Leaside Life Issue 100 September 2020

S E P T E M B E R 2020

Leaside Life

No. 100

leasidelife.com

Meet our final Leaside High 75th graduate profile Page 18.

C E L E B R AT I N G

issueS

BE SAFE, LEASIDERS, AND CONTINUE TO SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES AND OUR VALUABLE ADVERTISERS

YOUR LOCAL RECOMMENDED REALTOR Congratulations to our friends at Leaside Life on the 100th issue of our community magazine!

Contact me for trusted real estate advice that moves you!

416.925.9191

charlene@charlenekalia.com

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Chairman’s Award for Top Level Sales Performance

SALES REPRESENTATIVE www.AtHomeInLeaside.com charlene@charlenekalia.com

Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage 1300 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4T 1X3 This is not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract with a brokerage.

Editor’s Welcome Editor Leaside Life

900 Don Mills Road (at Barber Greene Blvd)

416-646-2439 www.UrbanNatureStore.ca

There wasn’t a letter from the Queen. No one (physically distanced) delivered a big fancy cake. There weren’t even any (virtual) slaps on the back and comments like “Wow, you look great for your age!�

But, trust me, we are celebrating.

This is Leaside Life’s 100th issue, and we couldn’t be prouder.

I wasn’t there nearly nine years ago when Ruth and Harry Goldhar discussed the possibility of launching a Leaside-centric newspaper, following on the success of their Town Crier chain of community papers.

But publisher and long-time Leaside Life columnist Lorna Krawchuk (and Leaside Residents Association co-president Carol Burtin Fripp) was. “We all talked in the spring of 2011 about whether there was enough content to publish a monthly paper that would just be for Leaside,�

Lorna writes in this issue. “That

fall ... we sat in the Goldhar living room and hashed out what was to become Leaside Life. ... What we were looking for were the stories that we hoped would appeal to Leasiders who had been in the neighbourhood for many years, and those who had recently moved in.�

That mandate remains fresh today as we search for stories of special local interest to Leaside residents.

The fact that Leaside Life has reached the 100-issue mark speaks to the resilience, relevance and endurance of community papers, whose role, I think, is growing. Yes, we live in an increasingly digital, global world, but what sets Leaside Life apart – both the paper and our vibrant digital platform – is our hyper-local focus. People are yearning for that connection.

And we are never at a loss for stories to fill our issues. Thank you for your support! â–

I'm not number one... YOU ARE!

Congratulations on this 100th issue and for 8 years of service to our community!

D: 416.275.5224 O: 416.4 7.51 1 SHEREE@SHEREECER A.COM NOT INTENDED TO SO ICIT PROPERTIES C RRENT OR IN THE PROCESS O SE

ING WITH ANOTHER BROKERAGE.

3

Leaside Life • September 2020

Jane Auster

A personal reflection on a few changes in Leaside Leaside Life • September 2020

4

by JOHN PARKER The challenge in commenting on the changes I have noticed in our community since Leaside Life sprang into life 100 issues and nearly a decade ago is not so much in keeping track of the sequence of things as in confining my observations to the specified time line.

That’s why I begin with a year that I know about mostly from hearsay evidence: 1944. That’s when my mother and father settled in Toronto as the war was coming to a close.

The home they moved into was a carbon copy of the house in Leaside that my wife Beth and I moved into more than four decades later and which we have raised our family in. Same 1930s vintage, same floor plan, same steel beam in the basement – installed at a level guaranteed to inflict brain damage on anyone over five feet ten who forgets to duck when rushing upstairs to answer a knock at the front door.

Here’s the thing: In the era when Leaside’s original homes were built, that bump on the head was usually a risk only if you were doing laundry

or shoveling coal into the furnace.

Now it is likely to come if you are nestled into your home theatre, working in your home office, or resting in your extra bedroom.

(What’s more, if you live in one of the houses being built these days, your washing machine probably isn’t in your basement anyhow, and there is a good chance you won’t ever see your furnace unless you open the secret door that it’s hidden behind.)

The house my parents moved into in 1944 was for them – and each of its counterparts in Leaside was, for many families that moved into them at the time – a starter home.

The term “home renovation” was unknown. “Home improvement” meant moving to a bigger house in another neighbourhood – usually farther out – that reflected greater value and prestige. Which is what commonly occurred over the ensuing decades.

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current Leaside real estate listing tells you that we are reaching the day when anyone who expects to find their starter home in Leaside had better have a freshly-signed playing contract with the Blue Jays in hand. Or a piece of the career of Justin Bieber or Drake.

Leaside is no longer a community a young family start out in and move on from as they advance in life; it is a place that people aspire to. (Just check the StatsCan economic demographic profile of our community and you will see what I mean. Look under “education level” or “household income.”)

These days, once a family arrives in Leaside, they dig in to stay.

Which is not to say that we are satisfied with the houses we move into here. Precisely because we have no intention to move out, living in Leaside activates a latent gene within each of us to seek out ways to upgrade things right now, right where we are. Leaside’s homes are becoming more deluxe.

And bigger: roofs extend higher; rear walls extend farther back.

Bungalows have become an endangered species. (The record of minor variance approvals suggests that the Committee of Adjustment is fully on board with all of this, it would seem.)

Some changes come from renovations and additions; some from demolition and fresh construction.

Either way, our homes are getting larger and grander.

We also find a greater variety to the architectural styles you see as you walk up and down the streets of today’s Leaside. Some reno projects and some new homes fit in sympathetically with the original streetscape. Some bring an attractive diversity. Others…well, we do find occasional reminders that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I will note with unqualified approval, however, that no new homes built in Leaside these days have basement ceilings born of the practical jokesterism inherent in the above-mentioned low-altitude killer support beams that the original houses all seemed to be outfitted with.

John Parker is the former councillor, Toronto Ward 26 (now Don Valley West). ■

I was there for the launch of Leaside Life Lorna Krawchuk Publisher Leaside Life

both sides of Bayview Avenue), the decision that we would not take political stands, nor would we write “infomercials” – and most importantly, if Ruth didn’t find enough advertisers to make a profit, we would all share in the loss. We also spent a lot of time going over what we would try to avoid in our paper – house-beautiful articles or garden do-overs that could have been anywhere within the GTA. What we were looking for were the stories that we hoped would appeal to Leasiders who had been in the neighbourhood for many years,

and those who had recently moved in. Harry would edit, as that was his professional background. And somehow, I was to be the publisher.

That first issue was December, 2011 – all 24 pages of it, and a profit-maker! Our original, and continuing distributor for houses is Accurate Distributing. Canada Post does the honours for apartments and businesses.

Of our original writers, the only two remaining are Carol Burtin Fripp, writing as co-president of the Leaside Residents Association, and I, I naively thought I would just be writing in that first issue. Nope.

Take a look at Issue #1 – (all issues are available at https://issuu.com/leasidelifenews). It’s a bit of a trip down memory lane.

My message to you then w a s please to support our advertisers, as they are the people who keep us in business. This is even truer today, and especially now during our unusual circumstances. ■

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5

Leaside Life • September 2020

It all started with a newspaper chain called the Town Crier, owned

by Leasiders Harry and Ruth Goldhar.

I was a councillor for Ward 4 in the Borough of East York in the 90s, while Ruth was the trustee. The Goldhars asked if I wanted to write a column for the Town Crier, with the proviso that the word “Leaside” appear for what Harry deemed to be the “appropriate” number of times.

Of course, I said yes.

After selling the Town Crier chain, the Goldhars were out of the news business for a number of years, but as time went on, the urge to get back in took hold. We all talked in the spring of 2011 about whether there was enough content to publish a monthly paper that would just be for Leaside.

That fall, along with Andrea Villiers, my next-door neighbour, who had a background in writing and advertising, we sat in the Goldhar living room and hashed out what was to become Leaside Life – the name, the physical dimensions of the paper, the distribution to all houses, apartments and businesses with the postal code M4G (which would then include

Spreading the joy of reading with books 4 families Leasider Kate Uhlman is a young woman on a mission.

When COVID-19 turned the world upside down, Uhlman sought a meaningful way to help others with the aid of the Leaside community.

She consulted with her mother, a retired elementary vice-principal who had worked as a teacher-librarian for many years, and discussed the importance of reading for children. With kids out of school, libraries closed, and many families unable to afford to purchase books, Uhlman “thought about how challenging it would be for both parents and children in need,” and came up with the idea of corralling books to be donated to the Children’s Book Bank, a Toronto organization which provides free books to children and families in high-needs neighbourhoods across the GTA. In order to collect books with no “contact” issues, Uhlman reached out to local contractors for their ideas of the best contactless solutions. With the help of Geoff Woodmansey of GPW

Susan Scandiffio Columnist

Construction, Uhlman settled on a drop box sold at Home Depot.

Woodmansey negotiated with the Home Depot in Leaside to receive a discount, and Ulhman used her line of credit from school to purchase three boxes, which have been placed outside Northlea United Church, Manor Road United Church, and St. Cuthbert’s Church. The logo for the charity, “books 4 families” was designed

by Uhlman’s graphic designer brother-in-law and has been printed on waterproof decals on the front of the boxes.

Uhlman hopes to register the project as a charity in order to receive donations for the purchase of additional boxes. She also plans to reach out to Elephant Trunk, the company that makes the boxes,

We would like to extend a heart-felt congratulations to Leaside Life for celebrating this 100th Issue!

Keep up the great work connecting all of us Leasiders together!

Cheers!Sarah

-Monica &

Sales Representatives Monica: 476.873.1053 Sarah: 647.822.6959 Office: 476.487.5737 info@stanwayrealestate.com stanwayrealestate.com

LAURA SEDGWICK

Leaside Life • September 2020

6

to see if they might be willing to provide some at a low, or no, cost.

A team of volunteers will be checking the boxes bi-weekly, and the books will be placed in isolation for decontamination purposes before delivery to the book bank weekly.

Uhlman thrives on being busy.

Having already completed an MBA and a Master of Science in Health Care Quality, she is now in her third year of medical school at McMaster University.

Uhlman was a national level synchronized swimmer, a member of the student council in high school and university, and is currently president of the McMaster Medical Student Council.

Volunteering and altruism have been a part of her life for many years. Throughout high school and undergrad years she volunteered at Sunnybrook Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Kids. She went to the Dominican Republic with nurses and other healthcare providers to provide medical care to individuals in rural areas. During her MBA studies, Uhlman volunteered with various healthcare organizations and is now working on a consulting project with Hamilton Public Health.

She comments that “in my spare time I love to bake, go for runs and exercise!” With the extent of her academic and volunteer work, it’s incredible to think she could even find “spare time” in her life. ■

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Unveiling a new field of dreams at Rolph Road

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO After four years of financial and site planning, the Leaside Baseball Association has a new field of dreams.

As the number of players aged 11 and under playing Leaside baseball ballooned over the past number of years, the association identified a need for more local game and practice space suited to that age group.

With that in mind, the east diamond at Rolph Road Elementary School has undergone an extensive redesign.

The fencing behind home plate had deteriorated to the point that wooden boards had been hammered into both sides of the chain link to prevent it from curling any further. Spectators were also at risk with the lack of protection down the baselines.

Under the leadership of a tireless and determined board, a four-year capital plan was established to raise the $65,000 for redesigning and rebuilding the diamond.

Fencing now extends from home plate to 15 feet beyond third base

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Leaside Life • September 2020

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and provides protection for spectators as well as a more professional looking field. New dugouts for teams offer a more big-league experience for the players, and a yellow foul pole has been placed on the tennis fence to mimic the left field “Green Monster” wall at Fenway Park in Boston.

Cam Steinman, current VP and past co-president of the Leaside Baseball board, points out that the project was funded solely by the association, and that he “can’t say enough about the great and enthu-

siastic partnership between Leaside Baseball, the TDSB, and Rolph Road School Principal Sandra Larosa.”

Neal Prabhu, current co-president of the board along with Howard Birnie, points out that the new diamond “will have a great impact on youth baseball within our community.”

The diamond will be used by the league as well as Rolph Road School and others looking for a spot to play or practise when the venue is not in use. It’s truly a case of “if you build it, they will come.” ■

An Update, a BIG Thank You and Congratulations!

The Bayview Leaside BIA’s article in March of this year offered Leaside Life readers a brief history of the organization and a “BIA 101,” if you will, on how BIAs operate and their mandate. The plan was to follow-up with an article in May detailing our 2020 program of events, from Sidewalk Sensation in June, to Apple Fest in October and our Holiday Festival in December. Needless to say, things haven’t worked out exactly as intended.

Despite the challenges set off by the pandemic, the BIA has continued with its 2020 program to beautify and promote the area, and to better accommodate cyclists. Our summer planting looks fantastic; the parkettes have been completed and are well-enjoyed; two new bike racks have been installed and more are coming; and the BIA is now connected to the City’s Bike Share system by virtue of the new installation at Bayview and Fleming. Our social media platforms continue to grow as more people follow all that is happening in our area. In addition, City Council recently approved the BIA’s request to expand our boundary northward to include The Brown Group mixed-use development site between Hillsdale and Soudan. When occupied, this stylish project’s over 1600 m2 of commercial space and 146 residential units will bring new customers, clients, businesses and jobs to the area.

We welcome The Brown Group to the BIA! Allow me to offer a personal observation. I have been singularly impressed by the loyalty of Bayview Leaside’s customers and clients during these last few months, including, of course, Leaside Life readers. It speaks to the notion that our main street is a valued and integral part of our community; one that is worth supporting and championing, not just during challenging times, but especially during challenging times.

On behalf of the Bayview Leaside BIA Board of Management and our member businesses, thank you to Leaside Life readers for your continued support. Let’s also continue to take care of ourselves and each other.

As always, we welcome your thoughts and ideas, so please feel to connect with us at info@bayviewleasidebia.com or at 416-628-3794.

In closing, congratulations to Leaside Life on its 100th issue! partnership in support of our street and local businesses.

Henry Byres Coordinator Bayview Leaside BIA

We look forward to our continued

Ball hockey – COVID style Leaside Life • September 2020

10

One of the many things I’ve missed in my corona-curtailed world is playing my regular ball hockey game on Tuesday nights from April to October. Yes, for the first time since 2003, my Tuesday nights are free, and I don’t like it. For the last 17 years or so my twin brother, Tim, and I have played in, and helped manage, the men’s division of the Withrow Park Ball Hockey League down in Riverdale. Of course, COVID put an end to our regular season. I miss the competition, the workout, and perhaps most of all, I miss the guys.

There are about 90 or so players across six teams.

They come from all walks of life. Some are lawyers, some are journalists, some are doctors, some work for the city, some in finance, some at the CBC. It’s a very eclectic group that spans the demographic spectrum. Hockey is the common denominator, along with the postgame analysis at a Danforth watering hole. But I miss it. I really do.

I think it’s an age thing. Hockey is a time machine for me. Even now at

Terry Fallis Columnist

60 (ack!), playing hockey still feels the same to me as it did decades ago. Let’s not dwell on how it feels the morning after, but during the game, I’m locked in the amber of my youth. But not this year. At least not yet.

With Toronto now in Phase 3, we, the guardians of the men’s league, are in the preliminary stages of planning an abbreviated but COVID-safe ball hockey season. And I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve had a new stick taped and ready to go since March that I still haven’t tried out yet. But it won’t be like any other ball hockey season we’ve ever had. We’re working through all the details, but things will be different.

Teams will be smaller to ensure we

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can social distance on the bench.

You might think that the unholy stench of aging men in full sweat might lead to social distancing quite naturally, but we’ll be enforcing it strictly when we return. There’ll be no face-offs, which is just fine with me. I’ve never been very good at them anyway. Often by the time I’m lined up and ready, the ball has been dropped and my opponent has stolen it and is already halfway to our blue line. So, I’m okay with the face-off ban.

There’ll be no physical contact among the players. Now that will be a change. We’ll all have an imaginary cushion of space around us with only stick checks from afar permitted. Again, right up my street. I have lots of experience waving my stick in the general direction of opposing players as they blow by me. This new rule merely crystallizes my traditional approach to checking.

We’ll be shortening our games to allow the benches, penalty boxes, nets, door handles, and our mascot, to be sanitized between games. Not having to run with lung-bursting intensity for quite as long doesn’t sound like a bad thing to me. In fact, I’m all for it.

Even though we play on outdoor hockey pads, when we’re watching the other games, we’ll all be wearing masks as constant and visible reminders that these are not normal times. I’m happy with this rule and have grown accustomed to wearing my very fashionable designer mask whenever I go out anyway. Besides, at the games it will help mitigate the aforementioned aroma of sweaty ball hockey players. However, the traditionally acidic and acerbic heckling of the players may be compromised by the masks’ muffling effects. So be it.

By the time you’re reading these words, we may well be back playing what might only resemble ball hockey to the discerning eye.

But we’ll be back, and we’ll be safe.

And, perhaps most importantly, we’ll be enjoying the great camaraderie and sense of community we’ve all missed so much. Now where did I put that new stick?

A two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Terry Fallis grew up in Leaside and is the award-winning writer of seven national bestsellers, including his most recent, Albatross, all published

by McClelland & Stewart. ■

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After 100 issues of Leaside Life, I wonder, how green is my Leaside?

The cover story that graced the first issue of Leaside Life was a green one entitled ‘Green house looking for a buyer,’ by Alison Rockwell. This was an interesting article on many levels, but it got me thinking. How green has Leaside become after 100 issues?

Some things are so subtle we hardly notice, but Leaside gardening has changed significantly over the past nine years.

Front gardens

Lawns, as we know them, are not natural to our area and yet the manicured green carpet has been the coveted Leaside look for over 60 years. But over the last decade, these blank carpets of water-sucking monoculture have slowly been taking a back seat to more responsible landscaping.

Every year I see more lawns dug up and replaced by beautiful diverse gardens filled with mixed plantings of trees, evergreens, native perennials and pollinator plants. Today the lawns that remain are looking somewhat sterile, out of place and out of

The Leaside Gardener Debora Kuchme Columnist

in the garden, there have been more experts talking about native plants, pollinator plants, butterfly gardens and seed saving. I’ve also noticed a change in their Gardens of Distinction selections by recognizing more diverse gardens.

Backyards

touch next door to a lush garden that not only looks more beautiful (especially during a drought) but uses less water, requires no fertilizers and supports the health of our environment.

Was this just an evolving new look or a conscious choice to be greener?

The Leaside Garden Society may have had a hand in this too. Over the years, I’ve noticed a change in the guest speakers at the club. Rather than talking about how to grow roses or how to work with colour

It’s not as easy to know what’s going on with Leaside backyard gardens, but I’ve been on enough Magical Gardens of Leaside tours over the years to see more than a few, and I know what’s going on in the yards of my friends and neighbours.

Unlike front yards, many backyards in Leaside still favour grass, but over the years, I’ve noticed larger decks (filled with container plants) and garden beds extended (reducing the amount of grass) to add more plants and even vegetable patches. I also notice more rain barrels every year!

It will be interesting to see how the backyards of Leaside have changed because of COVID-19.

Vertical gardening

Last month I wrote about balcony gardens and asked “What’s on yours?” This is one form of gardening that I feel Leasiders have not embraced enough and I wish they would.

I am happy to report that I received a lovely letter from a Leaside Life reader, along with photos of her beautiful garden in the sky showing her incredible collection of plants that caters to birds and butterflies.

It turns out, there are sky gardeners out there – we need more of them.

I’ve also noticed more fence greening (yes that’s vertical greening too) with Virginia creeper. This is such an easy thing to do and can turn a plain fence into a lush wall that can help cool air, filter air and even feed our birds.

Time is a funny thing. It can feel like an eternity or pass like a blink of the eye. It’s all relative. But no matter how you perceive the past nine years, there’s no denying a lot has changed. And one positive change is that our Leaside gardens have become greener! ■

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FACES OF LEASIDE

CELEBRATING 100 issueS

B

E

ED

ITED

leasidelife@gmail.com

Cycling etiquette Carol Burtin Fripp’s article published in the August 2020 Leaside Life indicates “there is a lot of confusion as to whether ‘the rules of the road’ apply to cyclists. Moreover, as noted, the rules of the road should theoretically apply to cyclists. She welcomes residents’ suggestions.

Neither confusion nor theory should be part of the conversation. Cyclists are covered under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act. Therefore, suggestions are not necessary. Enforcement is necessary.

In my letter of October 8, 2019 addressed to Councillor Jaye Robinson and copied to Mrs. Burtin Fripp, I provided an extract from the The Toronto Cyclists Handbook as follows: Cyclists “must follow all regular traffic laws in the Highway Traffic Act, as well as some laws that are specific to bikes.”

The content of her article suggests that Mrs. Burtin Fripp, Councillor

Robinson and/or her support staff did not engage in progressive dialogue pertaining to the improvement of road safety regarding cyclists following receipt of my letter. My current observations relating to cyclists in my neighbourhood confirm Toronto City Council permits Toronto cyclists to “write their own rules of the road” by way of American jurisprudence that recognizes the “Idaho Stop,” which is not part of Canadian jurisprudence.

The independence bestowed upon the cyclists for the purpose of establishing their freedom in the use of the city’s roads can be demonstrated when the cyclists are provided with bike lanes. My letter stated that “During announcements for new bike lanes, I did not recall City Councillors reminding cyclists that they are subject to the provisions of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act”.

Mrs. Burtin Fripp identified herself as the chair of the Traffic and Transportation Committee of the Leaside Residents Association. Her role as chair should include a familiarization of the rules of the road as required by the Ontario Highway Traffic Act which apply to motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

Allan McCartney

Congratulations Leaside Life, on your 100th issue and many more to come!

Bayview & Fleming 1601 Bayview Ave. Toronto, ON M4G 3B5 416-489-1873 8am - 10pm* Bayview & Broadway 1860 Bayview Ave. Toronto, ON M4G 0C3 416-482-9841 8am - 8pm* *

BRIAN MOK

During the current pandemic, please check website for updated hours.

Does the Leaside library add value to your life?

As a thrilled member, finding the service out of this world and missing all the really helpful people, I can’t imagine what needs to be fixed! All places should be like the Leaside Library!!

Linda Sweetland Leaside balcony gardens I was so happy to read your article about Leaside balconies. We hear and see so much about Leaside gardens, but balconies can be wonderful too. I live at Bayview and Eglinton and face ENE , looking towards the houses on Craig St. I do not see or really hear any construction at the crazy intersection on my doorstep! I am on the 7th floor below the mechanical room so have an open terrace, rather than an overhanging balcony above me.

After many years, as you said in your article, I have learnt what requires sun and/or shade. Every year I enjoy some perennials, herbs, seed many boxes and pots with wild flowers, enjoy bee balm, lavender, sunflowers etc. and attract many bees and butterflies. I even have hummingbirds coming to my feeder. In the shaded LETTERS Page 22

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Leaside Life • September 2020

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ERS M TT A LE

LETTERS

Leaside Gardens: welcome to the new normal If you had a million dollars, would you buy me a house, or maybe a nice Reliant automobile, or how about an ice rink? Well, 32 years ago when the Barenaked Ladies released that song (If I Had a Million Dollars) they didn’t go for a rink, but nine years ago the Leaside community did! And 100 issues ago, the headline on the cover of Leaside Life’s inaugural issue screamed, “Million bucks kicked off fundraiser.” Thus, launching the campaign that ultimately delivered the Dr. Tom Pashby Play Safely Rink: the first (and last) new hockey rink built by the City in almost 40 years. The expansion doubled available ice space and the facility is a symbol of how our community can come together in an organized and creative way to solve a problem. In this case, it was a shortage of ice.

COVID-19 brought hockey and figure skating to a standstill If life was tough back then with only one rink and more demand than we could possibly fulfill, COVID-19 brought hockey and figure skating

Congratulations Leaside Life!

100th Issue!

416-483-4444 info@bonniebyford.com

The Real Estate Tradition

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Glenn Asano The Business of Leaside

ROBIN DICKIE

Leaside Life • September 2020

16

to a complete standstill as of midMarch and as none of us could have predicted, for more than five months after that. We’ve had no ice at Leaside Gardens, until now: the facility will reopen on August 24th and ice on the Dr. Tom Pashby Play Safely Rink will be available to our primary user groups.

Reopening is good news, however, what will be challenging is getting comfortable with the ‘new normal’.

So, here’s what visitors can expect when returning to our facility.

As I write, an incredible amount of preparation is underway to ensure the facility is safe and ready to welcome back the community in anticipation of a return to play. Leading the charge is new Leaside Gardens General Manager David Hamilton.

David joined the Gardens on April 6th after serving as the director of operations at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. In a trial by fire, David has quickly and competently stepped in to lead Leaside Gardens’ reopening effort, which has been no small task given the number of moving parts.

In a nutshell, the new normal at the Gardens includes: one rink opened, health questionnaire screening upon arrival, no spectators, one parent per child to drop off/pick up, players to arrive in full gear (except skates), mandatory masks, separate entrance and exit, lots of stickers reminding us of safe distancing, protective plexiglass shields and barriers in client-facing areas, and signage.

The new normal The entire facility, including the pool, has been professionally cleaned and disinfected for public access to the level stipulated by City of Toronto Public Health, a process that will continue regularly. Users, visitors

and staff will appreciate the steps Leaside Gardens has taken to ensure that health and safety come first.

Speaking of which, no discussion or initiative concerning safety at Leaside Gardens would be complete without a shout-out to the Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund. The Pashby family works together with the Leaside Gardens board, through its safety committee, to champion safety initiatives with the goal of creating one of the safest recreational facilities in the country. The safety committee, with the support of the Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund, recently produced a COVID-19 safety video that describes the new procedures in place when the arena reopens. Also, the safety committee will host – online this time – their second annual concussion education seminar on September 30, 2020 – Rowan’s Law Day – an event that will be open to our user groups and the community at large.

Mark your calendars for the September 30th seminar and be on the lookout for Leaside Gardens’ new safety video: links to both will be on the Leaside Gardens website, www. leasidegardens.com. Given that the current rules prohibit spectators in the facility, another Leaside Gardens initiative that will help alleviate concerns for families is the introduction of live and on-demand game streaming at Leaside Gardens via GameOnStream.

Once hockey resumes, parents and grandparents can still enjoy games while keeping safe.

“On behalf of the board and staff of Leaside Memorial Community Gardens I am delighted to welcome skaters, players and their families back to Leaside Gardens,” says Leaside Gardens Chair Kathleen Mackenzie. “The reopening will be a great opportunity to reconnect or connect with friends old and new!

Several months have passed since our facility and others were closed as a result of COVID-19 and the safe reopening of our facility is giving us all hope that we are returning to a semblance of normality – or perhaps the new normality!”

Do you feel it will be safe to return to play at Leaside Gardens when the new ice hockey season begins? Have you been to the Leaside Gardens pool since its reopening on July 20th? Do you have suggestions for the Leaside Gardens’ safety committee that will help achieve the goal of becoming one of the safest rinks in Canada? Let us know at leasidelife@gmail.com. ■

Will your kids be biking back to school?

by HOLLY REID

Are your kids ready to ride?

Children under the age of 14 can ride on the sidewalk but they still need to be able to ride in a straight line, stop safely at intersections, signal their intentions, and give way to pedestrians, ringing their bell to pass. Riding with your child will help you assess whether they have the bike handling skills, safety knowledge and maturity to ride to school with confidence. Remember to make sure your child’s bike is in good working order and the helmet fits right.

Secure bike parking Bike theft is a big concern in Leaside. Wilmar Kortleever, a former co-chair of the school council that helped bring additional bike parking racks and other safety measures to Leaside High School, reports that new security cameras are now angled to monitor the bike racks and deter theft. He advises that parents work with their school’s administration and parent council to make sure there is ample secure bike parking and the kids use it.

Find a safe route Leaside has a number of quiet streets with speed limits of 30 km/hr, making it easy to come up with a safe route. Angela Kennedy, Toronto Catholic School Board trustee for Leaside, suggests parents work together to identify the best route and organize bike stops along the way where kids and parents can meet up and ride to school together.

Sam Perry, with CultureLink’s Bike-to-School Project, recommends going on practice rides first with your kids to decide the best way. “Kids age 14 and up are riding on the road, so a safe route is crucial. The cycling option on Google maps can show different options to explore. And there is safety in numbers. If high school kids can buddy-up to ride, they will be more visible to motorists.”

Rachel Chernos Lin, Toronto

Try a “bike train” like Pedalheads. A parent at each end.

One parent blocks the intersections as the train rolls through.

District School Board trustee for Leaside, adds, “If you are biking to work, why not build your child’s route into your commute and ride together? With more parents working from home, walking, wheeling or biking to school with your child is a fun way to start your day.”

What parents can do School boards have been promoting active transportation for years.

A recent motion before the Toronto District School Board calls for more support for active transportation, including protected travel

routes, complete streets for school zones, permanent “quiet streets” near schools, and greater promotion and education around active transportation. Parents are key for making lasting change, and starting an Active Transportation committee at your school is a good place to start. Chernos Lin notes that in-class volunteering is likely to be restricted, so if parents want to assist at school, getting involved in active transportation is a terrific way to help. For inspiration and resources, see LeasideLife.com. ■

Kathleen Wynne, MPP Don Valley West

Wishing you a safe and productive year at school Going back to school is different this year.

Public schools are a critical part of our democracy and the fabric of our Canadian society.

I wish all students, educators and support staff a safe and happy return to their school in September.

Constituency Office 795 Eglinton Avenue East, Unit 101, Toronto, ON M4G 4E4 416-425-6777 www.kathleenwynne.onmpp.ca

Leaside Life • September 2020

Thanks to the pandemic, “back-toschool” this year promises to be like no other. Active transportation to school, whether walking, wheeling or biking, is taking on greater importance amidst unease about buses, public transit and traffic congestion around schools. If you’ve been biking with your kids all summer, will you let them bike to school?

HOLLY REID

17

75

LHS grad Alyssa Kerbel makes a career of being fashion-forward

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO With Leaside High School’s 75th anniversary being celebrated this year, Leaside Life is profiling a number of notable members of the school to mark the milestone.

When chatting with Alyssa Kerbel at her cottage, one thing became abundantly clear to me.

Even though she panics when a moth does a fly-past, there’s not much more that ruffles this woman.

Kerbel is a driven, ambitious, and unflappable businesswoman who has seen outstanding success in the fashion sales industry for 20 years.

Living in Bennington Heights from the age of 10, Kerbel was an active kid who excelled in gymnastics in grade school, and played softball, basketball, flag football, and tennis in high school. She also, as long-time friend Janneke Dekker points out, “spent a bunch of time organizing social events” and was “energetic and loads of fun.”

Kerbel, Dekker, and nine other girls became a close crew of 11 at Leaside High School that still spends a lot of time together.

After fast-tracking to finish high school early in 1994, Kerbel went on to complete an undergraduate degree at Queen’s University and a postgraduate degree in public relations at Humber College.

Working in administration at a marketing company, Kerbel immediately recognized that a desk job wasn’t for her. With some career counselling and reflection, it soon became apparent to her that sales was a much better fit. Loving fashion and travel, Kerbel quickly moved into the world of wholesale fashion.

She worked for less than two years in the wholesale fashion sales agency, but as Dekker points out, Kerbel “didn’t really like being

told what to do by a boss.” Kerbel herself admits that she “had a hard time selling things I didn’t like, and wanted to see if I could have full control over it” So, she launched The Alyssa Agency in 2003, which represents and sells Canadian, U.S., and inter-

it came to good quality, simple, organic infant and kids’ basics, so she launched the children’s clothing brand mini mioche. The collection is made locally, using organic and sustainable fabrics and low impact dyes.

Kerbel sold the Alyssa Agency in 2015 to focus on her mini mioche brand as well as her family: husband Mike, 12-yearold daughter Emerson, and 8-year-old son Weston.

Kerbel fully believes that “what brings you joy and energy” will lead to success.

The business world has taken notice. In 2016, Kerbel was listed in the PROFIT Magazine Canada’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs, and for the past four consecutive years, mini mioche has been ranked on the Canadian Business/PROFIT 500 list of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies.

Kerbel’s crew of 11 have jokingly and lovingly referred to her as “The Hammer” for many years because of her tendency to come up with fun and offbeat plans, and not relenting until all agree to participate. Her friends will quickly point out, though, that her energy and spark have led them on fun exploits they would never otherwise have undertaken.

This drive and sense of adventure have propelled Kerbel to be a noted leader, builder, and visionary in the world of fashion entrepreneurship. ■

the

1990s

@KIERANDARCYPHOTO

Leaside Life • September 2020

18

Alyssa Kerbel with her children’s clothing brand mini mioche.

Below: with friend Pauline (left) in their Leaside High days.

ATTENTION Leaside High School Alumni national men’s and women’s fashion brands to stores across Canada.

After the birth of her daughter Emerson in 2008, Kerbel found there was a gap in the market when

FOR UPDATES ON THE ACTIVITIES FOR THE LHS 75TH ANNIVERSARY Go to www.LeasideHighSchool.com

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Development – taking stock and moving forward Leaside Life • September 2020

20

One hundred issues of Leaside Life, nine years of community building and place-making – stories that link people and place. My contribution over that time has been to maintain a watching brief (and a measure of advocacy!) on Leaside as an “established neighbourhood,” a place undergoing rapid transition from its roots as a planned low density “model garden city” on the edge of Toronto to an intensifying centre facing new high density development. And the key driver of recent change – the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) is about to go into service in two (or more likely three) years. That’s when we find out if Leaside still “works,” or if the post-pandemic chill affects people’s willingness to travel on transit under the “new normal.”

Development changing our face Taking a look at my Leaside Life anthology (193 articles to date), I find a header that seems to capture the ongoing challenge Leasiders have faced throughout the magazine’s existence: “Capitulate or fight? Which is it to be?” (Issue #54,

Geoff Kettel

Saving old Leaside November, 2016). This was about the Diamond development application at 939 Eglinton Ave. East, but its point is applicable to all the high-rise developments underway that mark Leaside’s entrance into being a “grownup” community.

There’s more of a feeling of inevitability than enthusiasm for these large developments.

High-rise developments on Eglinton are setting Leaside’s path forward, likely over the next 30 years, so we need to get it right, for local residents, and for the city. Several high-density developments were proposed and approved in the past nine years: at Bayview (Sunnybrook Plaza, RioCan), Laird (815-845, RioCan), and Brentcliffe (939, Diamond). Our focus in each project has been on developing a cohesive

vision of a vibrant community that integrates well with the surrounding community.

At Laird and Eglinton the scale and level of intensification demanded the development of a civic space that works at both the community and city scales as the emerging new centre of the Leaside community. Indicative of this perspective are: (1) the creation of a gateway and public plaza framed by the new transit pavilions for Laird Station; (2) placing the park to front onto Laird and Vanderhoof and adjacent to the community space; and (3) moving the office building to the southeast of the site.

We have continued to be concerned about the massing, heights, and densities, and other issues, including traffic, school capacity, infrastructure like hydro, sewer and water, as well as transportation impacts and school capacity...and the high proportion of residential uses compared with employment uses. We believe the Leaside community continues to have these concerns.

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Leaside Life • September 2020

Development... realm in these high-density developments should be inspired and developed from the traditions/style of the Leaside community and its legacy as a Model Garden City, while maintaining and encouraging the daily public interaction of the Leaside community and the public in general.

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Enter the mid-rises The second grouping of developments is the mid-rise projects –7-8 storeys on Laird (25 Malcolm and 3-5 Southvale) and on the west side of Bayview (1408-1420 Bayview) midblock between Merton and Davisville, 1500 Bayview (Valumart site), and 1674-1684 Bayview – between Hillsdale and Soudan.

While again there was hesitation on the part of the community, maybe these developments will be the salvation of the adjacent businesses, in particular along Bayview?

Singles and semis get makeovers The third grouping of developments is the renovation, demolition and rebuilding of single and semi-detached homes. This mostly amounts

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to massification, not intensification with larger, higher homes replacing modest homes with designs that in many cases do not fit with the prevailing character of the built form.

Developers are increasingly attempting to build three-storey houses in a stable neighbourhood of two-storey homes.

The Leaside Business Park?

The Business Park recently welcomed its seventh self-storage facility!

Will its future be sealed (embalmed perhaps) as a home for (dead) storage? Let’s hope its future involves something more vital. One Business Park proposal which engendered wide enthusiasm was for an innovation centre in Leaside Business Park where knowledge workers toiled in flexible modern workspaces, set in an innovative “mass timber” building, and walked or biked to work from their homes in East Leaside or from the Laird or Leslie LRT stations. (“New Business Park Projects Reflect Different Visions,” #81, February 2019). In a post-COVID world, this project appears to offer a new vision of Leaside as a live/work community.

As we enter the post pandemic “new normal” there is talk of rebuilding a “15-minute city” where people walk and bike to work from their homes or the subway station. The project’s location steps away from the Laird Centre’s apartments and the Laird and Leslie (Sunnybrook) LRT stations seems to fit perfectly.

New vision? Not really, just a return to Leaside’s pre-WWII reality as a community complete with homes and jobs close by. ■

Letters...

From Page 15 area I enjoy three potted pine trees that I purchased at Metro across the street when they were about 2 ft. high. They’ve been repotted three times as they grew. And last year I scaled down my table and chairs to a little bistro table. Visitors love to come to my little oasis, I love to sit outside, watch the bluejays and odd cardinal alighting on my railing and see the hummingbirds taking a drink a few feet from my chair. Please continue to encourage apartment dwellers to enjoy their balconies and also to grow flowers and plants that will attract bees and butterflies. “If you build it they will come”...even 7 floors up!

Jean Sugarbroad ■

Congratulations on your milestone!

Leaside Life. I wish you all the best for continued success in your next 100 editions. jayerobinson.ca ■

Jaye Robinson

Leaside Life

Councillor

munity leaders with a platform to meaningfully engage the neighbourhood. Leaside Life is also a space to celebrate the rich history of this neighbourhood, along with all the great things that make it a desirable place to live.

Staying connected to our communities is more important now than ever before. As we continue to navigate the many challenges of 2020, Leaside Life has provided us with up-to-date public health advice on COVID19, promoted our Main Street businesses and BIAs as they begin to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, and shared uplifting stories that foster a sense of community in our most isolated times.

Once again, please accept my sincerest thanks and congratulations for reaching this important milestone at

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Leaside Life • September 2020

Congratulations to Leaside Life on your 100th edition! I know how much hard work goes into each issue before it is ready for print. Thank you to everyone at Leaside Life for providing a platform for the neighbourhood to engage on important local issues.

As your local Councillor, it is invaluable for me to hear your insights on the programs, policies, and services shaping your neighbourhood. Whether it be an important vote in the Council Chambers or a local meeting about traffic safety, your feedback is integral to making informed, community-based decisions. At the end of the day, no one knows our neighbourhoods better than the people who live in them.

We make our best decisions when we take the time to consult with local communities and hear the views of the people most impacted by these choices.

Leaside Life plays an important role in facilitating engagement on the issues that matter most to our community. It helps inform Leasiders about what is taking place locally and at City Hall, and provides com-

The time for talk is over!

Leaside Life • September 2020

24

By ROB OLIPHANT, M.P., DON VALLEY WEST COVID-19 has shown us both human and scientific vulnerabilities, as well as the tremendous strength of the human spirit and the determined resolve of our healthcare workers and researchers to beat this virus. People all around the world are touched by this disease. While we in Canada struggle with medical supplies and equipment, people in developing countries stand on a precipice, hoping that science will catch up to the virus before it spreads to them in ways that will be devastating beyond belief. It is a health crisis.

The pandemic has been matched with an economic crisis like we have never seen in our lives. As a Member of Parliament, I have talked to literally hundreds of people who lost their jobs, closed their businesses, missed student loan payments, or have been burdened with costs or debts that they have no idea how they will pay or repay. Governments in Canada and around the world have attempted to soften this economic blow with a whole host of programs, but the needs will continue well into the future. It is an economic crisis.

And, in the midst of all of this, racial discrimination, racial hatred, abuse of power, and white privilege have been exposed in a way that has torn our continent apart.

These are not new incidents, but the steady stream of them caught on live video has sparked something that I hope will change our world for the better. A 25-year-old black man, Ahmaud Arbery, out for a run in a residential community in Georgia, gunned down by two white men for

no reason other than being black; a white woman, Amy Cooper, embarrassingly born and raised in Canada, threatening a black man, Christian Cooper, pretending to be attacked, naming his race repeatedly, only because he asked her to leash her dog in a part of New York’s Central Park, where leashes are required; and, of course, George Floyd, killed by police officers kneeling on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds as he pleaded for his life, saying “I can’t breathe.”

Canada is not immune to this as we hear of systemic racism in institutions, organizations, and in our police forces with calls for meaningful and lasting change that will ensure that minority communities, Indigenous Canadians, people of colour, especially black Canadians, can participate fully in every aspect of the cultural, political, and economic life of Canada.

While governments play an important role in making laws that protect those who are vulnerable and punish those who discriminate, it is the whole community that needs to make the lasting change we need.

Canadians have shown their willingness to start this change through acts of public demonstration and gestures of private goodwill. But the road ahead will not be easy. To make room at the table for everyone, we all need to give some space.

We need to relearn lessons we were taught as children about fairness and equality, about justice and inclusion. We need to watch the words we say and the gestures we make. We need to open doors to ensure that everyone gets in.

This means we need to question authorities and ensure that those

in public office or those in public safety and security, including the police, are truly protecting everyone with mandatory anti-racism training, thorough oversight and constant vigilance. We need to reach out to our neighbours – both in Leaside and beyond – to truly get to know them, learn from them and be changed by them.

These are not easy tasks, but the time for talk is over. It is time that we all owned our personal responsibility in righting generations of wrongs. ■

Lynda Gorges Broker

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Leaside Life • September 2020

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Celebrating a proud history Leaside Life • September 2020

26

By the time you reach this page, you will know that we are commemorating Leaside Life’s 100th issue, and while looking back, we also look forward. Leaside itself recently celebrated its centenary, and although the Leaside Residents Association (LRA) has not been around quite as long, it definitely has a history worth recalling.

The Leaside Property Owners’ Association (LPOA), which recently changed its name to the LRA, emerged in the middle of the 20th century, driven mainly by citizen concerns about unwanted development. An early example: did you know that in the 1960s developers wanted to tear down 46 single-family homes on Mallory Crescent south of Moore, east of Bayview? They applied to rezone the area to permit three 22-storey and two 29-storey apartment buildings on the site. Nearby residents, and other Leasiders, rose up and joined an appeal at the Ontario Municipal Board, which was successful. Think how different Leaside might be today if that kind of height and density had set a precedent and Leaside Gate

Area; we continue to work with the business park on mutual issues.

We were successful in helping preserve the Garden Court complex Carol Burtin Fripp on Bayview Avenue and opposCo-president, ing a Walmart on the east side of LRA Laird. We protected the three historic Talbot apartment buildings on Bayview across from Mt. Pleasant cemetery, a landmark victory after become the norm. a six-week hearing.

Since then, the LPOA has gone to We continue to promote heritage the OMB many (countless?) times to protection throughout Leaside. fight other high-density or otherwise The LRA works with resiinappropriate developments dents to represent them within Leaside. The LRA at the Committee continues to do this at of Adjustment on the Local Planning local development Appeal Tribunal matters. Traffic (LPAT), the OMB’s infiltration through successor.

Leaside remains a What are some major concern, but of the LPOA’s/ we anticipate real LRA’s milestones? progress soon.

In the past decade Over the years or two, just before development presthe city’s 1997 amalsures on our neighbourgamation, the LPOA Mallory Green hood have increased, and, was commissioned by as volunteers, our challenge the then Borough of East has been to keep up with the pace York to draw up a strategy to of applications, while trying to influrevitalize the Leaside Industrial ence relevant municipal and provincial legislation. This is not always All n Stay ew li easy, especially now. The province info sting has recently changed planning rules s ha rme v d– Get e Virtu to give developers more leeway – and on t a neighbourhoods less power. he w l Tours . aiti Protecting what is “Leaside” about ng l ist!

Leaside is definitely worth pursuing.

So, if you are not yet a member, join us – or if you haven’t yet renewed your membership, please do so, at lpoa.ca. The LRA’s opportunity to contest and ability to influence are only as strong as our membership support.

Seniors’ Condos and Life-Lease Units for Sale in Leaside Ask Roy or Bill to put you on their waiting list for any of these 3 buildings designed for seniors This can only be done if you are not under contract with another REALTOR®

Sahil

Bethel Green

www.seniorscondos.com

Not intended to solicit parties in an agency agreement.

ij

Holding our monthly board meetings in public is an important commitment of the LRA. We hope that we will soon be able to hold in-person monthly meetings again, although at the moment the situation is still unclear. Thanks to technology, we can at least maintain accessibility to our meetings via Zoom. During this period of social distancing we want to continue to be as accessible as possible. If you wish to be a deputant or part of a deputation to the LRA’s next online meeting, on SEPTEMBER 9th at 7:30 p.m., please contact us by that date (lpoa. ca) and we will supply you with the information to link to it. ■

2020 RC 300 PREMIUM PACKAGE

52,200

$

+HST & LICENSING

• Lexus Safety System+ 2.0: » Automatic High beam » Lane Tracing Assist » Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (All Speed) » Pre- Collision System with Pedestrian Detection in Low-Light and Daytime Bicycle Detection • Apple Car Play, Android Auto and connect to Amazon Alexa • New Touch Screen Capability & Lexus Remote Touchpad • Enform Remote App with Service Connect PLEASE CALL FOR CURRENT PROGRAM DETAILS

CONGRATULATIONS LEASIDE LIFE MAGAZINE

ON YOUR 100TH ISSUE! FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT LEXUS ON THE PARK

LEXUS ON THE PARK IS PROUD TO BE OF SERVICE TO THE HEART OF TORONTO

www.LexusOnThePark.ca

1075 Leslie Street · Toronto, ON · 416.391.1600

Vehicle shown for illustration purposes only. Complete Lexus Price includes freight/PDI ($2,075), EHF Tires ($29), EHF Filters ($1), A/C charge ($100), OMVIC Fee ($10), and dealer fees ($768). 1 year tire/rim coverage, nitro, 5 year theft registration included. Taxes, license, registration, and insurance are extra. Limited time offers only apply to retail customers at Lexus on the Park. Dealer order/trade may be required. Offers are subject to change or cancellation without notice. Price indicated above is for 2020 GX 460 Standard Package only and may be subject to change based on the current month program offers and incentives. Please call for current program details.

205 Wicksteed Ave. Toronto, ON 855.466.7367

AccessStorage.ca