Do you know the right date?
I always wait for a quiet time to enjoy Leaside Life, therefore it has taken me ages to read the December issue.
The article on our growing flock of food stores was a good read until I got to the line that said the Loblaws at Moore and Bayview opened in 1963. I believe that this date is not correct.
Do I know the correct year? No, but if your readers follow my totally unscientific reasoning one of them may have the answer.
When the store was very new it had a feature that a preteen rock ‘n’ roll fan like me enjoyed. The magazine area sold records. I bought Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley and Indian Giver by Tony Perkins (1958).
In grades 5 and 6 (1956-7) my BFF was a Leaside Lions majorette. I used to watch them practice on Sundays in the parking lot of Loblaws. Of course the store was closed on the Sabbath!
At that time Thursday was the big grocery shopping night. It was also the night for my fav TV show, Zorro (at 8 p.m., brought to you by 7 Up). It was one of my chores to unload the car and help put the groceries away. Mother always came home during Zorro. Begging to be allowed to wait until Zorro was over never worked.
Zorro was aired from 1957 to 1959. Now I can watch the second half of all those episodes on You Tube!
The Bayview Extension, completed in 1959, curves abruptly as it comes out of the Don Valley to get around the Loblaws that got there first. The road construction was a life event for me as I had to switch from Bennington Heights to Rolph Road. I started grade 7 at Rolph in 1958. I was new and so was our teacher, Mr. Howard Patterson.
At some point in those years a female employee balanced on a beam in the storage attic of Loblaws, stepped off onto the acoustic tile and fell through. She was hanging by her armpits with her panty girdle fully exposed over the coffee bar below.
All females wore that wretched garment in the ‘50s, even a skinny girl like me. I should have had suspenders to keep it in place. What year did we stop wearing panty girdles? I do not remember but one of your readers may be able to date the ceiling incident.
My sister was an “Oops” baby born in 1960. When she was 2-plus she went for a walk from our house into the busy parking lot of Loblaws, a distance of about two blocks. The boy next door, who was my age,16, calmly told me that he had just seen her there wandering between the cars.
That was the day I learned that under duress I was capable of running at tremendous speed. I found her talking to an elderly and very concerned gentleman.
She cut a dashing figure in a ruffled gingham sunsuit over a bulging Pamper. She had the matching gingham bonnet on backwards, making her look like a bizarre stormtrooper. This was in 1962.
I hope my research enables someone to provide the correct date for the opening of Loblaws. The store has been an important part of local history.
Karen Fraser,
Mallory Cres.
Leaside traffic restrictions
I totally agree with Mr. Beswick about the traffic restrictions in parts of Leaside.
It’s totally unfair the way, for example, that North Leaside is closed for traffic on the busiest hours while some of us have to bear the traffic on their behalf.
Hardly equal, hardly democratic. It’s time that this type of one-sided protectionism is abolished. Perhaps I can pay less taxes because I have less “annoyance” protection?
Ulla Nystrom,
Sutherland Dr.
Aircraft noise
Ten planes flew overhead when I wrote this letter recently. The average frequency is six flights in 15 minutes. Sometimes a second flight comes while the noise from the first one is still heard. Times include well after midnight and before 5 a.m.
The noise is worse over north-west Leaside especially for those with gardens, decks, bedrooms and living rooms facing west. The area is more exposed and directly under where the planes turn north.
It is otherwise a quieter area with little other background noise.
The noise has a significant negative psychological effect on many people.
Just inside the deck doors in my house I have to use noise cancelling head phones to hear my TV or stereo.
We have noise from helicopters in and out of Sunnybrook Hospital. We accept this as a known factor when we chose to live in this area.
Real estate agents will have to disclose the fact that there is frequent aircraft noise in the area. This will devalue our properties.
Dr. Dan Buckley,
Roxville Ave.
Church bazaars
I want to thank Lorna Krawchuk for her excellent and comprehensive article on Leaside’s church bazaars.
Knowing this wasn’t Lorna’s intent, I do worry that someone might read the article and believe that our local churches are more concerned about getting money for themselves than giving to others less fortunate. St. Augustine’s, whose Christmas bazaar proceeds went entirely towards our own budget, might seem to be like such a parish.
(Is there anything worse than defensive clergy? OK, nuclear war, child poverty and American gun laws, but defensive clergy must run a close fourth.)
Nevertheless, I want to assure Lorna’s readers that St. Augustine’s, as all our churches, is deeply concerned about social injustice and poverty. In the past year, we’ve contributed to Amnesty International, the Donaldson Trust, Loft Community Services, All Saints Community Centre, Moorelands Camp, Flemingdon Park Ministry, and the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (the Anglican equivalent of World Vision).
Our members are active volunteers in the community (one, for example, delivers bread donated by Metro to the Flemingdon Park Food Bank every week, year round). The Church of the Transfiguration, St. Cuthbert’s and St. Augustine’s hold an annual dinner together to raise outreach funds—this year for l’Arche, and last year for Moorelands.
All our churches contribute in so many ways to the local community and beyond. We’re delighted to do it, and we believe it’s our calling.
Fr David Montgomery
The Church of St. Augustine
Bayview Ave.