work.
[slideshow]
Allies, who recently moved to Toronto’s east end from western Alberta, approaches the city with a fresh eye, seeing the Toronto we all take for granted in a refreshing light.
“I tend to focus on the world around me as a subject and the city of Toronto being new to me provides many opportunities,” says the photographer, whose day job is creating graphics for a television channel. “I’ve learned over the years that plenty of patience is required to capture certain subjects. There is nothing like being in the right place at the right time to capture something special that is once in a lifetime.”
In Allies’ photographs, a mess of wires above a busy intersection criscross at perfect angles to play off the gray clouds moving in. Through his lens, the suicide barrier enclosing the Bloor Viaduct becomes an object of beauty, rather than scorn. Another scene captured at just the right vantage point shows the hidden, back-alley houses of Kensington Market that most people miss as they wander by.
Since his debut at East Lynn Park, Allies, 35, has enjoyed a successful career. True Brew Café displayed his photographs for months. Not long after, BlogTO featured his shot of Gerard and Broadview as a photograph of the week. And even now, people are contacting him for prints of that iconic streetcar, which just might become his calling card.
Allies’ photographs, which range in price from small $10 prints to $200 for larger, framed versions, will be for sale at the Danforth East Arts Fair in East Lynn Park on Sept. 18 and 19. For more information, visit www.deca-arts.ca or on facebook.
The Best Eats In The East
Farmers’ Market
At the market this week, only the best in local fruits, vegetables, breads, cheeses, meats, pies, muffins and nice people. And face painting.
Danforth East Arts Fair
The fabulous Danforth East Arts Fair is a few short weeks away and we could really use just a teensy weensy little bit of help. We could use some people to help exhibitors to load and unload on Saturday Sep 18th from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and on Sunday Sep 19th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. We could also use some help on litter patrol and changing garbage bags during the show. (I know it’s not sexy, but art isn’t always glamorous – and it’s oh oh oh so important.)
BIA Dining Fest
The Danforth Mosaic Business Improvement Association is launching its first annual three-week food festival called Mosaic does… Dine around the Danforth. September 10th-30th over 65 restaurants will participate in this street event by featuring entertainment and significant discounts including prix fixe menus. Savour the best of Moroccan, Ethiopian, Greek, Italian, Hakka, Mexican, Thai and Tunisian cuisine, along with Sushi Bars, traditional diners and much more from around the world at excellent prices!
Local jazz bars and some restaurants and clubs will be offering a variety of live entertainment. Cafes and restaurants will be showcasing family entertainment for all ages. The Dine Around the Mosaic Barbershop Quartet will be awarding random diners with gifts such as complimentary meals and Mosaic Bucks, which diners can redeem at participating Mosaic stores!
The Mosaic does… Dine around the Danforth stretches from Jones Avenue to Westlake (two blocks east of Woodbine) along Danforth Avenue.