CABBAGETOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD
REVIEW
FEATURED ARTIST
Martha Preston
Cabbagetown Artists
This site introduces local artists to our local community. Six artists are featured here. They’ve been adding new images regularly. It’s a site where you can happily browse and see works by people you know. And you can purchase any that appeal to you. (This image: Michael Cavanaugh, Cabbagetown Variety).
LOCAL NEWS
Doors Open Toronto
On Saturday May 28 and Sunday May 29, intriguing buildings across the GTA will be open for public tours. Free. Several are in our neighbourhood. The Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas E) - Saturday and Sunday. St Peter & St Simon Church (525 Bloor E) - Saturday and Sunday. Toronto Humane Society (11 River) - Saturday and Sunday. St Paul Basilica (83 Power) - Saturday and Sunday. Little Trinity Church (425 King E) - Saturday and Sunday. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse (106 Trinity) - Sunday. Deaf Culture Centre (15 Mill St, Distillery) - Saturday and Sunday. Details about each site are available online.
Doors Open at Waterfront Toronto
Join a virtual tour of the Port Lands Flood Protection construction site as part of Doors Open. See how the river banks are being built. Look behind the fences at the new bridges and Firehall 30. Live footage from on-site cameras. Saturday May 28, 11 am. Click here for reservations and more info. Free.
Vote early
Four locations for advance voting have been set up across Toronto Centre. They’re open through May 28 from 10 am to 8 pm. Take your pick - you can vote at any one of them. St Lawrence Community Centre (230 The Esplanade), 519 Church Street, Wellesley Community Centre (495 Sherbourne) and Regent Park Community Centre (402 Shuter). You can also vote at the Returning Office (161 Bay, 27th Floor) - check here for the time and details. (Photo: Mathias Memmel, Twitter)
A special election site
Toronto Centre candidates talked to Doug Fisher about their issues for this campaign. Our local concerns need to be discussed and this page introduces the candidates and their priorities. It also has contact info for the candidates. Click here to check it out.
233 Carlton programs
The 233 Carlton Centre will replace the services currently being offered for women at 67 Adelaide. The City of Toronto has a website describing the facility and its services. There’ll be space for 35 women to stay overnight. Three meals will be provided daily for them and for drop-ins who arrive during the day. No one will line up outside for the meal services. Laundry and shower facilities will be available. The City says, "Together with partner agencies, the Adelaide Centre currently also offers one-on-one informal and crisis counselling, enhanced case management, housing and follow-up support, a monthly legal clinic, literacy and pre-employment programs, a computer lab, mental health services, social programs, an art group, a foot clinic, a seniors' group, journaling group, workshops, cultural celebrations, referrals to ID clinics, settlement services, employment workshops and dental care."
Blair’s Run
Last September’s Blair’s Run was the most successful in its history. Among its highlights - a $10,000 gift from Mark at St James Town Steak & Chops and $5,000 from Sinking Ship Productions. In total, $53,015.39 was raised for the Cabbagetown Youth Centre. Wellesley Street was the best fundraising team ($6.436) - thanks to its captain, Susan Freeborn. Michelle Keightley is the captain of the Alley Cats from Woodstock, Flagler, Bowman and Sackville Place. They had the biggest team.
Cleo’s film
Cleo organized grocery deliveries for seniors and disabled people during the COVID lockdowns. It was a welcome service. She has, of course, stopped doing this and has returned to her professional life. She’s now a script supervisor in film and television. She’s also a film maker and her film The Young Wife screened at the Cabbagetown Short Film Festival and is currently at The Female Eye Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox until June 10. It’s been included in several other exciting film festivals - click here to find out about it.
Danny Marks
It’s been a while since we caught up with Danny. He’s busy. He’s on 91.1 FM on Saturdays from 8 pm to midnight and on Tuesdays from 11 pm to midnight. On June 4, he’s at the Orangeville Jazz and Blues Fest and on June 5 he’s at Castros in the Beach. He’s got a new song. Read about it and listen to it here.
ActiveTO
Once again, the City of Toronto is closing nearby roads for cyclists and pedestrians. Bayview will be closed from Rosedale Valley Road to Lawren Harris Square from 7 am on Saturday May 28 to 7 pm on Sunday May 29. From 7 am to 7 pm on Sunday May 29, Lake Shore Blvd (eastbound lanes) will be closed from Windemere to Stadium Road. The City of Toronto has published some interesting statistics. On May 15 last year, 5,000 cyclists and 1,100 pedestrians used the Bayview ActiveTO route from Rosedale Valley to River Street. South of River Street, 3,200 cyclists and 1,100 pedestrians used this route. On May 16, 5,600 cyclists and 1,400 pedestrians used the north section and 3,400 cyclists and 1,100 pedestrians went south.
Update from Green Thumbs Growing Kids
After the two-year pause forced on everybody by COVID, GTGK is back in the school gardens with the kids. They’ve planted seeds in Allan Gardens and Regent Park. When they sprout, they’ll be transplanted to the schools and the kids will help. Rebecca Davis is the Urban Agriculture specialist. She’s selected plants that grow to a child’s eye level with fruit that’s colourful, appealing and easy to pick. When the fruit is harvested, the kids will wash it, prepare it and enjoy salads in the gardens. The school gardens are in Rose Avenue, Sprucecourt and Winchester and GTGK helps with a garden at Nelson Mandela Park. You can read all the details online here.
The Underpass Park Farmer’s Market
The Market (29 Lower River Street) opens on Thursday May 26 from 4 to 7:30 pm. It runs every week until October.
Volunteer at the Cabbagetown Farmers’ Market
Three slots are available for volunteers - set-up from 1:30 to 3 pm, the market itself from 3 to 7 pm and take-down from 6:45 to 7:45 pm. Check out all the details on the Market’s Facebook page. If you’re interested, email Ellie and please use the title “Cabbagetown Farmers Market Volunteer”.
Hidden Gardens & Private Spaces
Sunday June 5 from 10 am to 3 pm with 11 gardens on the program. Several extra events are planned. The CBC’s gardening expert Paul Zammit will be there along with master gardeners who can answer your questions. On June 5, many local merchants will offer special discounts to tour supporters.
Tickets for the garden tour
Tickets for Hidden Gardens & Private Spaces are now on sale, $20. They’re available online now - credit card sales. Five local stores are also selling them - cash sales only. Akasha Art (204D Carlton), Epicure Shop (473 Parliament), Fairway Variety (520 Parliament), Jay’s Garden Centre (360 Gerrard E) and Spruce Home Decor (455 Parliament). Two other businesses outside the area are also selling them - Davenport Garden Centre (360 Davenport, 1465 Bayview and 903 Pape) and Sheridan Nurseries (2827 Yonge N).
Streetscapes in Bloom
Every year, the Cabbagetown Preservation Association presents an award to a garden for its design and impact. We can nominate any location in Cabbagetown, including our own - nominations are open now until Monday June 6. Past winners and members of the CPA Board will visit each site four times during the gardening season. For details about the awards and for a link to nominate your favourite, click here.
Spring bird watching
Screech owl (photo: Lawrence Bernstein). It’s been a great season for bird watching. The screech owl was hidden on a Wellesley Street tree branch but it was discovered because some local robins were dive bombing it.
Max and Sarah have a feeder in their yard and it attracts beautiful orioles.
Robin’s nest (Photo: Peter Kent). Peter and Cilla have a robin with her nest tucked away above their front porch - the babies have hatched and are peeking out of the nest.
Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum Historical Tidbit
By Sally Gibson. This lovely hand-tinted stereograph card depicts Roselands, the residence of Samuel Ridout on the west side of Seaton Street just north from Queen. While the people photographed have not been identified, it appears that the elderly lady in the voluminous black dress and little white day cap may be the widow Ridout. Her equally elderly Samuel Ridout is not in the photograph and had perhaps gone to meet his maker before the photograph was taken. He had died on June 6, 1855. The vine-laden trellises fronting the porch provide privacy, refreshing greenery, and perhaps sweet-smelling climbing roses. The seated lady in pink seems to be wearing a fashionable 1850s dress with broad sleeves, pinched waist, V-shaped bodice, and hooped skirt created by a caged crinoline. How she was able to sit down remains something of a mystery. The gentleman, by contrast, seems comfortably attired and thoughtful. Other people in the photograph include a young woman wearing an apron who might have been a maid and a solemn-looking child who is dressed as an adult, as were many children at this early date. (Image: Roseland stereograph ca 1860 TPL R-5796.)
COMING EVENTS
Garage sale for the Ukraine
Katherine Ashenburg is having a four-star garage sale at 401 Carlton (across from Riverdale Park) from 10 am on Saturday May 28. Antiques, near-antiques, conversation pieces, some small furniture and much more. Excellent prices. If it rains, the sale will happen on Sunday.
Bike Tune-up
Charlie’s Freewheels and Gateway Bike Hub are holding a tune-up day in Regent Park. Free air, oil, minor adjustments and advice. Saturday May 28, 10 am to 5 pm. Regent Park Athletic Grounds (Sumach and Shuter).
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
Annual meeting and special lecture. The guest speaker is historian Mark McGowan talking about the 1847 Irish Famine and the great migration to Toronto. Tuesday May 31. Annual meeting at 6 pm and lecture at 6:30 pm. 106 Trinity.
Sprucecourt School picnic and concert
Wednesday June 1. This year’s concert will be held outdoors. Families are invited to bring a blanket and a picnic dinner to enjoy from 5 to 6 pm. The concert will take place from 6 to 7 pm. Kindergarten to Grade 6 classes will perform. 70 Spruce Street.
Epicure is back
Patty has reopened her popular Epicure Shop (473 Parliament) after the fire that happened several weeks ago in the back behind the store. The fire itself did no damage. Smoke came into the shop and everything had to be sanitized or restocked. She’s happy to report that she’s open again - everyone is now welcome to come inside and shop for sandwiches, fresh products, coffee and pastries. It’s good news.
THEATRE & DANCE NEWS
Verge
The Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (509 Parliament) is staging Verge at 8 pm on Friday May 27 and Saturday May 28. The program features world premiere works by Deborah Lundmark Jennifer Archibald and Charlotte Boye-Christensen and favourites Reset by Roderick George and Arena by Colin Connor. Fleck Dance Theatre (207 Queens Quay W). For more info and tickets, click here.
Where the Blood Mixes
A coproduction between Native Earth and Soulpepper. Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama in 2009. “Where the Blood Mixes takes us to the place where the rivers meet, to the heart of a family. After decades apart, Christine returns to her First Nations community to reconnect with her father. Her return provokes his memories of the Residential School system and together they must confront that legacy. With beautiful heart and great humour, this is a celebration of resilience and the healing power of stories.” On stage now to June 26. 50 Tank House Lane. For more info and tickets, click here.
RESTAURANT NEWS
Clay Day at The Irv
Clay is the chef at The Irv (195 Carlton). A short while ago, he and his father were walking home from a concert when Clay was attacked on the street. Stab wounds clipped his heart and his abdomen. He’s facing a long recovery. The Irv is hosting a Clay Day on Sunday May 29 - half of the revenue from sales that day will go to Clay to help him pay his bills. Thanks also to the Maple Leafs who arranged for an autographed Auston Matthews jersey - it’ll be one of the raffle prizes given away on Sunday. If you can’t get to The Irv, you can contact Regan at the Irv and he’ll put you in touch with Clay.
Patio pups at the Dominion
Both patios at the Dominion on Queen (500 Queen E) are dog friendly. Bring your pooch along while you enjoy a drink and a bite.
Karaoke at Alice’s Place
Alice’s Place (554 Parliament) is home to Cabbagetown karaoke every Friday night. From 9 pm.
Beer & cheese luncheon
The Aviary (484 Front E) and Longslice Brewery have teamed up to present a guided beer and cheese tasting with Bocage Cheese. Four cheeses will be paired with a flight of Longslice Brewery beers. After that, enjoy The Aviary’s smash burger topped with raclette from Bocage and served with a side and a Longslice Brewery pint. 1 pm, Saturday May 28, $60. Tickets are available at Eventrite.
Cyril’s soup
Cyril is back after his brief break last weekend. He’s making a vegan split pea soup - it’ll be thick, courtesy of falling apart split peas and will also feature carrots, potatoes, herbs, and spices, including smoked paprika - 3 to 9 cups for $3/each and 10 or more cups for $2.50/each. His juice is pineapple, lime, orange and mango - 2 cups for $9. Send him an email to place your order.