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Don’t procrastinate!

Hailstorms on Mother’s Day?  Snow in mid-May? Frost warnings right after everyone planted their flowers? (Score 1 for the procrastinators!) If this retro weather has got you down, here is some neighbourhood news to pick you up.

Let’s get down to business.  First off, thanks to Som Seif for the great talk about getting started on investing – those of us who put learning ahead of hockey last night are sure glad we did.  We left feeling empowered and ready to take charge of our financial futures, which is not too shabby for a Monday!  Thanks also to Lazy Daisy’s Cafe for hosting us.

Since I’m procrastinating doing a family budget, let’s catch you up on some of the events and news from the neighbourhood…

Community Environment Days – May 16 and June 1

  • Councillor McMahon’s – May 16 @ Ted Reeve Arena from 4:00 -8:00 p.m., 175 Main St. (enter off Ted Reeve Dr., north of Gerrard St.)
  • Councillor Davis’ – June 1 @ East York Memorial Arena Parking Lot, 888 Cosburn Avenue from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

From Councillor McMahon:

Join Councillor McMahon and the City of Toronto for Ward 32’s Enviro Day & Festival!  After dropping off your items for recycling and donation, stop by one of the tables for information on various environmental initiatives.  Stay to have a BBQ’d hot dog/veggie dog and listen to live music, and of course, don’t forget your compost!

Read here for more information about Community Environment Days.

From Councillor Davis:

The weather is finally getting warmer and it is time for our annual Environment Day.  This year, Environment Day in Ward 31 will be held on Saturday June 1, 2013, at the East York Memorial Arena Parking Lot, at 888 Cosburn Avenue.  And once again, it is rain or shine!

  • Pick up a new Backyard Composter, Green Bin, Kitchen Container or Free Compost.
  • Drop off unused Computer Equipment, Cellphones, TV’s, radios, VCRs, paint, batteries, medication, propane tanks, or fluorescent bulbs.
  • Donate school art supplies such as buttons, keys, stamps, cork, cd’s, books, jewelry, fabric or cameras
  • Donate supplies for reuse including sporting goods, textbooks, glasses, hearing aids, dishes, ornaments, kitchen utensils, clothes, linens and even food.

Come learn chat with local community and environment groups. Enjoy children’s crafts and entertainment. Help keep our communities clean and green.

DECA’s Danforth East Arts Fair Application Deadline

The Danforth East Arts Fair(one of DECA’s hallmark events!) is only a few months away and the application deadline is coming up on May 31, 2013. Get your applications in!  Visit the website at: www.deca-arts.ca for more information.

Tree Care 101 (June 1, 2013)

Thanks to our friends and neighbours at the Beach Hill Neighbourhood Association for co-organizing this wonderful event with DECA’s tree group!

Learn to care for your trees, including how to mulch!  Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 11:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m., Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Wright Room, 79 Hiawatha Road (three short blocks west of Coxwell Ave., south of Gerrard Ave. E.).

Delivered by your LEAF tree expert

  • Learn to care for your trees, the basics: mulching & watering
  • Presentation and opportunity for supervised hands-on practice with a tree!

Held in conjunction with:

Film Screening @ Coxwell Library (June 5, 2013)

We assume that this is free.  We’ll let you know if we’re wrong about that.

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Colour Creative Summer Camps

“Like” them on Facebook for all the info!

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Did you know that you can call 311 to get an extra green bin for free, or to change the size of your garbage and recycling bins?  The smaller your garbage bin, the less you pay on your bill!

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Do you love a park?

Do you love a park in your neighbourhood? Have you formed a “Friends of” group, or are you thinking about doing that? Do you want to know how others have revitalized their parks? Come and talk about our parks!

Note: this event is intended for Ward 32 parks/parkettes. That said, we can all learn from each other so if you love a park in another Ward, go anyway and make some great park-loving connections!

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fall food wine & beer, park consultation, and cabaret night!

“A Fall Food Wine & Beer Fundraiser” – Tomorrow! (Monday)

Monday, November 19, 2012, 7:00-11:00 p.m.
Toronto Honda, 2300 Danforth Ave
(416) 819-8764

On Monday, November 19th at 7:00 pm, join your friends at Toronto Honda for a “Fall Food, Wine & Beer Fundraiser” featuring Melanie and Arul from Melanie’s Bistro on the Danforth.

Arul, an award-winning and locally celebrated chef, will demonstrate one of his sumptuous recipes: Braised Veal Shanks and Homemade Mashed Potatoes.

You’ll enjoy recipe samples plus handcrafted, refreshing beer from Mill St. Brewery plus superb and elegant wines from Cave Springs and Treasury Estates Winery.

Doors open at 6:30 pm. We look forward to seeing you for an evening of community, food and festivity!

**All ticket sales ($10.00 each) will be donated to Toronto East General Hospital and matched by Toronto Honda.**

Stephenson Park Consultation this Wednesday!

An Invitation from Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon for a consultation this Wednesday, November 21, 2012:

Cabaret Night this Friday!

Our friends at Woodbine Heights Baptist Church are hosting a fun-filled Cabaret Night this Friday, November 23, 2012 – see poster below for details:

This Cabaret Night is raising funds for Woodbine Height’s Mission Project which focuses on peacemaking processes in the Philippines. You can read about the project here.

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Watch this space in the next couple of days for an AGM re-cap, complete with the announcement of our 2013 DECA Board!

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Art Show, Neighbourhood Toy Store Day and a few other notes

Art Show & Sale

If you have an art lover on your holiday shopping list, or maybe you just need to get out of your house and away from all the Halloween Candy, consider visiting the 4th Annual Open Rhodes Art Show & Sale this weekend.  Rhodes Avenue is 1 block west of Coxwell Avenue on the south side of Danforth. Follow the purple “Open Rhodes” signs from 1:00 – 7:00 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, November 10 & 11.

Click here for more info.

Celebrate ‘Neighbourhood Toy Store Day’ @ Silly Goose Kids!  

(note: one-day discount, prizes and lots of fun for the whole family…and TOYS!)

(P.S. – Check the inserts in your Mirror paper next Thursday, November 15, for the first-ever Silly Goose Kids CATALOGUE!)

Can there ever be too much pumpkin love?

We missed a few thank yous the other day when we published our Pumpkin Parade roundup post.  Here are a couple more, because can you ever have too much love?

Thank you to Ward 32 Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon and her office staff – yay Laurie! – who helped to promote the Parade and waive the permit fee.  We also want to acknowledge that the City’s Solid Waste Department stepped in to provide bins for the pumpkins, and then they hauled them away at no cost.

Last but certainly not least, a belated thank you out to our own volunteer extraordinaire, Tak Bui, who designed the awesome Pumpkin Parade poster.

Phew.  That feels so much better.

What happened to the weekly pop-up shop?

As you know, DECA’s latest off-shoot, Renew East Danforth, has been quietly gaining momentum over the past few months. After a successful two-week pop-up pilot project, expect more popping up yet to come!  Stay tuned.

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A Lot Goes On Around Here In May

Jane’s Walks are this weekend and we at DECA are big fans of learning about your neighbourhood by walking through it.

DECA’s own, Stephen Wickens, is leading his very popular walk – The Other Danforth – on Saturday, May 5th at 10 a.m. It starts at the Wise Guys pub and ends at the Linsmore Tavern. For more on Steve and what you might learn, visit the East End Pioneer blog, here.

If you want to head a little further south, you can get the scoop on poop with Councillor, Mary-Margaret McMahon and assorted friends. She’ll start out at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 5th with Tap To Toilet where you’ll learn all you ever wanted to know about the Ashbridge’s Bay water treatment plant and “some exciting new ideas for eco-engineering the future of sanitation and toilets”.  If that doesn’t scare you enough, join Mary-Margaret and Gene Domagala at 7:30 p.m. for a Spooky Ghost Tour of St.John’s Cemetery. Bring your flashlight!

Is There A Doctor In The House?

For the last two years we’ve been watching a building rise out of the former O’Conner Brothers funeral home at 1871 Danforth Ave.  The South East Family Health Team has now opened its doors and is accepting new patients.

Monarch Park Pool

Do you know that you can swim at the Monarch Park C.I. indoor pool? Lessons, masters swim programs and mommy and me programs are offered by Jack of Sports, Beaches Swim School, H2Ofit and Family Fun Fit. And you can drop in to community swim Fridays and all-girls swims on Tuesdays. Read more about all of the above here.

Hirut Hoot

May I be the first (but certainly not the last) to say, ‘May the fourth be with you.’ And I always like to follow up with, ‘And also with you.’ Because that’s the good church-goer that I am.  Anyway, that’s the theme of tomorrow night’s comedy show at Hirut restaurant.  Eat, drink and laugh. Starts at 9 p.m.

Shoes!

The Bata Shoe Museum is taking it’s show on the road this weekend. Staff from the museum will be at the Danforth Coxwell library with a number of different shoes for touching (a sealskin boot and a shoe made from a tire for example). They’ll have great stories and kids (and adults I suppose) can make a shoe-shaped magnet to take home.

Beaches Studio Tour

Many local artists will be showing at the Beaches Studio Tour this weekend. Who?  When? Where?  It’s all right here for your perusing.

Ward 32 Environment Day

Mark your calendars for the next Environment Day at the Ted Reeve Arena parking lot. Drop off old paint cans and other untoward household hazards, pick up compost, learn about neighbourhood groups, get your bike tuned up and enjoy some hot dogs and good music. That’s right, garbage and dirt can be fun! May 17th, 4-8 p.m.

DECA Kids Gear Sale

Thank you to everyone who bought a table and everyone bought some stuff and everyone who bought a cookie for DECA’s first Kids Gear Sale. Aside from reusing and recycling and having a good time, we raised $170 for the community gardens and mural project at Stephenson Park at Danforth and Main. If you’re interested in learning more about that project and maybe getting your hands a little dirty, contact Tak at artattak(at)total.net.

And finally…

Thank you to all of you who took part in community clean up events a few weeks ago. Our neighbourhood is so fortunate have so many people who willingly give up a Saturday morning to help out.

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Where Did October Go?!

Hold on tight dear friends, we’ve got a few things to get through here.

Health, Food, Creativity Wellness Celebration

Yuri Murakami-Bihan is a licensed naturopathic doctor who operates her clinic out of the LucSculpture School and Studio on Greenwood at Danforth. If you’ve never wandered into LucSculpture, this may be the weekend to visit. Yuri is hosting her third annual wellness celebration, Health, Food, Creativity. There will be food demos and a wide variety of workshops throughout the the weekend. Click here for the full listing of events. Saturday October 29 & Sunday October 30 – 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Councillor’s Corner

Mary-Margaret McMahon has two things to ask you.

1) Do you know where the barricades are? Those big heavy barricades that we used to block off East and West Lynn Aves with?  They’ve, ahem, gone missing. If you or someone you know accidentally tucked them into your shed and forgot about them, let her know, would ya?

2) Do you know where your teenagers are? If you do and if they want to contribute to a healthy democracy, or get their volunteer hours, or get out of the house or get you off their back, Mary-Margaret has volunteer opportunities that are fun and involve fresh air and exercise. For either of the above, contact her at Councillor_mcmahon@toronto.ca, 416-392-1376.

Janet Davis invites you to Peek at the Creek. Janet is hosting a community meeting to talk about initiatives in Taylor Massey Creek and Taylor Creek Park including a new wetland area, the East Don trail, forestry restoration, park improvements and proposed storm water infrastructure. Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 7 p.m. at Stand Wadlow Clubhouse – 373 Cedarvale Ave. For more info call 416-392-4035 or Councillor_Davis@toronto.ca.

Monarch Park Community Swims

Starting Friday, October 28th there will be community swims at the recently renovated pool in Monarch Park C.I.  Drop in Fridays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. $1/person or $5/family. As soon as a lifeguard is hired, there will be an all girls swim on Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. $1/ person.

There will also be a Red Cross Assistant Water Safety Instructor course for students 15+ on Fridays from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., November 11th to December 16th. Registration deadline is November 4th with a maximum of 16 participants. For more info contact beachswimschool@yahoo.ca