Posted on

Holiday happenings & other news

The holidays are upon us, and some events are taking place in our neighbourhood that you might want to mark on your calendars.

DECA’s First Annual East Lynn Park Tree Lighting! 
Thursday, December 13 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, come on out to meet your neighbours and have a cup of hot chocolate together this Thursday – it’s for a good cause, and it will be lots of fun!

EastLynnPark tree lighting 2012

And a big thank you to all the volunteers who braved the rain this weekend to hang the lights in preparation for Thursday’s event.  Check out the photos!

Gingerbread House Building at Cozy Cafe & Bakery (Woodbine & Danforth) December 15 (5-7 p.m.) & 16 (3-5 p.m.) for $25

cozy

Call Cozy at (647) 349-5251 to reserve your spot, and then next Sunday enjoy your clean kitchen after you and/or your kids have iced the floors and furniture at Cozy!

An artful walk?

Remember in the fall when DECA helped to facilitate the painting of some local Bell boxes?  Have you ever wondered, ‘where are those boxes?’  As winter clamps down, if you are like me you probably need an excuse to get off the couch and venture out, so why not take a little walking tour of the murals? Here is a map to show you where the boxes are, and photos to give you a sneak peek of the beauty that awaits you on your journey.

Bell box murals Danforth 2012Stay tuned for information on next weekend’s pop-up events, and details about some late-night shopping specials at some of our favourite local shops!

Posted on

We need your help tomorrow night!

Dear Neighbours,

DECA’s Renew East Danforth Team has been hard at work painting and scrubbing multiple storefronts along the Danforth in preparation for a pop-up bonanza for the month of December. (You’ll here more details on that shortly)

1872 Danforth Avenue was our last storefront to come available.  This soon-to-be beautiful space will be the December home of CareerFit Mom.  However, the space needs a little elbow grease to make it shine, and we are quite anxiously looking for some extra people to help out.  Tomorrow, Thursday November 29, starting at 7:00 p.m.  the team will descend upon this space – if you can offer an hour or two (or three!) of your time and effort, we would be so very, very grateful.

Please sign up to help by following this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084CA8AF23A13-clean1

If you have any questions or need more information, email Natasha by clicking here.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

Posted on

Movie stars in our ‘hood, Silly toy drive, and 2012 wrap-up

Hollywood has come to us

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is our pleasure to inform you that our neighbourhood is part of the set of the latest Robocop instalment.  Are you jumping up and down with excitement?  Yeah, we thought so.  You’re welcome.

Fake stores constitute part of the set of latest Robocop movie

Silly Goose Partners with Woodgreen Community Services

Our friends at Silly Goose Kids are up to their usual awesomeness.  In addition to wrapping gifts for $1 donations to Woodgreen, they are also helping with Woodgreen’s annual toy drive.  See below for the details:

And last but not least, a few words from DECA’s fearless leader (Anita, our Chair) as we prepare to bring 2012 to a close:

DECA is a fairly unique residents association, in that we came together because we wanted to build something, not fight it. Five years ago, we banded together to help make our neighbourhood more vibrant, walkable, safe and fun.  We’ve come a long way since that initial meeting and this past year was our busiest ever.
The list of our projects for 2012 is impressive:
  • a weekly Farmer’s Market,
  • the bigger-than-ever Danforth East Arts Fair,
  • a hugely successful Harvest Moon Festival,
  • the third annual DECA Pumpkin Parade,
  • first-ever Kids Gear Sale,
  • the painting of neighbourhood Bell utility boxes,
  • new pop-up shop initiative along the Danforth (now called Renew East Danforth),
  • a new historical mural at Main and Stephenson,
  • beautification of the Stephenson Park area,
  • the forming of a new DECA Trees group,
  • first-ever DECA pub crawl,
  • expanding of the ever-popular DECA Diaries blog to a team approach
…and so much more! We like to think DECA is having an impact. And to continue, we need your help. How, you’re wondering? I was hoping you would ask!
Membership
An annual membership to DECA is just $10 per household. This $10 gives us a small budget for our projects, but more importantly, it gives us credibility and clout when dealing with city hall and other groups. And, let’s face it, with all the neighbourhood events and projects it gives you access to, $10 is a steal!

Please, if you live in our borders and you haven’t renewed or paid for your DECA membership yet, please take a minute now to do so by signing up here: http://danfortheastcommunityassociation.com/membership

Volunteers
All of DECA’s accomplishments have been due to the dedication of some AMAZING volunteers.  Thank you to everyone who pitched in to lend a hand this year!  Needless to say, our neighbourhood is so much better because of it.
We need more of you though!  We’re a relatively small group of volunteers for the number of project we have going.  So if you can spare even just a couple of hours a month, we need your help!  Send us a note to see how you can pitch in, by clicking here.  If these projects doesn’t grab you, but you have an idea for another one, please speak to us!  All of our projects started off as just a small idea in someone’s head…
Before I sign off …
It needs to be said that most of our biggest volunteers sit on the DECA Board.  I want to personally thank the members of this past year’s team, every one of whom has committed countless hours to improving our little pocket.  I am perpetually in awe of your energy and drive to make things happen.
Looking ahead, I am excited to work with the 2013 Board and other volunteers, and to see what successes the coming year will bring to our community.
-Anita
 
Posted on

Open Minds, Bond-alicious fundraiser, and Cozy Sundays

Introducing: Open Minds Toronto

Open Minds Toronto is a new group in the area, which is dedicated to “opening up spaces for community members to meet, play and learn together.”  While they build toward their longer-term goal of  opening a learning hub on the Danforth, they have partnered with some local businesses to ‘animate’ our community.  They have two exciting events in the coming weeks, and don’t forget to RSVP in order to reserve your seat.
‘Itch and Stitch
Friday, November 16, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. 
Patisserie La Cigogne (Danforth and Monarch Park)
Cost: Pay What You Can
Bring your mending, sketching, knitting, embroidery, whatever…and join in for conversation on topical issues, while sipping and nibbling on the fine offerings of Patisserie La Cigogne, at the corner of Danforth and Monarch Park.  Joanne at La Cigogne has agreed to stay open an hour later than usual to accommodate the group. Click here to reserve a seat.
 
Making a Racket at the Rocket 
Thursday, November 22, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. 
@ Red Rocket (1364 Danforth)
Cost: Pay What You Can

This will be a Spoken Word evening of readings, poetry and storytelling.  Poets, authors, storytellers and songwriters are welcome to register to present. There will be a featured author: Terri Favro, author of The Proxy Bride (and local Danforth resident).  Everyone is welcome to come out to the Red Rocket, 1364 Danforth (between Greenwood and Coxwell) as audience as well.  The Red Rocket is licensed to serve alcohol, and also has a nice selection of coffees and teas and nibbles. If you’re coming (either to present or to listen) definitely email them by clicking here so they can reserve a seat for you – they expect this to be popular!

All proceeds are to help develop the potential of Open Minds. If you want to know more, have ideas, or want to get involved, or want to keep updated about more events, visit their website: http://www.openmindstoronto.ca.
____
East End Children’s Centre Fundraiser
November 17th, starting at 7:30p.m 
Mark your calendars for this exciting 007-themed fundraiser in support of East End Children’s Centre (includes the drop-ins at Kimbourne and Terry Fox) next Saturday, November 17.

BONDalicious…. From East York With Love

Please join us in celebrating 50 years of James Bond at our

21st Annual Fundraising Gala supporting East End Children’s Centre

A one-of-a-kind event that is guaranteed to leave you

Shaken, Not Stirred!

Saturday, November 17th at 7:30 pm

  •  7:30 pm  Champagne Reception
  • 8 pm  Enjoy delectable treats and creative cocktails as you peruse the Silent Auction tables and give our wheel a spin to win marvelous prizes!
  • 10 pm  Fabulous Live Auction in support of East End Children’s Centre

Guests are encouraged (but not at all required) to don their sparkles & sequins, dress as their favourite Bond Girl, Bond Villain or as 007 himself!

Please remember this is an adult-only event (babes-in-arms welcome)

____
Cozy Sundays are Back!
Cozy Cafe, 2075 Danforth Ave, will be open on Sundays again beginning tomorrow.  The fabulous owners have finished their season at out-of-town Farmers’ Markets on the weekends, they are ready to serve up a scrumptious brunch, plus your favourite loaves, croissants and cinnamon buns, all weekend long!
Posted on

DECA Cocktail Party/AGM and Pumpkin Parade round-up

Your invited to the DECA Cocktail Party/AGM (Yes, our AGM is a cocktail party – we’re THOSE people) on Monday, November 12 – see below:

While we like to focus on the cocktail party aspect of the evening, the AGM part does require a teeny tiny sliver of time in order to get our new Board elected.  Unless an unexpected coup takes place, the business portion of the evening shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes or so.  For real!

The AGM is also a great chance for you to register/renew your DECA membership. For the low, low price of $10 per household, you can feel like a good citizen, and you will be filled with pride when we take your $10 and turn it into pop-up shops, the annual Arts Fair, the weekly Farmers’ Market, kids’ stuff sale, pub crawls, and so much more. Plus, you get to vote at our AGM and you can throw your clout all around town, for 365 glorious days. If you can’t make it next week, you can pay via PayPal be clicking on ‘subscribe’ at the bottom of our membership page.  Alternatively, you can drop off cash or a cheque at 48 Glebemount Avenue.

Once again, our boarders are Main St to Mortimer/Lumsden to Monarch Park, down to the train tracks.

__

Pumpkin Parade Round-up

A message from our Chief Pumpkineer, Heather Bean.  DECA can’t thank you enough, Heather, for inspiring and organizing our most magical event of the year!

It was a bit drizzly and a bit windy, but his year’s pumpkin parade was still a delight. Kids big and small racing around the park in the dark; parents telling their little ones, “We can’t take pictures of ALL of them!”; couples wandering through, oohing and aahing; later, little clutches of teens pointing out their favourites. We had classic triangle-eyed pumpkins, scary pumpkins, a pumpkin snowman, Angry Birds and Dora the Explorer, Frankenweenie, John Lennon, and an enormous pumpkin, mercifully placed right next to the compost bin. (Thanks!) A special shout-out to Miss Curran’s Grade Ones and Twos, for their pumpkin-studded pumpkin.
A big thank you to our board members, especially Anita, Sheri and Shelley, for giving advice, handling pre-parade logistics and postering the town.
And especially, thank you to our Pumpkin Parade volunteers! Johanne Von Zuben has lit our pumpkins for two of the past three walks, cheerfully braving the cold. Our cleanup crew included Steve Wickens, Jeff Colley, Kathleen Peak and her mighty wagon, and Paul Haines and his cleanup crew of Matt, Jevon and Phil. We had that bin filled in record time.
See you again next year!
Posted on

Make magic with us tonight in East Lynn Park

Don’t forget that you can stretch the spooky magic of Halloween a little longer by bringing your pumpkins to East Lynn Park, TONIGHT, (Thursday, November 1) for DECA’s third annual Pumpkin Parade.
The event runs from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – bring a candle and we’ll light it for you there. The forecast says rain, but we’ll brave a little drizzle if you will. If it’s too wet to keep our jack-o-lanterns lit, then the magic will have to wait until next year.
P.S. – It’s not an actual parade, but only because those lazy pumpkins won’t march. It is amazing though, so if you’ve never been you really must come to see it.
P.P.S. – If you don’t have a pumpkin, you can still come!

20121101-094809.jpg