Canada Day is a few days away and you should know about these amazing local events!
Of course, the annual East York Canada Day celebration (including a parade, music, midway and fireworks) will once again take place at Stan Wadlow Park. Check out the website for details on the parade route and music lineup: www.julyfirstparade.com
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The amazing group of neighbours over by Stephenson Park have put together a great event that we all should try to attend! Join them for acoustic music from 3:00-9:00pm along with watermelon, cake and lemonade. (If you haven’t been to Stephenson Park, you really should put this on your summer to-do list.) Note – wading pools are open so come prepared!
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Do you know that our BIA is once again putting on concerts at East Lynn Park every Wednesday in July? The series this year is called The Danny Loves Music.
For Canada Day, we can all go rock out to the Spoons. Yes, THE SPOONS (Here is the link to the video for Romantic Traffic, which anyone who lived in Toronto in the 1980s will especially appreciate!).
A lot of people think that DECA organizes this concert series so we’ll say it as many times as possible that full credit goes the Danforth Mosaic BIA, who recently rebranded as “The Danny”. Click here to check out their awesome new website.
Pssst – rumour has it the beer garden will be back!
Show your appreciation to the BIA for these concerts by supporting their members. Shop on the Danforth as much as you can! Summers can be slow for our local shop owners, so try to make a special effort to wander in and make a purchase or two.
For those who haven’t met him yet, here’s Allister, owner of Fa.Real Custom Tees, and all-around awesome guy.
Allister Thomas, Fa.Real Custom Tees
Fa.Real started out as one of DECA’s Pop-up Shops last winter and proprietors Allister and Tracey loved our ‘hood so much they moved their family above their store at 1900 Danforth Ave and set out to become a permanent addition to Danforth East. We here at DECA have used Fa.Real’s services for many amazing gifts (just read Catherine Porter’s post about the best baby present ever) and we’ve valued Allister and Tracey’s friendship.
Unfortunately, operating a shop without the backing of the Pop-up Shop program has been a financial challenge and Fa.Real is set to pack it in at the end of the month.
EXCEPT…
They aren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. As a final effort to keep the store, Allister has created a line of East York T-shirts (designs are at the end of this post) and he’s hoping you’ll love them as much as you love our neighbourhood.
Here’s the pitch, in Allister’s own words:
First, I would like to thank all of you for coming into our shop and giving me the pleasure to express my creativity on your shirts. I also would like to say that it has been a real delight to meet the people in this community; you all have been outstanding to myself and my family and make us all feel great being here.
A customer one time asked me, “How long are you guys gonna be here?” and I simply replied, “We’re here as long as you guys keep us here.” And that’s the main reason I’m writing this. We are in a position where our stay at 1900 Danforth is limited to OCTOBER 31st, 2013.
We started printing t-shirts from our basement apartment back in 2011 in our dining room. In January we heard DECA was looking for small businesses like us that were looking to try out being in a store front for a month. My wife and I jumped at the opportunity immediately and out of 70 applicants, we were in the top 3 chosen. Since May 1st, we have been operating the business without the help of the Pop-up Shop Project.
We were so committed, we even moved our family above the store when an apartment became available, and it’s been an amazing experience ever since. We’ve been increasingly busy ever since we opened up, but we have not gotten ourselves in a position where we make enough to cover all our expenses without falling short.
So I had to think, think, think, like Winnie the Pooh. Then it hit me: I wanted to provide something that I’m very proud of and something you guys have pride in as well. So I created a line of EAST YORK t-shirts to big-up the area we call home.
And for each person who purchases EAST YORK t-shirts (if my store gets to stay), I will be offering a special lifetime membership for a 20% discount on all custom t-shirt orders here at Fa.real Custom Tees. (And don’t forget that a custom t-shirt makes a great, inexpensive personal gift for family and friends at Christmas time.)
A lot of you guys already come by here often to get shirts made for yourself or for friends and family. Sometimes, you guys just stop through to say what up and to share on some jokes or have good conversation and catch some positive vibes which is something I really enjoy as well. Help us stay here by supporting our small mom and pop t-shirt shop, and we will support our new home in East York.
