One league under the Annex
Plans afoot to celebrate our buried city
By Tom G. Kernaghan
The last time you took a stroll, you may not have been aware you were walking over history. Maybe you saw some evidence of Toronto’s lost rivers, but didn’t know it: dead end streets, flooded basements, tilting houses, oddly shaped parks, dips in the road.
Barking up the right tree
High Park K-9 Committee improves dog-human relations
By Tom G. Kernaghan
Roughly 600 dogs pass through High Park on any given day. Most of the time they present no problem to the people who share the park. On the occasions that they do, however, the High Park K-9 Committee is there to help.
Naturalist’s legacy is close-knit community
A history of life in the valley
By Tom G. Kernaghan
One of the city’s most unique streets lies hidden in a valley in northeast Swansea. Sheltered by Bloor Street, Ellis Park Road, and High Park, Wendigo Way for generations has been treasured for its dramatic topography, deep seclusion, and enchanting sylvan beauty.
St. Anne’s resilient soul
Century-old church’s struggle to maintain building and relevancy
By Tom G. Kernaghan
St. Anne’s Anglican Church has endured bad weather, controversy, financial difficulties, and demographic shifts.
Now, as it approaches the 100th anniversary of its construction, the beautiful church that Group of Seven artist J.E.H. MacDonald once described as the “home for the soul of a wide neighbourhood,” is struggling to stay relevant.
Speaking from the garrison
Meet David O’Hara, Fort York’s new administrator
By Tom G. Kernaghan
David O’Hara is clear about what is important to him in his role as Fort York’s new administrator. The former City of Toronto planner hopes to bring the museum and the city closer together.
“The whole context is changing down here,” says the 36-year-old O’Hara, who has a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Guelph and a master’s of science in urban planning from the University of Toronto. “We are strengthening connections to existing neighbourhoods.”
Little West Indian Culture in BWV
Guyana native Roy Singh reflects on life in Toronto
By Tom G. Kernaghan
Roy Singh remembers the weather when he arrived in Canada at the age of 16.
“There was lots of snow, and I loved it,” says Singh, who emigrated from Guyana with his family in 1963. He stayed briefly with his aunt in North York before his family settled in central Etobicoke, where Singh went to high school and still lives today.
Rocking the Village Vote
Fundraiser engages youth in activism and politics
By Tom G. Kernaghan
“Pierced, Pissed off and Political!” reads the rallying cry on Rockthevote.ca.
For this Village-grown nationwide fundraising organization, launching and connecting campaigns to create awareness about local and international issues is its main reason for being.
The Complete Athlete
Anne Dublin’s latest effort profiles Bobbie Rosenfeld
By Tom G. Kernaghan
Bobbie Rosenfeld was one of the most remarkable athletes ever to grace the world stage.
Quick and strong, Rosenfeld was an extremely tough competitor who possessed exceptional natural talent. With bullet-like determination, she excelled at every sport she tried. She set records in track and field, led Canada’s first women’s track and field team at the 1928 Olympics, won medals, earned accolades, and became a well-known Globe and Mail columnist. She was named female athlete of the half-century in 1950, has been inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, and had a plaque, a park, and an award named in her honour. And she fought the prevailing notion that women could not handle highly- competitive sports.
Singing the street story
Gospel and traditional country music inspire Village busker
By Tom G. Kernaghan
Local busker Paul Stewart knows about being away from home. Since 1992, Stewart has been singing songs in the Village. Day after day, the Etobicoke resident and his 13-year-old Seeing Eye dog, Roadie (named after Rhode Island), make their way to Bloor Street, where Stewart spends hours strumming his guitar and wailing tales of life for the busy Village burghers.
Capturing High Park’s beauty
Walkabout with photographer David Allen
By Tom G. Kernaghan
David Allen likes turning restrictions into opportunities. Though he usually takes pictures at sunrise or sunset, this veteran photographer and local resident can easily find High Park’s beauty in the flat light of an overcast sky in the middle of a winter’s day.
