Tonight’s the night…
Cabbagetown celebrates Riverdale Farm.  Thursday, 5:30 to 10 pm, the Paddock area at Riverdale Farm (Sumach & Winchester).
Bring your own picnic dinner or buy one there – a cash bar is also available.  Games for the kids.  Entertainment. An ice cream cart.  Plus live chickens, pigs and cows!  Bring your friends and neighbours.
Tickets cost $20 ($50 for a family) and all of that money goes to the Farm.  You’ll get a tax receipt for your donation.
It’s a great idea – for background info about the Farm’s future, read Steve’s story here:  http://cabbagetowner.com/

St James Town Improvements
A new marketplace, new banners and extensive new landscaping have been built in St James Town beside the Food Basics store.  Local residents have been guiding this effort and they’re now taking part in the market as vendors.  The results are very positive – residents are earning some extra income, the area has been cleaned up and the space is turning into a local gathering place.  The people at Community Matters have attracted financial support and did the planning for this work – check them out here:  http://communitymatterstoronto.org/  

Herstories Café – Patricia Beatty
Everyone’s welcome - an evening of food, dance, music and history with Patricia Beatty, the co-founder of Toronto Dance Theatre.  George Rust D’Eye will talk about the Theatre, dance performances by Danielle Baskerville with music by Arlo Part and the theme speech by Patricia.  Monday, June 25, registration opens at 5:45 pm.  Free admission. Thanks to Merryberry Café (559 Parliament), Absolute Bakery (589 Parliament) and Jet Fuel (519 Parliament) for their food and contributions. http://cabbagetowner.com   TDT, 80 Winchester (at Metcalfe)

Luminato is here
Dan Bergeron has several installations throughout Cabbagetown as part of this year’s Luminato.  He’s been called a guerilla artist, a guy who blurs the lines between art and advertising and someone who speaks for those who are excluded and ignored.  All of that is blended into his installations here.  There’s a  quick summary of his art here:  http://www.thegridto.com/culture/arts/the-art-of-condos/ . 

Winchester Square Park
Over the past eighteen months, the neighbours on Aberdeen and Ontario have been working with Central Neighbourhood House to build community gardens in the park.  A dozen raised boxes are in place waiting to be planted.  These gardens will produce veggies for local residents and beautify the park area. CNH staff consulted closely with the community and there have been several public sessions. At times, this process has been rocky and argumentative.  It now appears that the completion is in sight.  On Tuesday, several dozen residents came to the park to support the proposal and to indicate to City of Toronto staff that the project has widespread approval. 
There’s a detailed story about all of this at http://torontoist.com/2012/06/will-a-community-garden-bring-lowlifes-to-winchester-square-park/

Welcome Simon and Bo
The Cobourg (533 Parliament) has been a landmark on Parliament (and a favourite for the editorial staff at your blog) since its opening seven years ago.  In the Spring, Simon Lay and Bo Seo became the new owners.  A quick visit shows that they’re keeping the same classy and comfortable atmosphere.  Although the art on the walls has changed, the new works still have a dramatic flair.  Stay tuned as Simon and Bo roll out a new menu and bring on their entertainment.

Cask Beer at Stout
Last Monday, Stout Irish Pub (221 Carlton) were host to Great Lakes Brewery and Cameron Brewing as a kick-off to Craft Beer Week events across the GTA. The two brewers featured seven different cask beers.  Erin Gamelin makes sure that Stout regularly has a cask beer opened for knowledgeable patrons. On Thursday, she has Hawaiian-style Pale Ale from Spearhead and on Friday, it’s King Brewery – both tastings from 7 to 9 pm.
The National Post did a good article about Craft Beer Week, including a story about cask beer at Stout:  http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/06/18/the-beer-frontier-ontario-craft-beer-week-a-primer-of-gta-events/

Real estate news
Let’s be honest here – nothing focuses a Cabbagetown conversation like a juicy bit of real estate news.  So when Catherine suggested that this Newsletter include listings, it was obvious immediately that she was right.  We can’t really accommodate the huge number of listings in our area but we can coordinate a weekly summary of Open Houses. We believe that this will be deeply satisfying for everybody – like a practice run for the Cabbagetown Tour of Homes. We hope that, by next week, we’ll start to receive those notices from our local realtors.
In return for her generous advice, we want to thank Catherine by telling you about her house.  It’s at 4 Laurier and Duncan Fremlin is her broker.  If you want to live on one of Cabbagetown’s prettiest streets (aren’t they all?), give Duncan a call at (416) 462-1888  (http://www.morethanahome.ca)

Congrat’s Chalo
A couple of weeks ago, Prince Charles came to Cabbagetown to visit both the Yonge Street Mission (306 Gerrard) and UForChange (517 Parliament).  Great choices – both of them have made substantial contributions to the lives of young people in need and in distress.  Chalo Barruetta is the Executive Director of UForChange and a dynamic, positive guy.  He handled the nuts-and-bolts of the Prince’s visit with his usual skill.  Congrat’s Chalo.

Entertainment update for The Flying Beaver (488 Parliament). 
For full descriptions of the shows and details about advance ticket sales, go to www.pubaret.com.   Dinner reservations are available before, during and after the shows. Dinner patrons get seating priority. Check out Lobsterpalooza, Wing Ding specials and Poutine Specials.  Sundays feature our Psychic Brunch from 11 am.
Fri – David-Benjamin Tomlinson – Memoirs from Cracktown – 7:30 pm, $15 adv/$20 door
Sat – Burlesque is back with Belle’s Boudoir – 8:30 pm, $15 adv/$20 door.  Followed by Belle’s Dance Party (no cover for show patrons, $5 otherwise.)
Sun – All Strung Up with Jen Calder and Amy Lewis – 7 pm, $10 (suggested). Sundays have Poutine Specials at $5.99.
Mon – You are not alone (a PACY event) – 6 to 9 pm, no cover
Tues & Wed – GLAM! Pride Edition – All star game show revue.  Doors open at 8:30 and show starts at 9 pm.  Tickets $10.  All proceeds benefit SOY.  Wednesdays feature Lobsterpalooza.
Thur – Julie Michels Pride edition – 7 pm, $15 adv/$20 door.  Rob Salerno – 9 pm, $15 adv/$20 door. Thursdays are Wing Ding night.

Entertainment update for Winchester Kitchen & Bar (51A Winchester)
The events calendar at the Winch’s website gives daily updates about their entertainment schedules:  www.winchesterkitchen.com
Fri – Alex St Kitts and the Astrodroids (funk-jazz) – 9 pm, $15
Sat – Luanda Jones Quartet (Brazilian jazz quartet) – 9 pm, $15
Sun – Rob Christian Quartet (soul jazz) – 8 to 11 pm, $10.  Open Mic with Porter at 11 pm
Mon – Genevieve Marentette (jazz duo) – 7 to 10 pm, $10
Tues – Dave Restivo Trio (piano jazz) – 7 to 10 pm, $10.  Cult Movie Tuesday “Rocky Horror Picture Show” at midnight.
Wed – Paul Morrison Jazz Trio (modern piano jazz) – 7 to 10 pm, $10
Thur – Brownman Akoustic Trio (jazz trumpet trio) – 8 to 11 pm, $10

So – you thought you’d seen the last of me!
Me too.  But after I left the BIA, I discovered that I really liked to produce this neighbourhood blog.  I also received almost one hundred emails saying that you enjoyed getting it – thanks for your encouragement. 
This time, my horizons will be a bit wider – I’m going to report on our friends in Cabbagetown plus the stuff that happens in St James Town, Regent Park, Corktown, and the Distillery.  My reports on neighbourhood groups and issues will be stronger.  And I’ll let you know what’s happening in our restaurants and pubs, our galleries and our stores. 
In all of this, I’m going to enjoy a renewed connection with you and with my friends across the neighbourhood.  I’ll welcome your feedback and your info about future events. 
Doug Fisher