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Wanna be King/Queen of the ‘hood for a day? AoD is coming this FRI!

If you’ve never been to Art of the Danforth, think of a Nuit Blanche during daylight hours (Jour Blanche?…or Jour Blanc if you want to get picky). It’s fun and thought provoking. DECA even has our own event this year.

To get you in the mood now for AoD’s opening party is this FRIDAY, check out the ways to participate even before the 10 day art fest-extravaganza begins:

DANI/DAN IV

A series of whimsical installations, performances and workshops in which a neighbourhood king or queen is elected each day and treated like royalty.

Schedule: daily

How to Get Involved: Nominate a friend, loved one or yourself to be Queen Dani IV or King Dan IV for a day! Ideal candidates for Sean Martindale’s project are those who have a passion for the Danforth East community, are a valuable contributor and/understand the true meaning of being a neighbour. There is no age restriction, so we encourage nominations from all sorts. Candidates for DANI/DAN IV can be elected through email to dani (at) eastendarts.ca

FROM HERE TO

A traveling information-booth-cum-trading-post that collects and distributes personalized conceptual maps of the neigbourhood created by passersby.

Schedule: daily

Location: random [TBA]

How to Get Involved: Before the festival dates, Rebecca Noone, will be creating preliminary maps for distribution based on prior interactions with community members and volunteers. Rebecca would appreciate assistance from local volunteers, so please contact the artist at rebnoone (at) gmail.com if you wish to help in her mapmaking project.

LAUNDRY LINES

An interactive run and relay race resulting in a silkscreen performance. Printed t-shirts hang on laundry lines, creating colourful festival flags.

Schedule: Sunday, May 11. 12 – 5

Location: Allenby Theatre Parking Lot

How to Get Involved: The artist, Mango Peeler, would like to reach out to the running and fitness communities in the neighbourhood to create awareness for his relay race, as well as students from the local schools. A more detail schedule will be announced a week before the run. Volunteers to maintain the various stations along the race route and the silk-screening stations at the finish line are needed for the day of the run. If interested, volunteers can email info (at) aisle4.ca.

TEMPORARY MONUMENT

The burning of a 12-foot obelisk questions the authority of borders and monuments, marking a semi-official opening ceremony to the festival.

Schedule: Saturday, May, 3. Sunset.

Location: Felstead Park

How to Get Involved: Everyone is welcome to a giant bonfire, acting as the Opening Ceremonies of the Art of the Danforth Festival! Bring your lawn chairs and campfire songs.

Dani_IV_web_2

 

 

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Clean Up with the Friends of Monarch Park

Do you spend much time in Monarch Park?  Well here’s a great way to give back to the park that gives us all so much.  The Friends of Monarch Park will be hosting a clean up on Saturday, April 26th from 10:00 a.m. until noon.  We hear they may even have some hot chocolate to share!

Remember, there’s also a clean up at Merrill Park on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and we are encouraging DECA Diaries readers to simply spend some time cleaning their streets this weekend. Be sure to share your photo’s with us via our Facebook Page , Twitter (@DECADiaries) or by sending us an email (decacleanup@gmail.com).  

Cleanup the Park April 15 2014

 

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Celebrate Earth Day!

It’s Earth Day!  Did you celebrate today?  Did you mark the occasion? As I washed out my reusable coffee cup at work, it occurred to me that there is more that I could be doing – that we all could be doing – to be kind to the earth. In keeping with DECA’s general mantra to start locally, how about a community clean-up?

An Earth Day Request from DECA

This weekend on Saturday April 26 & Sunday April 27, we are asking you to adopt your block, or street, or more! You pick the time to pick up the litter, and if you could a couple more things:
1) Tell your neighbours;
2) Separate the garbage from the recycling;
3) Send decacleanup@gmail.com a note telling us where you plan to clean up pick up (or where you did pick up). Send us a photo! Or let us know on Twitter using our #DanforthEast hashtag or by including our handle (@DECADiaries) in your tweet. Post it to our Facebook Page so that we can help you spread the word!
Let’s have the most litter-free neighbourhood in the city!

Merril Park Dog Association – Spring Cleaning

Merrill Park Dog Association is hosting its annual spring cleaning this Saturday, April 26th at 9:30 am at Merrill Park (by the train tracks just west off of Woodbine.) The poster with all the details is below!  Learn more about them at merrilldogpark.wordpress.com.  Oh, and yes, participating at this event would totally count as part of the DECA Earth Day request!

 

MPDA April 26th 2014 Poster

 

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#DEdreams in Pictures

A huge, big thank you to everyone for coming out and making last week’s Danforth East Dreams event such a fun and successful day!

Over 400 (!) of you joined us to share what you love about the ‘hood and your dreams about how we can make it even better. There were tons of great ideas, including:

  • starting a community garden (Attention those of you who loved this idea: good news is coming soon!)
  • a neighbourhood wide golf tournament in which everyone sets up a hole on their lawn
  • bringing back monarch butterflies to Monarch Park
  • bike lanes on Danforth
  • converting the TTC buildings at Coxwell (South side of Danforth) into a public space with a park, stores and housing
  • rabbits (the young lady didn’t elaborate on her vision, but rabbits are indeed pretty cool all on their own)

We even spied an idea that looked an awful lot like a marriage proposal (possibly a DECA first?). We’ll continue collecting all the ideas and share the full results in the next few weeks. Until then, have a look at the fantastic pictures taken by Bruce, Tina and Casey. See if you spot your idea or recognize someone you know posing with their dream.

Once again, many thanks to Melanie’s Bistro, Moberly Natural Foods, Beau’s, LEN, Rebel Therapy Yoga, Air Zound bike horns, Ankh Yoga, 32 Spokes, Mrs. Darling’s Imaginarium for Girls & Boys, Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon for the use of her popcorn machine, the Toronto Repair Cafe and the owners of 1811 Danforth, Haig and David.

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DECA Tree – Tree Care Education + Adopt-a-tree

DECA Tree logo

Happy Spring from DECA Tree!

Thanks to our wonderful DECA Tree volunteers, Catherine and Anne, for this post and for their neighbourhood tree heroics!

Take a moment to stop and look, and you will see signs of new growth on the trees! Buds swelling and branches elongating and changing colour. For newly planted trees, care starts as soon as the ground is warmed up.

So, we’re kicking off 2014 with a TREE CARE EDUCATION session. Please come and meet other people who care about trees, and learn to care for your trees. We also have trees up for adoption!

DATE: Wednesday April 23 at 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.

PLACE: Danforth and Woodbine (southeast quadrant).

For the address, please email decaaat@gmail.com or call Anne Howatt at 416-617-6431.

There will be wine and beer, and coffee and tea. Please feel free to bring a snack, something to share or something to drink OR JUST SHOW UP! Bring along friends or neighbours who care about trees (their own) or are interested in adopting a tree (or two).

Thank you!

Anne Howatt and Catherine Dorton (Volunteers DECA TREE)

Please check out our FACEBOOK PAGE for UPDATES about NEW CAMPAIGNS and RESOURCES.