Doly Begum MPP for Scarborough Southwest
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Volume 48 No. 5
BEACHMETRO.COM
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April 30, 2019
Artist John Kuna to create new mural in Beach
PHOTO: TRISHA SALES
Spring cleaning Local residents took part in numerous Community Cleanups related to Earth Week this past weekend. Above, local residents including organizer Nicole Bergot (right) join in Sunday’s cleanup along Danforth Avenue hosted by the Danforth East Community Association. Left, Elliot La Fleur and Andrew Morrison were the first volunteers to tackle the cleanup of the Glen Stewart Ravine on Saturday morning. Right, Caitlin Hawken has her garbage bag and is ready to help at the Glen Stewart Ravine cleanup. PHOTOS (LEFT AND RIGHT: ALAN SHACKLETON
ARTIST JOHN Kuna has been selected to create the new mural which will appear on the wall of the Foodland grocery store on Queen Street East at Lee Avenue in the Beach. Mural Routes and Foodland are partnering on the plan to produce the new mural which is intended to be unveiled on July 27 as part of the Beaches Jazz Festival celebrations. The new mural will replace the old one which had to be removed in the fall of last year due to cracks in the wall which had made it unsafe. That mural, called Beach Got Rhythm, had been created by artist Rudolf Stussi and his son Errol in 2007 and depicted a number of Beach landmarks and jazz musicians. Kuna has been an artist and muralist for more than 20 years, having created more than 40 works and murals across Canada, the United States and Europe. He has a strong connection to the Beach area as his first studio was on Queen Street East, and he would often join fellow artists to work on painting landscapes in the area. “Foodland has been a proud part of the Beach community for over a decade. The project aims to produce a new mural that celebrates Foodland’s commitment to Continued on Page 4
Beach Studio Tour Beach fundraiser slated to help set for this weekend family of boy, 6, battling cancer THE BEACH Studio Tour’s spring event is set for this weekend. The tour will include 18 local artists at 11 different locations, and it begins this Friday evening. Dates and times for the tour are Friday, May 3 from 6 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, May 4 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, May 5 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The tour, which first took place in 1994, lets participants visit the studios and homes of local artists and artisans in the community. The artists will have their works on display for show and sale. Artists taking part in the spring tour are Karen Leslie Hall, Sandra
Pim, Susan Ward, Lesley Soldat, Fintan McEnroe, Sheila Thompson, Hannah Burkhardt, Leslie Songer Terry, Lisa Bennett, Sandi Stahlbrand, Lucille Crighton, John Dowding, Tod Waring, Susan Aaron, Caprice Akram, Dianne Shelton, Kate MacMillan and Ruth Elizabeth Hayes. For more on the Beach Studio Tour including tour maps, please visit the website at www.beachstudiotour.ca which will provide information on the locations of the artists’ studios and the works that they create. Admission to the Beach Studio Tour is free.
By Rashida Powankumar
MEMBERS OF the Beach community are coming together to help the family of a six-year-old boy diagnosed with brain and spine cancer. In January, Cindi Shoot’s son Ethan was diagnosed and it changed the lives of the Main Street and Danforth Avenue area family. Ethan and his mom Cindi are at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee at the moment as he undergoes treatments. Community members heard about what the family is dealing
with through word of mouth and are now coming together to help raise funds for Cindi, who is a single mom raising Ethan and his sister Chloe. A silent auction and bake sale will be held on Saturday, May 4 to benefit the family. The event will take place at the Beaches Recreation Centre, 6 Williamson Rd., from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All proceeds will be going towards treatment costs for Ethan. Organizers of the fundraiser are local residents Gaby Jacob, Therese Occhipinti and Adrienne Scott. Continued on Page 4
PHOTO: SUBMITTED
Ethan Shoot, 6, is undergoing cancer treatments in the U.S. A fundraiser for his family is planned for May 4 at the Beaches Recreation Centre.