No Valentine’s goodies for Leaside

It’s only a couple of weeks until Valentine’s Day, but Toronto shouldn’t expect any roses or chocolates from the province to mark the occasion. Like many Ontario cities, Toronto comprises communities like Leaside with individual histories and characteristics. But the province’s recent “More Homes Built Faster” (Bill 23) legislation removes many of the safeguards and zoning controls of previous municipal Official Plans, and we find Leaside in the centre of a storm of massive development applications and construction. And costs.

The Leaside Residents Association (LRA) examines each major local construction application in detail and deputes at each stage of the planning process. We are frequently involved in mediation with developers, seeking ways to protect Leaside from excessive height and density. We have often, at the very least, won major concessions, thanks to required development charges paid by the developers. These pay for improved infrastructure to protect our water supply, road repairs,

Carol Burtin Fripp Co-president, LRA

Faster” Act reduces or eliminates these charges. The provincial government says it will make up (part of) the difference, but only after an audit proves to them that the City isn’t “mishandling” the revenue we’ve been receiving from past development charges.

reliable sources of power, and the capacity of the local sewage system. They contribute to such community benefits as parks, libraries, community centres, recreational facilities and other neighbourhood amenities. They are an important source of revenue for the city. This has been the case...until now. The province’s “More Homes Built

Some of this you may already know. However, are you aware how difficult it is for the public, and residents’ groups such as the LRA, to actually find out what the current capacity and condition of our infrastructure is, and how much growth Leaside can safely tolerate? I think Leasiders would be interested to know what all of the applied-for local higher density projects will end up costing us. You would think this is open knowledge. But it isn’t. It should be.

Leaside-Laird Construction Liaison Committee update My LRA co-president Geoff Kettel and I are members of the Leaside-Laird Construction Liaison Committee where we raise neighbourhood concerns and find out details about the current state of the two local LRT stations and environs. Representatives from both Metrolinx and Crosslinx attend these meetings. At the January meeting I asked when the TTC bus stops around the Bayview Avenue/ Eglinton Avenue intersection will return from their very inconvenient current locations to their previous spots, which were much easier for transit users to use, especially if transferring from east/west to north/south buses. I will report back to you as soon as I have more information.

In-person or hybrid?

As mentioned in my January Leaside Life column, the LRA has been discussing holding our monthly board meetings in person, or in a hybrid format, so attendees could participate either on-site at Trace Manes or by Zoom. What do YOU think? We need to hear from more of you!

In the meantime, our next board meeting will take place on Wed., Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m., on Zoom. If you’d like to join us, please let us know by that date and we’ll be glad to send you the current Zoom access details. You can find us at www.leasideresidents.ca. n

JOHN ROBB Sales Representative Vice President Commercial Division

We

Info@leasidechildrenshouse.com Instagram @leaside_childrens_house

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DR.

As MOH for Leaside, Fleming engaged in a variety of key public health activities, including supervision of school immunization programs, reporting on community health issues, serving on the Leaside Board of Health, participating in the Leaside Blood Bank during WW II and launching a chest X-ray clinic after the war.

He also had an active private practice. Former East York Mayor Alan Redway, who grew up three houses away, recalls going as a boy to Dr. Fleming’s basement office to be vaccinated. While there, he noticed how Dr. Fleming, an avid smoker, “always had a cigarette dangling from his lip with a long ash perched precariously on its end.” ( Leaside Life, December 1, 2013.)

Fleming also performed emergency procedures. Once, in 1944, he had to amputate the fingertips of a Leaside refuse collector who injured himself when a “flash-bomb” used to simulate bomb explosions during air-raid drills detonated in his hands. Another time in 1936 he treated a 10-year-old boy who was fatally hurt in a car accident at McRae and Millwood.

The current owners of Dr. Fleming’s house are Greig and Erica Henderson, who moved in with their three children in 1998. “As soon as we saw it, we knew this was the house for us,” says Greig. Under their care, it has retained many of its original features – excluding an addition done by a previous owner. The patients’ entrance on Bessborough Drive is still there. So are the basement office and surgery. There’s even a medicine cabinet built into the kitchen wall. On the McRae side of the house, the shingle where Dr Fleming’s name may have appeared is clearly visible.

His name also appears on a plaque in Mt. Pleasant cemetery, where he and his wife are interred. On it are these words: “A life of service to others.” That’s probably not a bad description of both the man himself – and the house he once lived in. n

REMENYI From Page 6 of the 19th century.

Edouard Reményi held posts as court violinist to Queen Victoria and Louis Napoleon, was a lifelong friend of Franz Liszt – whose reputation in the elegant world of classical music was akin to that of Mick Jagger in the world of rock ‘n’ roll – and is the person credited with highlighting the talents of Johannes Brahms. He mentored the impoverished, barely 18-year-old genius after he encountered him playing in a sailor’s saloon on the Hamburg waterfront. And in a curious premonition of what was to happen half a century later, as part of a world tour, Edouard Reményi gave a concert in Toronto on November 3, 1892, just in time to be featured in the first music review in the first edition of a newspaper called the Evening Star (precursor of the Toronto Star)

The Reményi family instrument manufacturing business flourished in the brilliant cultural world of fin-de-siècle Budapest and during the decades that followed, but the upheavals of two world wars and a dictatorial communist regime finally led to the firm’s confiscation in 1951. Zoltán Reményi re-established the business after emigrating to Canada in 1959 with his wife and son. Growing from a tiny 13-ft.-wide store on Toronto’s Queen Street, they moved to Bloor Street in 1979, adjacent to the campus of the University of Toronto and across from The Royal Conservatory of Music. (And in the interim, the store lost the accent over its name.)

Serving the GTA for 30 years, Carpet Mill is the premier choice for residents, contractors, designers and real estate agents.

With so many supply chains interrupted, you can rely on Carpet Mill with over 10,000 sq. ft. allocated to stock, including carpets, remnants, vinyl and area rugs.

This, together with our in-house master installation teams, ensures that we can accommodate a timely, and professional installation in a fraction of the time of our competitors.

We specialize in staircases, custom binding, commercial and residential carpet installation as well as hard surface installation.

And now to Leaside. The Vanderhoof store covers a large single storey filled with instruments from pianos to guitars, plus books and instrument repairs.

“Our reputation rests upon the endorsement and trust of our thousands of satisfied customers – not only countless families, but also distinguished artists, teachers, arts organizations, churches and schools,” said Remenyi Jr.

The journey has taken the family from the sailors’ saloons of Hamburg to the glittering salons of Budapest, and now to Leaside. Think of that the next time you find yourself humming a Brahms lullabye. n

STREET FOOD From Page 4 from watching Bollywood movies. His first language is Farsi, English second, followed by Hindi. He is proud to point out that the chefs at Indian Street Food are trained chefs, not simply cooks, most with over 20 years’ experience. The majority of his staff are from India, with a few from Nepal.

Hoshang may have started in the restaurant business as an investor, but he quickly realized that it was important to understand presentation, and how to give “not just good quality, but the best quality.” He’s always looking for feedback – from customers and staff – and “wants to make sure customers are happy.” He wants his staff to be happy too, so they “don’t bring down that level of hospitality.”

Before Covid, the restaurant also had a number of regular catering events, both corporate and private, as well as the usual dining in and takeout. In the early days of the pandemic, the restaurant closed for a month – but when they reopened on Mother’s Day, 2020, the lineup for a table snaked down to the corner of Fleming/Manor. Catering is coming back strong too, including a recent wedding for 250 people and more events on the roster.

Hoshang is a man who “doesn’t want to regret not trying something.” He has all sorts of ideas for the restaurant’s future, and not just for this business. He is certainly one to watch!

If you are reading this early enough in February, you might want to drop in for lunch or dinner during Winterlicious – January 27 to February 9. See if you can spot the new menu items Hoshang is trying out! n and went on to compete in August and September, winning the final round of competition in Scioto, Ohio to secure her place in the finals.

Gilbart is thrilled to have qualified to play in Augusta. “I am most excited to compete with the other girls from all over the USA. I am excited to chip and putt on the Augusta greens, and I want to try the Georgia peach ice cream sandwich, as I hear it is amazing.”

Coach Burke notes that “Ava is very much a carefree and relaxed player when you see her, but once she’s put into a competitive environment, her intensity and fierce nature definitely comes out.”

Watch for this fierce competitor in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 2nd on the Golf Channel. n is considered a highly desirable place to live in Toronto due to its sense of community, high-quality housing, and proximity to amenities.”

What is Leaside Life?

ChatGPT said: “Leaside Life is a community newspaper that covers the events and happenings in the Leaside neighborhood of Toronto, Canada. It provides local news, sports, arts and culture, business, and community events information to the residents of Leaside. This newspaper is distributed free of charge to the households and businesses in the area. It is intended to bring the community together and help residents stay informed about what’s happening in their neighborhood.”

What do you think of ChatGPT’s answers? Let us know at leasidelife@gmail.com. n

Leaside Life

acknowledges we are hosted on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Wendat.

We also recognize the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and the Inuit peoples.

We also recognize our responsibility in respecting and protecting the land and water systems that surround us in the east end of Toronto, that being the Don River, or Wonscotonach in Anishinaabemowin, so that these resources can be enjoyed and flourish for all life and for generations to come.