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East Lynn Farmers’ Market: Want to contribute?

Can you believe it? There is less than two months to to before the opening of the East Lynn Park Farmers’ Market!  While the first day of the market will be June 6th, we will hold the official Grand Opening Celebration on June 13th.  Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details.

But… what we can tell you is to expect to have all the face painting fun and crafting with Mrs. Darling like in previous years.  Plus exciting plans are coming together that include a fresh approach to the festivals and more prepared food so you can grab dinner and do your shopping at the same time!

If you’re looking to get involved this year, here are a few ways you can help out:

  • Musicians: I think we can all agree that having live music each week significantly adds to the community vibe that exists at our market.  We’re looking for talented musicians who like help create that atmosphere by entertaining market-goers with their musical talents.   There is a modest stipend ($25) available and musicians are encouraged to open their cases for donations.
  • Cooks: Did you know that someone from our neighbourhood cooks a full dinner meal for the farmers each week?  Pretty cool, eh? We have yet to hear of another community doing this for their farmers.  If you have culinary skills to share, we’d love to have you.  There is a $20 stipend available to help defray the cost.
  • DECA Table Volunteers: Can’t play music? Can’t cook? Want to help but are short on time? No problem!  Can you sit in a chair and smile?  We’re looking for volunteers to sit at the DECA info table for one of two shifts per Thursday? (There is also some set-up or take-down involved)  Help answer questions about DECA and the market.  Don’t worry, we’ll give you all the answers!

If you have other ideas on becoming involved please don’t hesitate to connect with us by emailing Shelley . We’d  love to hear from you! Or perhaps you are or know a local business that would like to sponsor an event? We’d really love to hear from you!

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Farewell to our Farmers for 2012

Sniffle. It’s time to say farewell to our farmers for yet another year. Don’t forget to come to East Lynn Park on Thursday to say goodbye in person and fill your cellars and freezers with local delights. This year we tried to give you some insight into the farmers, their families and their products by profiling them on the blog. We hope you enjoyed.

Thank you to all the farmers:

Once again our community showed their appreciation to the farmers by providing a lovely dinner each week. Thank you to this year’s line-up of culinary volunteers: Alisa Metcalfe, Shelley Pogue, Diana Gonzalaz, Ruth Heathcote, Catherine Dorton, Nicola St. John, Kirsten Hurd, Mary Egan, Melanie’s Bistro, Amoy Lowe, Susan & Bruce Crofts, Nicola Yap, Brenda Chow, Susan Spratley, Patricia Chartier, Ruth, Tak Bui, Sheila Colla, and the Ceili Cottage. If you’re interested in helping out next year, please email shelleydarling(at)yahoo.ca.

And thanks to all of you for supporting the local farmers each week and making the East Lynn Farmers’ Market the best in the city.

See you next year!

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Last Two Weeks for East Lynn Farmers’ Market

It takes a village to raise a child.  And it takes a community to put on a farmers’ market.

While our farmers’ market is always first and foremost about the farmers, there are also countless volunteers, every single week, who help to make the farmers’ market the magical place that it is for our community all season long.

We had students who helped paint little faces; entertainers who entertained at the five festivals; local bakeries and bistros that fed us while we shopped and played; local organizations, businesses and professionals who brought their information to our community; and, musicians who always created a festive mood.  To all of you – thank you!

Another group of neighbours volunteered to be the friendly face of DECA each week, answering questions, helping deliver dinner to the farmers, setting up children’s board games and helping clean it all up each evening.  Lia Munro, Kendal Gerard, Gala Arh, Kim Dolan, Susan Bates, Heather Bean, Nana Jokura, Amy Illingworth, Sarah Kiriliuk, Marianne Sheshko, Laura Walters, Sarah Hutchinson, Shannon Connors, Mary Vallis, Justine Saccomanno, Catherine Dorton, and Sheri Hebdon, Steve Wickens, Paul Haines and any others who jumped in at the last minute to help – thank you too.

Don’t forget, there are still two more Thursdays left to shop at the East Lynn Farmers’ Market!  Make sure to stop by the park to fill up your tote bags with the freshest of Ontario’s autumn bounty while you can!

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Just for fun, here’s a slideshow of the Harvest Moon Festival that DECA put on a few weeks ago with the generous help of SUGARMOON and Alterna Savings:

[slideshow]

p.s. there are more thank yous to come next week!

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DECA’s busy October

REVITALIZING THE DANFORTH

DECA’s building it, will you come?

DECA’s Business Revitalization Team (BRT) is working with local landlords to put temporary tenants in their empty buildings. This strategy worked wonders in Newcastle, Australia, turning the abandoned downtown to a thriving centre again. It is working in old Oakland, California. Why not here?

Our first partners are Gay and Scott, the owners of 1948 Danforth – the former Metro Nails. They love the idea and hope it will land them a good paying tenant. They’ve given us a month for free in their space, in exchange for some help cleaning and painting. We put out a call to budding entrepreneurs for proposals and got more than 50 responses in a week! After interviews, our committee selected two – a west-end collective of local designers, Birthia and our own Mrs. Darling’s Imaginarium for Girls and Boys.

Please come support us and them on Oct. 20-21 and Oct. 27-28. 

If you are a landlord and want to work with us, we’d love to meet you – click here to email us.

And here is what DECA’s own Catherine Porter had to say about this project in the Toronto Star last week.

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DECA PUB CRAWL – Thursday, October 18th, start @ 7:00 p.m.!

We’re here to remind you that drinking is not just for the weekends when you’re with your neighbours. Leave the kids at home and come have a night out with DECA! Thanks to Tara S. for this post.

Starting at Sidewalk Café, we’ll then go to Sarah’s, El Sol, TKOs and finally Relish for karaoke!!  All participating pubs have agreed to prepare special drinks and food for us, so this is an opportunity not to be missed! Come hungry & thirsty!!

Here’s the breakdown:

7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. @ Sidewalk Café (1344 Danforth Ave) 

  • A plate of mini Martinis (sweet, sour & dirty – 1oz each) including a side of Italian sushi (you read that correctly!) $8

7:40 p.m. – 8:10 p.m. @ Sarah’s Cafe and Bar (1426 Danforth Ave)

  • 3 x Mill St. 7 oz samples for $6.00 and half-glasses of Jackson Triggs Chardonnay, St Lucas Torrontes, Porta Merlot & Jackson Triggs Cab Franc at $3.65 per 2.5 oz pour (you can have as much or as little as you like)
  • Mixed Hors D’oeuvres Plate with Roasted Garlic & Brie Crostini, Devilled Egg, Brushetta & Falafel for $8

8:20 p.m. -8:50 p.m @ El Sol (1448 Danforth Ave)

  • Margaritas, Sangrias and Mexican Beer
  • Delicious beef tacos with guacamole for $4.95 – Ole! 

9:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. @ TKO’s (1600 Danforth Ave)

  • Beer tasters and sliders (hamburger, pork and chicken)

9:45 p.m. – onward @ Relish Bar and Grill (2152 Danforth Ave)

  • Beer tasters and tapas selection and Karaoke!

We welcome late-comers along the way, so please join us whenever you can.  In order to make ourselves obvious, we’ll be wearing feather boas and we encourage all of you to do the same (we’ll have a few extras on hand so don’t worry if you can’t find yours). There will also be giveaways, prizes, and Jason from Toronto Model Photography Studio taking photos!

If you know that you want to come or are even leaning toward yes (you know you are), please email here to RSVP so that we can advise the pubs on our numbers ahead of time if possible.

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DECA BOARD MEETING – Tuesday, October 16, 2012 @ 7:30 p.m.
If you are a DECA member, or you just want to get to know us a little better, please come and join us for our Board meeting.  This is where the magic happens, and it happens over ginger ales, beers and laughs at a local restaurant.  Where, you ask?  Click here to get more info.
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EAST LYNN FARMERS’ MARKET
Don’t forget that the market continues throughout the month of October.  Stay tuned for more info about this week’s lineup of fun, crafts and surprises.  (Has everyone recovered from last week’s Harvest Moon Festival??)
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Pumpkin Parade Update and Harvest Moon Reminder

Pumpkin Parade Update

DECA’s annual Pumpkin Parade will light up East Lynn Park Thursday, Nov. 1 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. And we need your help!

If you’re a regular Toronto Star reader, you may have noticed that for a few days, our annual Pumpkin Parade was in some peril. (Click here for the article) During the uncertainty, we had a number of businesses and groups offer to donate their time and their trucks, including Local 416.  A huge thank you to everyone for their ideas and offers.  But after a flurry of emails between local Councillors, city staff and parade organizers – a bit of media-coverage pixie dust – we have a parade again!

Now that we will have the City dumpster bins in place and removal is taken care of, we need some volunteers to help run the parade and with clean up.  If you’re interested in volunteering for either of these two roles, please contact Heather Bean by clicking here.

  • Greeters –  During the parade, volunteers will help their neighbours place and light their pumpkins. We’ll need five or six of these volunteers.
  • Haulers –  After the parade, volunteers will load pumpkins into dumpster bins onsite.  If you have a wagon, wheelbarrow, or wire cart, you could be a pumpkin clean-up MVP. For this job, the more the merrier. (roughly 9-10 p.m.)

Reminder: Harvest Moon with SUGARMOON & Alterna Savings TODAY

The forecast is perfect for the Harvest Moon Festival at the East Lynn Park Farmers’ Market today. If you forgot, there will be pony rides for the kids, bouncy castles, garden talks with the Garden Mum, sugaring info from the staff at SUGARMOON, blue grass music from the Ceiligrass Boys, the Touch Table from the Toronto Zoo, pumpkin crafts with Mrs. Darling, and health tips from naturopathic medicine expert Nana Jokura.  If you don’t have time to pack your picnic basket, don’t worry – Lazy Daisy’s Cafe and Columbo’s Pizza will be there with some yummy eats for sale.

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Harvest Moon with SUGARMOON and Alterna Savings!

There will be ponies. There will be bouncy castles. There will be music. And so, so much more.

We’re celebrating the harvest this week at HARVEST MOON, and this is our biggest festival of the year thanks to generous contributions from two local businesses, SUGARMOON and Alterna Savings. If there was ever a week to cancel your afternoon meetings and pack your picnic basket, this is it.

Here is a rundown of Thursday’s activities:

  • A bouncy castle and a bouncy obstacle course starting at about 3:00 p.m.
  • Ever been on a pony? Now’s your chance. Pony rides will be available from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
  • The friendly folks from SUGARMOON will be on hand to answer all of your questions about body sugaring and other services and products available at this sweet spot on the Danforth. They will also be  showcasing their first sugaring take-home kit.
  • Mrs. Darling will be back with magnificent pumpkin painting crafts starting at 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Feel free to bring your own mini pumpkin.  She will also have some available for purchase. 
  • Garden Mum will provide advice about what to do to close up the garden for the season and indoor gardening tips starting at 5:00 p.m.
  • The Touch Table from the Toronto Zoo will be on hand to their hands-on display of plant and animal biofacts starting at 4:00 p.m.
  • Ceiligrass Boys will be belting out bluegrass melodies to help set the mood.

Tell your children. Tell your friends. Tell your friends’ children. This week promises not to disappoint!

The East Lynn Farmer’s Market runs every Thursday from 3-7 p.m. between June-October at East Lynn Park, located on the south side of Danforth Ave, just west of Woodbine Ave.