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This week in #DanforthEast

First of all, thanks to those of you who came on short notice to sing Bobcaygeon with us on Thursday, in memory of Gord Downie. We were honoured to bring people together to pay tribute to such an incredible person, artist and East End resident – and we raised over $500 for the Downie Wenjack Fund, which is amazing.

Here is a link to the CBC video of our first song in case you missed it.

We want that feeling of the community coming together to continue, so here are some events coming up to tell you about.

CareVillage Halloween event – Just Say Boo!

Come with your littles to enjoy Halloween fun at the Masonic Temple located at 13 Chisholm (near Main & Danforth) on Saturday morning from 10am-noon. Read the official event page for all the details!

2nd Annual Danforth East Short Film Festival

Put together by DECA’s own Nicole Bergot-Browning, this film fest is not to be missed! Now in its second year, you will not want to miss it. Only $15 and happening right in the neighbourhood at Time Capsule (2183 Danforth, just east of Woodbine).

To purchase tickets in advance, visit this link or take your chances at the door.https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/danforth-east-short-film-festival-tickets-37461220519?aff=es2

Walking with Our Sisters

This is slightly outside our DECA catchment but you don’t want to miss it. The Walking With Our Sisters – Toronto commemorative art installation for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of Canada and the USA will only be open to the public for two more days: Saturday October 21st and Sunday October 22nd from 12-6pm. Located at 16 Phin Avenue (Danforth/Greenwood) this is important viewing and should not be missed.(Note that it will close October 22 and not October 29)More info here.

Pumpkins at Earl Beatty

This annual event is a school fundraiser and a great way to procure your pumpkin for a good cause! Head over from 7:30am onward on Thursday, October 26! (Earl Haig Ave, just south of Coxwell and Danforth.

Next weekend…

Tired parents need time to prepare so wanted to share this event taking place next Saturday (October 28) hosted by Merrily, Merrily (1854 Danforth). Check the poster for contact details on where to email to register for a free 15-minute sleep consultation.

Event link here

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Tragically Hip Sing-a-Long: Thursday

Join us!  (Lyrics to Bobcaygeon below)

“Bobcaygeon”

I left your house this morning
About a quarter after nine
Could have been the Willie Nelson
Could have been the wine
When I left your house this morning
It was a little after nine
It was in Bobcaygeon, I saw the constellations
Reveal themselves one star at a time

Drove back to town this morning
With working on my mind
I thought of maybe quitting
I thought of leaving it behind
I went back to bed this morning
And as I’m pulling down the blind
Yeah, the sky was dull, and hypothetical
And falling one cloud at a time

That night in Toronto
With its checkerboard floors
Riding on horseback
And keeping order restored
Till the men they couldn’t hang
Stepped to the mic and sang
And their voices rang
With that Aryan twang

I got to your house this morning
Just a little after nine
In the middle of that riot
Couldn’t get you off my mind
So I’m at your house this morning
Just a little after nine
‘Cause it was in Bobcaygeon, where I saw the constellations
Reveal themselves one star at a time

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Upcoming events in and around the ‘hood

The leaves are changing, the furnaces are on but that doesn’t mean that we need to stay home and hibernate. Here are some upcoming events and opportunities that should keep us out and about (even if we might need a coat).

Happy 100th Anniversary To Gledhill!

Did you or someone you know attend Gledhill Junior Public School? Do you live nearby and have always wondered what goes on in there? Do you have kids who might go to Gledhill someday and you want to check it out? No matter how you may be connect, the whole community is invited to come out and celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Gledhill on Saturday, October 14th from 1-3pm.

Happy 2nd Birthday to Press

Press.books.coffee.vinyl is celebrating two years at 2442 Danforth Ave with a weekend-long party on Saturday and Sunday (Oct 14 & 15) with discounts, deals and live music! Follow their Facebook page for updates but as of right now, here is the rundown of what is planned:

25% off all new and used vinyl records, used book sale, $1 brewed coffee, $2 lattes and capps. Plus live music all through the weekend!

✨✨✨Press ALL-STARS✨✨✨

Saturday

C a r m e n T o t h @ 1pm

S a m T a y l o r a n d t h e E a s t En d L o v e @ 3pm

Sunday 

B r i a n P a s s m o r e C r e e p e r I n d i e F o l k R o c k @ 12pm

L i a S c o t t @1pm

M i c h a e l V i l l a m o r @ 2pm

R e b e c c a M a d a m b a a n d t h e. M y s t e r y G u e s t s @ 3pm

M a r i a R a m i o s @4pm

Pumpkin Parade Postering

It’s the most magical time of the year – the annual DECA Pumpkin Parade at East Lynn Park! Can you help us get the word out about this wonderful event by putting up some posters around the neighbourhood? This is a great way to:

  • get some exercise
  • give you a guaranteed sense of accomplishment with minimal output
  • allow you to finally have some time to yourself
  • help out your trusty neighbourhood association, and
  • generally make you feel like you are a really good person – which you clearly are.

Here is a teeny tiny version of our poster to fill you with excitement about the event because it is always a truly magical evening!

Now that you are burning with desire to help, send an email to Amanda, our volunteer coordinator (who is also a volunteer, because we all are!) and she will get you started.

Spoiler alert: we will also need people on the night of November 1 to help toss the pumpkins into giant bins following the event, so if you want to do that, let Amanda know!

Little Robot Friends Coding Class

Did you know that there’s a little business called Little Robot Friends at 1832 Danforth? Well, now you know and just in time to register for their 4-week coding club for kids aged 9 and up. Details can be found here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/little-robot-friends-4-week-coding-club-for-beginners-tickets-38359519355

What are little robot friends?

They’re cute robot characters that inspire kids to get creative with technology. These robots are packed with smarts, sensors, and big personalities. You can program them to make expressions, sing songs, perform tricks, and play games. It’s all about learning to code in a fun and engaging way with friends!

About the coding club

They will help participants build their 21st-century skills with an introduction to visual coding using our LRF Blocks App. They’ll also learn fundamental coding concepts through tons of hands-on and collaborative activities. By the end of the course level up with real-world programming in Arduino (C & C++). Gain the core knowledge and skills to tackle independent coding projects with your Little Robot Friend!

Cost: $150 for four weeks on Saturday mornings from 10am-noon, beginning October 21st.

Police Station Consultations

Don’t forget about the consultation meeting being held Tuesday, October 17 (6:45 to to 9:15 p.m.) at SH Armstrong Community Centre, 56 Woodfield Rd about where to put the new police station. One of the three options is at Coxwell & Danforth! Here is our previous blog post for more information.

Second Annual Danforth East Short Film Festival – October 21

Buy tickets for $15 at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/danforth-east-short-film-festival-tickets-37461220519?aff=es2

Repair Cafe – November 4

It’s advanced notice but you may want to start setting aside things you want to bring in for this Free repair cafe!

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Last Market of 2017! See you there!

Neighbours, the time has come for the very last East Lynn Farmers’ Market of this season.

Today, we’ll have facepainting, friendly DECA volunteers at the DECA Table and reps from the City seeking input about the Danforth Ave Planning Study. Please make sure to come and support the farmers, even if you are unable to stay (or if it’s raining).

Come by and tell your favourite vendor how much you appreciate them!

As the market season comes to a close, we have to say thank you to all of our farmers and vendors who make the whole market possible, along with the folks at Farmers’ Markets Ontario and especially Yuri, our market manager. There are so many volunteers who we cannot thank personally, but huge shout out to the volunteers who staff the DECA table (who also help with set-up and clean-up and many other tasks!), the facepainters, the organizers, the bloggers, and the kind souls who cooked for the farmers this year – many of whom answered our desperate, mid-summer plea when we had a daunting number of empty slots. Our market is special because of all the love that goes into it, and in turn, all the love that comes out of it.

Special thanks to Alison McMurray and Rebecca Green, who are there week after week and who can be seen around 3pm and 7pm most Thursdays schlepping things up and down the hill from and to the shed (and answering questions like “Why is there no corn in June?” with a smile on their faces) and to Shelley Darling who books the community table, the bloggers and generally keeps track of who is where week after week.

See you today from 3-7 at East Lynn Park!!

  • Note: If you can’t make it today or would rather provide feedback to the City online, a feedback form is now live on the study’s website (www.toronto.ca/danforthstudy), with a deadline of October 23, 2017. All responses received will form part of the consultation related to the material originally presented to the community on September 14, 2017

 

 

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Local police stations are merging and will be seeking a new location

Thanks to DECA Visioning Committee for this blog post!

You probably received a notice with your mail recently about public meetings the city and Toronto Police Service are holding on the next two Tuesday evenings regarding plans for a new local police station. (TPS plans to amalgamate its 54 and 55 Divisions under one roof.)

The discussion is particularly important for us because one of the three short-listed sites is the nearly five-acre TTC property at Danforth and Coxwell.

Danforth East TTC Barns at Coxwell. Photo credit Google Maps.

The Danforth East Community Association was formed a decade ago with a goal of making our area’s main street more vibrant, walkable and safe; to succeed we need to continually attract more people to the Danforth sidewalks for different reasons at different time of the day. World-renowned urbanist Jane Jacobs (who died in 2006) identified that TTC site as one of only two in the DECA area with significant potential for creating the type of multi-use hub that the community will need for revitalization.

While DECA has not taken a position, our Visioning Committee and some members are concerned — especially in an era when police stations tend to be walled, big-box fortresses — that this may not be an appropriate use for such a rare and valuable site on our main street.

The other two locations on the short list are East York Civic Centre and the current 55 Division at Dundas and Coxwell.

The two meetings are slated for:
– Tuesday, October 10 (6:30 to 9 p.m.) at East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell;
– Tuesday, October 17 (6:45 to to 9:15 p.m.) at SH Armstrong Community Centre, 56 Woodfield Rd.

To learn more about the community consultations and plans for a new site for these police stations, go to: https://www.torontopolice.on.ca/TheWayForward/new-54-55-building.php

Looking back at “Imagine the Danforth” 
The images below are renderings of possibilities for the TTC site, created by students, that were presented during Imagine the Danforth in May 2015. The meeting was hosted by DECA and featured the top 10 ideas for Danforth East developed by students at Ryerson and U of T.

Imagined sketch for new use of Danforth East TTC Barns by Ryerson Students, Nov. 2014
Imagined site plan for new uses of Danforth East TTC Barns by Ryerson Students, Nov. 2014
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A Farmer’s Farmers’ Market

godelie-farms.jpg
Gary himself from Godelie Farms
Many of you may have seen or read about the latest CBC Marketplace piece exposing the third party selling that goes on in many farmers markets across the province.  What you might not know is that the East Lynn Farmers Market is a verified market governed by Farmers Markets Ontario, which means only products grown by the farmers can be sold at our market.
Years ago FMO got into the business of farmers markets for this very reason and to protect farmers from third party selling.  Today the East Lynn Farmers Market boasts a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and baked goods that are grown and made by the farmers themselves.  This allows the consumer to ask questions and develop a relationship directly with the farmer and gives the consumer a better idea of where their food comes from and how it is grown.
This is the second last week of the East Lynn farmers market so stock up for your Thanksgiving dinners and buy things to freeze!  A big thank you to the community for making our market such a vibrant and successful market and a special thank you to all our volunteers who help feed the farmers and ensure each Thursday is a fabulous experience for all.
See you Thursday October 5th and Thursday October 12th from 3-7pm in East Lynn Park.