Hecklers
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Hecklers in the Tailwind

Hecklers In the Tailwind: Synopsis

This is a story about the reconciliation of two brothers, Jack Sloan, 29, and his younger brother Bobby, 27. On the surface, the brothers appear quite different. Jack, a bicycle courier, is a jaded underachiever, a street-wise punker with an inexpressible mystical yearning and a grudge against yuppies and old hippies alike. Bobby, on the other hand, is a conservative Bay Street number cruncher. Below the surface, however, they share one fundamental similarity: they’re both trying to come to grips with the unhappy past they share. Behind them is the death of their father, months earlier, and the break up of their parents in the 70s, after which their mother left home, never to be seen again.

Entertainment
mary
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Mary Pellatt

Last of a line

Mary Pellatt, niece to builder of Casa Loma, didn’t value possessions

By Tom G. Kernaghan

Her independence was like a home with many rooms. When 94-year-old Mary Pellatt passed away in Sechelt, B.C. on December 27 of last year, the former Torontonian had lived a life rich in exploration and discovery.

“She was always an adventurer,” says Christine Chandler, a Sechelt resident and friend who cared for Pellatt in her later years.

Articles, History
red river
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Rebels Among Us

Rebels among us

VideoCabaret brings The Red River Rebellion to the Cameron

By Tom G. Kernaghan

Playwright and director Michael Hollingsworth and VideoCabaret return to The Cameron House this month with The Red River Rebellion, the newly devised fifth play from his acclaimed satirical chronicle, The History of the Village of the Small Huts.

Articles, History
remembrance
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Remembering The Unforgettable

Remembering the unforgettable

Local places to mark November 11

By Tom G. Kernaghan

Though it was called “the war to end all wars,” the First World War was just the beginning of modern global conflict. But its magnitude, nature, and horror did give rise to another important beginning—the tradition of Remembrance Day. On Thursday, November 11 at 11:00 a.m., it will be 86 years since the Great War came to an end. With two minutes of silence, we continue to acknowledge those Canadians who have died serving our country. And, around the Annex area, a number of ceremonies will take place to mark the occasion.

Articles, History
Stelco Swansea Works
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Swansea: a local Eden

Swansea: a local Eden

From iron works to brownfield to residential development

By Tom G. Kernaghan

On the east lot of the former Stelco Swansea Works site, Cresford Developments is laying the foundation of “Windermere by the Lake,” a large residential complex that will contain over 200 town homes and condominium units.

Articles, History
hazel
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Written in bronze

Written in bronze

City’s parks the result of Hurricane Hazel

By Tom G. Kernaghan

A plaque now stands where water roared 50 years ago.

“It doesn’t mean anything until you realize that was the height of the water,” said author Mike Filey, who emceed the Oct. 16 unveiling of the plaque commemorating the night Hurricane Hazel hit the west end. Filey was referring to the seven-metre-high blue waves painted on the nearby Bloor Street viaduct, which mark where the Humber River’s water rose to on the night of the storm. “We are sitting in a lake,” he explained.

Articles, History, Hurricane Hazel
hazel
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Plaque to commemorate 50th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel

Plaque to commemorate 50th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel

Record-breaking storm hit the west end the hardest

By Tom G. Kernaghan

Fifty years ago on the morning of Oct. 16, Torontonians awoke to the inconceivable: their city ravaged by a hurricane. Hurricane Hazel had left 81 people dead, thousands homeless, and a city in shock.

And this year, on Oct. 14 at 1:00 p.m., the Ontario Heritage Foundation (OHF), the Humber Heritage Committee (HHC), and the City of Toronto will mark the hurricane’s 50th anniversary by unveiling a commemorative plaque at King’s Mill Park (under the Bloor Street viaduct by the Old Mill subway station).

Articles, History, Hurricane Hazel