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DECA Board Meeting, TEGH News & Bollywood at Monarch

DECA Board Meeting – TONIGHT

A group of your neighbours are meeting tonight to talk about pop-up shops, arts fair, trees, and other cool events in the neighbourhood – otherwise known as a DECA Board meeting.  The meeting is at 7:30 pm.  If you want to know the details please send us an email.

A Few Items from Your Local Hospital

  • Toronto East General is refreshing their strategic plan and is looking for community input.  Have a look at the online survey and let them know what you think by clicking here.
  • TEGH and Toronto Police Service, together with neighbours and local city councillors, recently celebrated the creation of new mobile crisis intervention teams (MCITs) where a nurse trained in mental health accompany’s police to 9-1-1 calls where a person is suspected of having a mental illness or being emotionally disturbed.  Read more about it here.
  • If you’ve ever been asked to ‘turn your head and cough‘ then this one is for you!   TEGH Urologist Dr. Rajiv Singal will be hosting a tweet-chat this Thursday to answer any questions you may have.  Follow #prostatecare from 6:30-7:30 pm on March 21st to join the discussion.
  • Speaking of colons… if you’d like information on colon cancer and local services, visit the information booth that will be set up in hospital’s Coxwell Lobby on March 26th from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm.  

Going Bollywood for Monarch Park

Students at local high school Monarch Park Collegiate are hosting a evening of Bollywood food, dance and a silent auction in support of a student trip to India.  Have a look at the poster below for all the details.  Bollywood

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Three Things for you this Week

DECA Board Meeting – Tuesday

Come one, come all! The hottest event in town Tuesday, February 12 (aka today!) is the DECA Board Meeting. Okay, maybe not the hottest event but I don’t get out much so I’m really looking forward to it. There will be updates on the pop-up shops, East Lynn Farmers Market, DECA Arts Fair and so much more. If you’re interested please send us an email.

Makin’ a Racket at the Rocket – Friday

This Friday, February 15, there will be another edition of the Spoken Word Celebration at the Red Rocket Coffee House via Open Minds. This open mic night for poets, storytellers and authors will also feature author Eufemia Fantetti and playwright Sandra Cardinal. Show start at 7:00 p.m.

More Fitness Options at Monarch Park

There seems to be no shortage of options one has to stay fit in this neighbourhood. And now Monarch Park Stadium has expanded their offerings to include boot camps with kettle bells. And if that wasn’t enough, they are also offering ‘spin & run’ classes. Because there is nothing I want to do more after a spin class than go for a run. Really. But apparently the first class you try is free so you might as well try it out and let us know if you can walk the next day.

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Busy busy busy – lots to tell you about!

Happy 2013!

Here is a random assortment of neighbourhood info for you to consider as you drink your tea, wine, espresso or whatever your Friday night fancy is.

DECA Board Meeting

The new 2013 Board will meet on January 15 starting at 7:30 p.m..  Our meetings are open to all DECA members, potential members, and interested others. If you want to come (and you know you do) please contact Anita by clicking here, and she can give you the meeting details. Oh, and we meet at one of our local, licensed establishments so at the very least, you get to drink beer or ginger ale while you revitalize your community.  Win-win!

New Year’s Levee with East York Elected Officials

We have all been invited to the annual New Year’s Levee, this Sunday, January 6 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at East York Civic Centre at 850 Coxwell Avenue!!

Councillor Janet Davis sent out the following invite:

I hope you will be able to join me and our fellow East York elected officials at the annual East York New Year’s Levee. Welcome in the new year with MPs Matthew Kellway and Craig Scott, MPPs Michael Prue and Peter Tabuns, School Trustees Sheila Cary-Meagher and Cathy Dandy, Councillor Mary Fragedakis and myself. Please bring a non-perishable food donation for our local food bank.

Pop-Up Feedback

So, our December of pop-ups has come to a close, and we’d like to hear what your thoughts are on the project.  Did you visit?  Did you love it?  Did you not love it?  Did you notice?  What are your thoughts on this project?  Let us know by emailing here.

PS – One of our pop ups is still popping up, but they have taken over a different space.  You can visit LEN at 1801 Danforth for the month of January.  Their website is: http://len4all.com and they have a facebook page as well.  Seriously, this store is amazing.  I paid them a token visit in December, and went back three times to get something for every person on my list.  They are THAT good.

Oaks ‘n Acorns

A new business is set to open across the street from East Lynn Park called Oaks ‘n Acorns.  As an “activity studio for parents and tots”, they will host a variety of classes for children and/or parents, and their registration has just opened up. In fact, if you sign up by January 20, you can get a discount and free membership card!  Click here for more info.  It looks like they will also host birthday parties!

Even More New Stores

Have you noticed a few new stores this past week?  The Dulux paint store is open at the corner of Moberly and Danforth, 2031 Danforth to be specific,  and with a rumoured 25% off grand opening discount it’s not to be missed!  There is also a Brand Name Discount Store that just opened a few stores west of Value Village. (I swear I repeated the address over and over to myself in order to include it in the post, but it’s really cold outside, so I believe that inhibited the formation of long-term memory.  Someone should research that!)

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Oh, and if you are wondering why your garbage didn’t get picked up today (Friday), it’s because of the holiday earlier this week.  It pushes pickup back by a day so you can expect the pickup to take place tomorrow (Saturday).

Enjoy your chilly weekend.

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DECA’s 2013 Board and a new Constitution

A note by Sheri, on behalf of the Board

DECA Board – who’s coming, who’s going

Many of you joined us at Relish last Monday to celebrate this year’s many accomplishments, to elect our new Board, and to pass a motion on a new governance document known as DECA’s “Constitution”. Here are the highlights of that night, for those of you who missed it:

2013 Board, including three brand new members:

Anita Schretlen – Chair
Alison McMurray – Secretary
Lorraine Cheng – Treasurer
Paul Haines – Membership Manager
Catherine Porter
Natasha Granatstein
Melissa Peretti
Shelley Darling
Sheri Hebdon
Stephen Wickens
Tak Bui
Susan Bates
Anne Howatt (new)
Darcy Fedorchuk (new)
Jane Davis-Munro (new)
It was with mixed emotions that we bid farewell to the following departing Board members, who have decided to take their energies on to other projects:
  • Sarah Kiriliuk was DECA’s PR person for the last few years, who also forged DECA’s relationship with the Danforth Mosiac BIA. We will miss her honesty and twittering! (She may still twitter, or tweet, or whatever you call it, and we may still call on her for a press release now and again, whether she realizes that or not!)
  • Mary Cowan has been known to say that she “helps out with the Arts Fair”, but truth be told, Mary started the Arts Fair and has successfully run it for the past four years. The best way to describe Mary’s monumental contribution to this beloved event is to say that when they divided Mary’s work among the amazing team of Arts Fair volunteers, it took six people to fill the void left by her absence. We are so grateful that she has generously agreed to consult as needed.
  • Angela Matich stepped off the Board part way through last year, but her savvy advice has helped to establish our DECA ‘brand’. She continues to help with the Business Revitalization Team, and she runs the DECA website.
  • Tara Shelton was appointed mid-year to replace Angela, and made her mark in that short time. As a committed volunteer on the Renew East Danforth team, also gave existing businesses a boost when she co-organized the first ever DECA pub crawl.

Thank you all so much, and remember that Board meetings are open to all members so we’ll hope to see you whenever you are able to come!

We would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the many, many years that Natasha Granatstein acted as Chair of DECA, and the keeper of our main communique, decadiaries. Natasha stepped down as Co-Chair part way through last year, and retired her master-blogger hat over the summer. We are so glad that she is able to focus her efforts on the projects most near and dear to her, and you will be too when you are shopping in December at one of the multiple pop-up shops that Natasha has been instrumental in setting up.
Last but not least, thank you to Anita. Anita got a little bit more than she bargained for last year when she went from Co-Chair to Chair in the flash of an eye, but she has risen to the occasion exquisitely. DECA is very lucky to have this lady at the helm!
New Constitution
On November 12, the DECA membership approved a new governing document titled “Constitution”. This document is meant to replace the previous documents, which were titled “Charter” and “Bylaws”. The rationale for the change was to improve clarity and transparency, and for ease of reference. Our original documents were drawn up before anyone knew what DECA was really going to be. Now we know who we are, and we think we will benefit from a governing document that reflects this!In order to make sure that DECA members have a chance to review the Constitution before it comes into effect, we’re posting it for a review period of 21 days, as per the rules of our current “Charter”. Here is where you will find all of the documents for review: http://danfortheastcommunityassociation.com/aboutus/

If you are a DECA member and have any concerns about the new Constitution, please provide them in writing to this email address by no later than December 14, 2012.

(By the way, to be a DECA member you need to be up to date with your fees. Did you pay your $10 this year? If not, you can pay online on our website through this link: http://danfortheastcommunityassociation.com/membership/)
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DECA 101, Cocktail Party Invite, and Seniors Consultation Tomorrow!

Are you a long-time DECA Diaries subscriber who knows all about DECA but can’t figure out what the BIA is?  Did your spouse sign you up for this blog and you don’t know what DECA is or what it even stands for?  Perhaps you have just joined and are keen to learn more?  Regardless of the reason for your thirst for DECA knowledge, we are here to quench that thirst.

Here are some answers to some of the most common questions we hear, and some details about this year’s AGM/Cocktail Party.

What is DECA?

The Danforth East Community Association (DECA) is a residents’ association that was formed in 2007 by a group of people who were looking to focus on building something, as oppose to fighting something.  DECA’s goal is to make our neighbourhood a more vibrant, walkable and safe place.

What are our boundaries?

Our boundaries are Monarch Park Ave. in the west to Main St., Mortimer/Lumsden in the north, to the Go Train tracks south of Danforth.

Why do we need paying members?

To give us clout and legitimacy, and also to raise revenue. The $10 contributions allow us to put on so many events and activities each year.  Stay tuned for more info about membership renewals.

What does DECA do?

Business Revitalization Team (did you like the pop-up shops the past couple of weekends?), East Lynn Farmers’ Market, Danforth East Arts Fair, safety walks, political debates, and more recently, the kids stuff sale and pub crawls.

What’s the difference between DECA and the BIA?

The short answer is that DECA represents the residents of the neighbourhood, and the BIA represents the business owners.

The Business Improvement Area (BIA) is run by a voluntary board of property owners and tenants, with an aim to stimulate business in the area.  BIAs are regulated by the City, and are funded partially by the City, and partially by levies paid by each business.

On the other hand, DECA is funded entirely by membership fees and fundraising, and we get no funding from the City.

We are fortunate in our area that our BIA, the Danforth Mosaic BIA, is currently very supportive of DECA and both groups are working to foster a good working relationship, which is good because it makes sense to keep good lines of communication open.

What does our BIA do?

The Danforth Mosaic BIA  was established in 2008 and covers a larger stretch of the Danforth than DECA’s borders cover, from Jones to Westlake.  There are actually 400 shops in this BIA – one of the geographically larger BIAs in the city.  The BIA puts on some events, and they pay for the flowers that are put in along the stretch each spring, which we at DECA know is something that many residents really appreciate and enjoy.

When is your Annual General Meeting (a.k.a. the neighbourhood cocktail party)?

If you want to learn more about DECA or just have a drink and tappas with your neighbours, mark November 12th in your calendar.  We’ll be hosting the 4th annual DECA AGM & Cocktail Party  – this year at a new location – Relish Bar & Grill.

If you want to get more involved, this is your time to speak up!  If you are interested in becoming a Board Member of DECA or want to volunteer in other ways, please let us know ahead of time by emailing here.

And if you want to stay in touch in other ways, follow us on  facebook or twitter, or our website.

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And one more thing that DECA does is keep you all updated about neighbourhood news and events – like posting this invitation from Councillor Janet Davis about a Senior’s Strategy Consultation taking place tomorrow, October 29, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.:

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Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?

Something Old

Tintypes are back!

If you came to last year’s Danforth East Arts Fair, you likely noticed a photographer hiding under the hood of an old-timey camera to take portraits of other patrons. That’s Horst Herget, and he was creating tintypes right in East Lynn Park, developing the images on tin in just a few minutes and recreating an ancient art form in the process. Perhaps you caught his recent “Face the Danforth” show at Crema.

We’ve been getting questions about whether he’s returning on September 15 & 16. Lucky for you, the answer is yes. If you’re interested in having Horst take your picture, click here to drop him a line in advance, or stop by his booth in the northwest corner of the park.
Prices range from $45 to $75. You can even get your image framed right there in the park after Horst develops it. Doesn’t that make gift giving easy?
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Something New
Have you noticed the store called Shoe Clearance on Danforth, just east of Monarch Park?
This is a clearance store associated with a shoe store with locations in Riverdale and the Beaches, with many prices discounted to far less than half the original. So our neighbourhood gets great quality shoes for adults, kids and babies at a fraction of the cost? Yay us! Open Tuesday to Saturday from 12 noon – 7 p.m.
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Something Borrowed
You’re invited to the next DECA Board Meeting
The next DECA Board meeting is on September 11, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. Are you a DECA member who would like to attend, or someone else with a reason to want to go? If so, we’d love to borrow you for an evening. We meet at a local licensed establishment, so think of it as a night out with neighbours rather than a “Board meeting” per se. If you would like more information, please email info@DanforthEastCommunityAssociation.com and someone will get back to you with more details.
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Something Blue
Did you stop receiving DECA Diaries to your email?
We’ve heard that some people stopped getting our blog posts right to their inbox. We think that this occurred when the emails stopped coming from Natasha’s email account, and switched over to decadiaries(at)gmail.com. If this happened to you, please check your spam filters and add our new email address to your safe list. You can click here to notify us if any problems persist.