Our Annual General Meeting & Party is coming up on November 20 from 7-9 pm at Hirut (2050 Danforth). Hope you can join us!
At the party you can:
Meet your neighbours
Enjoy Hirut’s delicious food (on us!)
Find out how to get more involved with DECA
Join DECA or renew your $10/year per household membership
Meet our Board and many of our other amazing volunteers
Vote for next year’s Board if you are a member (this is the AGM part!)
Enjoy the cash bar
If you’ve never come to the Party & AGM before, the short formal part will go from about 8:00-8:30pm and you’ll hear about our annual events and ongoing initiatives, the not-to-be-missed Treasurer’s report, nail-biter Board elections and last but not least, remarks from our outgoing Chair (yours truly). The rest of the time is for chatting with neighbours and hanging out. Not a bad way to spend a Monday evening.
Membership and voting are limited to people who live in our catchment (Main to Lumsden/Mortimer to Monarch Park to the train tracks) but everyone who cares about this neighbourhood can come to this and all of our events.
The Board will be putting forward the following nominees for election to the 2017/18 Board:
Loreen Barbour (Co-Chair)
Gay Stephenson (Co-Chair)
Audrey Kvedaras (Vice Chair)
Anita Schretlen (Treasurer)
Nicole Bergot-Browning (Secretary)
Alison McMurray
Amanda Olson
Melissa Peretti
Jennifer Scott
Rebecca Green
Brad Bradford
Lorraine Chen
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If you are interested in future opportunities on our Board, please ask us about it on Monday or reach out to us by email and we can talk about getting you involved over the coming year.
Mark your calendars! The 6th annual DECA Festival of Lights is happening this year in East Lynn Park on Saturday, Nov. 25, from 5-6 pm.
Thank you to Angel Wagner of Umlaut Design for this beautiful poster.
We have a stellar line up of entertainment planned–from the The S.P.A.C.E. and Pegasus Studios dancers, to the daring dynamics of Zero Gravity Circus, to the sweet sounds of the The Music Project Choir sing along–before we officially turn on the holiday lights at the park. We’ll also have a Santa tent again this year for the little folks who’d like to visit the big man in red.
As always, everything at the festival is free, but we’d love you to bring a non-perishable food item (or a few) or a financial donation for Community Centre 55‘s holiday food drive. Not only will you feel good by helping out, you’ll be entered into a raffle for a fantastic prize.
And if that’s not enough fun for you, the Danny BIA is also hosting a Shop Local Saturday on Nov. 25th. There will be street musicians to keep you entertained while you check folks off your holiday gift list. Why not make a day of it by heading to the Danforth, then dropping by the park to celebrate the season with your neighbours?
See you on Saturday, Nov. 25!
Special thanks to Angela Wagner of Umlaut Design for her beautiful poster.
First of all, thank you to everyone who came out to the Pumpkin Parade at East Lynn Park on November 1st and especially to the volunteers who tossed pumpkins in less-than-ideal weather to help us restore the park at the end of the night.
The Pumpkin Parade was the first of four November DECA events. Here is the low-down on what else is coming up!
DECA Pride cinq-à-sept | November 9 |5-7pm
Bringing together East End LGBTQ+ folks and allies, DECA Pride is hosting a casual get together at Local 1794 from 5-7pm. Light snacks provided. Meet at the back!
Click here to join the DECA Pride email list and here to join the Facebook group.
DECA Annual General Meeting & Party | November 20 | 7-9pm
It’s our last official #DECAde event – the Annual General Meeting & Party! Come to Hirut Café and Restaurant to eat delicious Ethiopian food, listen to some live music, meet your neighbours, renew your membership or join DECA and celebrate another great year of community-building. Cash bar. Board elections and formal remarks will be short, starting at around 8. Facebook event is here.
Stay tuned for our recommended nominations for next year’s Board. Spoiler alert: change is afoot!
DECA’s Festival of Lights | November 25 | 5-6pm
For the past five years, DECA has organized a tree lighting event at East Lynn Park to celebrate the festive season and this year promises to be the best one yet!
Rumour has it that Santa himself has cleared his schedule to visit us.
Watch this space for the beautiful poster to come, and in the meantime, save the date!
Where is the best spot for a police station? Did you know Division 54 & 55 are amalgamating and looking for a new site. We first blogged about this last month.
One of the shortlisted sites is the TTC Barns at Coxwell and Danforth – a massive five acre site that, if put to the right use, has the potential to transform our neighbourhood. Can we unlock the potential of this site with a police station?
The selection process for the new station is happening very fast with a decision expected to be made next month.
Last week, DECA and other community groups, including the Danforth Mosaic BIA, formally requested a delay in the process, citing the need for more public information.
To be clear, this isn’t about NIMBYism. We aren’t saying no station here. We’re asking what is possible for that site, with or without a station. More than anything right now, we want more information and time.
What we know
Toronto Police Services (TPS) and the City of Toronto began the site selection community consultations in October, presenting the top three sites: the Danforth Coxwell TTC Barns, the East York Civic Centre and the current 55 Division at Dundas and Coxwell.
DECA’s Visioning Committee, DECA Board members and many neighbours attended the packed meetings. Although TPS had been planning to build a new police station since 2014, the public wasn’t invited into the site selection process until October 2017. TPS plans to present the selected site to the City’s Executive Committee on November 29 and then go to City Council on December 6th (to seek further study of the selected site).
[You can read more about the site selection process in this Beach Metro article by Stephen Wickens (who has been a driving force behind DECA’s Visioning Committee for years) – the article also sheds light on another possible site!
What we’ve asked
Because of the impact a new police station could have on our community, DECA and others have requested a further public meeting to get answers to these questions:
Questions in regards to Coxwell TTC Barns site:
We are concerned about the security design criteria and setbacks required by TPS, even if some recent stations include some aesthetically pleasing design. Specifically how might the police station fit onto the site? Is TPS willing to compromise on security criteria in order to truly integrate with and contribute to a vibrant mixed-use hub? Can the TPS facility fit within close proximity as part of an urban-style cluster of mid-rise, mixed use buildings?
With neighbourhood concerns about traffic and noise, will serious traffic studies be done prior to final site alternatives be conducted for the entire TTC property? Would such a fit-test endeavour to include all potential uses: TPS, the TTC’s existing and potential uses (TTC needs space for various front and back-office functions and is considering a museum)? What other city office-space needs might be served? Would new building offer opportunities for an expanded or relocated library, public open space, public indoor space, Tobias House upgrades, heritage structure programming.
Will the concept of Complete Streets with retail and even residential components be considered in the site planning process?
If a police division is located on the Coxwell TTC site, how might it prevent/inhibit other community/cultural uses? (Such as those listed as things the community needs below). We request clarification on what percentage of the Coxwell TTC site the TPS would occupy, if this site is chosen. How much space would be available for other uses?
How is the heritage status to be preserved if this site if chosen?
How will the parking be accommodated? Will the community have any assurance that the parking will be underground? The current walled-off surface parking lot is seriously street-deadening.
There has been a lack of community engagement and involvement in the site selection, followed by a rushed process taking place under a sudden deadline. To what extent will the community be involved in the design of the station and the selection of the community and cultural uses that could be attracted to occupy other parts of the site?
The process to date has included little or no information on the impact that a police station on this site might have on rest of land and its immediate surroundings. This includes concerns over the Heritage Status as well as the loss of potential uses for this site (cultural, community, retail etc.) which may not be deemed a good fit to cohabit with a police station. Does the TPS, city real estate and city planning have partners in mind for the site and, if yes, who are they?
Community needs in regards to Coxwell TTC Barns site:
The two police divisions extend from the Don River to Victoria Park yet only two public consultations were held at EYCC and further south, nearer the Dundas police station, perhaps because there are no large meeting spaces centrally located on the subway, near Danforth. Such a space would be essential to a mixed-use hub at the Danforth, as would outdoor public space + community recreation facilities and cultural uses. The area also needs functions that bring people to the area and its shops and restaurants from other parts of the city each day. It could be office space for all three levels of government or an educational institution (a police college?). Daycare, healthcare and a library that are all part of mixed-use buildings present real opportunity. Some residential, including apartments geared to seniors, might be a great part of the mix.
The community and BIA have worked hard over the past five years to improve our commercial strip along Danforth East and create a vibrant street. This section of Danforth is lacking a pedestrian-friendly and welcoming retail strip, while the street frontages of the TTC site create blocks that are too long and impenetrable. Plans to redevelop the Coxwell TTC Barns should focus on economic development and the creation of pedestrian-friendly blocks. [Note: See work of Ryerson Architecture students “Danforth East Streetcar Yards” and Top Ten Ideas for the Danforth, by Paul Bedford’s Students presented at Imagine the Danforth, hosted by DECA in 2015.]
We believe it’s important to work with the mid-rise guidelines created by city planning and approved by city council to develop this nearly five-acre site. They are essential elements of the ongoing Danforth Avenue Planning Study and cannot be ignored for any site, let alone such a key and potentially catalytic site. This has to be a primary focus, no matter what the TPS security concerns.
What can you do?
We have more influence the more members we have. If you haven’t joined DECA as a member, join now for $10/household annually: https://deca.to/membership/
The Toronto Police Service material provided these contacts for this process:
Can you believe it, Halloween is almost here! The decorations are everywhere as the whole neighborhood gets into the spooky Halloween spirit. Even the jack-o-lanterns are now starting to make an appearance and hoping to outlast the squirrels’ attacks until after the big day. One of our favorite parts of Halloween is not the day of, but November 1 when jack-o-lanterns from around the ‘hood make their way to East Lynn park, or another park nearby, and we all light them up one last time and see the wonderful creations blinking together in the night.
Even better, when you are ready to go you can leave your pumpkins at the park and amazing volunteers will toss those babies in bins that the city provides, and the city will pick up in one swoop the next day. So bring your pumpkins and your candles and come join in the fun on November 1 starting at 6:30 pm with DECA at East Lynn Park!
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.
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).
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.
(Note that it will close October 22 and not October 29)More info 
