This
week’s image: Carlton Street fire,
photo by Espie Currie, City News
CABBAGETOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD REVIEW
OPEN HOUSES
A
beautiful condo on Homewood and a remarkable home at 6 Wellesley Cottages on
Saturday and Sunday. For details,
click here.
LOCAL NEWS
Another
fire
Photo: City News
On
Wednesday morning, two homes on Carlton Street were damaged by a upper level fire. 222 Carlton is owned by Toronto
Community Housing and contains eleven apartments. 224 belongs to Free the
Children and is used for office space. The fire is believed to have started in the attic at 222 and
was contained to these two places. The neighbouring buildings were evacuated as
a precaution. 12 trucks and 45
firemen battled the blaze and the street was closed from Parliament to
Sherbourne. CP24 has a couple of
short videos and a story about the incident – click here.
Thanks
to Dave Archer
Photo: City News
Dave
is a Toronto fireman who was off-duty at the time of the Carlton Street
fire. He was nearby when he
noticed smoke coming from 222 Carlton and saw a man dangling from a third floor
window. He ran into the house and
pulled the man to safety.
Paramedics treated him on the scene for smoke inhalation and minor
burns. Otherwise, the house was empty at the time and no one was injured.
Nighisti
Semret
The
jury trial of Adonay Zekarias has started on the charge of murdering Ms Semret
in a laneway off Ontario Street in October 2012. At the time, the incident shocked our community deeply. David Hughes came to her defense,
frightened off her attacker and tried to give her first aid. People in nearby
homes heard her screams and called the police. Mr Hughes has testified about his experience – the Toronto
Star has a detailed story about his testimony here.
Congrats
for the award
James
Davie (second right with Jeremy) and Mark Hendricks own the stately Second Empire home at 377
Sackville. Over the past couple of
years, they’ve been renovating it with very careful attention to all of its
historic details. Local architect Monica Kuhn supervised the restoration and
the work was done by Weenen Contracting.
James and Mark have won the Peggy Kurtin Award from the Cabbagetown
Preservation Association in honour of their renovation. They received the award at the CPA’s
annual meeting on Tuesday night and agreed at that time that their home would
be added to the 2015 Tour of Homes so that the neighbourhood can see its amazing
interior.
CPA Annual Meeting
The
CPA is central to much of the positive activity that builds and supports our
community. The Directors deserve
our recognition and thanks for their ongoing contributions.
Last
Tuesday, the Association held its 2015 AGM. The guest speaker, Harold Madi, is Toronto’s Director of Urban
Design. He spoke about the growth
happening along the Don River and its importance for the future shape of the
city.
There’s
an impressive list of projects being handled every year by the CPA.
·
A 2015 Tour of Homes is now scheduled for September 20, the week after
the Festival.
·
Cabbagetown People remains the CPA’s biggest project with a revitalized
website, the familiar
blue oval plaques scattered around the neighbourhood and its educational
resources.
·
Hidden Gardens & Private Spaces tour is an ever-popular Spring event
and the Hallowe’en Ghost Tour attracts a good crowd.
·
The Association also conducts a series of walking tours with other
groups and on its own. The next one focuses on Cabbagetown’s medical heritage
and happens on July 15.
·
Its book - Adversity, Resilience, Prosperity - was published in
2014.
·
The Streetscape in Bloom project is a friendly annual competition that
selects several outstanding front gardens and awards a winner for his or her
creativity over the entire growing season.
·
The Association’s quarterly Newsletter has grown into a very useful way
to inform local residents about community events.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Cabbagetown
South Yard Sale
On
Saturday May 23 from 9 am to 3 pm. The whole neighbourhood (Aberdeen to Shuter,
Sherbourne to Parliament) turns into a giant yard sale. There’ll be signs posted throughout the
neighbourhood to direct eager customers to happy vendors. Extra booths will be
set up at Central Neighbourhood House (349 Ontario). Weather forecasts predict a glorious Spring day. It’s a free event.
Clothing
drive for Oasis Addiction Recovery Society
Daniel
Bloch and Liora Tal-Bloch are organizing their second annual clothing
drive. They’re looking for gently
used clothes, DVDs and toys. Watch
for a red bag being delivered to your mailbox and use it to collect your
donation. On Saturday May 23, place
your red bag outside your front door after 10 am. If you need a bag or have any questions, please call (416)
859-8649 or email info@teambloch.com Congrats to Daniel and Liora for their
generous initiative.
Congrats
to Ernescliffe
Photo:
Ontario Archives
The
apartment building at Wellesley and Sherbourne is 100 years old. A celebration will happen at 1 pm,
Saturday May 23 in the parking lot at 467 Sherbourne. The building is now a familiar landmark, the Ernescliffe
Co-operative, and the members have arranged “celebratory activities.” Heritage Toronto will present a
commemorative plaque.
51
Division open house
The
officers and the members of the Community Police Liaison Committee are hosting
an open house at 51 Division (51 Parliament) from 11 am to 2 pm on Saturday May
23. There’ll be a barbeque, entertainment by the Toronto Police Coppertoines, a
demonstration by the mounted Police Service with their horses, tours of the
station and an award ceremony.
Doors
Open Toronto
Photo: Doors Open
Saturday
May 23 and Sunday May 24. There
are 155 buildings across Toronto in the 2015 Doors Open program. Several of them are local sites.
There’s a handy city-wide online map with each location available for
additional information – click here.
George
Brown Waterfront Campus, 51 Dockside Drive, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5 pm
The
Pure Spirits Still House, 3 Tank House Lane, Distillery, open on Saturday from 10 am
to 5 pm.
AGATHOM
CO Architects, 3 Gilead Place, Sunday 10 am to 5 pm
Regent
Park Aquatic Centre, 640 Dundas St E, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5 pm
Native
Women’s Resource Centre, 191 Gerrard St E, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5 pm
Riverdale
Farm,
201 Winchester St, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5 pm.
Get
your tickets
The
annual Hidden Gardens & Private Spaces tour is scheduled for Sunday June 7
from 10 am to 3 pm. The garden
tour is always a local Spring favourite.
Tickets ($15) are available now from six local sources: Epicure Shop (473 Parliament), Fairway
Garden Centre (520 Parliament), Jay’s Garden Centre (360 Gerrard E), Kendall
& Co (514 Parliament), Mi Casa (238 Carlton) and Spruce Home Décor (455
Parliament). Several other stores
outside Cabbagetown also have tickets.
For program information and online ticket sales, click here.
Streetscapes
in Bloom
Every
year, judges from the Cabbagetown Preservation Association receive nominations
for the annual best-garden award.
Over the summer, they watch as the nominees’ gardens grow and change. In the Fall, a winner is selected and
given a watercolour painting of the garden, an art glass medallion by Kitras
Glass and an iron garden crook.
You can read about the award and the winning criteria here. Any Cabbagetown resident
can nominate a garden. Send your
selection by May 29 to helenc.hmc@sympatico.ca
Regent
Park sewing circle and bazaar
You’re
invited to join a sewing circle and to take part in the bazaar. There will be four sewing classes plus
a weekly bazaar with jewelry, traditional clothes, bags, food and a spa. The event is happening outside the
Daniels Spectrum on Regent Park Boulevard south of Dundas (the rain location is
indoors in the Artscape Lounge.)
Friday June 5, Friday June 12, Friday June 26 and Friday July 10. The
sewing classes are $10. The bazaar
fee is $5 each or $20 total. To
register, call Sureya at (647) 349-2244.
Graffiti eradification
Photo: 51 Division, Toronto Police Service
Police
officers David Hinchcliffe, Julie Moreau and Al McCullough plus a team of
volunteers from Monsignor Fraser
School are the Graffiti Eradification Program at 51 Division. They’ve recently removed a long stretch
of graffiti from the wall on Broadcast Lane behind Homelife/Realty One office
(501 Parliament). The wall has
been painted white and the crew will return to paint a mural over it. The Homelife/Realty One staff have been
very impressed by the group and their help with the graffiti problems. If you have a graffiti issue, call the
Community Response Unit at 51 Division and someone there will check it
out. (416) 808-5100.
ON STAGE
Circus
North at The Distillery
Circus
North is coming and it promises to be an amazing event full of free and
ticketed events. It starts on
Thursday May 21 at 7 pm in Trinity Square (The Distillery) with Cirque-It, a wearable-tech
fashion circus. Tickets are $30. On Friday, Canadian and Finnish circus artists
team up at the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas E) at 7 pm for Focus on Finland
Circus. Tickets $15 to $45. On
Saturday May 23 at 9 pm in Trinity Square, Twilight Masque is a party
celebration of masquerade including a masquerade parade and fire show. Tickets
are $20. Free events include
buskers, body painting, models and photographers. A long list of ticketed
events includes Corporeal Mime ($500), success as an artist ($25), two rigging
events ($100) and a cabaret for relief to Nepal ($25).
For
details (the program is a long and fascinating list), prices and locations,
click here.
Soulpepper’s
Cabaret Series
The
cabarets happen every Saturday night at 8:30 pm and they showcase established
artists, new talents and innovative groupings. On Saturday May 23, ‘Look What They’ve Done to My Song” with
Denzal Sinclaire. Tickets are $25
general and $20 students – click here. Soulpepper at the Young Centre (50 Tank House Lane, Distillery)
newchoir
at Koerner Hall
We
last heard from newchoir just after its successful debut at New York’s Carnegie
Hall. Next on its list – Koerner
Hall (273 Bloor W) at 8 pm, Saturday May 30. The concert is The Art Of Rock and
Canadian indie music icon Sarah Slean will appear along with the choir. Tickets are $40 and they’re almost
sold-out. For more program details and for your tickets, click here.
CCDT’s
Space Interrupted
Canadian
Contemporary Dance Theatre (509 Parliament) presents Space Interrupted as part
of Harbourfront NextSteps 2015. It
includes a Canadian premiere by Colin Connor, recent works by Ofilio Sinbadinho,
Alexander Whitley and Deborah Lundmark.
8 pm, Friday May 29 and Saturday May 30 at the Fleck Dance Theatre,
Harbourfront Centre (207 Queen’s Quay W).
Tickets and more information online here.
Mitchell
Cohen’s Journey
In
his day job, Mitch Cohen builds buildings, revitalizes Regent Park and plays a
big part in creating Toronto’s future with his leadership role at the Daniels
Corporation. He’s also a composer
and musician. In fact, he’s written a musical about the transformation of
Regent Park - The Journey, A Living History of the Regent Park
Revitalization. It documents the
community’s history through the lives of its residents and its dazzling cast
includes local residents and peformers along with Jackie Richardson, Thompson
Egbo-Egbo and Jeremiah Sparks. He wrote its first song on the day when the
demolition crews started to knock down the first building. 8 pm, June 20 at the Daniels
Spectrum (585 Dundas E). Tickets
are $25. Click here to read more
and to buy your tickets.
SHOPPING NEWS
Rug
sales and new styles
Kendall
& Co (514 Parliament) are offering selected rugs at 15% off until May
25. They’re available in wool or
outdoors, for your home and cottage.
New rug styles have also just arrived. Check them all out online or at the store, 10 am to 6 pm
weekdays and 11 am to 5 pm Saturdays.
Music
and yoga summer camps
Trunk
to Tail is offering two programs for kids in July. Kids will learn about yoga, music, art, natural exploration
and more. A full day camp for kids
5 to 10 runs from 9 am to 3 pm from July 6 to 10 ($300). The half-day program for kids 4 to 9
runs from July 13 to 17, 9 am to noon ($150). Info and registration at
www.trunktotail.org The camps
happen at Lore (555 Parliament).
Workshops
at Lore
Lore
(555 Parliament) – formerly Little House in the City – has two workshops
happening in the next week. On
Saturday May 23 from 1:30 to 4 pm, Dan Pryce from Spadfe & Feather will
introduce Raising Backyard Quail with lots of “how to” topics plus legalities
and benefits. $20. On Monday May 25 from 7 to 10 pm, Lisa
Olafson will offer a fun-filled evening of ukulele. Learn the basics and leave playing. Students should bring a ukulele or
advice Lore in advance so an instrument can be arranged for the class. $40.
Pipler
Our
newest store, Pipler (453 Parliament), has enjoyed a good introductory write-up
in Toronto Life. Its inventory
emphasizes high style, sustainability and affordable prices. Read the story here.
PhD
Talks
Jared
Postance from Paths to Vitality (439 Parliament) is promoting a series called
PhD Talks. These are four lectures
sponsored by the Society for Osteopathic Wellness and they’re open to the
public. On Saturday June 5, Dr
Noah Fine will discuss Innate/Adaptive Immunity. On September 12, Dr Subra Khandwala’s lecture is
Maternal-Fetal Immune Interactions.
Dr Philippos Peidis will talk about Cancer Biology on October 10 and Dr
Robert Johns will handle Pesticides/GMOs on November 14. Each seminar is $50 plus
HST. For locations and other
details and to register, contact admin@osteos.ca or drop in to see Jared at
Paths to Vitality.
RESTAURANT NEWS
Congrats
to Little Shmiddy’s
Anders
Whist has written a good review of Little Shmiddy’s (584 Parliament) in
blogTO. These positive comments
echo the informal reactions coming in from local rssidents who’ve visited and
enjoyed a meal there. Read it
here.
Songs
of Journey
Paintbox
Bistro (535 Dundas E) hosts an evening for the Regent Park School of Music. Two
graduates are performing - Cecilia Nguyen Tran (piano) and Stacy Darko
(voice). Thursday May 21 from 6
pm. Your suggested donations are
$100 with dinner and $20 without.
From
Toronto to Nepal
Paintbox
Bistro (535 Dundas E) is supporting Globalmedic and NRN Canada for immediate
relief to victims of the earthquake in Nepal. Sunday May 24 at 3 pm. Tickets are $15.
Live entertainment. Silent
auction and raffles. Find out more
here.
Dixonlicious
Dixon
Hall is sponsoring a fun food event on Monday May 25 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm in
the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas
E). Chefs and restaurants from our
neighbourhood will be serving fine foods and wines – the Westin Harbour Castle,
Cranberries, Daniel et Daniel, Merryberry, George Brown College and lots
more. It’s a fundraiser that will
support the food services provided by Dixon Hall including Meals on Wheels,
Summer Camp, Shelter Programs, Out of the Cold, Youth centre, Alzheimer Day
Program, HIV/AIDS Programs and more.
Watch the short video on GlobalTV here. Tickets are $125 and can be ordered
here.
Fix-ups
at Under the Table
Kim
and Betty will close Under The Table (568 Parliament) from Friday May 29 to
Monday June 1. Renovations are
planned – details to follow.
CLUBS & PUBS – DAILY LISTINGS
THURSDAY MAY 21 TO SUNDAY MAY 24
Contact
info
Alice’s
Place, 554 Parliament St, (647) 931-9088,
https://www.facebook.com/alicesplacetoronto
Cranberries,
601 Parliament St, (416) 925-6330
Dominion
on Queen, 500 Queen St E, (416) 368-6893, www.dominiononqueen.com
El
Catrin, 18 Tank House Lane, Distillery, (416) 203-2121, www.elcatrin.ca/home
The
Flying Beaver, 488 Parliament St, (647) 347-6567, www.pubaret.com
House
on Parliament, 454 Parliament St, (416) 925-4074,
www.facebook.com/pages/House-on-Parliament
The
Irv, 195 Carlton Street, (647) 350-4787, http://www.theirvpub.ca/
The
Local GEST, 424 Parliament St, (416) 961-9425, http://www.thelocalgest.com/
Merryberry,
559 Parliament, www.merryberry.ca
Mill
Street Beer Hall, 21 Tank House Ln, Distillery, (416) 681-0338,
http://toronto.millstreetbrewpub.ca/
Murgatroid,
568 Parliament, (416) 323-9381, https://www.facebook.com/MurgatroidTO
Odin,
514 King W, (647) 350-6346, https://www.facebook.com/odinhus
Paintbox
Bistro, 555 Dundas St E, (647) 748-0555, www.paintboxbistro.ca
Soulpepper,
Young Centre, 50 Tank House Lane, Distillery, (416) 866-8666,
http://soulpepper.ca/performances/music_at_soulpepper.aspx
Stirling
Room, 16 Trinity, Distillery District, www.stirlingroom.com
Stout
Irish Pub, 221 Carlton St, (647) 344-7676, www.stoutirishpub.ca
Tappo
Wine Bar & Restaurant, 2 Trinity Street, Distillery, (647) 430-1111,
www.tappo.ca
Under
the Table, 568 Parliament St, (647) 351-1533,
https://www.facebook.com/underthetabletoronto
White
Elephant, 366 Queen E. (416) 364-9999, www.whiteelephant366.com
If there's a cover charge or tickets are sold, the prices
are listed. Otherwise, the event is free.
Please note:
Two of our regular Clubs are currently closed. The Flying Beaver is being renovated
after a fire in late February. The
Dominion on Queen has been closed since the summer of 2014 for renovations.
THURSDAY MAY 21
The
Irv
7pm,
Geoff Willingham
The
Local GEST
9
pm, Open mic with Porter
Mill
St Brew Pub
7
pm, Tap That Cask with live acoustic music by Don Campbell
White
Elephant
8
pm, Open mic night
FRIDAY MAY 22
Mill
Street Beer Hall
8
pm, Vinyl nights with DJ Humble Mike of the Record Collective
Stirling
Room
Theatrical
Friday with resident DJ Rod Bravo, reserve on the guest list. $20
White
Elephant
7
pm, Matthew Kane
SATURDAY MAY 23
Mill
Street Beer Hall
8
pm, Vinyl Nights with DJ Humble Mike of the Record Collective
Soulpepper
Cabaret
8:30
pm, Look What They’ve Done to My Song with Denzal Sinclaire, $20 and $25.
Stirling
Room
Resident
DJ Rod Bravo, reserve on the guest list
SUNDAY MAY 24
Alice’s
Place
9
pm, Karaoke with Vee
Local
GEST
4:30
pm, Sunday afternoon jazz with Melissa Lauren (vocals), Dave Restivo (piano)
and Tyler Emond (bass)
Mill
Street Beer Hall
1
pm, Jazz brunch with Tyler Yarema