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.
Moving water runs deep
Gib-San Pools set a new standard
Congratulations to Toronto’s Gib-San pools who recently achieved a first when it became the first pool builder in the world to receive the internationally recognized ISO-9001 Quality Standards Registration.
Ed Gibbs, president and CEO, and his team of roughly 120 dedicated employees have spent three years refining their policies, procedures, and practices to ensure they have a measurable system of delivering the highest possible level of customer service all year around.
Article appeared in the April 2007 issue of Municipal World magazine
By Tom G. Kernaghan
“The better a State is constituted, the more do public affairs intrude upon private affairs in the minds of the citizens.”
Jean Jacques Rousseau
The Social Contract
Character is working in York Region. For the past five years, the nine municipalities that constitute the vast and vibrant region to the north of Toronto, Ontario, have been taking bold steps toward a better future.
