Leaside Life Issue 104 January 2021

J A N UA R Y 2021

Leaside Life No. 104

leasidelife.com

Ring a Bell in Leaside Christmas Eve 6pm

Leaside’s Arden La-Rose, off and running

A. PRIBAZ

Story on page 14

HAPPY NEW YEAR LEASIDE — THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES

Leaside Life • January 2021

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Editor’s Welcome

Colour our world bright for 2021

Jane Auster

Each fall the Pantone Color Institute announces its colours to set the tone for the new year. This year the institute chose two colours for 2021: “Ultimate Gray” and “Illuminating,” a bright yellow akin to a lemon skin. “Ultimate Gray,” according to Pantone executive director Leatrice Eiseman, is “a dependable gray.” In combination with the sunny Illuminating yellow, the new colours reflect the institute’s forecast for 2021 – opening with the grey of the pandemic still with us, but morphing into a vibrant, optimistic yellow as the year progresses.

Now, while I look forward to seeing Pantone’s latest hues each year, I don’t run out and buy new cans of paint to make over our home. But this year, the colours do speak to me in a new way – as a palette to view our current lives, tinged and tinted with pessimism giving over to optimism.

Our writers this issue have clearly caught the mood, too, as their columns reward us with some very

upbeat views of the year ahead.

Gardening guru Debora Kuchme shares the latest green trends for our gardens and homes. Think gardening for all, no matter what your level of experience, diversity, and planting for any space, big or small, indoors or outside.

Janis Fertuck hails the arrival of the first Code Ninjas in Toronto, right in Leaside, offering coding instruction for ninjas-in-training.

Ken Mallett offers an update on the very exciting Leaside Heritage project, where a piece of Leaside's history may be as close as a drawer in your home.

Susan Scandiffio introduces us to a double-threat athlete heading to the University of South Florida. Arden La-Rose is such an accomplished soccer player and runner that the university has accepted her in both sports.

EDITOR Page 11

Editor Leaside Life

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Happy New Year! Never in my many years traipsing around this planet have I uttered those words with more hopeful anticipation and disdainful hindsight. Man, 2020 was a year, wasn’t it? And we’re not out of the woods just yet. But surely there are reasons for optimism.

By the time you’re reading these words, the holiday season will be behind us. While large family gatherings were not possible, other than virtual Zoom turkey dinners, surely there were seasonally silver and gold linings. Sure, we’ve all been anxious about the Corona plague, but perhaps our lives over this hectic time were a bit simpler, and, dare I say it, restful? And while we all missed the family traditions that are so much a part of the season, I think we all deserved the additional downtime the pandemic demanded.

I’m feeling refreshed and am getting ready for two major events looming in our very near future that will start the new off year in a positive way.

First of all, all hail the vaccine wizards! It’s an impressive feat to crack the viral code of COVID-19

Terry Fallis Columnist

and turn out, not one, but several safe and effective vaccines to guide us out of these troubled times. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen such a concerted, collaborative, and cooperative effort from scientists around the globe. Imagine what we might achieve if such coordinated international action were undertaken in other areas of need.

When my turn comes up to be jabbed, I’ll be there early with cookies for the brave and overworked jabber. But it’ll take a while before the world returns to normal, if it ever does. So, we’ll need to be vigilant and sustain the protocols for a while. While our daily new case count remains a concern, it at least feels like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and

be confident that it’s the vaccines and not a train bearing down on us. As Donald Trump once said – who am I kidding, he said it hundreds of times at the very height of the pandemic – “we’re rounding the corner.” Of course, we weren’t when he said it so often two months ago, but perhaps we finally are.

Did you note my segue to the second major event in our very near future that brings hope, goodwill, optimism, and a whole bunch of pure, unadulterated relief? Yes, it’s true. On January 20th, Joseph Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States while much of the world exhales after four years. What remains to be seen is whether Donald Trump will leave the White House voluntarily or in handcuffs or perhaps a straitjacket.

I’m actually only half-kidding given his bizarre claims that the election was “stolen.”

There is plenty of room on the ideological spectrum to debate policy in a thoughtful and reasonFALLIS Page 11

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Leaside Life • January 2021

Good riddance, 2020! Hallelujah, 2021!

Leaside was once flying high as Toronto’s hub of ski jumping

Leaside Life • January 2021

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Leaside is well-known for its shopping, its restaurants, its leafy streets, its 72 storage facilities ... and its history of ski jumping.

Yes, neighbours, Leaside was once THE hub of ski jumping in Toronto.

In the 1930s, ski jumping was all the rage. With Toronto jumpers travelling to Ottawa, Peterborough, Midland, and beyond, to get their fix, the Toronto Ski Club (TSC) felt it was lagging behind other clubs and decided to try to catch up by designing its own ski jump.

TSC chose a spot at the western edge of the Don Valley. The site, at the very eastern end of Wicksteed, led down to what is now, approximately, the back of the Ontario Science Centre.

Designed by TSC’s Fred Hall, the jump was built in January 1934 for $2,500.

The next year the Globe and

Susan Scandiffio Columnist

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Mail described the ski jump, which soared 65 feet, as “slightly lower than the height of the Royal York Hotel.”

But there was one tiny issue.

Toronto’s balmy winter of 1934 meant there wasn’t enough snow to cover the jump. The solution? One hundred tons of ice were scraped off the surface of the rink at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Arena and transported to the site.

After testing the jump and making the necessary alterations to ensure jumpers didn’t end up plummeting into the Don, club officials felt it was ready for its first competition, the provincial championships, on the weekend of February 10th.

Canadian Pacific ran a special train to the site from its North Toronto station and others surged there by car and on foot. An estimated 10,000 spectators were in attendance for the championship. The main competition was won by Ottawa skier Jack Landry, who had two jumps over 120 feet, while second place went to 14-year-old Montreal skier Percival Christian “Punch” Bott, who had two jumps of 115 feet.

The Thorncliffe Jump hosted the city championships the following weekend with Celius Skavaas winning the event.

After a successful 1934 season of competitions, the site was ready for an even bigger event.

January 26th, 1935 was a monumental day for the TSC and the city itself. Hosting the international ski jump championships that day with competitors from 50 countries, Toronto kicked off the tournament with a grand welcome of the skiers at Union Station, followed by a parade up Bay Street.

H.P. Douglas, the editor of the Canadian Ski Year Book, who attended the event, described the parade: “Headed by a police escort and a military kiltie band, some hundred skiers in ski clothes, with skis on shoulders, marched from the Union Station to the City Hall to be received on the steps by Mayor Simpson and his Civic Council.”

Jump. With more reliable winter weather north of the city, skiers favoured alternative jumps, and the jump was dismantled later that year.

Leaside is now home to two ice rinks, a curling rink, a swimming pool, and several baseball diamonds.

But in my books, a ski jump ranks so much higher (horrible pun intended). n

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He added: “It was amazing to we (sic) Montrealers, used to the apathetic attitude of the Montreal public, to see this great outburst of enthusiasm.”

The Toronto Daily Star commented that skiers were met by “the cheers of office crowds and reams of ticker tape.”

Douglas also commented on the event itself, noting that “the roads (to the jump) were crowded with cars, and special trains brought their quotas, and from the judges’ stand it was an inspiring sight to see this huge gathering of spectators.”

The Dominion Championships, held in February of the same year, attracted some 10,000 spectators.

Several smaller competitions took place over the next number of years with the final competition in 1941. The event was organized by the Canadian Amateur Ski Association and the Norwegian Air Force, which had a training camp in Toronto during the war, and featured a spectacular opening ceremony with bugle players and a flyby from the Norwegian Air Force.

This competition wrapped up the existence of the Thorncliffe Ski

Community spirit thrives during COVID-19 Leaside Life • January 2021

by SUZANNE PARK

S. PARK

6

Maybe it was the pots and pans.

Suddenly, in the early days of the pandemic, people all over Leaside started making a noise every night at 7 to show our healthcare heroes – many of them working at Sunnybrook Hospital – how much we care. From a few homes, the good vibes spread throughout Leaside. Here are just a couple of Leaside neighbourhoods where community spirit is very much on display:

Astor Avenue

Who’d suspect banging a few pots would ignite a flurry of neighbourhood events boosting community spirit and residents’ well-being.

Certainly not Jan Hatges and her neighbour Avril Bow. “Avril and I ran into each other on the street mid-March, pots in hand, banging our thanks to first line responders, ” said Jan. “As we headed in different directions on Astor Avenue, we were thrilled that many other neighbours came out and banged away

ASTOR STREET NEIGHBOURS GATHER FOR NADINE’S 7TH BIRTHDAY

from their porches and yards.

This continued for weeks.”

Jan and her neighbours were encouraged that so many on the street were participating and wanted to ensure the community spirit continued to thrive.

She added, “My family has lived on the street for 25 years and we know everybody. It was an easy

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JAN HATGES

task to ask for and put together an email list of every household.

We eliminated last names for privacy.

I’d barely completed the list when a neighbour mentioned her daughter was turning five. Off went my first email to everyone and the child was serenaded with Happy Birthday, by a street choir, on her special day.

And that was just the start.”

Jan added, “We’ve signed cards and sung birthday greetings to neighbours turning from four to 80. We celebrated kindergarten graduates in June with a pageant that saw the tiny students receiving flowers and parading past cheering neighbours.

And a high school graduate decked out in her beautiful graduation dress escorted by her dad in a kilt brought applause from 40 houses and tears to many eyes, mine included. We’ve celebrated Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and on Halloween we had the kids in costume parade around in a circle receiving treats from socially distanced neighbours.”

When asked why these events, many organized in minutes and over in under an hour are so important, Jan wisely commented that “many of the kids on the street go to different schools and rarely intermingle so they don’t know each other.

These events provide opportunities for kids and neighbours to meet and reconnect. The events also provide opportunities to gently and non-intrusively ask how everybody is doing. When a neighbour doesn’t appear at an event, we can check in by asking if everything is okay.”

Jan’s advice to anyone inspired to rally their neighbours? “Start small and keep it simple.”

Although most Christmas decorations have now been put away, back in November a spirited group of neighbours gathered to continue a tradition started 45 years ago. The original activity saw Leaside Garden Society volunteers organizing local school children to plant and maintain gardens at the library and in Father Caulfield ‘Triangle’ Parkette at the corner of Cameron Cres. and MacNaughton Rd. The 2020 version, like so many other traditions, was quite different. Unable to bring volunteers together to plant gardens, Nora Campbell, lead elf

Have you witnessed any acts of neighbourly kindness in your area?

If so, we want to hear about them.

Email us at leasidelifepublishing@ gmail.com. n

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Leaside Life • January 2021

S. PARK

Triangle Park

and current president of the Garden Society, teamed up with neighbours to plant in the spring and recently organized a socially distanced festive tree trimming gathering.

Tree elves Liz and Daryn Everett and newcomers to their street, Lauren Miele and Peter Grouios, brought the 10-ft. tree to the park and secured it in the ground. Donations were collected for another Leaside tradition: the local Comedy Night Toy Drive.

After the decorating, neighbour Barb Tinker said, “I feel like we live in a Hallmark movie. The generous Christmas elves made magic happen in our little town square, otherwise known as Triangle Park.” If you’re wondering, who is Father Caulfield?

Read Ken Mallett’s Jan. 2018 article in Leaside Life, available online.

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MEET A LEASIDE BUSINESS Lorna Krawchuk Publisher Leaside Life

Nothing cheesy about Alex Farm Products There is a long history of gourmet purveyor Alex Farm Products on Bayview. The original Alex came from Greece and started up his one-location business, but about 20 years ago decided to establish a small franchise business.

Enter Sheila Gao, from Japan, with a Ph.D. in chemistry and a research career at York University, along with her husband, who decided they were looking for a business to invest in.

And specifically, a food business.

Their first foray was in fast foods before, four years ago, they bought the Alex Farm Products Beaches location. A year ago, the owner of the Bayview franchise wanted to retire, and seeing Bayview as a good location, Sheila and her husband decided to buy.

L. KRAWCHUK

Leaside Life • January 2021

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Christian Thomas, Vasilis Katranis and Sheila Gao behind the counter at Alex Farm Products, 1578 Bayview Ave.

Alex Farm Products came with an experienced staff already in place.

Vasilis Katranis, originally from Thessaloniki, and with a Master’s degree in Food Sciences, started working weekends at the Bayview Alex's about four years ago and gradually became a full-time employee.

According to Sheila, “he came with the store,” and is now the manager.

Also behind the counter is Christian Thomas, who has worked at Alex’s for the past four years. He is an almost-Leasider, his family living

on Broadway west of Bayview, but Christian attended the French Immersion stream at Northlea and then went to Leaside High School. A buddy at Leaside had worked parttime at Alex’s, so Christian knew it would be a nice place to work. He also started working there on weekends during his time at Ryerson and full-time over the summers. Now, he has a degree in Computer Science, but with no job currently in his field, he’s happy to continue working fulltime at the Bayview store.

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After speaking with the staff, I took a closer look at what was sitting on the table between us. It looked like six cannon balls, but was really six black-waxed balls of Mimolette cheese. Mimolette is a fond memory in our family as a yellow cheese we could buy when we lived in France for our then 12-year-old daughter, who didn’t really like fancy cheeses.

Maybe I should ship her some?

Alex’s could handle that for me – vacuum-packed and ready to go.

The closest-to-home cheese is from Jordan’s Upper Canada Cheese Company. The milk to make Niagara Gold is exclusively from Guernsey cows. The farthest-away cheese is Australia’s Old Croc, an extra sharp white cheddar. The best sellers for Christmas were a holiday cheddar and Vacherin Mont d’Or. But if you’re going for smelliest, choose a French Epoisses – the longer it’s aged, the stronger it gets. And for pricey?

Try the Barolo – ripened while coated with Nebbiolo grapes.

While the refrigerated cheese cases hold impressive wares, you can also pick up frozen pies made by The Pie Commission, as well as oils, balsamics, olives, coffee beans and other treats. n

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Leaside Life • January 2021

by JANIS FERTUCK

A few months ago, a school for ninjas appeared on the quiet stretch of Bayview between Merton St. and Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. But rather than being a martial arts studio, Code Ninjas is a place where children aged 7 to 14 learn coding, or how to write programming instructions for computers, through creating video games.

Code Ninjas is a children’s coding network with hundreds of locations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The network was launched in Houston in 2016

by David Graham, a software developer who noticed a growing interest in coding for children. As the website explains, their “proprietary curriculum teaches kids to code by building video games they love. Kids aren’t aware they’re learning – just having fun.” At the same time, they are gaining problem-solving, critical thinking and STEM skills.

This franchise, owned and operated

by Emma Che and Kelvin Zhang, is the first location in Toronto. Kelvin

and Emma met at the University of Victoria and eventually settled in north Leaside in 2018 where they live with their three young daughters. While Kelvin works in finance, he and Emma share a passion for education and were interested in starting their own school when they heard about Code Ninjas.

Recognizing the importance of coding as an essential skill not just in the IT field, but in every profession from carpentry to medicine, Kelvin and Emma soon found a suitable location and opened the school for online camps in June and in-person classes at the end of September. Kelvin acts as the centre director and Emma is the principal.

As befits the Code Ninjas name, the core game-based program called CREATE consists of nine belts or levels from white to black, and the learning space is known as the dojo. As Kelvin explains, “The curriculum is selfAll Stay new li info sting s rme d – have V Get i on t rtual T he w ours . aiti ng l ist!

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paced, not self-taught.” The children get support and encouragement from the senseis, or instructors, and collaborate with peers as they complete tasks, learn coding languages and develop games. It takes one to two months to complete a level and at the end, students produce a marketing plan and submit their games S. SHARPLES

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Code Ninjas comes to Leaside, Toronto’s first location

Principal Emma Che and Sensei Danial Sarami

to an app store.

The senseis are mostly university students with an interest in coding and extensive experience working with children. The students are also motivated by the “Belt-up” celebrations when they graduate to the next level and receive their colour-coded wristbands, and by seeing their photos journey through the different levels on a wall charting their progress.

In addition to the in-person program, Code Ninjas has recently introduced a new online option called REMOTE CREATE, which connects a ninja with a sensei. In both programs, parents can purchase a membership which can be renewed every month, every six months or every year. The membership covers two hours per week and the flexible schedule allows families to choose convenient times.

Kelvin and Emma are happy with the Leaside location and the enthusiastic responses from families in the surrounding area. The ninjas, says Emma, “are not only having fun, but are learning skills that will prepare them for future employment opportunities.”

For more information about their programs and current COVID protocols, visit the Leaside Code Ninjas: https://www.codeninjas.com/leaside-on-ca n

From Page 3 able tone. It was all of the chaos, crazy shenanigans, histrionics, golf, and downright dangerous behaviour that came along with Trump’s Presidency that was so hard for so many to endure for so long. Biden’s arrival at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will be a welcome tonic for a world weary from COVID anxiety and Trump’s reign of error.

I have big plans for 2021, including at some point actually wearing pants without an elastic waistband. While I don’t want to rush into anything radical, I do think it’s time to turn the page and close the book on a very trying year.

Let’s grab hold of the reasons for hope and optimism and not let go.

Vaccines for all. A slow but steady end to the pandemic. A fresh breeze blowing through Washington. The Leafs carefully back on the ice. An economy in recovery. Families and friends together again, responsibly.

And all of us with a new spring in our step even if there are masks on our faces, at least for a while. A new year. A new beginning. It’s about time.

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. n

EDITOR...

From Page 2 Suzanne Park introduces us to some of Leaside’s street celebrations, where residents have not allowed the pandemic to dampen their spirits.

But the most optimistic note in this issue may very well be the photo of young Harley with his good buddy, City of Toronto garbage collector Lennon. How can you not warm to the new year after looking at that photo?

Here’s to 2021, the year of optimism!

Maybe I will buy that Pantone Illuminating yellow paint.... n interested in advertising in

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Leaside Life • January 2021

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Leaside’s response to climate change could make us smarter

Leaside Life • January 2021

12 Happy New Year, Leaside! What do you think 2021 will have in store for us? At minimum, the health of our environment should be front and centre with two significant changes taking place last month that will have a significant impact on how we live, and for some, how we will earn a living. The first change occurred on Dec 8th with controversial Bill 229, which makes changes to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal’s (LPAT’s) jurisdiction in the areas of municipal levies, issuance of permits and land use planning. The bill also includes Schedule 6, which affects the role of Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities. The second change occurred on Dec 11th with the announcement of our federal government’s “strengthened” climate plan to create jobs and support people, communities and the planet. Change represents opportunity. Since nothing will change if nothing changes, I am open to these changes and will work to develop the opportunities that will emerge as a result.

Glenn Asano The Business of Leaside

Flat or rising GHG emissions in the future?

Back in May 2019, I wrote, “I should be supporting green businesses over traditional ones wherever possible.” At the time I called for “green-preneurs” to take the stage with new “clean-tech” initiatives while encouraging Leaside to make the effort to become one of Canada’s greenest neighbourhoods.

Evidence shows green neighbourhoods are economically successful and provide a healthier environment where families can flourish.

Today, I feel the urgency to do this has become a necessity because governments are gearing up to “build back better” and “smarter”

post-pandemic, investing in infrastructure, technologies and the ensuing data required to run our cities more efficiently. Why urgent?

Leaside Life reader Michael Brophy recently alerted me to a report

by Environmental Defence that brought the situation in Ontario to the forefront. Bottom line is that Ontario’s progress on climate change is showing “a worrying increase in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).” (Refer to graphic on page 17).

Ontario greenhouse gas emissions, 2018 and planned reductions by 2030 I think there are three categories in the 2030 emission reduction projection where our individual choices can make a difference since regulations will ensure the other GHG emission reduction categories have a good chance at realizing their potential. The first category is the shift to low carbon vehicles. Second, we must remain vigilant in our effort to conserve natural gas. The third category is innovation – one I am excited to see, but do question the reliability and validity of the forecasted contribution. Could be more, could be less.

Change is inevitable, growth is optional The innovation category is a reference to new technological advancements designed to reduce GHG emissions. Technology has a role to play in making the earth a more sustainable place for future generations to thrive. Today, being green is no longer an economic hardship; it is a catalyst for innovation, new market opportunity, and wealth creation. ‘Smart’ cities of the future will comprise ‘smart neighbourhoods.’ A smart neighbourhood is forward-thinking and being developed (or redeveloped) to support the future of urban livability, mobility, and connectivity.

Leaside has a history of supporting ‘green’ firms, and many of them depend on that support to survive.

These firms need to attract investment and ‘regular’ paying customers if their work is going to make a meaningful contribution towards protecting our environment. Also, with governments planning to CLIMATE CHANGE Page 17

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La-Rose set to tackle TWO sports at U of South Florida

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO

Playing multiple sports as a young person has scientifically-proven benefits. Developing various muscle groups, avoiding burnout by not focusing on one sport, and developing a multitude of physical skills are keys to strong physical development.

But when it comes to playing sports in college or university, it’s almost always the case that kids must choose one sport to focus on.

Rare is the university coach willing to share an athlete with another coach, or to risk their players injuring themselves while participating in another sport.

Sometimes, though, an athlete comes along who is hard to pass up because of a multitude of talents.

Leaside High School’s Arden La-Rose is one of those.

In 2021, 17-year-old La-Rose will attend the University of South Florida to run track AND play soccer with the Division 1 Bulls.

While she received offers to compete in one sport for other schools, La-Rose was determined to continue with both of her chosen sports. And USF knew they couldn’t

pass up on such a talented athlete.

La-Rose has always been a multisport athlete. At a young age, she says, she “fell in love with sports” and “played every sport (she) could.”

In grade school, the sports in which she competed included ultimate frisbee, badminton, basketball, competitive acrobatic gymnastics, and, of course, soccer and running.

While she greatly admires the athleticism and achievements of

soccer players Christine Sinclair and Hope Solo, as well as runners Usain Bolt and Neil de Grasse, for La-Rose, athletics is in her blood.

Happy NewYear!

Please take care of yourselves and stay safe.

Wishing you the best for the New Year!

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Don Valley West 416-425-6777

kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

Her father, Kevin, and his entire family were runners. Her grandfather, Winston La-Rose, in fact, is still a sprinter at 83, and has been the Canadian and Ontario Seniors champion for 100m, 200m and high jump.

Her aunt, meanwhile, was a successful soccer player.

La-Rose’s athletic achievements are

PROVIDED BY FAMILY

Leaside Life • January 2021

14

outstanding. In only three years of high school athletics, La-Rose obtained 50 (FIFTY!) medals from the TDSB in her combined sports.

Most recently, she was the lead runner on the Leaside gold medal cross country team at OFSAA 2019, ran on the bronze medal 4 x 400m track team at OFSAA 2019, and ran on the silver medal cross country team at the nationals.

She is also a dynamic, agile, and dominant goalie who has played competitive soccer for the past nine years.

Playing at the highest level of competitive youth soccer in Ontario (the Ontario Player Development League), La-Rose’s team won the league championships in 2018.

Always looking to work on her skills, La-Rose played striker with her high school team in order to improve her foot work.

She runs with the Central Toronto Athletics Club (CTAC), a club well known for its dominant runners.

CTAC coach Dave Christiani comments that “Arden is an outstanding athlete who demonstrates a mature and responsible attitude towards her sport. Her love for athletics can be seen in her energetic approach to new training methods and in her ability to rise to new challenges.”

Balancing two sports along with her studies in exercise science will indeed be a challenge. But it’s one that Arden La-Rose has been training for her entire life. n

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Get ready for the Great Reset in 2021 16

Leaside Life • January 2021

The Leaside Gardener Debora Kuchme Columnist

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If garden trend forecasters are right, Leaside is on track to experience one of the most profound gardening seasons ever. And it’s all thanks to how and why we gardened last year.

There’s no doubt 2020 was a tough year for everyone, but with all the bad that COVID-19 brought, it also unleashed an abundance of creativity and a deeper appreciation for our immediate surroundings. It taught us how to be more resourceful, responsible and connected (in new ways) not only to each other but also to the environment.

I talked to Carla Rose of Davenport Garden Centre about this. She said that “one of the positive stories from the summer of COVID-19 was the renewed interest in nature, gardening and especially sustainable gardening. We sold the most native plants by far and I would say, three times as many as any other year!”

She also told me how she had to continually increase her supply of herbs and vegetable seedlings to keep up with the demand.

Trend forecasters have been even busier collecting data from our online searches, purchases and Instagram postings.

Fun fact: the term Victory Garden spiked on Google, April 5, 2020, reaching its all-time peak.

One of these trend-tracking organizations is the Garden Media Group, which for the past 20 years has been helping the horticultural industry plan for the year ahead with the annual Garden Trend Report. The 2021 report, called The Great Reset, offers this forecast:

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Though Leaside has always had a large population of seasoned gardeners, the increased interest in gardening brought us a slew of eager new gardeners. Throughout the growing season of 2020, the largest audience and biggest spenders were the 35-45-year-olds, most of them newbie gardeners.

Thanks to what the indus-

try learned from this group and the growing number of balcony gardeners, we can expect to see more container suitable plants and a wide variety of plant kits (grouped by light and watering needs) helping to make gardening (in particular vegetable gardening) a lot easier.

There also seems to be a new love of small, so we will see more dwarf varieties of evergreens, trees (including fruit trees), and even dwarf vegetables, along with berries suitable for container growing in tiny spaces.

Rather than digging in a vegetable patch, containers can quickly turn any patio into a kitchen garden and every balcony into a plant paradise.

Going wild

Leaside landscapers were busy in 2020 and I saw a few more lawns replaced with more diverse plantings of shrubs, hedges, more drought-tolerant plants and yes, native species!

I also saw the wild trend embraced by our balcony gardeners and veg growers, who understood why every pollinator plant matters.

Design abundance According to the Garden Media Group, this trend spots a dynamic shift in the horticultural industry that will lead to greener societies and a return to nature. But the design abundance isn’t about having more. If we each do our small part and take care of the life on our own property, we then become a part of something that is abundant… the natural world.

So, here’s to the many Leaside green thumbs (both experienced and novice) who gardened with heart in the most challenging year and helped to set these positive trends for 2021. The best is yet to come! n

CLIMATE CHANGE... spend their way to recovery, strategic investments that “help both the economy and the climate could be a game-changer and allow Ontario to capture a share of the jobs related to green building, electric vehicle manufacturing, clean fuels, renewable energy manufacturing and production, and other clean technologies.” With almost no effort, I’m pretty sure 2021 will be better than 2020 for most of us.

Just how much better will depend on the types of actions we choose to take. I believe Leaside would benefit from being a greener and smarter neighbourhood.

How do you think Bill 229 will affect conservation efforts in Leaside? What programs to address climate change would be a good fit for Leaside? Would Leaside benefit from becoming a smart neighbourhood?

Let us know at leasidelife@gmail. com.

Leasider Glenn Asano is a partner and principal consultant for the strategy and business development practice at Centred Performance.

He is also an Instructor with the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. n Source: Environmental Defence with data from governments of Ontario and Canada

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Leaside Life • January 2021

18

by KEN MALLETT

The artefacts of our local history surround us: a strange coin in the corner of a drawer; a dog-eared photograph in an old scrapbook; the faded lettering on an old building that reveals its original purpose.

Preserving that history – before what everyone once knew becomes what no one now remembers – is the mission of local community activist and business owner Ann Brown.

She fears that Leaside’s 100year history will be lost or forgotten, buried in a trunk in the attic or tucked away in the basement.

So, she did something about it. Together with like-minded friends and neighbours, she organized the recently-launched Leaside Heritage Protection Society, a community-wide effort to pre-

serve, celebrate and communicate our legacy.

Reawakening our knowledge of our heritage helps us retain our community history and traditions.

It helps us understand who we are and how we got here.

Update

“The initiative was introduced to the community three months ago, via a social media post,” says Ann. “The response has been so encouraging.

Today we have 320 members on the Facebook page, 150 on Instagram and regular visits to the website leasideheritage.ca.

Preserving the past comes with a small cost, as the Leaside Heritage Protection Society is supported by paid memberships at different fee levels.

According to Ann, the ultimate

goal is to create a local “museum” where people can share, loan or donate material relevant to Leaside’s history.

“This is the ideal community project that can be managed from the safety of everyone’s home, an ideal time to look in drawers and old boxes for pieces of your family memorabilia and bits of Leaside history. What may not seem important may help build a story.

“Now Leaside needs a place where people can go to experience our community’s amazing past,” she says.

To make that ideal a reality there is now a Leaside Heritage committee, comprising nine area residents who share Ann’s passion and commitment. The committee will identify additional ways of preserving Leaside’s history – including exploring plans for the development of the Leaside Heritage Museum.

If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in contributing in any way to the Leaside Heritage Protection Society and its goals, contact Leasideheritage@gmail. com. n

Saving old Leaside walls including the party wall? That sounds like it should be a new build, not a renovation? To be considered as a renovation, no more than 50 per cent of the walls can be removed, but the City is interpreting the bylaw such that all the walls of both semis are counted.

Wait a minute. Shouldn’t there have been a Committee of Adjustment hearing? The zoning examiner says there were no variances to the zoning bylaws. The City calls it “as-ofright.” so no notification and no consultation with the neighbours required.

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Can these bylaws be changed?

I think a review is urgently needed, both of the bylaws as they apply to semis, and to the City's interpretation.

What if you find yourself as the other half of a semi under renovation? If there are variances, start with the CoA and you familiarize yourself with the application, and engage with your neighbours. If it is approved by the committee, or there is no CoA and you are facing construction, consider investing in a pre-construction assessment by an engineer so if there is damage to your semi, you have the basis for a case. Don't forget to take lots of photos.

Also...

Further to “Leaside’s other midrise march – down Laird” (Leaside Life, November 1, 2020), City Planning and Councillor Jaye Robinson are scheduling a virtual community meeting for the projects at 126-132, and 134 Laird Drive, on January 19, 2021. Stay tuned for details. n

Leaside Life • January 2021

Semis are the rock of ages in Leaside. Bungalows are going fast, and single detacheds are morphing into “monsters.” But semis stay the same, except sometimes with small additions at the back. Or not! In the first, but maybe not the last case, a semi is being treated as if it were a new build detached house.

And it seems that the City’s bylaws (or at least interpretation of them) allow this.

The renovation changes to a semi in North Leaside include the removal of the brick on all exterior walls, adding a two-storey rear extension slightly back from the boundary line on the ground floor, with unfinished blocks, and on the second floor, right to the boundary line.

In addition, there is a balcony on the second floor at the front, and a cantilevered second floor extending over the driveway for the entire length of the house. The only thing they kept is the original roof.

The semi in question is typical of about one-third of North Leaside’s housing stock. On some streets, such as Thursfield, this style makes up the main character of the street, while other streets, such as Sutherland, have more of a mix, with bungalows and conversions to two-storey detached homes.

Full disclosure. I was raised in a semi, and I know that living in a semi means having more than a neighbour – more like a close relative – one who is joined at the hip. Even in a rear extension, can you imagine having the new build extending back from the party line (no setback) cutting the light onto your property? On the other hand, I have heard of cases where the owner of one semi says to the other: “I want to extend my house back – are you okay with that,” and the other says, “fine, I’m in – let’s do both sides together.”

Seems to me there should be a mandatory setback from the party wall line just as there is with boundary lines in the case of detached houses.

And how about taking down all

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Jaye Robinson

Councillor, Ward 15, Don Valley West

In June, City Planning staff began conducting virtual Committee of Adjustment (CoA) hearings for the first time since March, when all in-person meetings were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I have since heard from residents across Ward 15 – including Leaside – about various public participation issues resulting from the new, virtual format. In addition to reducing the timeframe that neighbours are given to submit written comments, technical problems have prevented many residents from verbally sharing feedback with the Committee during hearings.

In some cases, neighbours have reported receiving their Public Notices in the mail only one or two days before the new comment submission deadline. This situation leaves our community with very little time to review the requested variances and complex site plans, determine how the proposal might impact their property or neighbourhood, ask questions of City staff and the applicant, and compile the resulting feedback into a written submission.

At the December City Council meeting, I tabled a series of recommendations to address the many issues with virtual CoA hearings. The recommendations include: moving the comment submission deadline closer to the hearing date so the community has ample time to review plans and write letters, ensuring that Public Notices are delivered well in advance of the hearing date, and implementing a standardized protocol to address audio-visual issues so residents can reliably speak before the Committee.

This motion was informed by the feedback I have received about virtual CoA hearings from community organizations across Don Valley West, including our very own Leaside Residents Association (LRA).

Community engagement has always been central to my approach at City Hall – no one knows our neighbourhoods and local issues better than you do.

Throughout my tenure as a City Councillor, I have fought to make

the CoA process more transparent and accessible for residents. While the system is far from perfect, we’ve made significant strides toward these goals, including live-streaming CoA meetings on YouTube, assigning dedicated staff to review minor variance applications, improving Public Notices, and harmonizing hearing practices across the four City districts.

There is no doubt that virtual meetings will remain a part of our lives for the foreseeable future, but this is not an acceptable reason to sacrifice public engagement in City processes.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many employment sectors have successfully shifted their operations onto virtual platforms – there is no reason the CoA cannot do the same while also maintaining public participation.

I look forward to advancing this strategy with the Chief Planner in the New Year. If you have any feedback about how we can improve virtual CoA hearings, please do not hesitate to contact my office by phone at 416-395-6408 or by email at councillor_robinson@toronto.ca. n

Curious Idler Returns 8 million dollars Leaside Real estate prices continued their upward spiral in 2020. This past September a well appointed four-bedroom house on Sutherland Drive sold in just three days for $2,810,000 (97% of asking) after selling in 2004 for $930,000. This represents an over 300% return in 16 years. At this rate, does this mean a house in Leaside will cost over $8 million in 2036?

Petition

When will the construction nightmare on Eglinton Ave. end? Some are reporting that the completion date for The Eglinton Crosstown is expected to be in 2022. The over eight-billion-dollar project began in 2011 and, when the first phase is complete, will have 25 stations running from Mount Dennis to the west to Kennedy station in the east. Leaside will have two of the stations: Leaside station at Bayview and Laird station at Brentcliffe Ave. With mass transit comes mass development intensification, which is already ramping up across Eglinton Ave. I wonder if Metrolinx will give

Did you happen to come across the petition started on change.org/supportsmallbusiness by a local Leaside resident and small business owner?

The petition challenged Premier Ford and Mayor Tory to reconsider their

Dogwalkers delight Have you noticed that there were more holiday lights in Leaside this year than ever before? It has been late night dog walkers’ delight, and the always impressive white lit massive fir tree on Bessborough Drive is like a beacon in the centre of the neighbourhood.

Leasiders a free ride on opening day to say sorry for the nine years of traffic hell. Bored, stuck at home and looking for construction updates? Check out thecrosstown.ca for play-by-play updates and fun-towatch videos.

lockdown strategy allowing big box stores and large retailers to remain fully open when small retailers have been forced to close during the key pre-Christmas selling season. The petition received over 20,000 signatures but failed to move the government as independent merchants on Bayview have continued to struggle to find a way to survive. The Idler encourages you to continue to support our local merchants and shop local. The Leaside Bayview website is a great source if you are looking for a directory of Bayview merchants.

Visit bayviewleasidebia.com. n

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Leaside Life • January 2021

THE

Construction woes

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Leaside Life • January 2021

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We all hope that 2021 will be one of happiness and good health as the new COVID-19 vaccines become available, and of better times for local businesses. We also hope for real progress on the traffic front in 2021 as the city’s Leaside Traffic Management Study’s proposals are revealed, and, after public consultation and approval, implemented.

LRA’s efforts to help Leaside’s property owners and tenants at Committee of Adjustment and other municipal tribunals will of course continue, as will our efforts to protect the community from the pressures of inappropriate development.

The Leaside Residents Association holds an Annual General Meeting every year in order to report on these activities and get your input. As a result of the pandemic, this year’s AGM is a month later than usual, but I can now confirm that our AGM will take place on Wed., Jan. 27th. Save the date!

As noted in my previous columns, this year’s AGM will be held virtually, on Zoom, as in-person meetings are still not permitted. Instructions on how to attend will be sent out closer to the date and posted on our website (lpoa.ca). Councillor Jaye Robinson and TDSB Trustee Rachel Chernos Lin are confirmed guests, and TCDSB Trustee Angela Kennedy and MPP Kathleen Wynne have also been invited.

Our moderator will be Brian Athey, former president of the LRA, who has moderated several of our AGMs and all candidates debates.

As an attendee, you will be able to ask questions of the guests and of your LRA directors, and they will be able to respond to you. We hope to make this virtual effort as accessible to you as our previous in-person AGMs have been.

We are looking to hire both advice and assistance on setting up and running the meeting’s technical arrangements. If you or someone you know sounds like the kind of person we seek, please let me know!

Your LRA board may be experienced and knowledgeable in municipal affairs, but we do not claim to be technical experts.

We will be notifying LRA members with more information on connecting to the meeting, and putting notices in Leaside Life magazine (both hard copy and online), the South Bayview Bulldog, and other local sites. If you prefer to attend the AGM by phone, as on a conference call, you will be able to. Stay tuned for details.

We want as many Leasiders as possible to be able to take part.

Please join us on January 27th!

The LRA board’s regular January monthly meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 6th. It too is via Zoom. If you’d like to attend, please let the LRA know (lpoa.ca) so we can send you the dial-in details.

Whether you have questions or comments, are interested in joining the board, or just want to sit back and watch, you are most welcome. n

Leaside Life leasidelife.com

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Harley and Lennon A COVID-19 friendship

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Leaside Life • January 2021

23

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO The ability for toddlers to hear garbage trucks within a five-kilometre radius is like a dog hearing a high-pitched whistle. Adults don’t know how they do it, but both sounds send each set of creatures bounding. When now 5-year-old Harley was a toddler, he loved garbage days.

As trucks went down the street, stopping at each house to pick up the bins, Harley would walk beside them and wave to the collectors. Soon, one collector noticed his weekly fan and made sure to honk the horn and wave back. What started as a weekly wave soon became a friendship. One week, the collector got out of his truck, removed his gloves, Purelled, shook hands with Harley, and introduced himself. Lennon. A huge smile.

A huge heart. And a friend to Harley. Keep an eye out for Lennon. He’s a special guy. And yes, his mom named him after John. “Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends. ‌â€? n

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