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A message from DECA’s Board

The Danforth East Community Association operates on a set of principles that includes fostering a community that values diversity and inclusion.  

We are very alarmed and disturbed by the anti-diversity posters that appeared in our neighbourhood today. 

We are grateful for our elected representatives who have denounced these posters. 

We don’t have the answers. Like many of you, we are struggling to find a way to respond to what feels like escalating hate or violence in our community. It won’t be solved today or tomorrow or this week. DECA was founded to make our community better and we will continue to take positive action. 

We are a group of volunteers who, along with many, many other volunteers, spend a lot of time trying to improve our neighbourhood and bring people together. We’re your neighbours and we’re trying. 

If you want to join us, volunteer with us, tell us how we can support your idea or just to say hi, please reach out to us. 

We are here for you. 

Sincerely,

DECA Board of Directors
 “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

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Meet our newest Board members, part 1/3

Since our Board members were profiled on this blog a couple of years ago, we have welcomed three new members. This is the first of three posts for a chance to get to know them!

Here’s Loreen Barbour, who is just finishing her first year on the DECA Board and hopes to continue for another year.  In that time she’s helped out at many of DECA’s events this year, led some of our strategic planning and bravely took on organizing and developing our Board orientation resources (which has been a huge undertaking!). 


Here is Loreen in her own words:

I moved to Danforth East…

In 2012 because I had gone on a long trip and when I returned I decided I was ready to really put down roots in Toronto – which for me meant buying a house.
One thing people don’t know about me is…

I’m a maritimer, which means making Toronto my permanent home was a hard decision. Luckily, family like to visit. 

What I love most about Danforth East is…

The sense of community.

My local pet peeve is…

The crazy traffic jams in front of Gledhill Public School during morning drop off.

My favourite local place that you probably haven’t heard of is…

My backyard! Houses on the east side of Gledhill have these incredibly deep lots.

I joined the DECA board to…

Meet people and take part in organizing community events – I really love event planning and seeing how happy folks are when they are part of a crowd at something like the Annual Festival of Lights or the Pumpkin Parade. 

My final word is…

I really look forward to the condos coming onto the Danforth. I know that not everyone is, but I am hopeful that with more population density we will get even more vibrancy on the street level with shops and restaurants. 

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Local kid book news

Two things to tell you about related to children’s books! 

Barbara Reid book reading today! (Nov 12)

As part of their annual Neighbourhood Toy Store Day celebration, Silly Goose Kids will host story time and book signing with famed children’s author, Barbara Reid today, starting at 10:30am. Lots of other activities happening all day long so check out the poster below. You can save the tax all day on books and everything else!



Children’s Book Drive, Nov 19-26

Locally owned and operated children’s book subscription service, Butterfly Books (click link for more info) is organizing a book drive for the children’s book bank, beginning next weeeknd. We’re letting you know about it now so that you can get an early start clearing out your kids’ gently used books.  Several local drop-off locations will be available – see poster for details. 


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Save the date: Festival of Lights!

Festival of Lights, Sat., Nov. 26

deca-festiv-lights-2016

Save the date–Saturday, November 26, 5-6 pm–for the 5th annual Festival of Lights! We’ll have more details closer to the date, but suffice it say we’ll have lots of great entertainment before we flip on the lights.

And be sure to bring a non-perishable food item too for Centre 55 to be entered into a draw to win a prize donated from The Nooks. Fianlly, if you show up at 5, we’ll have cookies on hand, donated by Celena’s.

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Transit changes coming

Thanks to DECA’s Visioning Committee for this important transit update & meeting notice. Please help us spread the word!

Photo Credit: Bruce Reeve
Photo Credit: Bruce Reeve

Most of us live near the subway and many paid extra for their homes as a result. But if you’ve ridden the subway downtown in the morning rush hour in recent years, you know it’s getting hard just to squeeze onto a train. With ridership on the Bloor-Danforth up more than 25% over the past three decades, lots of people in the DECA area are finding that trains are already full when they get to stations such as Main Street, Woodbine and Coxwell. And the situation may get worse if the new subway extension from Kennedy to Scarborough Centre succeeds in attracting more passengers.

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency that operates GO commuter trains on the rail corridor south of the Danforth, is planning upgrades that would increase train frequency to every 15 minutes, as well as a switch to quieter electric trains and the addition of a kiss-n-ride facility at the GO Danforth station. It might be part of a solution for us, especially if the mayor’s SmartTrack plan can further enhance the improvements by piggybacking onto Metrolinx’s so-called Regional Express Rail plan.

But will RER and SmartTrack be enough to adequately serve our neighbourhood’s transit needs, especially since the city’s proposed Downtown Relief Subway line won’t come east of Pape? To what degree might the addition of a fourth track to the current three-track corridor create the need to expropriate land or produce disruptions from things such as bridge reconstruction? If the new electric trains allow us to increase the frequency of stations, why is the DECA area not being considered for an additional one?

Construction may still be a few years off, but your local chance to ask important questions is this coming up fast:

Monday, Nov. 7, at Hope United Church, starting at 6:30. (A second east-end public meeting will be held on Wednesday Nov. 16 at Riverdale Collegiate).

To learn more go to Metrolinx.com/DonRiverScarborough

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Pumpkin Parades!

On November 1st, beautiful jack-o-lanterns will light up parks around the neighbourhood thanks to many volunteers who put them together. (And in some cases with help from City Councillors – thanks to Councillor McMahon for her support of ours.)

DECA’s Pumpkin Parade will be at East Lynn Park again, but we’ve also included a few others below so that you can take your pumpkin to the closest magical event. 

Happy Halloween and see you on November 1st starting at 6:30pm (Note that in most cases, it’s helpful if you bring your own candle)

East Lynn Park (DECA’s!) 

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Gledhill Park


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Dentonia Park


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Felstead Park