In March of 2015 the Gleaner featured coverage of the pending play, The Postman, that was staged on neighbourhood porches in the summer of that year. The Harbord Village event commemorated the life and times of Albert Jackson, Canada’s first black postie. On the occasion of Canada Post issuing a stamp in Jackson’s honour, we are reprinting this article
By Annemarie Brissenden and Ahmed-Zaki Hagar
Blue martinis, operatic voices, and fabulous food marked the University of Toronto Faculty Club’s grand reopening of its historic Wedgwood Ballroom on September 25. Formerly known as the club’s dining room, the space was renovated over the summer and has been renamed for the plaster mouldings that have been hand-painted in white and many shades of blue.
Tour-goers stop at Hodo Kwaja (656 Bloor St.?W.) for a taste of walnut cake. TEMI DADA/GLEANER NEWS
By Annemarie Brissenden
A heritage tour of Toronto’s Korea Town starts — as it should — at the Bloor Street United Church of Canada, once home to the Alpha Korean United Church.
Jaime Black’s REDress Project has inspired three churches along Bloor Street to show their solidarity with those seeking redress for Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
R.S. Konjek/Gleaner News File Photo
The bats are back. The Maple Leafs are swinging once more in Dominico Field at Christie Pits, and marked the 100th anniversary of the Intercounty Baseball League with a home opening 10-6 win over the London Majors on May 6. The Leafs, which have won five games to two this season, play every Sunday and most Wednesdays. Games are free.
The buzzer sounded for the last time until the leaves fall at William H. (Bill) Bolton Arena (40 Rossmore Rd.), near Bathurst and Dupont streets. The arena has been closed for mechanical upgrades, and all of its skating programs are cancelled until October. Some other options for skating and hockey while the arena is closed are Moss Park, McCormick, Forest Hill, and North Toronto Memorial arenas.
By Annemarie Brissenden
Do bike lanes make cycling inherently safer?
That question was up for debate at January’s Grounds for Thought, which runs the last Tuesday of every month at the Green Beanery at Bloor and Bathurst streets. With free coffee on offer, Grounds for Thought is an homage to the coffee houses of old, places where dissent and unconventional ideas were not only welcomed but encouraged.
GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS Ten Editions Bookstore (698 Spadina Ave.) is at the centre of tension between town and gown. Heritage Preservation Services has recommended adding the building to the city’s protected list of heritage sites, but the university wants to tear it down to make way for a new student residence at Spadina and Sussex avenues.
Tags: Annex
Former Gleaner writer Gillian Best has published her debut novel.
The Last Wave (House of Anansi Press) tells the story of Martha, a woman who has swum the English Channel ten times. As she navigates complex relationships with husband, children, and close friends, the sea remains the one constant in Martha’s life.
PHOTO BY NEILAND BRISSENDEN/GLEANER NEWS: The Women’s Art Association of Canada has called 23 Prince Arthur Ave. home since 1916. A gem in the heart of the Annex, features of the nineteenth-century house include an art-filled president’s room, where founder Mary Dignam’s 1893 Peonies hangs in pride of place above the fireplace.
Cycle Toronto has launched a new program aimed at boosting business on Bloor Street. Pick up a “Bike and Buy: Tour de Bloor Passport” from Cycle Toronto and have it stamped every time you eat or shop at one of 73 participating businesses between Avenue Road and Shaw Street. Passport-holders will be entered in a draw for discounts and prizes, including a Simcoe Bike valued at $850 from Curbside Cycle. The program will run until the end of the September. Passports are available at Curbside Cycle, Sweet Pete’s B-Side (Annex), and bloorlovesbikes.ca.
PHOTO BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS: Rexall Brunswick features many nods to history and community, such as this street sign.
By Annemarie Brissenden
PHOTO BY NEILAND BRISSENDEN: A handmade, felt-covered photo album from 1909 sits in the Harbord Collegiate Institute museum, the first of its kind in Canada. Titled The Brownies at Harbord by Simple Simon, it features a caption reading “The Greatest Truths are the Simplest/And so are the Greatest Men”.