Volume 49 No. 10
BEACHMETRO.COM
July 14, 2020
Happy 105th birthday Bessie!
Beaches ‘virtual’ jazz fest begins this week
PHOTO: SUSAN LEGGE
Community members came out on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12, to help local resident Bessie Stallworthy celebrate her 105th birthday in style. There was a parade of well-wishers that walked past her Kingston Road home, and also dropped off birthday greetings while she watched safely from her porch and waved.
Community Centre 55 seeks donations of sewn blankets By Ali Raza
COMMUNITY CENTRE 55 is in need of blanket barriers for its child care centre – and it’s calling on residents to help. The community-based organization offers a wide variety of programs and services. While a closure forced by COVID-19 has inhibited a lot of that work, the centre is eager to be prepared when it opens again. Part of that is ensuring enough supplies for its child care centre in the Ted Reeve Community Arena. Blanket barriers – small blankets placed on shoulders and chest of staff while comforting children – are needed most, licensed program manager Sarah Allen said. “We’re in need of quite a few,” she said. “Our community has been generous in other ways, sewing and dropping off reusable masks, food donations and general offers
of support.” While closed until further notice, the centre continues to operate. “During this pandemic myself and my staff have been offering online webinars, meetings, fitness and ball classes for seniors on a daily or weekly basis,” program director Evonne Hossack said. “We have also assisted with meal deliveries, reusable masks and weekly phone calls to seniors.” There is no set date for its reopening. Like other community centres, Community Centre 55 is awaiting provincial orders for Stage 3 reopening. “These are extremely unprecedented times,” Allen said. “I have been in the childcare profession for 40 years, 26 of them at Community Centre 55 and haven’t seen the consequences of a pandemic before.” “We are all treading on new Continued on Page 2
More patio space is needed now, say BIAs By Ali Raza Restaurants, bars, and cafés with outdoor patios are reopening in East Toronto. But for those that are open, limited seating remains a challenge and those without outdoor seating are desperately waiting on the city’s CaféTO program to allow for new and additional outdoor space. The City of Toronto entered Stage 2 of the provincial reopening plan on Wednesday, June 24, which allowed restaurants, bars, and cafés to reopen for outdoor seating only – under strict COVID-19 guidelines issued by Toronto Public Health. While business owners and customers alike are thrilled to patronize their favourite neighbourhood joints again – owners are feeling the pinch.
Amalan Vijeyaratnam, owner of Allen’s Restaurant on Danforth Avenue, said the guidelines laid out by Toronto Public Health were “straightforward.” But he’s concerned that other businesses in the area without outdoor patios are in need of assistance. “I hope our neighbouring restaurants without patios have the opportunity to open up soon,” he said. “I don’t believe there’s been enough done to support them and time is becoming a factor.” Down the street, 7Numbers Italian restaurant owner Vito Marinuzzi was happy to welcome “all the familiar faces” after his patios reopened. Under “the new normal,” he listed all the precautions the restaurant took in following COVID-19 protocols. “We went through protocols isContinued on Page 2
THE 32ND annual Beaches International Jazz Festival will be going virtual this month, and opening night is on Friday, July 17. Due to the decision by the City of Toronto to cancel permits for large gatherings this summer to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the festival had to alter its plans for this year. While it had been a Beach tradition for decades to have jazz performances in local parks and along Queen Street East during the festival, this year’s celebration will be online with free streaming of musical performances and lectures from July 17 to 26. The virtual festival, which can be accessed at www.beachesjazz.com, will see performances from more than 300 artists from Canada, the United States and Cuba. “In times like these, where we may feel more alone than ever, our hope is to bring a little bit of life, fun and happiness to homes throughout the GTA and beyond,” said Claire Chilelli of the jazz festival in a release. “While we may not be celebrating and enjoying the Festival together physically, we will still be brought together by the power of music.” To celebrate the festival’s more than 30 years in the community, the opening night event is titled the Beaches Jazz Festival Favourites and will feature a tribute to some of the great performers who have appeared over the decades at the festival. The show streaming for July 17 begins at 7:30 p.m. and will see performances by Eddie and Quincy Bullen, KC Roberts and the Live Revolution, Johannes Linstead, AIZA, Aj Croece, Dr. Draw and Tyler Shaw On July 18, it will be Groovin’ In The Livin’ Room, with streaming starting at 7:30 p.m. Performers will be Roy Davis Jr. (Chicago House Legend), John Kong (Do Right Music), DJ Yogi (United Soul), DJ Quesquescet (No Funk Records), Farbsie Funk (Make It Funky Collective), and more The festival’s popular Latin Carnival goes virtual on July 19, with streaming starting at 6:30 p.m. The Continued on Page 19