LeasideLife issue 54 final_LeasideLifev1 16-10-25 4:21 PM Page 1
No. 54 • November 2016
Leaside Life leasidelifenews.com
Remy Cattell, Leaside Athlete of the Year –––
Page 6
Michael Bliss
Living in Leaside
PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNNYBROOK HEALH SCIENCES CENTRE
Leaside Life is “still” great
Michael Stevenson (back) with Col. Hon. Robert Rutherford (front).
Michael Stevenson: a life of service in 42 countries — and Leaside By ALLAN WILLIAMS It was almost inevitable that Michael Stevenson would one day become a regular volunteer at the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre, once he had retired. “When I chose a military career it was with the aim of serving the community and serving my country,” says the 86-year old Macnaughton Rd. resident. “I was very lucky to get into Sandhurst and get a good start. On retirement, it became a natural thing to work at Sunnybrook to help the veterans. And, of course, there was the St. Cuthbert’s connection, so I had an entrée.”
That connection was the fact that in the 1960s when Michael and his family came to Canada, settled in Leaside, and began attending St. Cuthbert’s Anglican, members from that church were already responsible, one Sunday a month, for escorting Sunnybrook residents to chapel services. Michael volunteered to help. But that wasn’t the only connection between St. Cuthbert’s and Sunnybrook. K-wing, where the more mobile resident veterans live, is actually Kilgour Wing, named for Joseph and Alice Kilgour, the oneMICHAEL, Page 4
It's been said that the first decade or so after formal retirement is most people's “still” time of life. Most of the questions oldsters are asked contain that loaded word: Are you still going into the office? Are you still working out? Still going up to the cottage? Still in your house in Leaside? Still able to touch your toes? And so on. And you're usually proud to say, “Yes, I'm still .....” Better to announce that we're still doing things, for the alternative, not doing them, is usually loaded with dark connotations. At this age you want things pretty much to stay the same. Even as the body creaks and rebels, you're still leaping out of bed in the morning to face the world. As a community, Leaside is mimicking its seniors’ battles with stability and change. With most of its housing stock built in the late ’30s and early ’40s, Leaside is an aging place. Long gone are the freedom and independence of Leaside’s youth, for over the years it lost round after round of struggles with the megalopolis. It has no more self-government, no more board BLISS, Page 2
Mark your calendar! Leaside Property Owners Association (LPOA) Annual General Meeting is booked for Tuesday, November 22, 2016, 7:30 p.m. at the Trace Manes Community Centre, 110 Rumsey Rd. It is your chance to get involved in your Leaside community. All are welcome! ■